Cho Sang-hyun, head coach of LG, said, “We need to create a more comfortable scoring opportunity than set offens.”

“I’ll play Game 5 in Changwon.” (KT director Song Young-jin)
“We need to create more comfortable scoring opportunities than set offensives.” (Coach Cho Sang-hyun of LG)

Suwon KT will meet Changwon LG in the fourth round of the 2023-2024 Professional Basketball semifinal playoff at KT Arena in Suwon on Tuesday. The team has one win and two losses overall in the semifinal playoff. The team is on the brink of collapse.

In the first and second rounds of the semifinal playoff that took place in an away game, KT garnered a desired result by garnering one win and one loss. It must have expected that KT would gain the upper hand in the third round of the playoff that will take place at home.

However, Korean players failed to assist Paris Bath (200 cm, F). Ha Yoon-gi (204 cm, C) showed poor performance. He failed to control Asem Maray (204 cm, C) by scoring six points, two rebounds, and two assists. Han Hee-won (194 cm, F) also scored only four points.

KT had an eight-point lead until the middle of the fourth quarter. The secret was solid defense led by Michael Eric (211 cm, C). However, it was Bath who stepped on the court to secure the victory. Bath, who exploded 20 points until the third quarter, only scored one point in the fourth quarter.

KT manager Song Young-jin said before the game, “We will have the fifth game in Changwon. We have focused on elevating the atmosphere of the team. We need to effectively block Asem Maray. We focused on defense. It is not easy to allocate time for foreign players. (Paris) When Bath plays, I will use an abnormal defense.”
“(He) Hoon is feeling better. However, he has some problems with his balance. Hoon has difficulty finding his form. It is regrettable not to be able to find his balance or form, rather than being sick. The opponent also puts the best defense player on Hoon. (Jung) Sung-woo catches the ball for a long time to attack the weaker side,” he added.

Korean players have not been able to help Bath and Eric. Coach Song Young-jin also said, “(Han) Hee-won and Seong-woo are) in good physical condition. They are said to be in good condition. Their performance and conditions are different. There are patterns to save a shooter in early or free offens, but there are also pick-game patterns. Hee-won needs to move a little more and find shooting opportunities. He needs to play a role as a shooter. He still has more practice in the 2024-2025 season. Nevertheless, I believe in them.”

Lastly, he said, “I told the players that I didn’t think I would lose at all. The players must feel the same way. They showed their skills and asked us to go to Changwon. What the opponent is good is important, but we have to be good. We have to take care of the basics. If we faithfully implement it, we will get good results. Overall, we have become somewhat lax after the second leg. We have to be mentally armed. The fastball came out in the second leg. It didn’t come out in the third leg. We have to push. We have to block the opponent’s transition, and we have to push with the transition.”

On the other hand, LG took the advantage with a victory in the third game. The victory in the fourth game soon leads to the advance to the championship game.

After the end of the regular season, LG expressed concern over deteriorating sense of play in the game. The team had two practice matches with Lee Sang-baek’s college selection team, but the team felt it was difficult to find sense of play in the actual game.

Despite this, LG had a huge victory in the first round of the semifinal playoff. The three-point success rate (approximately 27 percent, 8/30) did not come as expected, but Lee Jae-do (180 centimeters, G)-Marey combination showed stellar performance.

However, LG faced a crisis due to loss in the second game. The third game, which was held in an away game, also failed to display strength until midway through the fourth quarter. The player who overcame the crisis was Yoon Won-sang (181 cm, G), who played in only 18 games in the regular league. He played the role of hero of the third game as a kick-headed defense, a jumper to cut the flow, and a buzzer beater to determine the winner after three points.

“Except for the first round of the semifinal playoff, the success rate of field throws is not shown,” LG coach Cho Sang-hyun said before the game. The game continues to be around 70 points. He asked his players to confidently throw (asem) Maray-derived shooting opportunities. KT’s defense is good. It is not easy to attack at 5:5. He keeps emphasizing early offensives. “We need to create second breaks derived from fastballs and more comfortable scoring opportunities, rather than set offensives.”

“KT also has a wide range of rotation. The team finished its playoff in the sixth round in the fourth round. Players are recovering in just two days these days. In defense and offense, we are not going in the direction we want. The same was true of the third round. We hope the players will follow the flow of the game quickly. They have to face the same team four or five times. Defense changes are not big, either. The extent to which players will play assist defense and how they will perform with different frequency,” he added. 토토사이트넷

Coach Cho Sang-hyun found the secret to come from behind to win the third game in defense. “I felt that if I had a 10-point gap in the middle of the third game, I would not be able to win. Players chased me to the defense. (Yoon) Wonsang got lucky. If Heo Hoon or Paris Bath scored, it would not have been easy. Maraina (Yang) Hong-seok kept following along. Because he made the seesaw game, Wonsang also shot. He is always preparing for the game. He put his name on the roster after receiving recommendations from his coaches. Rather than returning as a member of the team, he has found his own place (laughs).”

Lastly, he said, “I’m worried about Bath defense. I’m worried about whether to add other players or block Maray.” If Moon Seong-gon scores like in the second round, he will try to change the direction of his defense. Bath is a player who scores 20 points after all. Even if he loses points, how he loses points is important. He tries to catch three points or a transition. It is best to close out or compete to the end to secure a rebound when scoring 5 to 5. If Maray goes deep into the assist defense, he can give up his jumper to Ha Yoon-ki. I can’t help it. One or two is okay. There is no way to stop both.”