“(In-young) is a player who can improve if he puts his mind to it” (Hana OneQ coach Kim Do-wan)
“I want to attach a joystick to her passing direction” (Shinhan Bank head coach Gunadan)
Bucheon Hana OneQ won 72-61 against Incheon Shinhan Bank in the third round of the Woori Bank Woori WON 2023-2024 Women’s Professional Basketball League on Nov. 21 at Bucheon Indoor Gymnasium. The fourth-ranked Hana OneQ has a season record of 6 wins and 8 losses. They trail third-place Yongin Samsung Sinsung by one game.
Yang In-young (184 cm, C) tied his career-high with 25 points and added 11 rebounds and two assists. Jung Yerim (175 cm, F) also had a good game with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocked shots. Kim Jong-un (180 cm, F) and Shin Ji-hyun (174 cm, G) also scored in double figures.
After the game, Hana OneQ head coach Kim Dowan said, “We overcame a difficult hump well. I want to praise the players. (Jung) Yerim-i scored more than 10 points. That’s why the game flowed easily. The players need to share the scoring. That way, we can play a good game. The club has been very supportive. The international star (Lydia Ko) also encouraged us. I’m grateful to the club. It gives us the strength to push through difficult times. Now we have to fight a little harder against stronger teams. I hope the players will be greedy as well.”
“We practice pattern plays before the game, but we also work on standing wide and moving to the cut-in or wicket side. There have been a lot of players who don’t realize their chances, and (Uhm) Seo-i is one of them. When the defense drops, I tell them to look at their own offense. In the 2022-2023 season, there weren’t many players who could score goals besides (Shin) Ji-hyun and (Yang) In-young. Now they can see their own offense. They can play better than they are now. I even scolded (Kim) Siong for not attacking one-on-one,” he added.
Yang In-young had a good performance in the last two games after a slump. How did Kim Dowan see it?
“In-young played poorly in the last two games against KB Stars and Woori Bank. She knew it herself. (Kim) told her that she would fight hard under the basket in that game. She’s a player who can improve if she puts her mind to it. Even if she makes mistakes, I want her to boldly attack under the basket. Her mid-range jumper is very good. It would be good for In Young-i if she could also play underneath the basket. I’m asking her to do that as well. She had a good game because she had the mindset to improve.”
“I’m always happy to win. The 2022-2023 season was so hard, and so were the players. I can’t put it into words. We tried a lot to make the 2022-2023 season work. Little by little, it got better. The players know about my problems and struggles from the 2023-2024 season. (Laughs) I’ve grown to the next level through that process,” he concluded the press conference.
On the other hand, Shinhan Bank suffered its second six-game losing streak of the season. Last-place Shinhan is now 1-13 on the season.
Kim Sonia (177 cm, F) recorded a double-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot. Goo Seul (F, 180 cm) also chipped in with 14 points, two rebounds and one assist. Kim Jin-young (176 cm, F) added 10 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
Shinhan Bank head coach Gunadan said after the game, “The players need to show more concentration from the first half. Only then can we win. We fell apart in the first quarter. On the other hand, our opponent took it easy from the start. If we want to get through this, we need to be more focused than we are now. It’s not easy as it is. We need to focus more, especially on defense and rebounding.”
“There were about three passes that hit me in the knee. I try not to get angry on the court, but when I train at the hotel, I get very angry. I make those turnovers in important situations. I spill the ball. It’s all mental. I lose concentration. I feel like I want to put a joystick on the direction of my passes.”
Coach Gunadan talked about the lack of players. “We need players to come back in so we can rebound,” Gunadan said. We gave up 25 points to Yang In-young today. We need (Kim) Tae-yeon to be able to hold up inside to some extent. We only have Goo-seul, (Kim) Sonia, and (Kim) Jin-young who can defend big men. Some players have to play offense and some players have to play defense. We can’t do that. In the end, the younger players have to grow up. (Lee) Da-yeon and (Lee) Doona didn’t do anything when they were given the opportunity today,” he lamented.
“It’s important to be aggressive even if you foul out. If you have four fouls and you’re afraid to go out, you play differently. I don’t care that I got fouled out. (Kim) Ji-young has to do her best to stop Shin Ji-hyun. You can’t get out of the way without fouling. You can’t foul, you can’t get out of the way. I hope the other players don’t lose that fighting spirit. My only regret is that I fouled a lot in the beginning. We got into team fouls quickly. That’s why I didn’t fight harder,” he concluded the press conference.