Boom Finishes First in Regular Season

Posted on 14. Mar, 2011 by Jeff Liebsch Tag: basketball, champions, charles rhodes, jasper johnson, kt sonic boom, playoffs, sonic boom, sports


A lot went on this weekend in local sports, with the Boom taking the season title, the Giants opening up their preseason with a few games, and I’Park playing their first game at home for the 2011 season.

WONJU, South Korea - One day after KT Sonic Boom center Charles Rhodes proclaimed to Busan Haps that this year’s campaign would be a failure if they didn’t bring the season championship trophy home, they did just that today in Wonju.  

"We've been up top most of the year, and if we don't win it, it will be a failure," he said before Saturday’s game with SK at Sajik Stadium. "It was a tough loss to Incheon (last game), but we gotta regain our focus."

And regain their focus, they did.

The Boom won their 39th game Sunday, with an impressive 87-67 win over Wonju Dongbu Proxy. Though last year they won 40 games, they tied Ulsan for first but lost the tiebreaker, resulting in Ulsan winning the season title. This year, however, the title is all theirs.

 

Hopes for the championship looked grim nine games ago, when star Jasper Johnson was sidelined for the season with a calf injury. But KT regrouped, and won eight of their last nine, thanks to great play from Rhodes, and MVP candidates Cho Sung-min and Park Sang-oh.

They clinched the season ring with 39 wins and 13 losses with two games to go, bringing home the first season championship in team history.

Though the game was tied at 34 early on, KT exploded in the second half and never looked back. Cho Sung-min lead the attack with 19 points, including two huge three pointers to break open the game. Charles Rhodes added 18 points and 8 rebounds for the victors.

Last year's regular season champs did a huge favor for KT, as they surprisingly beat Incheon 75-72 to clinch the title for KT.

KT has two games remaining: Wednesday night at KCC, and then their final home game versus Ulsan next Sunday.

Other Local Sports News

>The Lotte Giants opened their exhibition season this weekend, splitting a two game series with SK. You can read more about that here.

>The Busan I’Park opened their home season this Sunday, with a 3-3 draw versus Sangju. You can read more about that here.

One More Thing

The Sonic Boom have been in three cities since they were first founded back in 1997. The first Gwangju, and then Yeosu, before coming to Busan in 2003. They have also gone by several names:

Gwangju Nasan Flamans
1997-1999
Gwangju Goldbank Clickers
1999-2000
Yeosu Goldbank Clickers
2000-2001
Yeosu Korea-Tender Purmi
2001-2003
Busan Korea-Tender Maxten
2003
Busan KTF Magicwings
2003-2009
Busan KT Sonicboom
2009-present
-Wikipedia



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