Woori Bank's Woori WON 2023-2024 Women's Professional Basketball League
While the first-ranked Cheongju KB Stars (15 wins and 2 losses) and second-ranked Asan Woori Bank (14 wins and 2 losses) have advanced to the round of 2 strongest teams, third-ranked Yongin Samsung Life Insurance (8 wins and 8 losses) and fourth-ranked Bucheon Hana One-Q (6 wins and 10 losses) have advanced to the playoffs. Busan BNK Sum (4 wins and 13 losses) and Incheon Shinhan Bank (2 wins and 14 losses), who played the PO last season, are struggling. The team has a clear two-tier, two-tier system. KB Stars is showing off its formidable power by banking on center Park Ji-soo and shooter Kang Yi-seul, who won the MVP award in three consecutive rounds for the first time in history. It also gave two losses to Woori, which won victory over four teams. Despite unfavorable factors such as loss of key players such as Park Hye-jin and Yoo Seung-hee due to injury and fluctuations of Kim Dan-bi, Woori has maintained its strong stance thanks to Park Ji-hyun and transfer Lee Myung-kwan, who won the third-round MIP. The results of the two teams' showdowns will likely determine the winner of the regular league. "Performance against KB Stars is quite important," Woori Bank coach Wi Sung-woo said. In the mid-range, Hana One-Q, which was the lowest in last season (6 wins and 24 losses), is making strides. This season, he has displayed remarkable performance by taking all the wins he garnered last season for the first time in 16 games. Veteran forward Kim Jong-un has joined the team, and guard Jihyun Shin and center Yang In-young have displayed their best performance, which does not easily collapse. Samsung Life Insurance, which has become the core of the team with its third-year forward Lee Hae-ran, is also maintaining its third place by banking on its strong player base. The variable is BNK's rebound. He had the best season since his foundation by reaching the championship game last season, but he has hardly been able to use his strength this season. Guard Ahn Hye-ji and Lee So-hee, forwards Kim Han-byul, Han Um-ji and center Jinan are all maintaining their "best five" last season, but they are agonizing over their lack of teamwork. Shinhan Bank, which is at the bottom of the group, has been suffering from the collapse of its high-level fight due to the injury of center Kim Tae-yeon and Byun So-jeong. The gap between Hana One Q and BNK, the fourth-ranked team that advanced to the PO, is 2.5 games, and Shinhan Bank is not in the stage to give up yet due to the gap of 4 games. If the bottom two teams' performance is revived, competition for PO could become fiercer.