KBL Championship Series Begins
[Sport] Basketball
By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
The time has come for the Korean Basketball League (KBL) champion to be decided.
The third-ranked KCC Egis and top-seeded Ulsan Mobis start their best-of-seven championship series Wednesday.
While the teams' head coaches are wary of their opponent's strengths, they both revealed confidence in their players at a joint press conference Monday.
"Though we have come in first in the regular season four of the last five seasons, we have only won the champion series once," Mobis head coach Yoo Jae-hak said. "This is disgraceful. I'll make sure that we are the ones celebrating at the end this time."
Egis head coach Hur Jae said: "Last season we finished third in the regular season and got our championship rings. This season we were also ranked third and so I'm feeling good."
While most commentators expect the series to go to Game 7, the Ulsan and Jeonju-based teams are focusing their energy on the first game.
In the history of the championship series, the winner of Game 1 has gone on to win the series 76.9 percent of the time.
In addition to the statistic, the scheduling of the series also seems to favor the winner of the first clash.
After Game 1 in Ulsan, there will be a two-day break followed by back-to-back games - in Ulsan Saturday and Jeonju Sunday.
"It is very important to seize momentum, so the first game is very important," the Mobis head coach said.
The Egis manager had a similar take. "After Game 1, we play two consecutive games over the weekend, so I want to create a positive mood by winning the first one," Hur said.
Key Players
In the press conference Hur and Yoo both mentioned their hope that particular players on their squads would step up.
"In the second round, Kim Dong-woo really stood out, and I expect this of Park Jong-cheon or Chun Dae-hyun in the final round," Yoo said.
The first man that the Mobis have to tie up is ethnic Korean point guard Jun Tae-poong.
Jun has had a tremendous post season, averaging 17 points and 7.8 assists in eight games, exceeding his regular season numbers of 14.4 points and 4.7 assists.
"I saw all of the second-round games between the Egis and the KT SonicBoom and to be honest we will be under a lot of pressure to defend Jun," Mobis point guard Yang dong-geun said Sunday.
"His shot timing is totally different from that of domestic players and that makes him hard to defend. As Jun is a good shooter and takes a low position when dribbling to get good penetration, he's difficult to single-cover for sure.
"But we have a good defense based on well-organized rotation. I will put all my effort into defending him and trust my teammates," said Yang.
The Mobis also have to prepare a strategy to defend two import players, Terrence Leather and Ivan Johnson.
The 2-meter tall Americans have been simply overwhelming, combining for an average 32 points and 11.25 boards in the eight playoff games. As the KBL doesn't allow teams to play two imports at the same time, the Mobis won't have to defend both simultaneously.
The Egis, meanwhile, will have the challenge of defending Mobis center Ham Ji-hoon, the regular season Most Valuable Player (MVP), Yang and Bryant Dunston.
In his team's four playoff games, Ham has averaged 13 points and 5.3 rebounds, but his true worth lies in generating scoring chances for his teammates.
If the Egis don't defend Ham, he will likely score near the rim ― his field goal percentage is 60.7 percent.
Ham and import Dunston form a formidable duo. The second-year foreigner averaged 14.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in the regular season.
In addition, they have Yang, the-28-year-old guard who was considered the best in the league before Jun came to the KBL.
Yang grabbed the Rookie of Year award in the 2005-06 and led his side to the championship in 2006-07.
Yang had to enter military service for two years but returned to show his value this season.
Though Yang's stats ― 11.4 points, 5.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds ― are slightly below Jun's in the regular season, they have risen in the postseason to 10.8 points, 6.5 assists with four rebounds.
Spear vs. Shield
The Egis are the most aggressive team in the KBL. The Jeonju-based team has the highest scoring average at 83.6 points.
Meanwhile the Ulsan-based team is the best defensive team, allowing only 73.9 points per game.
But this doesn't mean that the Mobis are weak offensively - they are ranked second in scoring at 82.7.
The Egis ranked fifth in defense this season, allowing an average of 79.2 points.
In six head-to-head games this season, the Mobis came out ahead, 4-2.
Other Variables
This is the first year that the last three games of the championship series are scheduled to be held in the neutral region of Seoul.
Due to this change, the Mobis won't be guaranteed of home court advantage in Games 5, 6 and 7, which has been the case for the highest-seeded team in previous seasons.
Another variable is whether Egis domestic center Ha Seung-jin will return.
The 2.21-meter center's comeback would cause problems for the Mobis. But after his short appearance after returning from injury in Game 1 of the first round, he is still recovering and head coach Hur of the Egis will reveal his status before Game 1.
The seven-month long journey is almost at its end. With only the Mobis and Egis still standing, they will look to dig deep and produce what is necessary to hoist the championship trophy.