Samsung Life Insurance's Kiana Prevention Injuries for 3 Weeks, Unexpected Variables Amid fierce 1st Place Competition
Feb 02, 2025
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Kiana Smith, the main gun of Samsung Life Insurance, suffered a ruptured elbow ligament and was banned from playing for at least three weeks. As the regular league ends on the 22nd, it is actually aiming to return to the playoffs. As a result, it is highly likely that the so-called `Three Kingdoms' to take the top spot will be narrowed down to a second-tier match.
As of the 1st, 1st place Woori Bank and 2nd place BNK are two games behind Woori Bank, while 3rd place Samsung Life Insurance is two games behind Woori Bank. Since the start of the single league from the 2007-2008 season, there have been no cases in which the first to third-place teams have competed for the lead until the end of the season. For as many as 17 years, three teams, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, and KB Stars, have alternately formed a single or second-tier structure. The overall performance of the two aces representing Korean women's basketball, including Park Ji-soo and Park Ji-hyun, has changed significantly amid a decline in overall performance due to various variables such as overseas expansion, all-time transfers, and the prominence of newcomers.
In this situation, Kiana's absence is painful for Samsung Life Insurance, which has challenged for the first place in the regular league in 21 years since the 2004 winter season.
Kiana's elbow bent while trying to steal Woori Bank's Kim Dan-bi's ball that attempted a shot under the basket early in the third quarter against Woori Bank on the 31st of last month, and a detailed examination on the 1st showed an unexpected injury of elbow ligament rupture. With the aim of returning in three weeks, he plans to proceed with rehabilitation after rest, making it inevitable to miss the remaining six regular league games.
Kiana, who played in the WNBA in 2022 as a mixed-race player, is an irreplaceable resource with an average of 27 minutes per game and 13 points and 3.1 assists. In addition to shooting ability that does not cover the inside and outside, the exquisite two-man game with center Bae Hye-yoon has destructive power that is hard for the opponent to stop. Thanks to Kiana's presence, his teammates Lee Hae-ran and Kang Yoo-rim's scoring skills are increasing, as well as leading the game on behalf of injured guards such as Yoon Ye-bin and Lee Ju-yeon.
While Samsung Life has already confirmed its advance to the playoffs, chances are high that it will not strain itself in the remaining games because there is not much difference between second and third place in the regular league, which has the benefit of facing fourth place in the playoffs. Except for the team that will definitely catch it, it is expected to prepare for the playoffs by increasing the opportunity and time for players recovering from rehabilitation, including Yoon Ye-bin and Lee Ju-yeon, while rotating the Sixman fully.
In this case, it is clear that Woori Bank and BNK's scramble for the No. 1 spot will heat up further. In particular, BNK is relatively weak against teams with authentic centers like Samsung Life Insurance, so its advantage of being No. 1 from the playoffs is inevitably greater to avoid Samsung Life Insurance.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
