Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation wins Carrot by 89-61… Myth just came to an end The
myth of the Frog Corps’ basketball ‘Woo Saeng-soon (the best moment in our lives)’ has come to an end.
On April 19th, in the 4th game of the 2022-23 professional basketball semifinal playoffs (PO, 3 out of 5 matches) held at the Goyang Indoor Gymnasium, Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation won a 89-61 victory over Carrot.
KGC, which recorded 3 wins and 1 loss, succeeded in advancing to the championship match for 3 consecutive seasons and competed for the championship with Seoul SK for the 2nd year in a row. And the hot spring basketball journey of the Carrot team, who struggled under adverse conditions, also came to a halt in the semifinals.
No team has been as eventful as Carrot this season. In both positive and negative ways, Carrot has been at the center of basketball talk all season.
The operating body of Carrot is Day One Asset Management (Day One Sports), a corporation whose parent company is Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering & Construction. Day One took over the Goyang Orion basketball team in 2022 and re-founded it, inheriting the hometown as it is. Heo Jae, who was raising the stock price as a basketball legend and broadcaster, became co-CEO, and Kim Seung-gi, the winning player of Anyang KGC, and Jeon Seong-hyun, a shooter who became a free agent, became a hot topic. In addition, a naming sponsor system was introduced for the first time in the professional basketball world, and Carrot Insurance took over as the first main sponsor, and the team was named Goyang Carrot Jumpers.
However, from the start, the team’s management was followed by question marks, creating anxiety. Day One had already had noise in the process of acquisition negotiations with Orion, and in the review for new member companies conducted by KBL in June of last year, membership was suspended once due to poor data such as the club’s operation plan, and then the parent company, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering After submitting construction support guarantee materials, it went through twists and turns to be approved for membership. Also, prior to the opening of the regular season, he had not paid 500 million won, which he had to pay first out of the KBL subscription fee of 1.5 billion won, and only managed to pay the first subscription fee after receiving a warning from KBL that he was not allowed to participate in the regular season.
Even after the season started, accidents continued to happen. Since last January, Day One has lost his trust by failing to pay wages for the players and the secretariat on time. Even the parent company, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering & Construction, suffered a deteriorating business condition and received a decision to initiate corporate rehabilitation procedures by the court in February. In addition, the main sponsor, Carrot Insurance, terminated the naming sponsorship contract in March after mutual consultation with Day One Sports. In the end, it was known that Day One gave up running the basketball team in less than a year after its founding and is negotiating a takeover with a new company.
To make matters worse, Carrot almost never stepped on the spring basketball stage even if she qualified for the PO. Carrot was in danger of being deprived of the PO participation ticket because he failed to pay the 1 billion won subscription fee due to KBL in full. KBL issued an ultimatum, saying that if the subscription fee was not paid in full by the deadline, Carrot would be disqualified and the 7th place team could go to the playoffs instead. Fortunately, with the deadline on the 31st of last month just around the corner, he managed to pay the subscription fee in full, avoiding the worst lameness, and Carrot was able to safely launch his first PO.
As such, the club and parent company showed the worst moves every day, but the players showed amazing fighting spirit and potential even under adverse conditions, causing a ‘new team blast’.
Even before the start of the season, Carrot was treated as a weak player in terms of power. Lee Seung-hyeon (KCC) and Lee Dae-seong (Korea Gas Corporation), who were the main players of the former Orion era, all left the team, and the poor height (34.4 rebounds) and thin player base were pointed out as weaknesses. Even coach Kim Seung-gi told us not to put high expectations on this season’s results. However, Carrot produced a surprise to catch the strong teams with the unconventional ‘archery basketball (11.5 3-point shots/1st place)’ centered on Jeon Seong-hyun and Lee Jung-hyun and the stealing defense (7.4 steals/2nd place).
Carrot recorded a win rate of over 50% with a record of 28 wins and 26 losses, and was ranked 5th in the regular league, confirming his advance into PO on his own early. Ace Jeon Seong-hyun (17.6 points, 3.4 3-point shots, 3-point success rate 37.5%) slowed down due to an injury in the second half of the season, but showed an “MVP-level” pace until the early and mid-season, achieving a new record of successful 3-pointers in 76 consecutive games and the best 5 awards in the league. Second-year Lee Jung-hyeon (15 points, 4.2 assists, 1.7 steals) also quickly grew into an all-star player in the league under coach Kim Seung-gi’s training, and in the playoffs, he became an ace by filling the vacant position of Jeon Seong-hyun.
Even ahead of the playoffs, the undervaluation toward Carrot continued. Carrot was in an environment where it was difficult for players to focus on basketball comfortably until the end of the regular season as the team faced the risk of deprivation of the PO qualification due to unpaid wages. In addition, ahead of foreign player David Simon’s season out-playoff in the middle of the regular season, bad news continued in terms of power, such as ace Jeon Seong-hyun’s sudden hearing loss injury, and the prospects were not bright. In a difficult situation, coach Kim Seung-gi comforted the team, promising, “The company will take care of the company’s problems, and we will do everything we have to do to the end.”
On the stage of spring basketball, which he stepped on after such twists and turns, Carrot produced another miracle. Against Ulsan Hyundai Mobis, 4th place in the regular league, which he met at the PO stage of the 6th round, Carrot achieved an upset that surpassed the regular league ranking after a close battle leading to the final 5th game.
And the opponent they met in the semifinals was KGC,카지노사이트the home team of coach Kim Seung-gi and Jeon Seong-hyun, who won the ‘Wire-to-Wire’ championship without ever coming down from the lead in the regular league this season. After leaving KGC, coach Kim Seung-gi made remarks attacking his former team several times, but eventually received protests and received a warning from KBL. The confrontation between the two teams, which became a delicate relationship, was also called the ‘Kim Seung-gi Derby’.
In fact, this series was considered a match between David and Goliath. The difference in power between the two teams was large, and Carrot was already in a situation where the squad was discharged as much as it was discharged due to the bloody battle from the 6th to the 5th game. KGC’s advantage was clear, and the concern was how well Carrot would perform.
As a result, it did not deviate much from expectations. Carrot lost 43-99 from the first game, and was humiliated with the lowest score in PO history and the largest score loss in history. The second game was captured by 89-75, but the 3rd and 4th games at home were given back in a row, and the final game had to reduce the unavoidable difference in power with a complete defeat by 28 points again.
However, many experts evaluate Carrot’s 1 win against KGC in a difficult situation as great. Although Carrot lost in the 3rd game, he once pushed KGC fiercely and promoted it. Lee Jung-hyun and Jeon Seong-hyun showed what true fighting spirit is by struggling to the end despite physical burdens and minor injuries, and coach Kim Seung-gi showed that success at KGC is not just ‘player’ with his unique elaborate resourcefulness and sticky game management. Proved.
Carrot earned the nickname ‘Inspiring Carrot’ through his performance in basketball this spring. Fans generously applauded the hard work of the Carrot players who came up here despite the worst conditions. Coach Seung-gi Kim said with tears in his eyes, “I was happy to see the players do their best and grow during the season.”
The reason Carrot’s blast this season leaves a deep impression is that it is highly likely that the club will be sold again sooner or later, and both Day One and Carrot names will disappear into history. It is also a clear fact that the irresponsible behavior of Day One, apart from the team’s promotion, has driven the professional basketball world into unprecedented bankruptcy several times.
In the past, there were clubs such as Korea Tender and E-Land that achieved results under difficult circumstances, but at least they did not deceive the fans and the basketball world. Events like Day One should never be repeated in professional sports.
However, even if the parent company changes, the players remain and basketball continues. The indomitable fighting spirit and hungry spirit shown by the Carrot team changed the journey of the new team, which could have ended in a dead end, into a touching one. Players deserve to meet a more stable club and play basketball in a good environment and supported by fans. Leaving a short and bold year, Carrot will disappear into history, but next season, we look forward to seeing the more developed players wearing different name tags and uniforms.