*This article was published in the May issue of Rookie.
This time… the high expectations
The last 2021-2022 season was the biggest opportunity for KT. Heo Hoon and Yang Hong-seok’s one-two punch remained intact, and Ha Yoon-ki was rescued in the draft, drawing attention for his solid depth. Since it was the season just before Heo Hoon’s enlistment, KT was desperate to win.
However,온라인카지노 KT unfortunately missed the opportunity. In the regular league, it was cruising by climbing to 2nd overall, but collapsed by KGC in the playoff stage. KT, who missed the golden opportunity to win, had to prepare for a new season in the absence of Heo Hoon, who enlisted in Sangmu.
However, KT in the 2022-2023 season was also expected to be strong. Although there is a gap for Heo Hoon, Yang Hong-seok, ahead of the FA season, has received attention as a leap forward as a first option, and Ha Yoon-gi’s growth has also raised expectations. SK, who just won the championship in the previous season, had a gap in Ahn Young-jun’s enlistment, and KGC was also in a situation where its power was greatly weakened due to Jeon Seong-hyun’s transfer. KT was given another chance.
The cup competition held ahead of the season further raised these expectations. KT won the championship by defeating Hyundai Mobis in the final of the cup competition. Even though Landry Nnoko, who was selected as a foreign player for the first option, was absent due to injury, he obtained the championship trophy and showed off his dignity as a strong champion. In particular, EJ Anoshike, who was recruited with the second option, won the MVP award by averaging 27.0 points and 12.0 rebounds. KT, which had been somewhat disappointed in the selection of foreign players, had no choice but to smile at the sign of a ‘big hit foreigner’ that appeared after a long time.
Like this, KT’s off-season was perfect itself. It was expected that if Eunnoko joined normally, he would be able to show off a more powerful majesty. In this way, KT entered the regular league with full confidence by winning the cup competition.
Uneasy start
KT’s first game of the season was held on October 15th. The opponent was Hyundai Mobis, who faced in the final of the cup competition. Ahead of the match, head coach Seo Dong-cheol said, “I think I’ve spent the off-season well. I haven’t hit 100% yet, but I’ve hit a lot of points. I want to ride a good flow from the beginning. I am,” he said with strong confidence.
Contrary to director Seo’s expectations, however, KT’s early days were uneasy. KT, who lost 76-85 to Hyundai Mobis in the opening game, won the first win of the season against Samsung, the second opponent. However, even in the game against Samsung, KT did not show the expected performance at all, falling behind by 16 points until the third quarter.
KT, who won its first win in two games, but showed unstable performance, collapsed afterwards. Starting with the DB match on October 22nd, he fell into a swamp of 4 consecutive losses. As a result, in the first 6 games after the opening, I got a report card of 1 win and 5 losses. It was the exact opposite of what was expected in the first place. It was a start that everyone couldn’t help but be embarrassed by.
Even after that, KT’s sluggishness hardly improved. KT, who finished the first round with 3 wins and 6 losses, failed to rebound in the second round and recorded 3 wins and 6 losses. Although they managed to win from time to time, they could not make up for the sluggishness at the beginning of the season by not being able to ride the flow of winning streaks. When the situation came to this, KT’s sluggishness was no longer considered ‘temporary’.
Landry Nnoko, a foreign player who was considered the number one option, did not meet expectations at all. Initially, Eunnoko was recruited with expectations for defense. I didn’t have high expectations for his offensive power, but Ennoko failed to meet even those low offensive expectations. Nnoko, who played 20 games, averaged only 5.6 points. He was at a level where he couldn’t possibly be assigned a first-option role.
In addition, his defense was also below expectations. His movements were sluggish, and it was difficult to find the will to do so. Even against domestic players, it is Eunnoko who has not been able to gain an advantage. In a word, Eunnoko was the first option that received failing grades in both offense and defense. His sluggishness continued for quite a long time to be attributed to the aftermath of his shoulder injury before the season.
In the end, Nnoko played only 20 games and went through the process of expulsion. He was the second foreign player to pack after Justin Knox, but considering that Knox was replaced due to an injury, Eunnoko was the first player in the league to be kicked out due to poor performance.
Like short-lived hope
, KT continued its sluggish performance with 1 option foreign players showing the worst efficiency. In the end, a situation unfolded in which EJ Anoshike, who was recruited as the second option, had to take on the role of the first option.
The problem is that Anoshike also failed to show his performance at all. The confident scoring performance that he showed in the cup competition was nowhere to be found even after washing his eyes. He raised an average of 13.7 points, but if this is also based on foreign players, it must be seen that he did not meet expectations at all.
In addition, the efficiency was at the bottom, such as 2-point field goal rate of 45.8% and 3-point field goal rate of only 29.3%. Although he had occasional exploding days, he is an Anoshike who rides a roller coaster almost every game and exposes himself with serious ups and downs. It was to the point of doubting whether he was the same person as the player he had seen in the cup competition.
As such, both foreign player cards that KT ambitiously recruited failed. Of course, they cannot be blamed for all the causes of the sluggishness at the beginning of the season, but it was undeniable that their sluggishness accounted for a large part due to the nature of the league, where the proportion of foreign players was quite important. Coach Seo Dong-cheol’s worries deepened due to the unexpected sluggish performance of foreign players.
KT, who had no hope at this rate, eventually made a bold decision. It was decided to replace two foreign players who could not get out of the swamp of sluggishness at the same time. It is KT who attempted a reversal by throwing a virtual adventure number that uses only two replacement cards at the same time.
While Nnoko and Anoshike packed their bags, the new players were Jarrod Jones and Lester Prosper.
Jones took over the new first-option role. Unlike Nnoko, he was an offensive player with an outside shot. He was highly anticipated as a player with thick bones in Europe such as Italy, Turkey, France and Spain. In the case of Prosper, he was a solid big man who played in the Philippines right before joining KT and averaged 28.7 points and 15.6 rebounds in 10 games.
As soon as they started operating in earnest, KT immediately saw the effect. The point when the two players started to operate in earnest was on December 23rd at the KOGAS match. Starting from this game, KT ran for 6 consecutive wins and finally succeeded in rebounding. After that, the winning streak was stopped, but it was KT who saw hope by recording 6 wins and 3 losses in the 3rd round.
However, KT’s hopes quickly faded. After the 4th round, KT, who could no longer ride the atmosphere, continued to stay in the lower ranks. KCC and DB were both sluggish and the last chance came, but after 3 wins and 6 losses in the 5th round, they collapsed terribly with 2 wins and 7 losses in the 6th round, and the last chance was not saved either.
Team MVP | Ha Yoon -ki
51G 29:45 15.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists
While Yang Hong-seok, who was expected to be an ace, performed slower than expected, Ha Yoon-ki’s hard work was light and salt for KT. Ha Yun-ki, who had a great rookie season last season with an average of 7.5 points, returned to his second year with a much improved figure this season.
Ha Yoon-ki, who ranked first in scoring by domestic players in the team, played an active role as a practical ace of domestic players. Ha Yun-ki showed off his skills by sweeping various awards such as his skill development award and All-Star Game MVP. Ha Yoon-gi, who showed fierce growth, performed well enough to be considered KT’s MVP for the 2022-2023 season.
Team RISING STAR | Lee Doo -Won
27G 08:27 3.1 Points 1. Rebound
KT produced a miracle this season as well by obtaining the second overall pick in the draft. So, the newly appointed player by KT is Lee Doo-won. Lee Doo-won, a big man from Korea University, received a lot of attention as a resource to protect KT’s goal along with Ha Yoon-ki.
Amid Ha Yoon-gi’s successive successes, Lee Doo-won was not given many opportunities during his rookie season. However, Lee Doo-won did his best to leave an impact despite the few opportunities given to him. In particular, it is Lee Doo-won who raised expectations for the next season by raising 16 points in the last game of the season.
