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[이데일리 스타in 이석무 기자] Samsung Life, the fourth-place team in the women’s professional basketball regular league, is facing a ‘0% miracle’.
Samsung Life first won 2 wins against Cheongju KB, the 2nd place team in the regular league, in the 2020-21 season championship match. In the first game held at Yongin Gymnasium on the 7th, he won 76-71, and in the second game held at the same place on the 9th, he won 84-83 and ran two consecutive victories.
If only one win is added in the remaining 3, 4, and 5 matches, Samsung Life will raise the championship cup 15 years after the 2006 summer league. In the previous championship deciding match, which was held in the best of 5 matches, all teams that won the first and second games in a row won the final championship.
It is no exaggeration to say that Samsung Life’s blast is a miracle. In the women’s professional basketball, launched in 1998, the 4th place team in the regular league never won the championship. Samsung Life is the second team behind Hanbit Bank in the 2001 winter league that even the fourth-place team climbed to the championship. At that time, Hanbit Bank could not win the championship by losing 1-3 to Samsung Life Insurance in the championship.
Samsung Life was less than 50% win rate with 14-16 losses in the regular league. If the final championship is achieved, the team with a win rate of less than 50% in the women’s professional basketball first regular league will be the first to become the champion.
Even compared to other professional sports, Samsung Life’s blast is remarkable. In the case of professional baseball in which the top 5 teams out of the 10 teams are in the postseason, the 3rd place team in the regular league “upset” and won the Korean Series three times, including Lotte in 1992 and Doosan in 2001 and 2015. However, the 4th place team has never won.
In the men’s professional basketball, in 2009 and 2011, Jeonju KCC took 3rd place in the regular season and went up to the championship match to win the championship, but the 4th place team never won.
The only team in the regular league with a win rate of less than 50% won the season in professional football. Pohang Steel (now Pohang Steelers) scored 5 wins, 8 draws and 7 losses in the spring and fall leagues combined in the 1986 professional football soccer festival, but in the championship match, winning the championship by defeating Lucky Gold Star (now FC Seoul) with 1 win did. Women’s professional volleyball GS Caltex recorded 14 wins and 14 losses in the regular league in the 2007~08 season, but went up to the championship match and achieved the final win.
On the other hand, KB, who was selected as a strong candidate for the championship this season, is on the verge of becoming a victim of surprise. In the past 28 championships, there have been 9 cases where the losing team in the first leg won the game from behind, but no team won by winning three consecutive wins until the second game. The hopeful part is that the 3rd and 4th games will be played at the home, Cheongju. If you catch the 3rd and 4th game in the home and change the atmosphere, the 5th game on the road is worth trying. It is also encouraging for KB that Kang A-jung, Heo Ye-eun, and Choi Hee-jin survived in the second game compared to the first game, which was too dependent on Park Ji-soo.
In the first and second games of Samsung Life, veterans Kim Bo-mi, Kim Han-byul (above 35), and Bae Hye-yoon (32) shined. In particular, Kim Han-byul became a hero of victory by scoring a dramatic winning goal 0.8 seconds before the end of the game in the second game. Even with a thigh injury, he ran 43 minutes and 13 seconds, scoring 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Bae Hye-yoon and Kim Bo-mi scored 18 points, 14 points and 6 rebounds, respectively, until they stepped out of the 4th quarter due to the last 5 bans, and they led their juniors with a bad play in defense.
Kim Bo-mi said, “It’s too hard, but I think it’s the same for both teams,” and emphasized, “It will be the 3rd game where the mind controls the body.” Bae Hye-yoon said, “I haven’t won the championship match for the 4th place in the regular league yet,” and said, “I want to prove that there is hope for the 4th place team by winning.”