Woori Bank Asan’s victory over Hana Bank Bucheon on March 17 was more than just a win. It was a game that showed that Woori can step out of the “Kim Dan-bi One Team” and utilize a variety of offensive options.
Woori won 66-60 in the 2024-2025 Women’s Professional Basketball League at Asan Sunshin Gymnasium. Woori was down through three quarters, but turned the game around in the fourth quarter when Sim Sung-young, Han Eum-ji, and Lee Myung-kwan scored cut-in baskets off assists from Kim Dan-bi (34). Woori Bank’s team play centered around Kim Dan-bi stood out.
In addition to Kim, who recorded a double-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, Han Um-ji and Shim Sung-young 엔트리 파워사다리 also scored in double figures.
Kim Dan-bi has been Woori Bank’s strongest weapon this season, but also its biggest weakness. While Kim was destructive, scoring over 30 points in three consecutive games, the team lacked a synergistic player to work with her, meaning that if she tired, the team would quickly fall apart. Woori Bank, which lost several of its ace players to free agency before the start of the season, was in desperate need of an even performance from its players to break out of its ‘Kim Dan-bi dependency’.
“We’re too dependent on Danbi,” Woori coach Woo Sati-woo said before the game, ”and I’m worried because she has to play 30 games and she’s not young.” “If Danbi is on one side of the court, we have to carry the ball from the opposite court, but we don’t have enough players to play the role of ball handlers, so the balance is unbalanced,” Woo said, adding, ”Team play is bound to be limited.”
On this day, Woori Bank players showed that they did not rely on Kim Dan-bi, but played alongside her and scored. After scoring 10 points in the first quarter, Kim Dan-bi was held to just four points in the second quarter by Woori Bank’s defense, and Shim Sung-young, Han Eum-ji, and Lee Myung-kwan stepped up their game in the second half. With more offensive options, it was easier for Kim to find passing lanes. Sim Sung-young scored 11 points in the second half alone.
“Watching Danbi, the captain, play without any effort and grabbing rebounds when it mattered, I realized once again that she is a good player,” said Wee after the game, ”I feel sorry for her as a coach when I see her physical condition.” “I’m proud of the players’ concentration in every game,” said Wee, ”I think this is our teamwork.”
Shim Sung-young said after the game, “Our players feel sorry for Danbi every day.” “She tells me, ‘Don’t feel sorry for me, don’t have any pressure, you just need to be more active to help me,’” he said, adding, ”I try to play more actively to ease her burden.” “In today’s shootout, I was so focused on the game that I didn’t have time to see Danbi’s struggle,” Shim added.