“If you expect too much, the director will be nervous, so please lower your expectations.”
Danbi Kim, a forward of women’s professional basketball Asan Professional Basketball, said this when he was nominated for the regular league’s best player (MVP) at the Media Day for the opening of the 2022-2023 season on October 24 last year.
It took less than four months for this remark to turn out to be both humility and ‘excuse me’.
On the 13th, 107 days after the opening of this season, Asan Woori Bank (21-4) beat Busan BNK 76-52 on an away game and confirmed the regular league championship.
In this game, Kim Dan-bi took the lead in winning by posting 14 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes.
Looking at the entire season, Woori Bank’s victory was absolutely attributed to ‘Ace’ Dan-bi Kim.
Danbi Kim, who played an average of 34 minutes in 25 games until the previous day, was recording 18.67 points, 9.13 rebounds and 6.58 assists per game.
On top of that, he posted 1.67 steals and 1.33 blocked shots, leading the team in all metrics.
If you look at the record, Danbi Kim’s status in the league is revealed. As of the previous day, it was in the top 4 in all five categories.
The average score is second after Sonia Kim (Shinhan Bank, 19.6 points), and the rebound is fourth after Jinan (BNK, 9.88), Sonia Kim (9.16), and Kim Han-byeol (BNK, 9.14).
Assists and steals are also second after Ahn Hye-ji (BNK, 9.13) and Kim Ye-jin (Hanawon Q, 1.74), respectively.
In the block shot, Yang In-yeong (Hanawon Q, 1 shot) is running first.
In fact, Danbi Kim’s name was ranked high in most of the game records analyzed and provided by WKBL other than these five figures.
2-point success (131, 3rd place), 2-point success rate (51.2%, 6th place), 3-point success (49, 2nd place), 3-point success rate (41.5%, 1st place), participation time (34 minutes and 15 minutes) 1st, 5th place), etc., there is no item without Kim Dan-bi’s name.
It ranks first in terms of contribution calculated based on these figures.
Even excluding the BNK game on the 13th, when the championship was confirmed, she scored 910.9 points, far ahead of second place Sonia Kim (744.05 points).
At Media Day in October of last year, 44.6% (45 people) of all players in the 6 clubs and 36.1% (13 people) of media officials pointed to Kim Dan-bi as the MVP candidate.
Like this expectation, Kim Dan-bi is showing an active performance without fluctuations.
From rounds 1 to 4, he won MVP in all rounds except for round 3 (Sonia Kim).
From the first game of his opening, he poured 33 points and took the lead in defeating Busan BNK 79-54, predicting his performance this season.
In his second game with Cheongju KB on November 4 last year, he recorded his 5th triple-double in his personal career with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Then, on the 27th of that month, he scored 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Shinhan Bank in Incheon, his parent’s home, and on December 26 of last year, he made a big success with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists against Samsung Life Insurance in Yongin.
Woori Bank won all three of these matches. 안전놀이터
There are quite a few ‘triple-double level’ matches where the record was not achieved by a few assists.
November 23 last year against Samsung Life Insurance (18 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists), against Bucheon Hanawon Q on December 7 (19 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists), against Shinhan Bank on the 10th (27 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists), this month 2 1 KB ago (20 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists), everyone did their part.
MBC Sports Plus commentator Kim Il-doo analyzed, “Park Hye-jin, Park Ji-hyeon, Choi Yi-sam, and Kim Jong-un are all national level players at Woori Bank, so there is great synergy with Kim Dan-bi.”
He added, “When an attack is blocked, if you turn the ball around, there is a player who can solve it, so the number of assists increases.”
Commissioner Kim especially highlighted the fact that Danbi Kim has been playing a pivotal role in the team since the first year of transfer.
Kim Dan-bi, who played for Shinhan Bank, moved to Woori Bank as a free agent (FA) ahead of this season.
Commissioner Kim, who has been a professional player for more than 10 years, said, “It is really not easy for a veteran to move a team in terms of adaptation.” They say they don’t feel it,” he pointed out.
Ahn Deok-soo, a former women’s basketball coach and commentator at KBS N, said, “I want to appreciate the fact that even though Kim Dan-bi is old, he doesn’t show signs of physical exhaustion.”
He said, “In fact, Danbi Kim has never won the MVP in the regular league since the launch of the professional league. There was Hyejin Park before, and Jisu Park came up after that.” He is the player who is coveted by all coaches as MVP 0.”