"What's important is the will to defend."

Busan KCC, a professional basketball team that seeks to leap to the top, has turned on its emergency light to digest the schedule in the second half of the year due to a series of injuries. Referring to Seoul SK, which beat the league's leader Wonju DB while major scorers were injured, KCC coach Jeon Chang-jin stressed that "basic defense must be observed to boost performance."

"Lee Ho-hyun will be out for more than four weeks due to a torn ligament in his left ankle. This is the part where he gets hurt the most when his ankle is bent outward," a KCC source said in a telephone interview with the Seoul Shimbun on Tuesday. "Jung Chang-young fractured his right side of his nose. He will have surgery on Wednesday, and we have to see if he can play in two weeks with a mask on."

KCC beat Seoul Samsung 90-74 in an away game of the 2023-24 regular season of professional basketball held at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul on the previous day, but lost two guards. After intercepting Kofi Coburn's ball, Lee Ho-hyun sprained his ankle while raising a layup for his fastball in the first attack. Lee, who collapsed, complained of pain and was carried off the court by Kwak Jung-hoon to the locker room. Jung Chang-young was hit in the face by teammate Ra Gun-ah's left arm while participating in the rebound at the end of the third quarter.

KCC, which is missing Song Kyo-chang due to a muscle injury in his right calf, is more worried. In particular, the defense, which remains sixth overall with 84.4 points per game, is a problem. KCC, which lost against Changwon LG on the 19th by giving up 101 points, was also dragged to 48 points in the first half against Samsung. However, in the second half, Choi Joon-yong and Ra Gun-ah blocked their opponents Lee Won-seok and Coburn and reduced them to 26 points to win the game.

Before the game against Samsung, Jeon said, "It could be due to lack of support from Song Kyo-chang, but we need the will of our players. If you give up easy points and try to chase after them with attack, you will lose in the fight, which makes it difficult to win." "It is regrettable that Jung Chang-young (not a professional defender) has to take the role of ace in the opponent team," Jeon said before the game.

Jeon suggested SK's game as an exemplary case. SK won against DB on Tuesday at a time when its offensive resources such as Kim Sun-hyung, Ahn Young-joon, and Heo Il-young were all out. While choking defense from Oh Jae-hyun and Choi Won-hyuk to Song Chang-yong and Jamil Warney, the team tied DB with 68 points, the only team scoring more than 90 points per game on average. It was the first game in which DB scored around 60 points this season.

The second half of both KCC and SK will likely see their performances split in defense. "SK was able to beat DB thanks to defense," coach Jeon Chang-jin said. "It is very attractive that a team that is inferior in capability will play hard in defense and win," adding, "On the day, condition, schedule of the game and physical arrangement are all important, but defense is the first thing."  토토사이트