The Korean men’s basketball team, which achieved a hard-fought victory against Indonesia, which was considered one step below them, pledged to play a good game against Australia on the 24th by reducing mistakes resulting from haste.
The men’s basketball team led by coach Ahn Jun-ho defeated Indonesia 86-78 in the third round of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifiers held at Sono Arena in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do on the 21st.
Korea, ranked 53rd in the FIBA rankings, was expected to score an easy victory over Indonesia, ranked 77th, but had a difficult fight as the attack did not proceed smoothly from the beginning of the game.
It was only in the middle of the 4th quarter that Lee Hyun-joong and Ahn Young-jun succeeded in successively making their first outside shots of the day, turning the tide of the game. 4 minutes and 11 seconds before the end, Ahn Young-jun’s 3-pointer increased Korea’s lead to 9 points. Korea was able to barely shake off Indonesia’s chase and secure the victory. .
Coach Ahn Jun-ho said at the press conference after the game, “Play must be ahead, and it seems like all 12 players were ahead of the game. “I think that’s why I was dragged around the whole time.”
Coach Ahn said, “It is very difficult to play a game like this because the atmosphere is lost to the opponent from the beginning, but fortunately, the team came together in the end and turned it around, which is very meaningful.”
He said, “I will organize myself well and show a better performance against Australia.”
Coach Ahn Jun-ho said that the zone defense shown against Indonesia that day was actually a rehearsal for the game against Australia.
At the same time, he said, “Lee Jong-hyun (Cheong Gwan-jang) is tall, and the opposing lineup is relatively short, so I thought zone defense would be more advantageous than Lee Jong-hyun playing man-to-man,” and added, “We plan to play a lot of zone defense against Australia.”
Regarding the 3-point success rate of only 24.3% on this day, he said, “It is probably the lowest figure among national team games. “It means that we did not make good choices in good opportunities,” he said, and pledged, “In the game against Australia, we will supply the ball smoothly to create better chances and increase the success rate of 3-point shots.”
A reporter asked whether the reason the offensive work was not organized from the beginning of the game was because the bench was inexperienced in game management.
Coach Ahn Jun-ho responded, “Indonesia is a weaker team than us, and we planned to test our strategy and tactics by utilizing our tall players in preparation for the game against Australia, but it did not go as planned. We should have played a leisurely game, but we missed the chance as we were dragged out.” .
Even though Korea lost the right to attack with a steal on this day, they made several mistakes in fast breaks, and also made a series of ridiculous passing mistakes in pick-and-roll plays in slow attacks.
Coach Ahn explained, “The players were anxious as the game went against their expectations,” and added, “The more things happened on the bench, the more we needed to give the players stability (we were unable to do so), but we used today as a turning point to produce better play in the game against Australia.” “I will do it,” he said.
Regarding how to use Lee Hyun-joong (Illawarra), “Lee Hyun-joong is suitable for the 3rd position because he has mobility, but sometimes he takes on the 2nd position, and in defense, he also plays the 4th position.” He added, “With the current player composition, he is ordered to play positions that straddle the 3rd and 4th positions. “I do it,” he said.
Lee Hyun-joong (12 points, 11 rebounds), who returned to the national team after three years, was disappointed by making only 1 of 11 3-pointers.
Coach Ahn said, “That may be why there was confusion today,” and said, “Lee Hyun-joong must play ‘total basketball’ and participate in rebounding and defense.” “We have to go beyond ordinary play,” he emphasized.
Coach Ahn Jun-ho, who said that the national team’s air superiority was weakened due to the absence of Kim Jong-gyu (DB) and Ha Yoon-ki (kt), said, “Win or defeat will be determined by how much air superiority we have in the game against Australia.”
Coach Ahn, who believes that air superiority is important, actually said that naturalized players are “the right answer.”
Coach Ahn said, “There is at least one naturalized player in each country, and even in Southeast Asia,” adding, “Naturalized players are the most urgent. “If there are naturalized players, it will create a synergy effect for domestic players in other areas, including air superiority,” he predicted.
Youngjun Ahn said, “I prepared a lot in a short period of time, but I wasn’t able to show it all,” and reflected, “In the beginning, my shots weren’t going well and my offense was stiff.”
“I will correct what is wrong and take advantage of what is good,” said Ahn Young-jun, who pledged, “I will communicate better with my colleagues and show a better performance in the game against Australia.”
Indonesia coach Iohannis Winar said, “I expected Korea to attack at a fast tempo. “I controlled it well at first, but ultimately lost a lot of offensive rebounds,” he said.
He said, “I didn’t think Korea would use zone defense. “I was embarrassed because I didn’t see him playing zone defense before that,” he said.
Regarding Indonesian naturalized player Jerome Anthony Bin Jr., who scored the most points for both teams on this day with 27 points and 7 rebounds, he said, “As a naturalized player, I would like to praise him for encouraging and leading domestic players.”
Vin Junior said, “Korea is one of the best teams in Asia. At first, the energy was good, but later on, we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds to Korea.” (Yonhap News Agreement)
