After posting their first back-to-back wins of the season, the Busan BNK Thome of the Women’s Korean Basketball League (WKBL) have confirmed the health of their starting lineup and have begun a full-scale search for a sixth man.
BNK won the Woori Bank Woori WON 2023-2024 WKBL Regular Season against Hana OneQ 74-65 at Bucheon Gymnasium in Gyeonggi-do, Gyeonggi-do, on Nov. 12. BNK lost its opening game against defending champion Asan Woori Bank in overtime on Nov. 5, but has since reeled off two straight wins to move into sole possession of third place.레모나토토 도메인
BNK was led by Lee So-hee, Ahn Hye-ji (guard), and Jin An (center) on the day. Gunslinger Lee So-hee recorded a double-double with 18 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Jin-an added 16 points and 12 rebounds. “Field Commander” Ahn Hye-ji also did her part with 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, while fellow starters Kim Han-byul and Han Um-ji were on the court for over 20 minutes.
Lee So-hee, who averaged a career-high 16.9 points per game last season, was in great form on the night, hitting her main weapon, the three-point shot, five times and finding the rim three times. It was the most three-pointers made by either team and tied her for the league lead in that category (12). Initially, there were some concerns about Lee’s “slow start” due to her hectic schedule during the offseason, including competing in international competitions.
In addition to the health of the existing starters, the team also confirmed the potential of the bench players.
BNK is one of those teams where the difference in quality between the starters and the bench is stark. Even last season, when they reached their first championship final, only Kim Sion (Hana OneQ) scored in triple digits outside of the five starters.
As a result, BNK head coach Park Jeong-jeong said in a call with an international newspaper ahead of the start of the season that his goal this season is to “increase the utilization of the sixth man. In fact, Park started all 15 players on the roster on the day, marking the first time this season that the team has used every player on the roster.
“The non-starters did a good job,” Park said, “and since the regular season is a long one, we’ll be using more sixth men than last year.”