SK Choi Won-hyuk “Last time (Oh) Jae-hyun won the defense award, so I can take it this time”

SK defender Choi Won-hyuk vows to play a “defense that doesn’t give up easily.

In the 2023-2024 season, SK entered the playoffs as the fourth-ranked team in a combined regular season and EASL schedule, but lost three straight games to Busan KCC in the quarterfinals to end their season.

Now, after a two-month break, the team has been back in training for the past 10 days, three weeks into an eight-week program that focuses on fitness. Divided into a main training group and a rehabilitation group, Choi Won-hyuk, the fourth most senior player on the team, is also working hard.

“My personal record last season wasn’t bad (3.6 points, 3.1 assists, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 22:55 minutes per game in 48 games), but it was unfortunate that the team’s performance didn’t meet my expectations,” Choi said, 파워볼사이트 추천 reflecting on the 2023-2024 season.

Although he was disappointed that the season ended so quickly, it was a fruitful season for him personally. “I gained a lot of confidence after playing last season,” Choi said. I think I learned to recognize when I should do something and when I shouldn’t do it. Honestly, I felt like my eyes were opened when I played 2-on-2 last season. Before, I knew that if I gave the ball to her, she would take it, but now I know when to give it to her. It’s because (Oh) Se-geun and I talked a lot during the offseason,” he said of his improvement.

“This offseason, I’ve been working on my shot, so it’s been going in in practice. I’m going to keep working on it and try different shots in practice. I’m going to try to create different situations in 2-on-2s,” he said, indicating that he’s willing to try different things.

Born in 1992, Choi is the fourth oldest player on the team. The only players older than him are Oh Se-geun (born in 1987), Kim Sun-hyung (born in 1988), and Choi Bu-kyung (born in 1989).

“It’s unfortunate that we lost a lot of older players, but the younger players are stepping up. When I watched Hyundai Mobis last season, I liked the energy of the young players. I think we will be able to improve that this year and play good basketball,” Choi said, adding that he is optimistic about the younger team.

“I know I’m fourth from the top, but I need to be the one in the middle to inspire them. I’m going to keep working hard and push the younger players to do well,” he said.

As for his role next season, he said, “I don’t want to be greedy about the role. I’m going to do what I know I can do well. (Kim) Ji-hoo is here, so I’m thinking about how to keep him alive, and (Ahn) Young-joon is thinking about how to make it easier for him to attack. (Heo) Il-young doesn’t have an older brother, so if I take more shots, it will be a negative for the team. I think it will work out if I save my teammates first,” he said, emphasizing his selfless play.

“Looking back at last season, when we were on a winning streak, we played strong defense up front. And because of that defense, we won a lot of games when we had a fast offense. This season, we are also trying to prepare well from the offseason to attack when the opponent can’t play the backcourt with a young and energetic defense,” he said, referring to ‘strong defense’.

“We made it to the championship game for the second year in a row, and the previous season we had to watch it on TV. It was awkward. We want to reach the championship again this season, and we will play a defense that doesn’t give up easily to anyone. Personally, I want me and (Oh) Jae-hyun to win the defense award. Jae-hyun won the defense award last time, so I hope I can do more this time,” he laughed.