“We can’t afford to be stagnant in our offense”
Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation (now Anyang Jungkwanjang) won the 2022-2023 regular season, the 2023 EASL Champions Week, and the 2022-2023 playoffs. A triple treble. They were the strongest team 토토사이트 추천 throughout the season.
The strength of their core was obvious. However, without the strength of the backup resources, KGC Ginseng would not have been able to do what it did. A representative backup who gave KGC Ginseng the strength was Park Ji-hoon (184 cm, G). He relieved the burden on Byun Joon-hyung (185 cm, G) by carrying the ball, controlling the tempo, and attacking from the perimeter, and he also played well in the championship game. As a result, he experienced his first championship.
However, Park faced a major change after the 2022-2023 season ended. Yang Hee-jong, the team’s mental anchor, retired, and Byun Jun-hyung joined the military. Moon Sung-gon (195 cm, F) and Oh Se-geun (200 cm, C), the team’s main resources, switched to Suwon KT and Seoul SK, respectively. As a result, Park’s role increased. So did the pressure and responsibility.
However, Park turned the pressure into a career high. In the 2023-2024 regular season, he averaged 28:59 minutes per game in 53 games, averaging 12.1 points, 4.4 assists, 3.6 rebounds (1.1 offensive), and 1.4 steals per game. He was also a game-winner in several games. Despite Park Ji-hoon’s best performances, the team was eliminated from the playoffs early. They finished ninth in the standings (18 wins and 36 losses). The outlook for the 2024-2025 season doesn’t look too bright either.
However, Jung Kwanjang players, including Park Ji-hoon, have been training since June, and they left for Taiwan on September 18th. On the 19th, they played a practice match against the Taoyuan Pilots of the Taiwan T1 League, and on the 20th, they practiced at the National Taiwan University of Arts gymnasium from 1 to 2 p.m.
“We played a practice match (vs Taoyuan Pilots) on the 19th,” Park said after the training session on the afternoon of the 20th. I thought that we need to coordinate more, especially with foreign players. To do that, we tried to listen to each other’s thoughts,” he said, reflecting on the first three days of training in Taiwan.
As with all 10 KBL clubs, Chung has to balance domestic and foreign players in overseas training camps. Park Ji-hoon also has to play a lot with foreign players on the court.
“When we played practice games in Korea and when we played practice games on the 19th, Laren was a player whose strength was playing under the basket. So, we’re going to try to play a lot of pick-and-rolls with him and utilize his back downs,” he said, starting with what to do with Cady Laren (204 cm, C), the No. 1 foreign player.
“Michael Young is versatile. He’s not a bad shooter, he’s not a bad passer. He can also handle the ball. That’s why we asked him to play the ‘fast break’ first. When he catches the ball, we need to run fast. And Young can play 2-on-2 with multiple players. When he plays two-on-two, he can create derivative options,” he said, adding the advantages of Michael Young (206 cm, F).
Meanwhile, Byun Joon-hyung will be discharged from the military in November, which will leave Park Ji-hoon, Choi Sung-won (184 cm, G), and Byun Joon-hyung in the guard lineup. They will have to organize their movements, and the various guard combinations should have a positive impact.
However, Park said, “(Byun) Jun-hyung can play his own basketball. I run a lot with him, so I don’t worry about (breathing). And (Choi) Sung-won is there, so the synergy between the guards will be great,” he said, adding that he trusts Byun to return.
“The more we train in Taiwan, the more solid our team organization should be. Especially when Young has the ball, the movement of the domestic players should not be stagnant. Whether it’s a screen or a hand-off, we can’t stand still. We need to perfect those movements among the players, so that we can improve our game,” he said, setting out the tasks for the rest of the off-season.
Like every team, Jung Kwan-jang’s team is organized and organic. Park also emphasizes the sum of the five, which is why he uses the words “sum” and “organic” a lot. At the same time, he was most wary of ‘stagnant movement’.