KBL playoff race to begin Sunday

Coaches of six Korean Basketball League (KBL) teams, who will compete in the playoffs starting from Sunday, pose with the championship trophy during the pre-playoff media day event at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium, Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

The 2014-2015 Korean Basketball League’s (KBL) regular season ended on Thursday with the Ulsan Mobis Phoebus securing its sixth regular season title. The playoffs will begin on Sunday.

The Phoebus coach Yoo Jae-hak said that his team will repeat the level of performance they showed to take the championship title last season.

“It looks like we are more relaxed than other teams as we ranked first in the regular season,” Yoo said at the pre-playoffs media day event at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in southern Seoul, Friday. In the event, coaches and players from top six teams competing in the playoffs shared their thoughts before the starting of the playoffs.

In KBL, where top six teams in the regular season are eligible to advance to the playoffs, the first and second ranked team — the Phoebus and the Wonju Dongbu Promy — automatically advance to the second round of the playoffs.

The Phoebus, who ranked first place with 39 wins and 15 losses in the regular season, will face the winner from the best-of-five match between the Changwon LG Sakers, who ranked fourth and the Goyang Orions, who ranked fifth. The Promy will host the winning team from a match between the Seoul SK Knights, the third in the season standing, and the Incheon ET Land Elephants, the sixth in the league.

“I think the first round of playoff match between the Sakers and the Orions will be neck-and-neck games because both teams have good players,” Yoo said.

The Promy coach Kim Young-man, who completed his first season as a head coach, also appeared relaxed and confident.

“We have many veterans in the team, and they have experiences in the big matches,” Kim said.

Kim, 43, dubbed “mantis shooter” for his sharp-shooting technique, was a superstar forward. After retiring from KBL in 2007, he chose to retire and had been an assistant coach in many teams and took the head coaching post last year.

“I was worried about this season as I am in my first year as a coach. But we could be placed 2nd thanks to the players. I will be also nervous in the playoffs as this will be my first time,” Kim said.

For the first round of the playoffs, the Sakers will host the Orions at the Changwon Indoor Gymnasium at 4 p.m. on Sunday while the Knights will face the Elephants at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium at 7 p.m. on Monday.