Wonju DB coach Kim Joo-sung (45) is one step closer to winning the regular season. Kim, a former team legend, is challenging his dream of winning the regular league at home in his debut season as a coach.
DB will face Suwon KT in the 2023-24 Cheongjang Professional Basketball Regular League at Wonju Gymnasium at 7 p.m. on the 14th.
If DB beats KT on the day, it will confirm its regular league title. DB is ranking first with 37 wins and 10 losses as of Tuesday. The gap between KT and Changwon LG (30 wins and 17 losses), which are tying for second, is seven. If DB wins the match on Friday, it will confirm its No. 1 ranking regardless of the results of the remaining six games. DB will aim for No. 1 ranking in the regular league for the first time in six years after the 2017-18 season.
DB’s run to the top of the regular league is even more dramatic because it is a result that no one expected.
DB ranked seventh last season and failed to even advance to the playoffs. DB was not classified as a strong team in the prediction made just before the start of this season. Busan KCC, which recruited a large number of star players, and Seoul SK, last season’s runner-up, were selected as candidates for the second round.
DB, which topped the regular league in the 2019-20 season, has since moved from ninth to eighth to seventh. It was hard to predict that DB’s rebound would be this solid due to the prolonged recession.
Kim Joo-sung is a novice coach who finished the season as an acting coach after his team’s poor performance last season and became a full-time coach this season. At the opening ceremony, he said simply, “Spring basketball is my goal.”
The 2023-24 professional basketball regular season was DB’s unexpected drama. DB never came down from first place after the opening, breaking everyone’s expectations. The winning rate exceeded 60% each time during the first to fifth rounds.
Didric Lawson, a new member of the team this season, has completely changed the team’s mood with his versatile plays. Lawson pegged his team at an average of 22.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game. Not only is he greedy to attack, but he also plays sensible basketball to save his teammates.
Lawson’s addition has revived national big man Kim Jong-kyu and forward Kang Sang-jae. Ethan Albano’s performance, which is considered the best among Filipino players in the Asian quarter, was the highlight of the team’s balance. Park In-woong, a sophomore, boasted the league’s best 3-point shooting success rate, adding variety to DB’s offense.
Coach Kim Joo-sung, who was appointed as the official head coach ahead of the season, will challenge for a meaningful record. He is the sixth coach in KBL history to win a regular league title in his debut season.
In the history of the KBL, five regular league winners are Kim Jin (Daegu Dongyang) in the 2001-02 season, Moon Kyung-eun (Seoul SK) in the 2012-13 season, Choo Seung-kyun (Jeonju KCC) in the 2015-16 season, and Kim Seung-ki (Anyang. KGC) in the 2016-17 season, and Jeon Hee-chul (SK) in the 2021-22 season.
Among them, Choo Seung-kyun has played for only one team throughout his career, and he is the only coach to win in his first season as a team coach. If Kim wins this time, he will become the second coach to win a regular league title in his debut season as a team coach.
Kim debuted in Wonju TG Sambo (the predecessor of DB) during the 2002-03 season, leading his team to victory in the championship game of the rookie season. And he played for only one team until he retired after the 2017-18 season. Twenty-one years after lifting his first trophy as a player, Kim is on the verge of winning his debut season, this time with the same team. 먹튀검증디비
