“A different class”
Seoul SK fell 69-72 to the Chiba Jazz in the 2023-2024 EASL Final Four on Tuesday at the Hoops Dome in Cebu, Philippines. For the second time in the EASL, the team failed to cross the threshold of the finals. SK will have to settle for a runner-up finish and $300,000 in prize money.
Chiba has one of the best guards in Japan in Yuki Tobashi (167 cm, G). SK did their best to defend Tobashi, with Choi Won-hyuk (184 cm, G) filling that role. At the beginning of the game, Oh Jae-hyun (187 cm, G) started to defend Togashi, but it was too much for him to handle the offense and assemble the offense, so SK chose Choi Won-hyuk to defend Togashi.
Choi was able to fulfill this role. He gave up some points and got penetrated, but he didn’t give up and continued to harass Togashi. As a result, Togashi shot just 30% (4-of-13) from the field until the third quarter.
However, despite Choi’s outstanding defense, SK was unable to get over the hump in the final period and lost the game. “I’m very disappointed,” Choi said after the game.
“It was a winnable game. All the players really tried their best. We could have won if we could get over the hump… It was a very disappointing loss.”
What kind of player was Togashi? “He’s really, really good. He’s in a different class. At first, I tried to stop him somehow. But I couldn’t stop him, so I tried to make sure he didn’t get the ball, so I went in the backdoor and used the space behind him. She’s really fast. She has skill and a shot. He’s like Jeon Sung-hyun in terms of shooting and Heo Hoon in terms of technique. He’s like a combination of both players. He’s really hard to stop. I learned a lot.”
And I thought, “Actually, there’s not much I can do on offense. That’s 토토사이트 why I wanted to help on defense, and that’s why I tried my best. I wanted to catch Togashi once, but he was too good,” he laughed.
Although the team failed to win the EASL, the KBL is still going on. They have to shake off their disappointment in the KBL.
“Right now, KT and LG are fighting for second place. There are places that are leaving us out. (Laughs) But we’re there too. In the EASL, my brothers rested a lot. They will go and do it now. Especially (Kim) Sun-hyung is coming back. We will try to make good results with our brothers again.”
“The playoffs are different. The coach’s tactics are so good. We have a good system and good players. I want to make a performance that can shake off the disappointment,” he said, expressing his desire to win the title.