“We have a lineup that can score” (Samsung coach Eun Hee-seok)
“We emphasized controlling the tempo” (SK head coach Jeon Hee-chul)
The Seoul Samsung will host the Seoul SK in a home game of the 2023-2024 regular season at Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium on Nov. 11. It will be the first S-Derby of the 2023-2024 season.
Samsung appointed new head coach Eun Hee-seok after the 2021-2022 season ended. Eun’s leadership and organized basketball led Yonsei to the top of the college ranks. Samsung recognized his leadership skills.
With a new coach, Samsung made a strong showing in the first round. Their performance exceeded expectations. However, due to injuries to key players, including Lee Jung-hyun (189 cm, G), the team sank a bit. They finished the 2022-2023 season in last place (14-40).
In addition, the team failed to reinforce its roster in May 2023. This was especially disappointing as there were a lot of talented long forwards in the free agency market. For this reason, the team’s rating for the 2023-2024 season is not good.
The team has yet to turn things around. They’re still in the bottom half of the standings with a 2-6 record. And in the last game of the first round, they faced the favorites, SK.
“We’re missing players who can score (Shin Dong-hyuk and Cho Jun-hee), so (Lee) Jung-hyun and Coburn will be heavily guarded, so we’ll start with a lineup that can score,” Samsung head coach Eun Hee-seok said before the game.
He continued, “Avan Nava will start first. But other teams know what he’s capable of. So they play him tough. They don’t want him to be soft, and that’s what we’re telling him. And if he scores early, I think our scoring will be better,” he added.
Meanwhile, SK is looking to snap a three-game losing streak.
SK is the defending champions of the 2021-2022 season. The team’s success was largely due to the contributions of its core resources, including Kim Sun-hyung (187 cm, G), Ahn Young-joon (195 cm, F), Choi Jun-yong (200 cm, F), and Jamil Warney (199 cm, C), as well as the contributions of its backup players, including Choi Won-hyuk (182 cm, G), Oh Jae-hyun (184 cm, G), and Choi Buk-kyung (200 cm, F).
However, Ahn Young-joon joined the military after the 2021-2022 season, and Choi Jun-yong missed more than half of the 2022-2023 season due to injury. On top of that, SK had to play in the East Asian Super League (EASL) Champions Week as the 2021-2022 champions.
Nonetheless, SK made it to the championship game in the 2022-2023 season. They took the top team in the regular season and EASL Champions Week winners Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation (now Anyang Jungkwanjang) to seven games. It was a strong showing. 보스토토 도메인
And the 2023-2024 season. Oh Se-geun (200 cm, C) joins the team in free agency, and Ahn Young-jun returns from the military. Kim Sun-hyung and Warney are also healthy. Despite this, SK has a 3-3 record. In particular, they have lost their last three games. They enter the first S-Derby of the season in a bad mood.
SK head coach Jeon Hee-chul said before the game