“When I get a free throw, it feels like this (laughs).”
The 2023 KUSF College Basketball U-League goes beyond the beginning of the season to the middle. The women’s college team played 2-3 games each. Among them, Kim Ye-na (160cm, G) is leading her scoring with an average of 26.0 points.
After Kim Ye-na scored 31 points against Kangwon National University, she also scored 23 and 24 points in Dankook University and Gwangju University matches, leading her team in scoring.
Kim Ye-na, whom I met after losing 58-72 in a head-to-head match against Gwangju University on the 3rd, said, “I practice a lot with the thought of doing my own thing well, so the shooting success rate increases, and I feel that our team lacks stamina, so I work hard with the thought of doing well. The result comes out,” he said, saying that the secret to scoring a lot is personal training.
When asked how she did individual training, Kim Ye-na said, “Whenever I have time, I go to the gym, throw a few more shots, and if there is a player in the same department, I run on the playground with that friend, and when I help her practice shooting, she buys me something delicious.”
Kim Ye-na recorded a free throw success rate of 70.0% (14/20) last year, but this season she significantly raised it to 95.5% (21/22). The number of free throws made in three games this season is more than the number of free throws thrown in 10 games last season.
According to the records provided by the Korea Basketball Association, the highest free throw success rate in a season in the college basketball league played in the home-and-away format was 82.5%, recorded by Park Chan-yang (33/40) in 2016 and Kang Yoo-rim (47/57) in 2018.
Kim Ye-na is showing the possibility of a free throw success rate of 90% for the first time in a female college team.
When Kim Ye-na said that her free throws were much better than last season, she said, “She practices her free throws after each exercise. There’s that too, but when she gets a free throw, she has to put it in so she’s focused on scoring an easy point,” she said.
She doesn’t even have a special routine when Ye-na Kim throws her free throws, but she succeeds cleanly. She has a sense of security to the extent that when Kim Ye-na is on her free throw line, Ulsan University can be considered to have scored 2 points.
She said Kim Ye-na said, “It seems that (free throws are good) is a feeling. She continued to practice, so there is a sense of it,” she said.
Kim Ye-na made three or more three-pointers in three consecutive games. Her advantage is a 3-point shot, but in the game against Gwangju University, she scored first by breaking through and then attempted a 3-point shot.
In the beginning of the game, when asked why they focused more on breakthrough than 3-point shooting, Kim Ye-na said, “I had a practice game with Gwangju University. The breakthrough went well, so I tried to break through again this time,” he said. 바카라사이트
As Chae Seung-hee was sidelined due to her nasal bone injury, Kim Ye-na even took on the role of point guard in the game against Gwangju University.
She said, Kim Ye-na said, “I think a lot now, Chae Seung-hee is injured, so there is no clear No. 1 (point guard), and I tend to be more confident when I play No. 2 (shooting guard).”
The center of Ulsan University is Yena Kim and Nayoung Kwon. The two players often play 2-on-2.
Kim Ye-na said, “Last year (with Kwon Na-young) the 2-2 play went well, so my assists went up a lot. Now, when we play 2-on-2, the defense rushes towards us, so we are thinking about how to get a chance even against the opposition,” she said.
Moving into the middle of the season, the opposing team is likely to play a stronger defense to block Kim Ye-na.
Kim Ye-na said, “If I focus on blocking me, I want to assist rather than score. My teammates don’t make it for me, but when I’m on defense, my teammates move and I want to assist. You have to practice more to do that,” she did.
Ulsan University currently has a record of 1 win and 2 losses. There are 7 games left in the college basketball league.
Kim Ye-na hoped, “Since it’s the last time (college life), I want to play a game without regrets, and there will be parts that don’t go well during the game, but I hope we can raise the mood and finish well.”