Will Samsung Life bring a crack to the Yanggang structure?
Yongin’s Samsung Life defeated the Cheongju KB Stars 67-59 on Nov. 17, causing a small tectonic shift in the Women’s Korean Basketball League (WKBL) for the 2023-2024 season.
KB, which was tied for first place with Asan Woori Bank with an 11-1 record, dropped to second place with an 11-2 record with the loss.
Samsung Life improved to 6-6 and moved to within 1.5 games of fourth-place Bucheon Hana OneQ (5-8).
While the gap between the first and second place teams and the third and fourth place teams is more than five games, it will be interesting to see if Samsung Life will gradually return to its “full” form and threaten the “two-horse race”.
Samsung Life has a number of promising players, including Kiana Smith and Kang Yoo-rim, but the team has been plagued by injuries at the start of each season.
This season also saw the return of Lee Ju-yeon and Smith, who were injured last season, but the likes of Lee Hae-ran and Yoon Ye-bin have yet to recover from their injuries.
Woori Bank and K-Bee’s Yanggang from the start were the only teams that could shake things up, which is why they had to settle for third place. 토토사이트
Samsung Life began to show signs of life on Nov. 14, when it defeated Busan BNK 74-69 to end a three-game losing streak.
The victory was largely thanks to 2019-20 Rookie of the Year Kang Yoo-rim, who scored double-digit points in back-to-back games against BNK.
Kang is known for his rapid improvement in the 2022-2023 season, where he trained at dawn to take 500 shots. “
Right before the season started, my shots started not going in, and I became mentally weak,” he told reporters after the game.
Recently, I started practicing early morning shooting again, and I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but I scored 17 points in my first game after that, against Bikkie.”
The growth of the “sixth men” (candidates) like Shin Isul and Cho Soo-ah is also scary.
The sixth men, who were given the chance to step up and fill the gaps left by Smith, Yoon, Lee, and Lee Ju-yeon last season, are starting to show their true colors this season.
Shin, who began to make her presence felt in the 2021-2022 playoffs, averaged over 20 minutes per game last season.
This season, she has established herself as the “go-to” guard, starting all 12 games and averaging over 33 minutes per game, with 9.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.
Jo Soo-ah, born in 2003, has also been a “game changer” this season, starting all 12 games.
“The results of the growth of the sixth men, who received relatively more playing time due to injuries to the main players last season, were all on display in the 18th cavalcade,” said Kim Il-doo, “Samsung Life is becoming a scary team as it regains its full form.”
“Even though the two-way tie may not be easy to break, Samsung Life will at least be a team that Woori Bank and KEB will be afraid of,” said commentator Ahn Deok-soo. “
Rather than being satisfied with being considered a dark horse, (Samsung Life) should have the confidence to ‘create a three-way tie’ so that they can take a step forward and shake things up.”
