Changwon LG, a professional basketball team, had a dark period for the past four years. In the 2018-2019 season, when it was 3rd in the regular league, it did not make it into the final 6, and it fell to 9th the next season and to the bottom the following season.
LG has been different from the start this season with the newly appointed manager Cho Sang-hyun (pictured). After maintaining a steady upward trend, he finished 2nd in the regular league. SK, who won the combined championship last season, showed the power to push back in the last second place fight.
The difficult playoff stage, LG withdrew with three losses. However, “well fought” was well-received. This is because they had a very close match, trailing by 5 points in the 1st game and only 1 point in the 2nd and 3rd games in adverse conditions.
The key driving force that led LG to second place in the regular league was Assem Marey, who was the king of rebounds and kept under the goal. However, in the last game that confirmed second place in the regular league, Marey suffered a calf injury. He couldn’t play in the playoffs at all. LG urgently recruited former NBA scorer Reggie Perry, but due to lack of time for ‘adaptation’, the result was not as good as expected. 스포츠토토
LG has become stronger this season based on a stronger defense based on organizational power, and a game management principle that can be immediately excluded if anyone interferes with teamwork. This is coach Cho Sang-hyun’s team management philosophy. Even though there was no clear power reinforcement in the off-season, it came in 2nd place in the regular league, and it is the driving force that was able to play well even in adverse conditions in the playoffs. Even in his debut season at the command tower, he achieved results that exceeded expectations with careful analysis and thorough preparation.
SK coach Jeon Hee-chul said, “This season, the two teams (LG and Hyundai Mobis) led by Jo Sang-hyun and Jo Dong-hyun were the most difficult. It’s a team with a lot of activity, so you have to train a lot to catch that movement. “If the amount of training is small and the coach doesn’t give instructions accurately, it gets twisted,” he said. Regarding the 3 playoff games, “Perry was new, but LG changed the form of defense in that short time and came in with all the 1st, 2nd and 3rd games different. It is really difficult to change that in one day,” he said. “Director Sang-Hyun Cho is a director who prepares a lot and thinks a lot.”
Coach Cho Sang-hyun said, “I heard a lot about how the LG defense has improved. From the appearance of collapsing a lot in close matches, I gained the strength to follow the game where I was lagging behind by 20 points.” We will come back with a stronger team next season.” LG, who finished the season with endless expectations for several years, confirmed more certain hope through the playoffs.