"It's better to rest"...KCC Dilemma, whether Choi Jun-yong will be appointed as a 'flexible stabilizer' to save Heo Woong and Burton

"It's better to rest"...KCC Dilemma, whether Choi Jun-yong will be appointed as a 'flexible stabilizer' to save Heo Woong and Burton

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Busan KCC, the "defending champion" of professional basketball, which is still hovering around the middle, is in a dilemma over whether to hire Choi Jun-yong. Without him with a sole injury, main scorers such as Heo Woong and DeYonte Burton will suffer from extreme ups and downs. KCC, which is scheduled to play every other day, will have its fate determined by Choi Jun-yong's physical condition.

A KCC official said in a telephone interview with the Seoul Shimbun on the 26th, "The pain in the bottom of my foot still lingers. He needs rest rather than hospital treatment, but he had a strong will to play because he is losing consecutive games," adding, "It is important to control the running time so that it does not recur in the future."

Having lost four games in a row, KCC, which ranked sixth (10 wins and 11 losses), beat Anyang Jeong Kwan-jang 94-68 at home during the 2024-25 regular season when Choi returned to the team. As the situation was unilateral, with a gap of 31 points through the third quarter, Choi was able to deploy players evenly, and Choi played 18 minutes and 45 seconds to coordinate his offense with the most seven assists (eight points and four rebounds) in his team. Heo Woong, who also revived, also scored 26 points including four three-point shots. He completely shook off the disappointment of having only six points against Daegu Korea Gas Corporation.

Foreign ace Burton also scored only 3 points in the game against Gas Corporation, where Choi Jun-yong was not present, but he scored 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in the game against Jeong Kwan-jang. The height was reinforced to lower the burden of success and increase the accuracy rate by throwing shots. After exploding 29 points against Goyang Sono on the 1st, Burton said, "Choi Jun-yong is always crazy (in a good way). He is a player who can always solve it, so it's like having two foreigners."

KCC lost both games without Choi due to height inferiority. The team fell behind to 16-39 in rebounding against LG in Changwon on Tuesday and 26-35 in the game against Gas Corporation on Tuesday. Choi, who boasts the highest level of vertical defense in the league 스포츠토토, is thus effectively seen throughout the competition for provisional rights. Choi ranks first in average rebounds (7.8), block shots (1.4), and assists (4.3) per game in his team, while ranks third in scoring (14.2 points) after Burton and Hur Woong.

The showdown with Ulsan Hyundai Mobis, the second-ranked team in the league, is a watershed moment. "Jun-yong tries to understand Burton a lot. He also talks a lot, so it creates synergy when we play together," KCC manager Jeon Chang-jin said after the match. "There are huge differences in defense capabilities in each game, and today's game went well. Burton needs to find a way to solve when the opponent puts pressure on him."