Seoul SK head coach Jeon Hee-cheol has expressed confidence that the team’s stars Kim Sun-hyung and Oh Se-geun will continue to improve.
SK won 86-80 against Wonju DB on Thursday at Jamsil Student Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul.
DB was on a six-game winning streak before the game and was flying high with a 13-1 record this season, but SK caught them off guard.
SK was led by Jamil Warney with 32 points, 20 rebounds, and six assists, while Ahn Young-jun, who recently returned from military service, added 21 points.
Kim Sun-hyung had four points and two assists, while Oh Se-geun was relatively quiet with eight points and seven rebounds.
Kim didn’t make any of his five three-pointers and was only 1 of 3 from two-point range.
“Today was actually a game where Ahn Young-joon, Oh Jae-hyun, Choi Won-hyuk, and others played their roles better than the veteran players who started,” said coach Jeon Hee-chul, adding, “(Kim) didn’t look very good shooting today.”
“It was probably hard for him because Kim Jong-kyu is a bigger and faster player,” he said.
However, he was confident that the two players would bounce back as they are experienced players.
“I’m not too worried about them,” Jeon said, “They didn’t play up to expectations today, but they still played their part by grabbing important rebounds and scoring in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter.”
He praised the contributions of the bench members, including Choi Won-hyuk and Oh Jae-hyun, and said, “Gomez, the guard who was selected as the Asian quarterback, will be back in December, and he can play the role of a ball-handler,” adding that he expects the team to be back on track after the midseason.
During the broadcast interview, Jeon received a ‘water baptism’ from the players, who said, “It’s a new suit…” as he entered the interview room.
On the other hand, DB coach Kim Joo-sung, who lost the game, said, “Overall, the players’ bodies were heavy,” and regretted that “the offense collapsed due to poor defense, and we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds.”
“We should have pushed harder, but SK came out stronger on the other side, which led to some crazy plays on our part,” Kim said. “We had a day off, but we played nine or 10 games in a month, so the physical burden accumulated,” he added. 파워볼