“I will try to raise Lee Jung-hyun once. He has enough talent.”
In the 2022-2023 season professional basketball quarterfinal playoffs, Goyang Carrot finished ‘Spring Basketball’ by losing the series to Anyang KGC, the ‘regular league winning team’, with a record of 1 win and 3 losses. It may be a somewhat disappointing story for Carrot fans, but in fact, it was the result that many basketball players expected.
Although this season’s streak was halted in the semi-final playoffs, Carrot has reaped considerable income in many ways. One of them is Lee Jung-hyun’s rapid growth. Lee Jung-hyun, who took on the role of the team’s ace throughout the regular league and showed improvement day by day, especially ‘leveled up’ through the playoffs in the 6th and 4th rounds. In particular, he developed from an ‘A-level guard’ to an ‘MVP-level guard’ by playing against Byun Jun-hyung in the quarter-final playoff against KGC.먹튀검증
However, Lee Jung-hyun’s growth did not just happen naturally. After that, there was intensive ‘whip & carrot’ training by director Kim Seung-gi. Coach Kim announced that he would leave KGC, where he had worked for seven years until last season, and take a new position at Carrot this season to foster Lee Jung-hyun. It wasn’t empty talk. He actually stimulated Lee Jung-hyun through harsh training. Thanks to that, Lee Jung-hyun became a completely different ‘fighter’ from a year ago. Regarding Lee Jung-hyun, coach Kim expressed satisfaction, saying, “I think I have some fighting spirit now. I plan to make him an MVP candidate next season.”
Looking back, it is difficult to find a coach who was as ‘sincere’ in the growth of a player as coach Kim. His ‘previous works’ are Byun Jun-hyung, Park Ji-hoon, and Moon Seong-gon, who are already active as KGC’s key players. And there is Jeon Seong-hyun, the ‘KBL representative shooter’ who moved the team to Carrot. During KGC, coach Kim always wrestled with these young players in the gym. He trained repeatedly until his own tight defense strategy flowed like water.
Coach Kim often said, “This is not a job that says I like it. It will become flesh and blood to them later.” As a result, Byun Jun-hyeong has now become a super guard who competes for MVP, and Park Ji-hoon and Moon Seong-gon have become KGC’s flagship players with top-level defense in the league. Jeon Seong-hyun has been reborn as the best shooter.
Director Kim Seung-gi is unraveling the growth know-how accumulated at KGC in Carrot this time. Lee Jung-hyun has achieved the most remarkable growth. In addition, Kim Jin-yu, who was the ‘hidden contributor’ of the PO of the last 6 rounds, was also overshadowed by Lee Jung-hyun’s light, but is evaluated to have grown significantly compared to before.
Coach Kim and the Carrot players came down from the spring basketball stage, swallowing tears of regret. However, they were allowed ‘another time’ for growth and development. Coach Kim said, “I will take a break, organize, and prepare for the next season.” This, of course, includes raising other young talents such as Kim Jin-yu, including Lee Jung-hyun’s ‘MVP candidate creation’. I look forward to the ‘next work’ that director Kim will create.