Jungkwanjang reaps the beauty of Yujong.
The Anyang Jungkwanjang RedBoosters defeated the New Taipei Kings of Taiwan 78-76 in Game 3 and 4 of the 2023-2024 East Asian Super League (EASL) Final Four on Tuesday at the Lapu-Lapu Hoops Dome in Cebu City, Philippines.
Chung Kwan-jang avenged the heartbreak of the quarterfinal loss by winning the third and fourth place games. 스포츠토토 The game was a nail-biter until the last minute, when the team made a last-ditch defense.
“New Taipei was a good team, a great team,” said coach Kim Sang-sik after the game. But we were more focused at the end. We were disappointed with our finishing, but it feels good to have won.”
Park Ji-hoon’s performance stood out. The midfielder was on fire, scoring 29 points on the day.
Park said, “It feels great to win. We were able to win because all the players worked hard and showed focus until the end,” he said.
“We lost our focus on defense when we were able to extend the lead. We tried to make New Taipei’s offense as difficult as possible, but we let them take easy shots, which increased their chances. So I thought it was going to be a tough game until the end, but I saw the foreign players defend until the end and I thought their concentration was good. It was our concentration that led to the victory rather than who we thought would win,” he reflected.
The key to the victory was holding opposing point guard Joseph Lin to six points. Park Ji-hoon and Choi Sung-won also played a big role.
“I’ve been watching New Taipei’s EASL games and the last Chiba Jets game. He’s a good shooter, dribbler, and passer. I didn’t think we could let him go, so we pressured him as much as possible to make every play difficult. I thought we would have an advantage if we made it difficult for him in terms of game management. Of course, I learned a lot from watching Joseph Lin. I learned a lot from him. He’s a very good player.”
Jung Kwanjang, who are in the bottom half of the KBL regular season standings, will need Park Ji-hoon to continue his momentum if they are to have any chance of making a good run in the rest of the season. With the Sixth Man Award, Park is now the team’s ace.
Coach Kim Sang-sik said, “Last year, he played as a sixth man, and now he is the team’s ace. He was also the main player in the victory today. Of course, he needs to improve his game-reading skills to become a top-class player. I think he will do well in the future,” he said.