Basketball Team Coach Ahn Jun-ho "One Team Korea Spirit... Laguna is the Captain"

Departing on the afternoon of the 19th ahead of the away game in Australia on the 22nd

The Korean men's basketball team, led by coach Ahn Jun-ho, will depart for Australia on the 19th to participate in the 2025 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifying match.

Our national team, organized in Group A of the preliminary round, will play against Australia, Thailand, and Indonesia home and away until February 2025, and if it places in the top two of the group, it will earn the right to participate in the 2025 Asia Cup finals. 카지노사이트위키

In the FIBA ​​rankings, Korea is 51st, Australia is 4th, Indonesia is 74th, and Thailand is 91st.

Korea will first play an away game against Australia on the 22nd, and then play a home game against Thailand on the 25th at the Wonju Sports Complex in Gangwon-do.

Coach Ahn Jun-ho, who took the helm of the men's national basketball team in December of last year, said before leaving the country on the 19th, "In pursuit of a new national team compared to before, we have set the slogan as 'One Team Korea'," and "As a national team player, I will be cautious."

“I asked the players to have a strong sense of duty and responsibility,” he said, expressing his determination ahead of the first game.

Korean men's basketball attempted to enter the medal zone at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, but was caught by Japan, which had a second team in the finals, and ended up failing to advance to the semifinals after meeting China in the quarterfinals.

This Asia Cup preliminaries are the first step toward regaining pride after failing to advance to the semifinals of the Asian Games.

The first opponent, Australia, is ranked 4th in the world, but it is not expected that their best member will appear in this match.

However, even so, they will definitely be a difficult opponent for us as they have the home advantage and also have the advantage of being tall.

Coach Ahn said, "We need to play basketball with speed through quick offense and defense transitions.

However, the practice period was short at 3 days, and the players were exhausted after playing in the league, which is unfortunate."

It is also a burden for our national team that a forced march is scheduled, including having to transfer to Hong Kong and then land in Melbourne, Australia, for another two hours to get to Bendigo, Australia, where the game will be held.

In particular, in response to a question about the recent controversy related to the national soccer team, Coach Ahn said, "I am cautious (since it is a different sport), but that should be taken as a rule of thumb.

If teamwork breaks down in the national team, the performance will be worse than that of a single (professional) team."

“I have no choice but to come out,” he replied.

At the same time, he emphasized, "No matter how good the players are, teamwork is not an option, but a necessity."

Coach Ahn also announced that he had appointed La Gun-ah (KCC) as the captain of this team.

Coach Ahn explained, “La Geon-ah is a key member of our national team and has the right experience and age, so I offered her the captaincy through a meeting,” and added, “Then she willingly accepted, saying that she would work hard and not hesitate.”

Laguna, from the United States, is a player who acquired Korean nationality through special naturalization in 2018 and has since played with the Taegeuk symbol in the Asian Games and Basketball World Cup.

Coach Ahn said, “La Geon-ah is good at communicating with other players,” and added, “It seems like the team atmosphere is changing with the help of other players, including Kim Jong-gyu.”

The men's basketball team is scheduled to return home on the 23rd after the game against Australia and prepare for the game against Thailand on the 25th.