South Korea's men's basketball came from behind to win the Paris Olympics by one point.
South Korea's men's basketball came from behind to win the Paris Olympics by one point.
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Korea, led by veteran coach Ahn Jun-ho (68), defeated Japan 85-84 in the first round of the Softbank Cup (two consecutive matches between Korea and Japan) held at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Sunday. Korea is ranked 50th in the FIBA World, 24 places below Japan (26th). Japan will play in the finals of the Paris Olympics, but Korea was eliminated. In terms of objective performance, Korea is far behind Japan. Moreover, Korea has set up its national team comprised primarily of young players aged 24 on average at this year's event.
Japan, on the other hand, competed against Japan as the best member who will compete in the finals of the Paris Olympics, which will open at the end of this month. This year's event will effectively coincide with Japan's opening ceremony for the Olympics. While Japanese national team players Rui Hachimura (L.A. Lakers) and Utah Watanabe (Memps) stayed on the bench, key players including Yuki Dogashi and Makoto Hiejima, as well as naturalized player Josh Hawkinson participated in the event.
Coach Ahn's leadership and mercenary skills shone in this victory. He returned to the field as the new head coach of the national team in January for the first time in 13 years. There was a lot of concern. This is because men's basketball is currently undergoing the worst recession. At the Hangzhou Asian Games in September last year, he ranked seventh, the worst ever, behind China and Japan, which sent out second-class players. He also failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics this year.
"Although he is not young, I am confident that he is playing 'young basketball'. The trend is fast these days, and we will speed up the transition of basketball players," Ahn said, making drastic changes of generations. Having been praised for his excellent eye for players and his ability to use them in the right place, Ahn first hired a large number of 'young blood' players in their early and mid-20s to play key roles.
The national team led by Ahn has transformed into a different team than before. Australia showed a good performance of losing 71-85 in an away match, which was Ahn's debut match for the national team and the first Group A qualifying match for the Asian Cup. Australia is the strongest team in Asia as it ranks fifth in the world. The team was expected to be completely defeated, but Korea rather led the team by 33-20 and 13 points until about three minutes before the end of the second quarter. In the second round, the team crushed Thailand (91st) 96-62. Korea secured its first win in the preliminary match, and Ahn garnered his debut win as the national team coach. Ahn Joon-ho united as one. Even without veteran players, Korea has gained competitive edge.
On the same day, guard Lee Jung-hyun (25) showed strong performance with 27 points, four rebounds, and four assists, including six three-point shots. Ha Yoon-ki (25) of KT, who scored the finisher, recorded 15 points and seven rebounds. Both are key players in the generational change that coach Ahn discovered and took seriously. Japan maintained sense of play by practicing steadily, including two warm-up matches against Australia last month in preparation for the Olympics, while Korea had a break after the 2023-24 season, and only convened on April 29 for a short training session.
"Thanks to coach Seo Dong-cheol and his players, I won," coach Ahn Jun-ho said in a telephone interview. "I will do my best to produce good results in the second round as well." The second round between Korea and Japan will start at 7:30 p.m. on July 7 at the same venue. 메이저사이트