I came to Changwon with the goal of 1 win and 1 loss, but the players followed suit well for winning 1 game. The day after tomorrow (16th), I hope to win 2.”
Seoul SK defeated Changwon LG 73-68 in the first game of the 2022-2023 SKT A-Dot Pro Basketball Quarterfinals playoff held at Changwon Gymnasium on the 14th. From the regular league to the Changwon expedition, the pleasant energy of each victory continued today.
SK, who took the lead by scoring 8 points in a row from the start of the game, conceded 8 points in a row. After that, SK, which had been fighting closely, lost the flow in the second quarter because it could not stop Reggie Perry. SK, which was behind by 11 points in the 3rd quarter, showed its concentration from the middle of the 3rd quarter. In an instant, he turned around by posting 15 points in a row. This opportunity was not missed any more. In the fourth quarter, they ran away with a double-digit score difference and virtually decided the game.
SK coach Jeon Hee-cheol said after the victory that day, “It feels good to win. He made 11 mistakes in the first half alone. After the first half, he reprimanded me. I had to find my composure, but I was excited and full of motivation. I have to be motivated in defense, but I tried to do it in attack, but I overreacted and made a mistake.” If the intensity of LG’s pressure continued, it would have been a tough game until the 4th quarter. Due to physical problems in the second half, the intensity of the pressure has weakened,” he looked back on the game.
“Warney and Choi Boo-kyung did well after using a different pattern. Players commented. We went with something other than our pattern, and it worked. Bukyung had a lot of opportunities, and Warney became a one-beat fast attack. In the defense that suffered in the first half, we made a lot of steals on the contrary. It was different from the first half. I keep talking about this in interviews,” he said. I let it go and I followed it step by step. If we play and the game doesn’t work, the answer won’t come out. In the first half, it was not our play, so there was faith that mistakes would come out and catch up. I thought that if the play returned to normal, the space would open up and I would be able to follow. From then on, Warney scored. The players I believed in did a good job,” he added.
Before the first game, Lee Kwan-hee said, “SK has a defender, but to me, he is a mannequin.” Director Jeon Hee-chul called Choi Won-hyeok, Choi Seong-won, and Oh Jae-hyun mannequins 1, 2, and 3 because of this.
Regarding the defense of these three players, coach Jeon Hee-cheol said, “The defense was good. (The 3-point shot) didn’t explode, but the defense was really good. I made a little mistake. The attack is two shots of Seong-won Choi (3-point shot) and one shot of Won-hyeok Choi, just three shots. It seems a little bit irritating. He tried to catch up to the end. He is also good at defense.”
Regarding the part where LG’s pressure has weakened, director Jeon Hee-chul said, “I think it’s psychology. If you look behind and turn over, you lose your pulse. It is the psychology of the moment when we score points after leading by 11 points. There are some things that are difficult in terms of stamina, but if you reverse it, that’s good. The opponent can sink it in an instant,” he said. “I see a lot of things like that when the flow changes. When the players are focused, they focus. It was an away game, but it created a home-like atmosphere. He took it well in the first half, but was sluggish in the second quarter. Today, Bukyung did a bloody job.”
Finally, coach Jeon Hee-cheol said,안전놀이터 “I came to Changwon with the goal of 1 win and 1 loss, but the players followed suit well. The day after tomorrow (16th), I hope to win 2. Please write in the wind.”