※ This article was written in mid-April, and was published in the May 2023 issue of Basket Korea Webzine. ( Link to purchase Basket Korea webzine )스포츠토토

‘+/-‘ in the basketball record means the player’s ‘team’s margin of loss (hereafter margin of loss)’. it means. For example, if player A’s margin of gain was 6, it means that the team scored 6 more points than conceded while that player was on the court. One more thing, if player B’s margin of gain was -10, it means that the team lost 10 more points than scored while this player was playing.

As a matter of course, the margin of gain is not always proportional to playing time or goals scored. Since the goal margin is the difference between two teams, not an individual, there are many factors that affect it. Therefore, the margin of error of a player scoring 30 points and the margin of loss of a player scoring 10 points may be the same or similar. Also, since it is the team’s margin of gain, the margin of gain of players who played at the same time in one lineup is the same.

In this part, we looked at the goal margins of the players of the two teams in the championship match. The record utilized figures provided by KBL.

Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation
KGC Ginseng Corporation clashed with Goyang Day One in the quarterfinals. The result is 3 wins and 1 loss. Except for the 2nd game where they lost and the 3rd game where they struggled in the 1st quarter, they had a chance to win. In particular, in the first game, they won 99-43, more than a double score. As the score difference was large, the KGC Ginseng Corporation players also boasted a high score. While a total of 9 players recorded a margin of +10 or higher, 6 players recorded a margin of +30 or higher.

Among them, Omari Spellman (22:33, +42) and Bae Byeong-joon (23:13, +41) stood out for their gains and losses. The two players played with the same lineup in the 1st and 3rd quarters (except for the time with 3 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter), and played a key role in helping the team take a huge lead. Spellman (22 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and Bae Byung-jun (13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) combined for 35 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, including 8 3-pointers. Byun Jun-hyung (+34), Jeong Jun-won (+32), Han Seung-hee (+31), and Moon Seong-gon (+30) also recorded a gain/loss margin of +30 or more.

After the second game, which was lost 75-89, the third game. At the beginning of the game, KGC Ginseng Corporation fell behind by 2-18 due to the loss of the fight for zero points and supply rights that did not fit. But the classics didn’t last long. Kgc Ginseng Corporation, which entered the 2nd quarter, scored the score around Byun Jun-hyung, and finished the first half with a score of 42-44. In the second half, the tide turned. Byun Jun-hyung continued the momentum of the 2nd quarter, and Oh Se-geun put his strength under the goal. Thanks to this, KGC Ginseng Corporation greeted the 4th quarter with a 9-point lead (69-60), and there was no change in the 4th quarter, which entered a lull due to the overall yatu hunting.

The main contributor to the victory in Game 3 was Byun Jun-hyung. He played an active role with 26 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds, including 3 3-pointers, in 37 minutes and 10 seconds. Byun Jun-hyung, who was only fouled 8 times, hit all 9 free throws he got in the process. In addition, he recorded a +6 earned margin with a performance that stood out for his no-loss books. The highest goal margin in the team belonged to Bae Byung-jun. In 22 minutes and 43 seconds, Bae Byeong-jun recorded a +7 goal margin with 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, including 1 3-point shot. However, considering the playing time, Byun Jun-hyung’s margin of gain draws more attention.

In the 4th game, when KGC Ginseng Corporation confirmed its advance to the championship, 7 players recorded a double digit (+) margin. Spellman was the best on the team with a +32 earned margin. Followed by Oh Se-geun (+26), Byun Jun-hyeong (+24), Moon Seong-gon (+23), Jeong Jun-won (+20), Park Ji-hoon (+12), and Bae Byeong-jun (+10).

The table above shows the goal margins of the 1st, 3rd, and 4th rounds of the semifinal playoffs of key players of KGC Ginseng Corporation. The sum of the gains and losses is attached as an item that is difficult to give meaning or for reference.

Seoul SK
SK, despite Choi Joon-yong and Ahn Young-joon being out of power, secured a place in the championship game for the second year in a row by winning all the playoffs in the 6th and 4th rounds. The first game against KCC, who faced off in the round of 6. Kim Seon-hyeong (11 points, +24), Choi Bu-gyeong (12 points, +23), Jamil Warney (26 points, +18), and Heo Il-yeong (11 points, +14) recorded double-digit points and a goal margin. On this day, Oh Jae-hyun also scored a double-digit score with 17 points, but the margin of loss was only +5. Jae-Hyun Oh was writing a +10 margin until the first half, but it seems that the reason for the drop in the margin was that he was put into the game at the end of the 4th quarter and conceded.

Heo Il-young scored 20 points, including 5 3-pointers, in 27 minutes and 21 seconds in the second game, recording a +24 margin. SK won 98-92 in a bloody battle leading to overtime. Considering the difference in points between the two teams, Heo Il-young’s goal margin is unrivaled. Their playing time was shorter than Kim Seon-hyeong (41 minutes, 22 points, +5), Warney (39 minutes, 20 points, +5), and Choi Bu-kyung (45 minutes, 15 points, +6), which resulted in a relatively high goal loss margin. It’s true. However, without Heo Il-young’s performance in the 4th quarter (10 minutes, 13 points including 3 3-point shots), SK’s victory would not have been guaranteed.

In the third game against KCC, which secured a ticket to the semifinals, Warney did his part, while Choi Seong-won and Kim Hyung-bin ranked at the top of the team in terms of goal margin. Warney recorded 30 points and 13 rebounds in 37 minutes and 6 seconds with a +17 goal margin, while Choi Seong-won recorded 8 points and 3 assists, including two 3-pointers, and +11 in 36 minutes and 18 seconds. Kim Hyung-bin played only 5 minutes and 19 seconds in the 3rd quarter and only scored 2 points with a free throw. However, in the short time he was on the court in a 40-52 situation, SK pursued KCC fiercely to 56-58. As a result, Kim Hyung-bin’s margin of gain and loss became +10.

On the other hand, Kim Seon-hyung showed off his spirit by recording more than 10 assists in each game in 3 games against KCC. Kim Seon-hyung is the second player to record 10 or more assists in three consecutive games in the playoffs (total of 31). The first (total of 59) is the record of 5 consecutive games by Joo Hee-jeong (current Korea University coach) of the Seoul Samsung at the time in the 2000-2001 season playoffs.

The quarterfinal playoff match against LG was a tough fight. The first game was won by 5 points, and the 2nd and 3rd games were all on thin ice by 1 point. In the first game, the difference between the players was clear. Kim Seon-hyeong (+26), Choi Won-hyuk, Choi Bu-gyeong (+23 above), Warney (+21), and Choi Seong-won (+7) recorded positive margins. On the other hand, Kim Hyeong-bin (-18), Leon Williams (-16), Heo Il-young (-15), Yang Woo-seop, Hong Gyeong-gi (above -11), and Oh Jae-hyeon (-4) scored more goals than the team scored when they started. Their playing time was noticeably shorter than that of their predecessors. Also, the main reason was that he stepped on the court in the last 3 minutes of the 4th quarter when the score was 73-57. During the last 3 minutes, LG bombed 11 points, including 3 3-pointers.

In the second game (92-91), Heo Il-young’s margin of gain stood out again. Warney scored 40 points and 11 rebounds in 39 minutes and 47 seconds, but his margin of loss was 0. Heo Il-young recorded 24 points and 6 rebounds, including 3 3-pointers, and +10 in 29 minutes and 25 seconds. It was Heo Il-young (1st quarter: 9 points) who was able to finish the 1st quarter 24-22, and it was Heo Il-young (4th quarter: 8 points) that laid the foundation for a turnaround from the position of chasing 64-71 at the beginning of the 4th quarter.

SK allowed a last-minute chase in the match against LG throughout the series. It was the same in the third game (85-84). He started the fourth quarter with a 73-66 lead, but was chased by one point. About 30 seconds before the end of the game, Kim Seon-hyung’s steal and goal saved SK. As it was a close game, the margin of gain was not large. Kim Seon-hyeong (37:14, 25 points) and Heo Il-young (28:45, 14 points) had +4 points. Choi Seong-won (29 minutes 52 seconds, 13 points) scored +3, and Warney (40 minutes, 23 points, 12 rebounds) recorded +1. The margin table below is for reference only.