Samsung loses to SK, losing 19th consecutive away game… Most ‘disgrace’ in professional basketball history

▲ Samsung coach Eun Hee-seok

Seoul Samsung, once known as a ‘basketball powerhouse’, lost to rival SK, also based in Seoul, and fell into the deep swamp of ’19 consecutive away losses’ along with 8 consecutive losses this season.

This is the longest losing streak in away games in professional basketball history.

Samsung lost 82 to 75 to SK in the 2023-2024 CheongKwanJang Professional Basketball Regular League away game held at Jamsil Student Gymnasium in Seoul on the afternoon of the 20th.

As a result, Samsung earned the stigma of being the team that lost the most away games in a row in professional basketball history since its launch in 1997.

Daegu Dongyang in 1998-1999, SK in 2003, and Samsung in 2021-2022 recorded 18 consecutive away games. Samsung, launched under coach Eun Hee-seok, started losing in December last year and eventually became the team with the most consecutive losses.

Samsung (2 wins, 10 losses), which suffered 8 consecutive losses this season, ranked 9th, slightly ahead of Daegu Korea Gas Corporation (1 win, 10 losses), which ranked last.

On the other hand, SK, which has won 9 consecutive games at home since February of this year, rose to a tie for 3rd place with Changwon LG (7 wins, 4 losses).

SK extended its winning streak against Samsung and Seoul rivals to 7 games.

Samsung took a 27-20 lead in the first quarter, led by Kofi Coburn, who succeeded in all four shots under the goal.

▲ Oh Se-geun of SK

However, in the second quarter, when Oh Se-geun (6 points) and Jamil Warney (7 points) showed strength, the score in the first half was pushed to 45 to 43, and in the third quarter, Coburn was tied up in the help defense of Warney and Choi Bu-kyung, making it difficult to attack. Could not find .

At the start of the 4th quarter, Samsung gave up an easy layup to Oh Jae-hyun due to a defensive mistake, but then all three attacks came to nothing, and Choi Won-hyuk scored 3 points in a fast break situation, leading Samsung to a double-digit score.

Coburn then committed an offensive foul on Song Chang-yong, and five minutes before the end of the game, Lee Won-seok missed Lee Jeong-hyun’s pass and a number of mistakes were made, gradually losing momentum in the chase.

At the end of the game, SK, with coach Jeon Hee-cheol using the team’s best lineup consisting of Kim Sun-hyung, Ahn Young-jun, Heo Il-young, Oh Se-geun and Warney, maintained the victory by effectively suppressing Coburn’s attack under the goal.

It was painful for Samsung to record only 2 steals while making 11 errors.

On the other hand, SK stole the opponent’s ball 8 times.

Warney exploded with 31 points and 16 rebounds, winning a complete victory over the 210cm tall center Coburn.

Coburn had 16 points and 13 rebounds.

(Photo = Provided by KBL, Yonhap News)