Jeonju KCC, one of the most famous names in professional basketball, had two heyday periods. The first was the “Age of Shin Shin-woo and Technicians” in the early years of the program. Hyundai (now KCC), which bisected the league with Samsung during the basketball feast, was pushed to the second or third tier with the creation of Kia Motors. When Kia Enterprise won the championship in the first year of professional basketball, it looked like this would continue.
However, it didn’t take long for Hyundai, who continued to accumulate technicians such as Lee Sang-min, Cho Sung-won, and Choo Seung-gyun, to find their footing. They went on to defeat Kia in back-to-back championship matches, establishing themselves as the best team in the early years of the program. This was largely due to the strength of the so-called “Izochu” trio.
Lee Sang-min, a pure point guard with the scoring ability of a top-tier shooting guard; Cho Sung-won, who made up for his short stature with tremendous elasticity and speed and became one of the best three-point shooters in the league; and Choo Seung-gyun, a salaryman who focused on the nuts and bolts of defense and hustle, but also had the ability to lead a high-level offense… The three technicians were outstanding individually, but together they played the best harmony, and coach Shin Shin-woo made good use of them, earning them the nickname ‘Shin San’.
The second is The Age of Bokko Heo Jae and the Wild Dogs. Coach Heo didn’t interfere with the game in the same detailed way as Coach Shin, but he played his signature bold basketball to boost his players’ confidence and let them play as freely as possible. “Offense is confident and autonomous, defense is crazy!” This is the color Heo pursued at the time.
At the time, Heo boasted unbelievable draft luck – not a lot of it, but big fish when it mattered most. This is how he acquired the longest center in history, Ha Seung-jin, and special mixed-race guard Jeon Tae-pung. In addition to these special players, he was able to pick out the strengths of players who were either liked or disliked depending on their usage, such as Kang Byung-hyun, Shin Myung-ho, and Lim Jae-hyun, better than anyone else.
As the nickname ‘basketball genius’ suggests, Heo Jae was an all-around talented player. There is a prejudice that this type of personality lacks the ability to understand subpar players, but Heo was different. He was good at seeing the strengths of players, such as trying to develop Park Jong-duk, who was a mediocre big man in his senior year at DB, and using Shin Myung-ho, who was actually a defensive tool at KCC.
Since then, KCC has failed to add any more championships and has repeatedly faltered at the threshold of its prime. Until Heo’s time, the team had a strong image in big games, but since then, the team hasn’t regained its glory days as it hasn’t been able to make it to the championship finals. However, KCC, which is sincere in its passion for basketball, has spared no effort to strengthen its strength every season and is aiming for a third heyday with a huge investment in the last two off-seasons 메이저놀이터.
At the center of that storyline is none other than Heo Woong (30‧185cm), the ‘Jeonju Idol’. Heo has teamed up with Lee Seung-hyun (31‧197cm), the ‘Head Tiger’, to wear the KCC jersey this season. It is known that they had a strong desire to play together, so they made some concessions in terms of salary. The No. 4 spot was originally vacant, and the No. 2 spot was also vacant due to Lee Jung-hyun’s transfer, so it was a perfect signing.
Heo has the characteristics of a good leader. When most people think of a leader, they think of a macho type who takes control of the team with his charisma. Heung is different. He’s shown through many examples that you can be a good leader without being an old-fashioned one. He’s a great role model for younger players to learn from, with his fundamental skills, his competitive drive, and his passion and hard work on and off the court.
In addition, she has the mindset of wanting to grow stronger together with the team, taking care of her juniors, not just herself. This is evidenced by the fact that he is often seen giving advice and encouragement on and off the field to improve the skills of Lee Geun-hwi (25‧188cm), one of the team’s future stars. While he could be a potential competitor in the long run, the KCC man’s focus is strictly on the team.
Heung’s gentle leadership continued during the season. In particular, when foreign forward Ronde Hollis-Jefferson (28‧198cm) was unable to integrate into the team because he was too focused on his own career, he stuck by him and helped him adjust, and when there was friction with head coach Chang-jin Jeon, he took the initiative to organize a meeting to diffuse the situation. You can see that he is a quiet leader who carefully thinks and practices what will help the team in a particular situation.
More recently, he made headlines when he was reportedly instrumental in bringing in free agent Choi Jun-yong (29‧200.2cm). Heo Woong, who was well aware of Choi’s situation, met with Choi Hyung-gil to suggest the signing, and the club moved swiftly to take the big man into its arms. It is said that the timing was right and that Choi Jun-yong had a good relationship with Heo Woong, which made it possible for him to join the team at the last minute.
There’s no need to say much more about Heo Woong’s immense popularity. In addition, the club may feel like they’ve gotten their stomachs handed to them, as he has a direct impact on the team’s atmosphere and strength. After the disappointment of not being able to connect with KCC during the rookie draft, he is trying to reconnect with them through free agency and be at the center of their third heyday. Maybe the subtitle of KCC’s third heyday will be ‘Heo Woong and friends’.