“I hope we win today’s game” (Heo Jae, former national team coach)
“I hope they don’t give up and turn it around in the last minute” (former national soccer player Lee Ik-su)
Despite the best wishes of Heo Jae and Lee Ik-soo, who are filming for the entertainment program “Chosun Athletic Association” and cheering on the Korean team, the South Korean basketball team fell short against Iran.
The team, led by head coach Chu Il-seung, lost to Iran in the fifth to eighth place match at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.
The Koreans fell 82-89 to Iran in the fifth-to-eighth place game at the Hangzhou Zhejiang Zijin River Gymnasium, despite strong performances from He Hun and Ragan Ah.
Ragan-ah led the way with 23 points and seven rebounds, while Heo Hoon (Commerce) added 18 points and eight assists. Byun Jun-hyung (Commerce) added 11 points and five assists, and Jeon Sung-hyun (Sono) chipped in 11 points.
The Korean men’s basketball team’s medal hopes were dashed the previous day with a 70-84 loss to host China in the quarterfinals, and the team also fell short to Iran on Sunday and will finish the tournament in seventh or eighth place.
The only other time South Korea failed to reach the men’s basketball quarterfinals at an Asian Games was in Doha in 2006, when they finished fifth.
Today’s game against Iran was a close contest, and the absence of field general Kim Sun-hyung, a gold medalist at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, was sorely missed.
Coach Chu Il-seung had identified Kim as a key pillar of the team since the FIBA Asia Cup last year.
Although Kim injured his left knee and was ultimately unable to compete in the Asia Cup, Chu’s preference for forward basketball required a technically proficient guard like Kim.
In addition, Lee Hyun-jung (Illawarra) and Yeo Jun-seok (Gonzaga University), who were rated as the best forwards of the next generation, were left out of the squad to get acclimatized.
Korea’s top two forwards, Oh Se-geun (SK) and Choi Jun-yong (KCC), were also unavailable due to injuries. Moon Sung-gon, who joined KT, also left the team late last month due to persistent ankle pain.
Kim Sun-hyung, who did not play against Iran due to injury, said, “I’m very angry. After all, it happened because we lost against Japan.”
The following is a one-on-one interview with Kim Sun-hyung.
- You didn’t play today. How are you feeling?
I tried to play as much as I could to give us a boost, but it was unfortunate. My calf is still elevated from playing the qualifiers. Against China, I tried to do everything, but my calf just wouldn’t listen. I’m not feeling well… I’m sorry that we lost the match against Iran.아톰카지노
- Looking back, I’m really sorry about the Japan match. When you return?
In the end, we lost to Japan by three points… When I think about it now, I think we lost because of our defense. They gave up a shot here and a shot there, and we just kept changing and playing the same defense. I think the result would have been different if we had played different defensive schemes.
- The match against China must have been disappointing.
It’s too bad. Against China, we lost too much height…
- In the future, players such as Lee Hyun-jung and Yeo Jun-seok will be able to wear the Taegeuk mark. What does Korea Basketball need to work on?
First of all, there were a lot of difficulties in the preparation process for the Asian Games, and there were a lot of injuries. In the end, the loss against Japan was too big for us, but that’s also our fault. Korea’s big forwards had a lot of injuries. In retrospect, it’s regrettable. If we can compensate with our height and height, we can go much higher than we are now. I’m very angry. I feel really sorry for the Korean basketball fans who love the game.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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