“Now we’re whole.” Ace Heo Hoon’s pride, it was the team.
Suwon KT snapped a two-game losing streak with a 94-85 victory over Anyang Jungkwanjang in the first game of the 2023-2024 Jungkwanjang Professional Basketball League at 스포츠토토 Anyang Gymnasium on Thursday.
On the day, Heo Hoon scored 19 points, grabbed one rebound, and dished out four assists in 25 minutes and 28 seconds to lead KT to victory. In the game, his impact went beyond the stat sheet. He locked down Jung Kwanjang’s main ball-handler Park Ji-hoon with his pressure defense, played a proper two-man game with the foreign player, and even broke through isolations when the team needed an ace.
“It’s our first win as a team. It feels good to win, and we’re going to keep this good vibe going and keep winning,” he said.
“I talked a lot with the players after the last game,” he said of the difference between the two games. I felt that the other players were expecting a lot from the ace, so I told them to play tough defense together as we have new players who are strong in defense. I also promised them that if they have a chance to shoot, they should shoot boldly instead of passing,” he said, emphasizing that the most important thing is the will of the players.
On the two-man game with Paris Bass, he said, “Some people said that Bass and I don’t play well together, but I don’t know. It’s not that we don’t fit each other, we just haven’t put it together yet, and I think that our joint option is a high success rate option. At the end of the day, the person who is good at basketball should be on the court.”
The key to KT’s outside shooting, which had been particularly sluggish, was playing ‘fresh basketball’. “Even though it was an away game, we wanted to raise the atmosphere from the warm-up and get the players excited. From the second quarter, we didn’t fall behind in defense against the other team, so we took advantage of that momentum and our offense worked well in the remaining quarters.”
Meanwhile, KT has a thick roster of big men, but lacks a shooter. “(To compensate), we need to utilize spacing and have someone who can cut and do big things like rebound. Today (Nov. 24), (Moon) Sung-gon and (Choi) Chang-jin made good plays. In particular, (Moon) Sung-gon-i showed his strengths in defense and rebounding.”
On the three-point shot he missed due to excitement during the game, he said, “I think I missed it because I was too excited. I apologized to my teammates for not being so calm. But there are moments when you need to play that intense basketball,” he said.
As for his maturity after his discharge, he said, “I am now the middle man in the team. The coach expects me to be exemplary and heavy. I’m talking a lot with the other players, and the coach believes in me,” he said, showing a sense of responsibility.
“In the end, a strong team needs the strength of all five players. If I repeat the game that I can only do by myself, I will end up in the fourth or sixth place instead of being a champion. I am focusing on the team’s synergy rather than my scoring,” he said, adding, “This is also my new attempt.” He wittily concluded.