There was no consecutive defeat to Anyang KGC, the strongest team this season. KGC beat Seoul SK 81-67 in the second game of the professional basketball championship game held at Anyang Gymnasium on the 27th. It was the beginning of a counterattack to wash away the shock defeat in Game 1. In the championship match, KGC started the series with an evaluation that it was one step above in terms of objective power. Unexpectedly, the team that caught the first game was SK, and the disappointment of KGC fans watching this was great.
A variety of opinionsㅋㅋㅋ벳 poured out like a trough, ranging from voices saying, “Isn’t it too complacent?” However, in a situation where the confrontation between specific teams continues, such as in the championship match, it is more difficult to achieve a one-sided win or loss unless there is a significant difference in power. Moreover, KGC is a team that is evaluated as having a stronger power than SK.
While KGC boasts a close-to-perfect balance across all positions and has a strong player base, SK suffers from a gap between Ahn Young-jun and Choi Jun-yong, the main players who won the combined championship last season. The ‘MVP combination’ of regular season MVP Kim Seon-hyung (34‧187cm) and best foreign player Jamil Warney (29‧199cm) is playing a one-two punch in firepower basketball, but even if there was only one of the two, the power would have been different.
There may be many reasons why KGC gave up the first game, but a big part was letting SK’s main ball handler Kim Seon-hyeong play out. Byun Jun-hyung and Park Ji-hoon took turns putting up a pressure defense, but they didn’t look like opponents. It’s not that they couldn’t do it, but Kim’s form was at its peak, so he couldn’t put the brakes on the acceleration engine.
As proven throughout the playoffs, the starting point of SK’s offense is Kim Seon-hyung. Kim Seon-hyung stirs up the opponent’s defense with individual attacks, taking turns with Warney as the main gun and playing a 2-on-2 play. In the meantime, when the defense’s eyes are focused on the one-two punch, Choi Won-hyeok, Choi Seong-won, and Oh Jae-hyun, who earned the nickname ‘three mannequins’ after entering the playoffs, look after Bu-kyung Choi near the post and Il-young Heo outside, and increase their energy level while taking turns. adds up to
Because of this, KGC had to risk life and death against Kim Seon-hyung’s blockade, so the card that was brought out in the second game was Moon Seong-gon (30‧195.6cm), the ‘King of Defense for 4 consecutive years’. Moon Seong-gon is recognized by others as the best defender in active play. In KBL history, there are very few players who have dominated the game with defense, such as Shin Myeong-ho and Yang Hee-jong. Moon Sung-gon is evaluated as succeeding such a ‘super defender’ genealogy.
As can be seen from his nicknames such as ‘Moon Gil-dong’ who flashes in the east and ‘Hunting dog’ who never misses an opponent once taken, Sung-gon Moon’s obsession with the ball or marksman is enormous. Contrary to his rather mild-mannered appearance, his eyes start to change when he enters the court. Compared to his other team’s main forwards, his offensive power is on the low side, but he contributes to the team with his tremendous defensive power that is more than offset.
He excels in speed relative to his height, athleticism, and stamina, so he runs around tremendously throughout the game. He constantly walks around the court and raises the team’s energy level, as well as boosts his mood through non-stop hustle play. His footwork and jumping power are also outstanding, and he is showing the best in both horizontal and vertical defense.
It is evaluated that he has a strong understanding of team defense, such as showing strength in the offensive and defensive rebound competition through active boxing out and positioning, and in addition to helping defense at amazing timing. In particular, he has a very high will to rebound, so if the ball hits the rim and bounces off, he runs out and fights. It feels like playing with full power without any pace adjustments, but despite this, the energy level doesn’t drop until the end of the game.
In the second match, Seong-Gon Moon received a special order to block Kim Seon-Hyung and went to the court. As can be seen from the words, “I prevented them from dying together,” Seong-gon Moon was prepared to be ‘together with Kim Seon-hyung’ or ‘together with each other’. They harassed them in various forms, such as pressing hard from the front line, intentionally opening a certain space, and then going to help defense with the back line players.
Kim Sun-hyung is also a person, although he is showing an active performance this season as if he has forgotten his age. In the absence of Ahn Young-jun and Choi Jun-yong, he carried a heavy burden on his shoulders throughout the regular season and performed his role as a field commander, assault leader, and native ace alone, and played again and again in the playoffs. Considering his age in his mid-thirties, it’s strange that his stamina isn’t exhausted.
In such a situation, the best defensive forward in the league, Moon Seong-gon, openly marked himself as a dedicated player, so the difficulty could not help but be great. In the first game, Kim Seon-hyeong played an all-round performance with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists. He did whatever he wanted, whether it was an attack or a pass. On the other hand, in the second game, 10 points, 2 rebounds and 10 assists showed a clear difference from his record.
Most notable was the number of shots attempted. He only took 7 shots in Game 2 compared to 15 shots attempted in Game 1. Moon Seong-gon is a defender with an animalistic sense. He has an excellent ability to instinctively read and respond to opponents’ strengths while facing opponents of various styles. Kim Seon-hyeong is a striker who is good at rhythm, but in the second game, Moon Seong-gon saw through that rhythm and naturally put himself into that rhythm, trapping the target in the shadow of the defense.
In addition, Moon Seong-gon thoroughly studied Kim Seon-hyung and appeared to be on the defensive. Recently, what has made Kim Seon-hyeong even more frightening is that he constantly shakes the defense through various fake moves in addition to his unique speed and athletic ability. Moon Seong-gon was seldom fooled by various fake motions in addition to the predictive defense that blocks the road in advance, as if he had predicted the direction of Kim Seon-hyung’s attack.
This is the reason why Kim Seon-hyung’s performance decreased compared to other games, even though his condition was not bad. It was like Roderick Hannibal, who used to put the shackles on Lee Sang-min during the championship match between Hyundai and SK in the past. Of course, a master like Kim Seon-hyeong does not get hit by the same number in a row. In Game 3, it is clear that he will come out with a different strategy in preparation for Moon Seong-gon’s defense.
Can Moon Seong-gon again use the iron wall shield against Kim Seon-hyeong, the ‘strongest spear that can pierce anything’? KGC fans have no doubt that if it is Moon Seong-gon and no one else, he will carry out that difficult mission. If you can’t keep it, you’re not Moon Seong-gon.