The season started amidst many changes, and great bad news struck. It was difficult to complete the season properly. Despite the difficult conditions, the team displayed professionalism, and Goyang fans were enthusiastic about them. Let’s look back at this season of Day One, which was full of ups and downs.
Orion, the predecessor of the wave of change
jumpers, made it to the quarterfinals playoffs in the 2021-2022 season. However, last season was the last season under the name of Orion. When the Orion Group sold the basketball team to Day One Sports, the team’s owner changed, and Carrot Insurance joined as a naming sponsor.
There has also been a major change in the composition of the team. First of all, coach Kim Seung-gi, who led KGC to advance to the championship game for two consecutive years, took office as the first commanding tower. Meanwhile, one-two punch Lee Dae-sung and Lee Seung-hyun, who led Orion, left, and Jeon Seong-hyun, a flame shooter, joined. The main evaluation was that power was weakened in the wave of change.
What coach Kim Seung-gi emphasized before the start of the season was the growth of the players. Coach Kim, who stated that he set a goal to win the team in his third season after taking office, put the key point of this season on the growth of young players.
Among them, the player who received the most attention was Lee Jung-hyun, a second-year player. Lee Jung-hyun has already proven his potential in the playoffs of his rookie season. Manager Kim, who revealed that Lee Dae-sung’s skills are excellent, but decided to trade for the future, showed confidence in Lee’s potential to the extent of saying, “I said I would quit basketball if I didn’t succeed 100%.”
As the team’s power is unstable, foreign players were selected with two experienced players. Didric Lawson, who was selected as the first option, stepped on the ground again in Goyang after playing for Orion in the 2020-2021 season, and veteran David Simon, a former KBL scorer, was dropped as the second option. Both are players who have been evaluated as knowing basketball.
Day One, which was classified as a low-ranking team in the prediction before the opening of the 3-point shooting team’s counterattack . Despite showing better performance than expected in the cup competition held in Tongyeong in early October, the evaluation did not change easily. The front lines led by Lee Jung-hyun, Han Ho-bin, and Jeon Seong-hyun were highly evaluated, but there were great concerns about forwards and domestic big men.
However, when the season started, the results were completely different. After reporting his first win in the opening game against DB, Day One began to accumulate multipliers step by step. Coach Kim Seung-gi said, “The goal is to win 20,” but the players have done more than that. It is Carrot who finished the first round with 6 wins and 3 losses and settled in a tie for second place.
The ruthless 3-point shooting was the key. It’s been a long time since the 3-point shot became the center of the modern basketball trend, but this season’s Day 1 was an exceptional team that threw a lot of outside shots even in the entire history of the KBL. This season’s average of 3-point attempts (34.9)/number of attempts made (11.5) are both the best in league history.
Coach Seung-gi Kim, who had already broken the record for the number of average 3-pointers attempted in a season while leading KGC last season, maximized archery basketball even more. Day One players, if they possessed a certain level of shooting ability, attempted a 3-point shot without hesitation on the court. Fans also responded positively to the exciting new style of basketball.
The player who was at the center of archery basketball was definitely Jeon Seong-hyun. Jeon Seong-hyun, who built a golden tower of successful 3-pointers in 76 regular league games, won the first and third round MVPs and walked the path of an all-time great shooter. He broke through his opponent’s rough marks and scored in almost every game, and even if he didn’t score, he helped the team by disrupting the defense.
Lee Jung-hyun and Lawson were also the protagonists of the storm. Entering the second year season, he received the carrot and stick of the command tower and turned to point guard, recording the most playing time in the league. Lawson, who has improved defense than before through bulking up, energized the team’s offense with clever BQ and selfless play.
He made up for his height weakness with active trapping and stealing defense. This season, Day One was weak in the fight for air supremacy, recording an overwhelming last place in rebounding (34.4 per game). In order to overcome the height inferiority, vigorous activity and fierce grooming were required, and the players performed the mission well. After the season, Day One ranked 2nd in steals (7.4) and 4th in average lost (79.6 points).
Dae-gil did not collapse,
but the 3-point shot-based basketball also showed its limitations. Day One, which lacked depth, fell into a losing streak in the middle of the season due to lack of stamina and injuries to key players. It was fatal for Simon, who had covered his weakness at least, to leave the team due to an injury.
The parent company’s financial difficulties also plagued Day One. Day One Sports, which had already made noise in KBL before the opening of the league due to the issue of paying special membership fees in the form of subscription fees. This time, there was a skit in which the salaries of the players and staff could not be paid on time. One player said later that “he didn’t check his account on payday because his salary was behind and he knew the situation from the second month onwards.”
Day One went through a very difficult time both physically and mentally. But they didn’t break easily. Jeon Seong-hyun, who led the storm, lost pace at the end of the season, but Lee Jung-hyun and Lawson held the center and kept the 5th place. With 28 wins and 26 losses, he accumulated a win rate of more than 50%.
There were concerns that the remaining special dues of 1 billion won could not be paid and they could not participate in the playoffs, but Day One Sports paid the remaining amount one day before the deadline. Fortunately, the sweat of the players did not return to foam.
Day One participated in the playoffs with a difficult spring basketball outing . However, Jeon Seong-hyun, the main gun, faced a major bad news that prevented him from participating in the early part of the semifinal series due to sudden hearing loss. The prospect of the remaining series was also darkened by a complete loss in the first leg of the semifinals against Hyundai Mobis.
However, Lee Jung-hyun, who played a full-time starter for one season, roared properly in spring basketball. Lee Jeong-hyeon, famous for his strong heart since his college days, led the upset by pouring out an average of 24.0 points in 5 games in the 6th round. Lee Jung-hyun and Lawson played the role of a one-two punch, and Day One succeeded in advancing to the semifinals overcoming inferiority.
The next opponent was the regular league champion, KGC Ginseng Corporation. It was not an easy match-up considering all issues such as opponent record, objective power, and fatigue accumulation. The word David and Goliath came out even before the start of the series, and KGC seemed to be right as KGC won by a whopping 56 points in the first game.
Everyone expected it to be a one-sided series. With the first leg, the prediction seemed to become a reality.
However, the Day One players stood up like tumbleweeds this time too. Day One, who started the second game, washed away the shame of the first game and returned the series to the starting point. Lee Jung-hyun drove away fans into a crucible of enthusiasm with a one-man show that will be remembered for a long time, and Kim Jin-yu generously threw his body wherever the ball was.
Day One, who was aiming to advance to the championship match while giving up. In the third game, he took the lead with a shower 3-point shot메이저놀이터, but KGC’s potential was strong. In the end, Day One, who could not overcome his physical decline, knelt down to KGC with a series record of 1 win and 3 losses.
Although the journey ended in the semi-finals, everyone applauded the Day One players for their good performance. Even in a situation where the salary could not be deposited on time, the Day One players did their best to the end.
Jumpers fans, who drew a lot of attention as a touching lunch box gift, also supported the players with their passionate support. After the fourth round of the semifinals, fans gave a standing ovation despite the crushing defeat. It was a beautiful scene created by the harmony of the players and fans.
Team MVP | Jeon Seong -hyun
50G 17.6 points 2.6 assists 1.1 steals 3-point shots 3.4
Jeon Seong-hyun was reborn as the best shooter in the league with outstanding performance at KGC. Sometimes it was evaluated that he flew thanks to his outstanding teammates. For Jeon Seong-hyun, the transfer was a big challenge and a time of proof.
Jeon Seong-hyun was a superstar worthy of the increased weight. He has now gone beyond being the best shooter and is one of the best aces. He is a player whose presence alone becomes a burden to opponents and gives great strength to allies. Although the pace fell at the end of the season, the fact that he had an outstanding season remains unchanged.
Team RISING STAR | Lee Jeong -hyeon
52G 15.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists
The young player seemed to have too many burdens. However, Lee Jung-hyun perfectly played his role and proved that he is a cotyledon called to become. He digested the season as a full-time starter and successfully converted his position to point guard.
In fact, he was selected as a rising star, but Lee Jung-hyun showed a performance that would not be inferior at all even if he was selected as the team MVP. Like a strong heart, he did not give up in PO, but rather showed a stronger appearance. As coach Kim Seung-gi said, it is expected that Lee Jung-hyun will be able to join the regular league MVP race from next season.