“Our players will do better in the PO”
Asan Woori Bank defeated the Busan BNK Sum by 55-29 in the KB Kookmin Bank Liiv M 2020-2021 Women’s Professional Basketball Regular League held at the Busan BNK Center on the 21st. With 22 wins and 8 losses, she has confirmed the first place in the regular league by herself. Following the first place in the regular league for the 2019-2020 season, it ranked first in the regular league for two consecutive seasons.
Not as much as the players who play on the court, but there are players who are more mindful than anyone else. Kim Jeong-eun (180cm, F). On December 28, 2020, the season was out due to an ankle injury at Hana One Q, but they accompanied the team to win the regular league.
Kim Jong-un watched the game earnestly on the bench. He cheered for the team’s victory more than anyone else. Whether Kim Jong-un’s wind worked or not, Woori Bank players showed a gap with BNK from the start of the game. After consistently overtaking BNK, he won the 13th regular league title. As with the players who played on the court, Kim Jong-un couldn’t hide his joy.
# “The uniform on the bench was really ugly”
Kim Jong-un’s bad right ankle stepped on Park Ji-hyun’s (183cm, G) foot. “I thought it was over. There was also a feeling of dislocation. I was so surprised and upset a lot,” he explained at the time.
I was very sorry. Because Park Hye-jin (178cm, G), who had escaped from plantar fasciitis, has returned. It is predicted that Woori Bank’s One Two Punch will resume operation. But when Park Hye-jin returned, Kim Jong-un left.
Kim Jong-un said, “(Park) Hye-jin did not exist, but he did it in the beginning. I also thought that if Hyejin came back, he could win. But the whole thing was achieved, but I was more upset because I got hurt.”
Woori Bank manager Sang-woo Lee also blamed himself. At the time, Director Sang-woo Lee said, “I had to give (Kim) Jung-eun unconditionally. But because I was getting grades, I was too greedy. I thought once again that I was qualified as a director,” he said, regretting Kim Jong-un’s injury.
Kim Jong-un said, “The director said that it was because of his greed, but in fact, the director said,’Don’t be overkill. Come out after doing only the first quarter.’ The injury came unexpectedly. The director was so sorry that I felt more upset.”
Kim Jong-un couldn’t stand on the court, but Woori Bank players wanted to be with Kim Jong-un. It was enough to hang Kim Jong-un’s uniform on the bench. Kim Jong-un said, “I was really upset, and I was very grateful. I also wanted to wear that uniform and run fast (laughs),” he thanked to his colleagues.
Kim Jong-un was seriously injured. However, “Fortunately, the injury was not as big as I thought. It was about suturing the torn area and removing bone fragments. So recovery is faster than I thought. Normal walking is possible and rehabilitation is slow. It is working well,” he said. Considering the player’s future, it was the most positive news.
# Even without Kim Jong-un, Woori Bank is strong
2020-2021 season. Kim Jong-un’s presence was great. This is because Park Hye-jin has filled more than 100% of the missing space. Both karate were indispensable. When Kim Jong-un plays, Woori Bank loses 13-4. He also surpassed Cheongju KB Stars with 2 wins and 1 loss.
Such Kim Jong-un left. However, Woori Bank was strong. Even without Kim Jong-un, the overall performance fell slightly to 9-4, but even without Kim Jong-un, he gained the upper hand over KB Stars with 2-1. I was curious about the feeling of watching KB Stars from outside the court.
“I had an ankle surgery on December 31st of last year. On January 1st, there was a game between us and KB Stars. I see it in the hospital, and I can’t forget that feeling (laughs). He said he had a lot of surgery, but it was the first time he saw a game at the hospital after surgery during the season. I was upset.
However, I never thought that if I was missing, our performance would be lowered. Didn’t you do well even when Hyejin wasn’t there? However, because the number of people available was small, it was noticeable that everyone was struggling. I thought,’If I only lasted 5 minutes…’ It was a great regret not to be together.
Also, strangely, I didn’t feel like I was going to lose to KB. (Laughs) Of course, KB’s power is much better than ours, and we continue to be in the position of challengers. But I did it casually, and all five of them came out to play fast basketball.
As Kim Jong-un said, Woori Bank was strong at KB Stars. In particular, he won 79-67 in the KB Stars game on the 10th. Woori Bank led the match against KB Stars by 4-2, and Woori Bank crossed the 9th division ridge of the regular league championship. Even without Kim Jong-un, Woori Bank was strong.
# “Before BNK, there was a mind to not go”
Woori Bank surpassed the favorable notice in the fight for No. 1 in the regular league. However, after the KB Stars game, I had to play 3 more games. Of those, two wins were the only way to win.
On the 14th, the game with Incheon Shinhan Bank was safely over. And Hana One Q Exhibition held 4 days later. If we beat Hana One Q, it was confirmed to win the regular league.
Kim Jong-un, who had been away, has been with the team since then. Coach Sang-woo Lee said, “Even if you can’t play, your presence alone will help the players.”
However, Kim Jong-un was struggling. The team lost in the first match with which they were accompanied. Kim Jong-un said, “The director said,’When will you follow me?’ (laughs) But because of Jinx, not Jinx, I thought it would be better not to go. When I went, I thought the team shouldn’t lose. But I lost the Hanawon Q War. Seeing from the outside, I thought it would be better to run (laughs).”
However, the BNK exhibition held three days later was not. Woori Bank players overpowered BNK throughout the game. He showed suffocation defense enough to tie BNK’s attack to 29 points. Thanks to this, Kim Jong-un raised the trophy to win the regular league with his juniors.
Kim Jong-un said, “In fact, I was afraid to go. Then I decided to go this morning. Still, I watched it comfortably today. (Laughs) As the score gap widened, he said that he would win today. Somehow, BNK players played every other day at 2 PM, and they looked heavy.” He said, “Thank you to my juniors. Thanks to my juniors, I built one more career of winning the regular league.” He expressed his gratitude to his juniors.
# “Our players will do better in PO”
Kim Jong-un is out of the season. However, thanks to my juniors, I was able to participate in the regular league championship. Expressed gratitude. Although we can’t be with us on the court, we have to repay our gratitude on the bench.
Kim Jong-un is a veteran. I played a lot of big games. Just by conveying Kim Jong-un’s game experience, young players cannot gain great strength. This is the same reason that Director Sang-woo Lee promoted Kim Jong-un’s companionship.
Also, there is no other player at Woori Bank who played a major game in the lead other than Park Hye-jin. There are many highly competitive players such as Sonia Kim (176cm, F), Jihyun Park, and Eunsil Choi (182cm, C), but they did not take the lead in playing offs or playing championships.
Director Sang-woo Lee also said, “PO is a battle for strength. However, there are many powerful players in Samsung Life, such as Kim Han-byul, Bae Hye-yoon, Kim Bo-mi, and Kim Dan-bi. But we have no other than (Park) Hyejin.”
However, Kim Jong-un said, “Rather, veterans can be burdened. So personally, I think it’s good to play big games when I’m young. Also, our team (young) age is a weapon (laughs)” and looked at the young players of Woori Bank as strengths.
He continued, “Since we are playing off, there is no one to tell us anything. I think it’s a normal game, and I want it to be comfortable. Also, when we played casually, the game was good. It was said that it was a crisis when I and Hyejin fell out, but didn’t the young players make good use of the opportunity? I’ve definitely grown up and I think I’ll do better in the playoffs.”
“Too many attacks focused on (Park) Hyejin for several consecutive games. Hyejin will be difficult. Because playoffs are short-term, it can be harder physically,” he stressed the need for younger players. I thought Park Hye-jin needed less of the burden.
For this reason, “(Kim) Sonia seems to have received a lot of pressure at the end. But even if I show you what I did in the regular league, I think I’ll do well in the playoffs. He is also a player who quickly forgets that he was sluggish. Since he is a good player, he will show his previous performance in the playoffs. (Park) Ji-hyun is the same,” said Kim Sonia and Park Ji-hyun. That trust seemed pretty big.
Photo courtesy = WKBL
Basket Korea / Reporter Son Dong-hwan [email protected]
[저작권자ⓒ 바스켓코리아. 무단전재-재배포 금지]