KCC’s ‘Big 4’ Injury Crisis: Key Players Absent | Busan Report

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Busan KCC Aegis suddenly lost 5 games in a row after 7 games in a row. To make matters worse, all of the ‘Big 4’ that had been highly anticipated before the season were unable to appear.

KCC will play the 4th round home game of the 2025-2026 LG Electronics professional basketball against Daegu Korea Gas Corporation Pegasus at Sajik Indoor Stadium in Busan at 2 p.m. on the 10th. This season’s record against KCC is 3 wins.

KCC ranked 5th with 16 wins, 13 losses, and a winning percentage of 0.552 before the game. However, the recent trend is not good. KCC went on a 7-game winning streak in the third round. However, due to the aftereffects of losing in the second overtime in the home game against LG on the 26th, they lost 5 games.

The big thing was that the ‘Big 4’, which had been highly anticipated, had never been operated properly. KCC built a powerful lineup by recruiting the best leading guard Heo Hoon (31) in addition to the existing Heo Woong (33), Choi Jun-yong (32), and Song Kyo-chang (30). It was an incredible lineup, with all five starting players, including foreign player Sean Long (33), having been MVPs (regular season, championship game).

However, Heo Hoon missed the first round due to a calf injury ahead of the opening, and immediately after his return, Song Kyo-chang and Choi Jun-yong were eliminated due to left ankle ligament rupture and left knee injury, respectively. Choi Jun-yong returned briefly but missed one game, and even Heo Woong has not been able to play since his retirement from basketball due to heel pain. Jang Jae-seok (ankle) and Lee Ho-hyeon (back) also left the team but finally returned. Foreign second option Dwan Hernández (30) suffered an ankle injury and is likely to return after the All-Star Game.

Fortunately, Heo Hoon was holding up well, but the day before the match against Korea Gas Corporation, Heo Hoon was unable to properly train. And he was left out of the starting lineup in the game. KCC had Choi Jin-kwang, Kim Dong-hyun, Yoon Ki-chan, Jang Jae-seok and Sean Long as starters on this day.

KCC coach Lee Sang-min said, “(Heo) Hoon has a bad calf, so he will miss the game altogether.” He said with a dark expression, “I think I should rest for a few days. It’s not good what I’m feeling.” Instead, KCC is pinning its hopes on Choi Jin-kwang, who filled the void left by Heo Hoon in the first round.

Song Kyo-chang, who joined this Busan expedition, entered the entry list, but it is still difficult to participate. Coach Lee sighed, “I don’t think it will be easy today. I still have pain inside. I talked about it after training, but it’s still a bit sore.”

Busan = Reporter Yang Jeong-woong orionbear@mtstarnews.com