Jinan and Jihyun Shin... Hana Bank's New Start
Jinan and Jihyun Shin... Hana Bank's New Start
Blog Article
The women's professional basketball team introduced a step-by-step postseason system in which the winner of the regular league directly advances to the championship and the runner-up and third-place teams compete in the playoffs until the 2018-2019 season. However, starting from the 2019-2020 season, the team has also been given tickets to the fourth-place teams in the regular league, and introduced a "cross-tournament" in which the first, fourth-place teams, and second-place teams and third-place teams will face off in the playoffs. This means that if the team ranks among the top four and 67 percent of the six teams, it can advance to the spring basketball league.
However, Hana Bank, which was founded in 2012, has never advanced to the playoffs as it played 11 seasons through the 2022-2023 season. In the 2015-2016 season, when it was the runner-up, the season was confiscated due to the situation of mixed-race players, and in the 2019-2020 season, when it was ranked third, the season ended early due to COVID-19, and the season ended without a playoff. This is why the players were so thrilled when Hana Bank was confirmed to advance to basketball in the first spring of last season.
Hana Bank recruited Jinan, one of the best centers in the league, from the FA market to further elevate its performance from the fourth place in the regular season last season. However, there was another unfavorable factor in the process of recruiting Jinan, ace Jihyun Shin (Shinhan Bank's S Bird) left the team as a reward player. To top this off, Hana Bank's contract was terminated due to Yurina Watabe's health problems in the Asian quarter. For this reason, it is impossible to predict Hana Bank's performance this season with both good and bad factors.
First spring basketball game in 12 years
After "Stefan Isul" Kang Yi-seul, who was the league's best shooter and Hana Bank's ace, moved to KB Stars in 2021, Jihyun Shin took over Hana Bank's ace position. Jihyun Shin led the team with 17.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists in the 2021-2022 season, and 15.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists in the 2022-2023 season, but he could not lead Hana Bank to the playoffs on his own.
Hana Bank, which remained at the bottom for two consecutive seasons when Jihyun Shin struggled, finally realized the need for investment after the 2022-2023 season. There were many big fish in the FA market, but the player Hana Bank recruited was veteran Kim Jong-un, who played as the team's ace during the Shinsegae Coolcat era. Kim Jong-un is a player with outstanding scoring ability inside and outside as well as outstanding leadership to become a role model for young players.
In September last year, the bank granted two rookie nominations to BNK Sum and hired dual guard Kim Si-on. Of course, it is not known how outstanding the rookie nomination will become, but what Hana Bank needed was "instantaneous power" to play on the court right away, not future prospects. In this regard, Kim Si-on, who has a good height (175 centimeters) compared to his position and can play from No. 1 to No. 3, was a very suitable recruitment for Hana.
With the recruitment of Kim Jong-un and Kim Si-on, Hana Bank coach Kim Do-wan was able to form a team with more stable power. Key players Jihyun Shin, Yang In-young, Jeong Ye-rim and Kim Jong-un were responsible for around 30 minutes of playing time, while Kim Si-on, who can play more than two positions, played well in various positions. On top of that, Park So-hee, a promising player from the Rookie of the Year who returned in the second half of the year, showed an altoristic performance with 6.57 points and 3.43 rebounds in 14 games.
However, Hana Bank's limits were clear as it did well last season. It failed to win a single game against "Yanggang" Woori Bank and KB throughout the regular season, while trailing Samsung Life Insurance by one win and five losses. Eventually, Hana Bank met KB in the playoffs and lost three straight games, trailing them by an average of 13 points. If it had not secured a clear advantage over lower-ranked teams such as Shinhan and BNK, Hana Bank's first spring basketball appearance would have been very difficult.
Hana Bank recruited Jinan but also experienced heavy power leakage
Hana Bank, which caught all three internal FA including Yang In-young, Kim Si-on, and Kim Dan-ah, reinforced its lack of height by recruiting Jinan in the FA market for a total annual salary of 360 million won for three years during the contract period. However, ace Jihyun Shin was nominated by BNK as a compensation player in the process, and Jihyun Shin transferred to Shinhan Bank through additional trade. In addition, Korean-American guard Kim Anna, who received attention by receiving the Six Women Award in the 2022-2023 season, also chose to retire from active duty.
Unfortunately for Jihyun Shin, Hana Bank, which ranked fifth in team rebound (36.8) in last season, immediately strengthened its height with Jinan, who ranked third in scoring (17.47 points) and second in rebound (10.43 points). In particular, since Park Ji-soo will not play in the WKBL this season, Jinan will be able to play more freely under the basket. If it leads to excellent personal performance and Hana Bank's rise in rankings at the same time, Jinan may emerge as an MVP candidate for this season.
In this season, Hana Bank's guard lineup has weakened due to Jihyun Shin's transfer and Kim Ana's retirement. On top of that, Yurina Watabe, who was named the third overall pick in the Asian quarter, also ended her contract due to health problems. Therefore, it is very important for Hana to see Park So-hee, who will enter her fourth season as a pro this season. If Park So-hee, who experienced the national team during the off-season, displays her improved skills this season, Hana Bank can minimize the gap in the guard lineup.
Kim Jong-un, who played an average of 29 minutes and 9 seconds per game last season, became the oldest player in the league when Kim Han-byul retired. Although he is still performing well, managing playing time is essential from the beginning of the season to play a lot of time in the mid- and late-season. This means that promising players Um Seo-yi and Park Jin-young, who left a strong impression even with short playing time and small playing games last season, should play more roles this season.
It advanced to the playoffs for the first time since its foundation last season, and recruited Jinan, one of the top-rated center in the league, but few basketball fans are predicting Hana Bank as a top candidate this season. Will Hana Bank be able to make it to the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, defying basketball fans' expectations like last season. 스포츠토토