By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
Powerful Korean center Seo Jang-hoon of the KCC Egis became the first player to score 10,000 points in Korean Basketball League (KBL) history at Jeonju stadium Wednesday.
It came in Seo's 462nd match since he debuted in the KBL Nov. 14, 1998, against the Daegu Dongyang Orions, a predecessor of the Daegu Orions. And he scored his landmark point with the clock timed 48 seconds in the first quarter against the LG Sakers, with the final score going 98-89 in the Egis' favor.
Seo has won the championship twice, equaling that achievement by also grabbing the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award twice.
The basket that took Seo beyond the 10,000-point mark was scored near the rim, just in front of the LG Sakers forward Hyun Joo-yup. The entire crowd inside the arena - and even the Sakers players - gave Seo a standing ovation to mark the tremendous record.
``I was really touched when all the people gave me a hand for my 10,000th point,'' Seo said.
During his career he has recorded a 54.3 percent two-point success rate, 36 percent at three-point and 76.6 percent for free throw. Even though Seo's position is center, his record is as accurate as a shooting guard.
His personal record of scoring the most points in a game, 44, came against the Incheon Daewoo - a predecessor of the ET Land Black Slamer - Feb 7. 1999.
``If players score 13 or 14 points every game during 10 years, everyone can earn more than 10,000 point," said Seo.
``But getting 5,000 rebounds is the hardest record. My next goal is getting my 5,000th rebound. I really want to make it before retirement."
Seo remains a little short of that target, with 903 needed to get there.
During the Sakers match, Seo produced six points to take his total to 10,004. Ha Seung-jin also helped propel the team to victory with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Though two Sakers foreign players - Brandon Crump and Ivan Johnson - produced 28 points with seven rebounds and 22 points with eight rebounds, respectively, their star showings were overshadowed by defeat.