Veteran Dignity Ham Ji-hoon saved Hyundai Mobis on the verge of sinking...Hyundai Mobis won 8784 in the first round of the semi-finals

Apr 13, 2025

Veteran Dignity Ham Ji-hoon saved Hyundai Mobis on the verge of sinking...Hyundai Mobis won 8784 in the first round of the semi-finals



Ulsan Hyundai Mobis laughed first in the semifinal playoff.

Hyundai Mobis won 87-84 thanks to the strong performance of Ham Ji-hoon and Sean Long in the second half of the first round of the semi-finals playoff of the '2024-2025 KCC Professional Basketball' held at Dongcheon Gymnasium in Ulsan on the 13th.

First of all, the winning team in the first round of the six-team PO with one win approached the probability of advancing to the semifinals by '92.6% (50 out of 54 times)." Unlike the 5th-ranked Daegu Korea Gas Corporation, which beat 4th-ranked Suwon KT 67-64 the previous day and showed a 'lower team's counterattack', Hyundai Mobis kept the face of the top team.




Hyundai Mobis is third in the regular league, and although it is a team with strong overall power compared to Jeong Kwan-jang, who won a ticket to the semifinals after a long struggle in the final match, it was in the position of a 'challenger' on this day.

Although it is a team that stands out for advancing to the playoffs for the most consecutive seasons (22 times) in the history of the Korean Basketball Federation (KBL) league, there was a "bad relationship" with Jeong Kwan-jang. He was inferior to his regular league opponent this season with 2 wins and 4 losses, and he has never met Jeong Kwan-jang on the PO stage three times in the past. He was also recording five consecutive losses in his PO showdown with Jeong Kwan-jang.

Hyundai Mobis, which boasts the most wins (7 times) ever, had a deep 'evil ' with Jeong Kwan-jang, so it was inevitable that it wanted to announce the prelude to the revenge war from 'the first edition' on this day. Before the game, Hyundai Mobis coach Cho Dong-hyun said, `There are more than one threatening players such as Park Ji-hoon, Johnny O'Brient, and Dionte Burton. Rather than paying attention to each other, it is more important to implement the defense that we want to do as a 'team', he said, burning his guts.




Veteran Dignity Ham Ji-hoon saved Hyundai Mobis on the verge of sinking...Hyundai Mobis won 8784 in the first round of the semi-finals
In response, Jeong Kwan-jang was in a calm atmosphere because he devoted himself to the final DB match of the regular league and there were players who were injured such as Byun Joon-hyung and Bae Byung-joon. This is because one win and one loss in the first and second away games can be considered a success rather than a desire to catch and go from the first game.

Manager Kim Sang-sik said, `I made it to the round of six with great difficulty. I focused on rest for recovery rather than training"Just in case, I brought three more injured people into the regular entry (12 people). "I plan to check my condition and let him play in the away match," he said, hoping to hold out in the away match.

The different points to watch before and after the first game, which started in such a different atmosphere, added interest. In the first half, joy and sorrow were mixed depending on the presence or absence of O'Brien, the main scorer of the articles of association. Jeong Kwan-jang, who was leading after a close race in the beginning, quickly turned the tables when he replaced O'Brien's break button, who was playing with 10 points with 2:51 left in the first quarter. As Jeong Kwan-jang's outer defense became loose, Hyundai Mobis' Lee Woo-suk and Seo Myung-jin's three consecutive three-point shots were made. Jeong Kwan-jang, who finished the first quarter with a turnaround, cried because of O'Brien in the second quarter while riding the atmosphere again thanks to O'Brien. One minute and 52 seconds before the end of the quarter, O'Brien reacted roughly after being pointed out for defensive fouls and was caught in foul trouble (three) by adding technical fouls. Hyundai Mobis, which trailed by three points (33-36), succeeded in chasing the tie by making two of the three free throws it gained, but was more worried because Sean Long became a defensive hole every time he played in place of Gage Prim.




Veteran Dignity Ham Ji-hoon saved Hyundai Mobis on the verge of sinking...Hyundai Mobis won 8784 in the first round of the semi-finals
Sean Long, who did, caught fire in the second half. In the third quarter, when Burton was alone because of O'Brien's foul trouble, Sean Long, who distributed his physical strength with Prim, set the stage for his pursuit with six consecutive points at the end of the quarter. Then veteran Ham Ji-hoon, who played as Sean Long's customized under-the-basket resource, took over the baton. Ham Ji-hoon led the 71-70 comeback by sweeping 12 points, including two free throws, in 2:54 of the fourth quarter.

At the age of 41, despite playing 14 minutes until the third quarter, 'Veteran who has tried meat's fighting spirit was amazing. In other words, it was not the most PO players and the most consecutive players (15 consecutive out of a total of 17 seasons).

Since then, the seesaw game has continued to the last minute. Unlike before, Jeong Kwan-jang put O'Brien as a troubleshooter instead of Burton, and Hyundai Mobis still believed in Sean Long. In the end, Sean Long won by decision. Sean Long was still poor at O'Brien's defense, but he brought as much as he took away. Sean Long led the 85-84 lead with consecutive points until he added one free throw 57.4 seconds before the end. On top of that, Ham Ji-hoon helped his victory by catching a thousand offensive rebounds 19 seconds before the end.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.