'Came back from 11 points down'... Kim Sang-sik, head coach of Seoul Samsung, proves 'first-place class': "Players overcame the crisis on their own" [Jamsil On-Site]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Seoul Samsung head coach Kim Sang-sik, who immediately bounced back from a loss in the previous game, highly praised his players' ability to overcome crises.

On the 9th at Jamsil Student Gymnasium, Samsung defeated Suwon KT 85-78 after a tight contest in the second-round matchup of the 2026-2027 KCC Pro Basketball regular season.

With this victory, Samsung recorded 11 wins and 2 losses, firmly maintaining its sole first-place position. The team escaped the threat of consecutive losses by leveraging Justin Goutat's firepower in the third quarter and Kerem Kanter's decisive scoring in the fourth quarter.

In a post-game press conference, head coach Kim Sang-sik summarized, "It was truly a difficult game." He added, "We prepared solidly for defense in the third and fourth quarters. Samsung is not a team that can easily solve games through offense alone, so not falling behind in defense and rebounding battles was a key factor in our victory."

He expressed satisfaction not only with Kanter, who dominated the paint to score 27 points, but also with the balanced performance of the entire roster. Coach Kim praised, "Kanter's 27 points were excellent, but other players' scores also came out evenly. Kanter fulfilled his role as well."

He simultaneously expressed relief and pride in building a season without consecutive losses, an essential condition for a strong team. Coach Kim stated, "Breaking the losing streak is of great significance. I was very worried." He continued, "As always, Samsung is a team that can fall into a losing streak at any time. We run hard, but if we let our guard down, we can collapse. However, the players overcame that crisis on their own. I really want to praise the players a lot."

Regarding Goutat, who suffered an ankle injury with about 6 minutes and 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter but returned to the court to decide the game, he explained, "I thought he wouldn't be able to return due to the ankle injury, but he signaled from the bench that he was okay, so we let him play again." He added, "However, watching from outside, it seemed like he was focusing too much on offense and missing defensive mismatches. I continuously emphasized strong defense and rebounding."

He then reflected on tactical operations at crucial moments of the game, emphasizing that "Samsung is a team where games only unfold if we defend tenaciously without fail." He noted, "Towards the end, KT players also appeared physically exhausted, so I instructed Goutat and Han Ho-bin to play an aggressive two-man game. We focused on exploiting the opponent's gaps, and the resulting three-point shots and connected plays fell into place."

He also touched on overcoming the moment when they were trailing by 11 points during the game. Coach Kim acknowledged, "When we were down by more than 10 points in the second quarter, it was definitely a crisis," but added, "The players are gradually developing the strength to overcome critical moments on their own. They are doing well, but I plan to continue emphasizing defense and rebounding until the end."

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original