Busan KCC, ranked 5th in the regular league, shows its true colors as a ‘super team’ from the 6th round PO… Even the winning champagne

A completely different team transformed into the playoffs... Busan-based team wins first championship in 27 years.

Before the start of the 2023-2024 professional basketball season, the 'top two' pointed out by experts were Busan KCC and Seoul SK.

KCC recruited Choi Jun-yong, who was released as a free agent (FA) from SK, to the existing Heo Woong, Lee Seung-hyun, and La Geon-ah, and because Song Kyo-chang was scheduled to join after completing his military service during the season, they were nicknamed the 'super team'. 온라인카지노

In addition, SK, the runner-up team in the 2022-2023 season, strengthened its power by bringing in Oh Se-geun as a free agent from Anyang Cheonggwanjang, its opponent in the championship game, and the possibility of regaining hegemony two years after the 2021-2022 season was discussed.

However, both teams performed below expectations in the regular league due to injuries to key players.

KCC remained in 5th place with 30 wins and 24 losses as Choi Jun-yong and Song Kyo-chang were absent due to injuries at the end of the season.

SK's starting guard Kim Seon-hyung only appeared in 35 of 54 regular league games, and Ahn Young-jun, who was discharged mid-season, only played in 31 games due to injury.

SK ranked 4th with 31 wins and 23 losses.

The two teams, who were expected to meet in the championship game before the start of the season, clashed from the semifinals, the first hurdle in the playoffs, and KCC, who eventually passed the series, regained its 'super team true colors' and ranked 5th in the regular league for the first time in history on the 5th.

I wrote a winning story.

Busan KCC built on the momentum of dismissing SK with 3 wins and undefeated, and in the semifinals, beat Wonju DB, the first place in the regular league, with 3 wins and 1 loss, and also celebrated victory by finishing the championship game against Suwon KT with 4 wins and 1 loss.

In professional basketball, which was launched in 1997, until last season, the 5th place player in the regular league had never participated in the championship game, let alone won the championship game.

The first factor that made KCC a completely different team in the playoffs compared to the regular season was the return of injured players.

With the return of Choi Jun-yong and Song Kyo-chang, the height of the forward line improved significantly, and KCC, which conceded the second most goals among the 10 clubs with an average of 87.5 goals in the regular league, dropped by more than 10 points to 75.4 goals in the 7 games of the 6th and 4th playoffs.

In addition, KCC coach Jeon Chang-jin's motivation at the playoff media day by scratching the pride of the 'super team members' by saying, "5th place in the regular league is embarrassing," is said to have had an 'awakening effect' on KCC players.

In particular, La Gun-ah, a veteran born in 1989, recorded 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds in the regular season, but soared to 23.3 points and 13.1 rebounds in the 7 games of the semifinals and semifinals playoffs.

The bench strategy of using Calvin Jeffrey Epistola, an Asian quarter player who had little activity in the regular season, as a key player in the playoffs was also notable.

In the championship match, the 'brotherly match' between KCC's Heo Woong and KT's Heo Hoon, the sons of former national team coach Heo Jae, the 'basketball president', was a success, and enjoyed the box office effect of attracting more than 10,000 spectators for the 3rd and 4th games in Busan.

KCC, which moved from Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do to Busan ahead of this season, formed a super team in its first season before returning to its home turf and achieved its best season by winning the 5th place team championship for the first time in history.

This year's KCC marks the first time in 27 years that a Busan-based team has won the championship in the four major professional sports (baseball, soccer, basketball, and volleyball) since Daewoo in professional soccer and Kia in professional basketball in 1997.