Coach Yang Dong-geun made a surprise appearance as a guest commentator for the Korea-Japan game.
On the 22nd, 토토사이트 Korea and Japan faced off in the KBank 2023 Men’s Basketball National Team Trials at Jamsil Student Gymnasium. A familiar face appeared in the broadcast seats. It was Ulsan Hyundai Mobis coach Yang Dong-geun, a Korean basketball legend. Coach Yang turned into a guest commentator and broadcast the game between Korea and Japan alongside announcer Kim Hyun-tae and commentator Son Dae-beom.
After the game, Coach Yang said, “I was very nervous at first. After the game started, announcer Kim Hyun-tae and commentator Son Dae-beom made me feel very comfortable and I enjoyed the game. The content of the match was also good. This is a trial match for the Asian Games as the team is in the process of coming together. They seemed to focus on defence and breathing rather than tactics.”
In the game, South Korea never relinquished the lead and won 76-69. Japan, now known as the Golden Generation, was without NBA legends Rui Hachimura (Lakers) and Yuta Watanabe (Phoenix). Naturalised player Josh Hawkinson (Shibuya) is also out of the squad due to injury.
Coach Yang Dong-geun said of Japan’s strength, “It’s hard to evaluate because it’s not the best strength, but their shooting distance has increased and they are more daring. In the past, Japanese guards played a lot of traditional point guard roles, like Song Tae-seop in the cartoon ‘Slam Dunk’. Now they’ve all become more aggressive, so I think Japan’s power has increased significantly.”
At halftime, there was a national retirement ceremony for Yang Hee-jong, who left the court at the end of last season. Yang and Yang Dong-geun played together in numerous international competitions and won a gold medal together at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
“It was exciting to see her on the field. I’ve been with the national team since she was the youngest. I realised that a lot of time has passed. Hee Jong-i was one of the best players in the team who didn’t show up on the record. He had a lot of unseen value.” Coach Yang Dong-geun on Hee-jong Yang.
After a comfortable victory over Japan in the first match, South Korea will meet again on the 23rd at the same venue. After that, the team will step up their preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifiers and the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.
Coach Yang Dong-geun said, “There are some players who couldn’t play today (22nd) due to illness, but I hope they will recover quickly and join us. The players who are participating in the trials have only two games against Japan, but I hope they can prepare well for the Asian Games, so I hope they can get good results,” he said.