2012.4.6 Weekend Picks

KBL Finals

Anyang Korea Ginseng Corp. (3-2) at Wonju Dongbu Promy (2-3)

-Chiak Gymnasium, Wonju, Gangwon

Friday, 7 p.m.

KGC is just one victory away from being this season’s champion. Despite being considered as underdogs, the team beat the regular season champion Promy 80-72 on Wednesday and came one step closer to their first KBL title.

KGC has been playing fast-paced basketball, relying on their young squad. Their rookie forward Oh Se-keun and center Chris Daniels have been fighting well inside the paint against Promy’s triple tower: Rod Benson, Kim Joo-sung and Yoon Ho-young.

The Promy, who are the league’s best defensive team in allowing only 67.9 points per game, are not showing strong defense. The team needs to control its temper and stay out of foul trouble, while slowing down the rhythm of the game.

V-League Finals

Incheon Korean Air Jumbos at Daejeon Samsung Fire Bluefangs

Chungmu Gymnasium, Daejeon

Saturday, 2 p.m.

This is a deja vu of the men’s V-League finals last year, and the Jumbos have a chance for revenge against the Bluefangs.

The Jumbos reached the best-of-five finals after edging the Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers in a tight playoff series. The Bluefangs awaited their opponent after directly advancing to this stage as the regular season champion.

The Jumbos have had better head-to-head success against the Bluefangs, beating them four times while losing only twice. The key for this series will be how the Bluefangs handle the powerful serve from the Jumbos, who have the league’s No. 1 server Martin Nemec. After handling the serves, the Bluefangs can rely on the hands of Gavin Schmitt, who has been the league’s No. 1 attacker for three consecutive seasons.

K-League

Ulsan Hyundai FC (3-1-1) at Gwangju FC (3-2-0)

Gwangju World Cup Stadium, Gwangju

Sunday, 3 p.m.

Gwangju is having a surprising start to the season. The team that finished 11th last season is so far the only team without a loss and is in second place. But a tough test awaits them on Sunday as it hosts last season’s runner-up Ulsan, who is currently in fourth place.

The hosts will try to find the back of Ulsan’s net with Montenegrin attacker Bogdan Milic, who is the tallest player in the K-League at 201 centimeters (six feet, seven inches), and small Brazilian Joao Paulo, who has so far netted three goals.

Ulsan will match them against attacker Lee Keun-ho, who has four goals, and Kim Shin-wook, who is 197 centimeters tall. The team also has national team captain Kwak Tae-hwi, who will lead Ulsan’s defense.