Los Angeles Sparks guard Park Ji-hyun of the WNBA showed a meaningful performance on the court, but the team lost.
Park Ji-hyun started as a bench member for Toronto Tempo and home games at CryptoCom Arena in Los Angeles, California on the 18th (Korea time), and played 7 minutes and 33 seconds to score 2 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists. The team lost 96-106.
Since his WNBA debut, he has shown the best performance both quantitatively and qualitatively. He was put in at the start of the second quarter and stepped on the court for 5 minutes and 11 seconds.
사진 확대 Park Ji-hyun played the most time since her debut on the day. Photo = Getty Images/AFP= Courtesy of Yonhap News
It was a difficult start. While defending the opponent guard Kiki Rice’s attempt to break through with 9:03 left, he gave up an additional free throw along with a foul. With 8:08 left, he attempted a 3-pointer from the left side, but the shot turned away from the rim.
But he didn’t give up. With 7:40 left, he scored an offensive rebound, then helped Dearica Hamby score, recording rebounds and assists at the same time.
With 6:55 left, he succeeded in scoring his first WNBA goal. He made a layup under the basket by exchanging cut-in passes with Hamby.
With 5:22 left, he induced the opponent’s foul with a gritty play. When Nneka Ogwumike’s jump shot failed, he rushed under the basket to catch the rebound and induced a loose ball foul by opponent Brittney Skiles in the process.
After committing his second foul with 4:49 left, he was replaced and returned to the bench.
He was put back in with 5:38 left in the third quarter. A foul was declared in the scene that blocked Skiles’ 3-point attempt with 4:41 left, but after the video review, it was recognized as a rough play and upgraded to a flagging foul.
With 3:41 left, he once again tried to shoot a 3-pointer from the left side, but he came out after hitting the rim again. He went back to the bench with 3:16 left. It was the last appearance of the game.
사진 확대 The Sparks had a difficult game against Toronto on the day. Photo = Getty Images/AFP= Courtesy of Yonhap News
The Sparks had a difficult game on the day. They had a close game by exchanging the score in the seventh inning of the first quarter and the turnaround in the fifth inning, but gave up the lead from the second half of the first quarter and failed to regain it afterwards.
Kelsey Plum and Hamby scored at the end of the third quarter to close the gap. The gap, which once widened to 17 points in the third quarter, narrowed to single digits in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Toronto also had no intention of giving up the game easily. With 4:17 left, Skiles made a layup after the breakthrough, inducing Ray Burrell’s foul and adding an additional free throw. Burrell was sent off for six fouls in this scene.
The Sparks trailed to 96-89, seven points with two minutes left, but failed to chase any further.
Plum led the team with 28 points and 7 assists, Hamby 21 points and 9 rebounds, and Ogwumike led the team with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Kate Martin scored 11 points, including three 3-pointers.
For Toronto, Skiles scored 38 points and Marina Mabrey scored 14. Rice, who contributed to the NCAA championship of UCLA, a college affiliated with LA, in April, received a lot of applause during his introduction time even though he was an away player. Thanks to this support, he scored 19 points.
사진 확대 The Sparks didn’t win despite Kelsey Plum’s performance. Photo = Getty Images/AFP= Courtesy of Yonhap News
Sparks coach Lynn Roberts said in a post-match press conference, “The two teams combined had 72 free throws. It was a difficult level to see. It was really ugly. Toronto had no fielding attempts for five minutes in the third quarter. Because all I had to do was throw free throws. That’s amazing. That’s not to say we didn’t foul. It was just ugly,” he said, expressing regret over the contents of the game.
After finishing the four consecutive home games with one win and three losses after the opening of the season, he said, “I don’t know if there was such a schedule in our team’s history. And we didn’t do our job properly. There are now two options. It is to feel sorry for yourself or to fix it. I think this is part of the process as well. The locker room is not without faith. Trust in each other or confidence in the goals we want to achieve is never lacking. This is why I have confidence,” he said about his slump at the beginning of the season.
“Our team doesn’t have Ariel Atkins right now. He is a very important player. He has the best defense ability in an on-ball situation. Today we allowed 38 points to our opponent Brittney Skiles. We don’t have players to defend right now, we have a lot of work to do. It’s a long season, but we need to have urgency,” he said.
[Los Angeles (USA) = KIM JAE HO, MK Sports Correspondent]