The 2022-2023 SKT Adot Professional Basketball Championship (7 out of 4 wins) Game 6

2023 Professional Basketball Championship is expected to be remembered for a long time as the best game in the history of spring basketball. The confrontation between the two teams, which had repeated twists and turns, finally reached the final game 7.

On May 5, in the 6th game of the 2022-2023 SKT Adot Professional Basketball Championship (4 wins from 7 matches) held at Anyang Gymnasium in Gyeonggi-do, the home team, Anyang KGC won a come-from-behind victory over Seoul SK, 86-77, bringing the series record to 3 wins and 3 losses. turned to

Until the start of the 4th quarter, SK’s upset victory seemed imminent. SK seized the victory by widening the score gap to 67-52 until the end of the third quarter, and at one time to 15 points. SK has been exceptionally strong in the 4th quarter, and KGC has been unable to cope with SK’s regional defense all along.

KGC coach Kim Sang-sik came up with an irregular lineup in the fourth quarter, replacing one option Omari Spellman with Daryl Monroe and three guards at the same time. Although the veteran Monroe’s one-on-one attack power is inferior to Spellman’s, he is altruistic and has excellent passing sense. As Monroe was put in, KGC’s ball flow began to revive through relay play near the paint zone.

Munro not only helped his teammates score, but also actively attacked in the 4th quarter, scoring 10 points and 5 rebounds. Monroe played a high-low game with Oh Se-geun, and succeeded in attacking in various ways, including offensive rebounds, footback scores, basket counts, and 3 points.

Also, in defense, Monroe’s performance was brilliant in keeping SK’s one-two punch in check. Monroe blocked Warney, who was bigger than himself, from shooting comfortably with a leech-like body fight, and when the opponent played 2-on-2, guard Kim Seon-hyung blocked the path to break through in advance and prevented the ball from passing as easily as possible.

Byun Jun-hyung, who was a sore finger of KGC, also came back to life in the 4th quarter. In fact, Byun Jun-hyung was evaluated as sluggish throughout this championship match. He averaged 11.2 points and 6.2 assists until the 5th game, and his scoring power decreased compared to the regular league (average of 14.1 points and 5.0 assists), and his field goal rate was only 33.3%. In Game 6 of the day, it was tied at 5 points until the 3rd quarter, and it was overplayed with a series of mistakes.

However, director Kim Sang-shik believed in Byun Jun-hyung until the end. This is because in order to break SK’s defense, Byun Jun-hyung and guard Jin had to actively try to break through or aim for a shot. Byun Jun-hyung, who was passive due to the burden, transformed into another player in the 4th quarter and scored 10 points, including two 3-pointers. After making a tie at 69-69 with a stepback jumper, with 4 minutes and 18 seconds left in the game, the dribble took off the defense from the 45-degree point to the right of the 3-point line, then put in a 3-pointer and took a 72-69 turnaround. The clutch ability shown in was the highlight of the day.

Thanks to the great performance of the two heroes, KGC overwhelmed SK 30-10 only in the 4th quarter. In particular, in the 4th quarter, in 6 minutes and 23 seconds, he exploded as many as 20 points in a row without conceding, turning the game, which had been drawn 58-69, to 78-69. It was a rare performance in a big game like the championship game, and it was a great scene that showed the potential of KGC, the top team in the regular league.

On the other hand, SK could not hold out for the last 10 minutes and suffered a shocking defeat, missing the victory that was almost in front of them. It is also a point of concern about the aftermath until the final 7th game, which must be played as an away game.

SK coach Jeon Hee-cheol cited his failure as missing the timing to switch to man-to-man defense when KGC put in Daryl Monroe. In fact, it is true that KGC’s offensive flow revived after Monroe’s introduction. But that’s not enough to explain the embarrassing complete breakdown of SK’s performance in the fourth quarter.

While SK only scored 10 points in the 4th quarter, the field goal rate was only 30.8% (4/13), and in the rebound fight, it was greatly pushed 3-9, allowing KGC an offensive rebound and a second chance. SK in the 1st, 3rd and 4th quarters were completely different teams.

The root cause was also physical exhaustion. Since SK has come up from the playoffs in the 6th round and has less available resources than KGC, the physical burden is heavy. Coach Jeon Hee-chul used an irregular lineup that boldly excluded Warney and Kim Seon-hyung from the starting lineup in the 4th and 5th games, and arranged some physical strength.

However, on this day, he showed his firm will to finish the match in the 6th game and let Choi Boo-kyung play full-time and Warney 37 minutes and 59 seconds. Kim Seon-hyung and Heo Il-young also digested more than 30 minutes. It was necessary to use the proper rotation or operation time to give the players a break, but the flow was so good until the middle of the 3rd quarter, so pushing without making any changes became rather poisonous in the 4th quarter. Once they turned the flow, the footwork of the tired SK players became more blunt, and they had to wait helplessly for a great defeat. This is why coach Jeon Hee-cheol has no choice but to go deeper into game management in the 7th game, where SK’s stamina has run out and KGC’s momentum has risen.

The reason why this championship series is particularly interesting is that the game itself is fierce, but it shows the aspect of General Meng-gun, where the flow of the game is often overturned according to the meticulous confrontation on the bench. If coach Jeon Hee-cheol showed customized tactics such as Warney-Kim Sun-hyung’s 2-on-2 game and a modified 3-2 drop zone, coach Kim Sang-sik would show Moon Seong-gon and Kim Sun-hyung’s match-up, a three-guard team centered on Byun Jun-hyung, and Monroe and Spellman’s participation. It is responding with a double squad tactic in which the team color changes depending on the team. Depending on the timing of tactical changes and player substitutions, the mood of the game often fluctuates.

Both teams now have only the last Game 7 with no tomorrow left. Both teams are showing a great game so it wouldn’t be strange who wins. Attention is focusing on who will become the ‘game changer’ that will decide the fate of the series in the final game ㅋㅋㅋ벳.