By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
The three-game Korean Basketball League (KBL) playoff series between the KT&G Kites and the SK Knights could be very much determined by the clash between two of the league's best playmakers.
Joo Hee-jung, the Kites' 31-year-old veteran who topped the league by averaging 7.3 assists per game, looks to contain a younger version of himself in the Knights' 24-year-old rookie Kim Tae-sul, who finished just 22 assists shy of the league lead, as the two teams begin the playoffs in Anyang today. The winners of the series will face the first-place Dongbu Promy in the second round of the playoffs.
On the other side of the postseason bracket, the Samsung Thunders and LG Sakers will lock in a best-of-three series for the rights to meet the second-place KCC Egis.
The Kites are favored to win their series against the Knights, who are concerned over the fitness of productive swingman Bang Sung-yoon. Bang, who averaged 22.1 points during the regular season, has been hot and cold since coming off a two-month hiatus in early March after nursing a knee injury.
Even with an inconsistent Bang, the Knights have plenty of firepower, with Gyasi Cline-Heard and Brandon Robinson getting buckets in the paint and veteran shooter Moon Kyong-eun raining jumpers from beyond the arch.
However, point guard Kim is the team's only backcourt player who can create his own shots and his game management skills will be crucial against the Kites, especially late in the game when he will be responsible for hitting the hole for key baskets or fouls.
Joo benefits from having a creative backcourt partner in Hwang Jin-won, and 1.94-meter swingman Yang Hee-jong is also a quality slasher with a sweet touch from the perimeter.
The Kites' frontcourt combination of Marquin Chandler and T.J. Cummings, the son of former National Basketball Association (NBA) All-star Terry Cummings, are formidable options in the paint and benefit from the in-between game led by Joo and Yang.