Orions pound on Promy in bloody season opener

The opening night match for the 2005-6 season for the Korean Basketball League got underway last Friday, when the defending champs, Dongbu Promy (formerly TG Xers), squared off against the Tongyang Orions, the 2002-3 season champions.
As openers go, however, the game was disappointing for the Promy in more than one way.
The recently renamed franchise, following its recent acquisition by Dongbu Insurance of the Xers team, lost more than just its name in the off-season. The point guard, Shin Ki-sung, left for KTF Magic Wings as a free agent. The loss of Shin, who was named last season’s most valuable player, seemed particularly devastating after the team’s 85-62 rout by the Orions on Friday.
Kim Sang-young, Shin’s replacement, struggled to keep up with his speedier counterpart, Kim Seung-hyun, who went off for 15 points along with nine assists and nine rebounds.
The Promy trailed by as many as 24 points in the third frame, and to make matters worse, the team’s star center, Kim Joo-sung, left the game with a neck injury with just over two minutes remaining.
He was hit on the back of the neck by Andre Brown on a low post shot, and the sprained neck ligament kept Kim out of the team’s second game, which the Promy lost 81-67 to the Mobis Phoebus on Sunday.

by Yoo Jee-ho