Why is the 4th face-off between the leading BNK and the 5th-ranked Shinhan Bank an unexpected big card?
Jan 08, 2025
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Considering the ranking of the two teams and the number of rides with a difference of seven games, it can be said that there is not much impression. However, if you look at the recent momentum and the relationship between the two, it is an unexpected hidden 'big card'.
BNK met Shinhan Bank three times in the first half and won all of them. BNK is playing a typical small-ball basketball consisting of guards and forwards without a built-in main center this season. With few teams playing traditional center basketball as Park Ji-soo moved overseas, the lineup of national players is becoming the secret to winning the first place by overwhelming the opponent with fast transitions, high-quality tactics, and excellent outer guns.
However, he clearly appears to be too much in the face-off between a big man and a team with high-quality guards. Samsung Life Insurance, the only team that lags behind in this season's showdown with one win and two losses, is the opponent. Samsung Life Insurance has good ball handlers such as Lee Ju-yeon, Jo Su-ah and Kiana Smith, centering on veteran center Bae Hye-yoon. BNK was pushed back from the rebound fight even when it was defeated by 25 points and 17 points, respectively, in the second and third confrontations with Samsung Life Insurance, and as Bae Hye-yoon was intensively marked, it did not show any power as the leading team, allowing scorers such as Lee Hae-ran and Kiana to score multiple points.
In the meantime, Shinhan Bank's big man basketball centered on Tanimuri Rika and Hong Yoo-soon began to take place through the first half, and Lee Kyung-eun had a good-shooting guard such as Shin Yi-seul and Jihyun Shin, and Choi Yi-sam, a shooter and another tall forward, became unenviable for other teams in terms of height, so the confrontation is expected to develop in a different way from the previous three games.
Although he has not fully recovered yet, Choi Yi-sam, who returned after eight games against Samsung Life Insurance on the 6th, played for more than 20 minutes and scored 12 points and 4 rebounds, and helped the team win by filling the vacancy of Hong Yoo-soon, who was sent off for five fouls.
For BNK, it already won 68-64 in the third round held on December 9th after a close game until the end, and it is certainly a burdensome situation because it is the first match against Shinhan Bank, which was reborn as a 'complete body' after Choi Yi-sam joined. If you fail to defend big men like Samsung Life Insurance, you can never guarantee victory. Park Jung-eun, head coach of BNK, said after being completely defeated by Samsung Life Insurance in the first half of the year that he would use the All-Star Game break to rearrange his big man defense tactics, but it will be activated from the match against Shinhan Bank.
On the contrary, Shinhan Bank will be able to cross BNK for the first time in the season and enter the mid-range if it properly utilizes Choi Yi-sam's internal and external attacks while keeping under the basket with Rika and Hong Yoo-soon. In this case, it is certainly an interesting showdown in that the two teams are more likely to face off in the playoffs.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
