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Goyang Sono, who is in a slump, is fiddling with the card of starting guard Lee Jeonghyeon, who was out of action due to a shoulder injury.

Sono lost to Seoul SK 70-80 in the third round of the 2023-24 CheongKwanJang Professional Basketball Regular League held at Goyang Gymnasium in Gyeonggi Province on the 21st.

Sono suffered 6 consecutive losses and remained in 8th place (8 wins, 14 losses).

On this day, Sono was unable to control SK from the beginning and was pushed down to 28 points. In the second half, they launched a great counterattack with Jeon Seong-hyun and Chinanu Onuaku at the forefront, and trailed by 4 points in the middle of the fourth quarter.

However, they failed to turn it around due to lack of courage at the end, and their losing streak extended to six games.

Sono's recent slump is largely due to the absence of Lee Jeong-hyun. Lee Jung-hyun, who was showing his best performance this season with 20.6 points, 5.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game, injured his right shoulder in the game against Korea Gas Corporation in Daegu on the 10th and was diagnosed with ligament damage.

Lee Jung-hyun had no choice but to leave the court for a while due to the doctor's opinion that absolute stability was necessary even if it was not a major injury such as a fracture or rupture.

While Lee Jeong-hyun is away, Sono is struggling greatly with his offensive ability. With the absence of ‘main handler’ Lee Jeong-hyeon, the stream of passes became monotonous and even a single shot in a clutch situation disappeared.

Ho-bin Han and Eun-hu Cho are playing guard, but it is true that they do not reach the skills of Jeong-hyeon Lee.

As a result, Sono has no choice but to rely on the individual skills of Onuakuna and Jeon Seong-hyun in attack, but as the opposing team sees this, they are getting further and further away from victory.

Sono is currently two games behind Anyang Cheongkwanjang (10 wins, 12 losses) in 6th place, which is in the playoff berth. The difference is not large yet, but as losses continue, it may become more difficult to make up for it.

Due to continued losses, the club is finally adjusting the timing of Lee Jung-hyun's return.

In response to a question about Lee Jeong-hyeon, coach Kim Seung-gi said, "Before, I told her not to even move her shoulders, but now she is moving them little by little and letting them go."

Coach Kim hinted at a return, saying, “At the earliest, we may be able to put in a little bit of action around next week’s game at Jeonggwanjang (28th).” It is interpreted that the three-game series, starting with the Jeonggwanjang game and continuing with Seoul Samsung (30th) and Changwon LG (31st), was judged to be a watershed moment for the season's performance.

However, as the player's health is the top priority, there are no plans to force him to return even though his condition is not good.

Coach Kim added, “Depending on his condition, his return may be delayed until the fourth round begins after the All-Star Game (January 14).”