A strong word came from the mouth of “Gentleman” director Choo Il-seung. When the Korean men's basketball team failed to make it to the medal table, let alone the gold medal, coach Choo Il-seung said it was “disgraceful.”
South Korea, led by head coach Choo Il-seung, lost 70-84 to China in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at Hangzhou Olympic Center Gymnasium in Zhejiang Province on the afternoon of the 3rd. It was a quarterfinal match that went in less than 15 hours after the match against Bahrain in the round of 12 tournament (the quarterfinal match). South Korea, which fought against the negative factor of inferiority in physical strength from the start, did not win here in the end. It was also far behind China in terms of content.
Ra Gun-ah, who announced his retirement from the national team at the end of the tournament, fought hard with 14 points and seven rebounds. Yang Hong-seok backed up with 13 points, including three three-point shots. These two players were the only players who scored in double digits. It was painful that ace Huh Hoon only scored one assist while playing 14 minutes and 53 seconds.
Coach Choo Il-seung said at a press conference after the game, “I think it was pushed back in many ways, in height and everything else. The game schedule was tight, so there was a physical burden overall. After the first quarter, I think the lead of the game was transferred to China due to a decrease in physical strength. In many ways, China had a reason to beat us. I played the game well,” he said.
Korea's goal was gold. In this tournament, South Korea has been evaluated as having a possibility of a gold medal in that the competition's power is not 100% intact. However, when I opened the lid, some players were not in full condition yet, and in the process of selecting the final list of 12 players, “running forwards,” a key position in coach Choo Il-seung's basketball, were dropped due to injuries in succession.
At the same time, a deformed list was created, accounting for half of the guards alone. In the height fight, dependence on certain players grew, and in the end, even Ra Gun-ah failed to make proper use of it, losing to Japan and China.
Coach Choo Il-seung said, “I'm sorry I didn't achieve my goal,” and added, “I'm mortified,” regarding the fact that I was eliminated in the quarterfinals and moved away from the medal table. The voice was as gentle as ever, but the words had bones.
In addition, “The players are doing their best in difficult situations. As the current situation is not over yet, I will do my best to the end. I want to say sorry to the fans who supported and loved basketball. I think it's my job to achieve a successful conclusion to the end,” he said.
South Korea arrived in Hangzhou looking forward to its first gold medal in nine years since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. However, all plans went awry due to the loss to Japan in the group stage. Following the match against Bahrain on the 2nd, the tragedy of having to face China with a back-to-back match resulted from the defeat against Japan. The next schedule is the four-day ranking match. Korea's next target is fifth place.
