Kofi Cockburn (210 cm, center) could not beat Chinanu Onuaku (206 cm, center).
On December 1, in the 2023-2024 CheongKwanJang Professional Basketball Regular League held at the Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium, Seoul Samsung lost 64-78 to Goyangwon. Second three-game losing streak of the season. The season record is 3-13. The ranking is still 9th.
Samsung is at the bottom of the 2022-2023 season (14 wins, 40 losses). They also failed to win in the cup match held in Tongyeong before the start of the 2022-2023 season (record: 2 losses) and had to change the bad atmosphere in the cup.
There is no change in the composition of domestic players. In this case, the replacement of foreign aid will inevitably change the trend of Samsung. In particular, Kofi Cockburn, the first choice of the Samsung team, must have the upper hand in the battle of wits against the opposing foreign players.
In fact, Coburn is Samsung's main choice. To be precise, Cockburn's strength, physicality, ability to control the bottom of the goal is all that. Therefore, Samsung decided to focus on attacking the paint area.
Despite this, the Samsung team suffered an eight-game losing streak at one point. However, Samsung defeated Daegu Korea Gas 84-63. This is because of the improvement in the results of domestic players. So, for the first time in his life, Cockburn laughed.
However, Samsung have lost their last two games. We are again in danger. Cockburn must save Samsung, which is in crisis. Especially in the confrontation with Onuaku, he must have the upper hand.
Onuaku is said to be able to block Cockburn one-on-one, but Cockburn can use this against him. This is because he is a player who always gets help from his opponents. As a result, Cockburn's attack space can be expanded.
In fact, Cockburn is confident in one-on-one. Stand with your back to Onuaku, rotate and move forward with your left hand. I felt good about scoring the first goal.
And he was not defeated in hand-to-hand combat with Onuaku. He pushed Onuaku out of the paint zone and minimized Onuaku's score. Sono was able to slow down his scoring speed.
Of course, Cockburn didn't have an easy score. But Cockburn continued to push Onuaku. For that alone, Cockburn's performance makes a lot of sense. Especially with 1 minute and 31 seconds left before the end of the first quarter. Because it triggered Onuaku's second foul.