Japan sank to Byun Jun-hyung, Lee Jung-hyun, and Ha Yoon-ki, three members of the Korean national basketball team. Led by coach Ahn Joon-ho, the Korean national basketball team won 85-84 in the first warm-up match against Japan at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Saturday.
Starting with “captain” Byun Joon-hyung (12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist), Lee Jung-hyun (27 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist) and Ha Yoon-ki (15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block shot) destroyed Japan. At one point, Ha led the team by up to 20 points, and led the team throughout the entire game. Ha became the winner with his last free throw of the winning game. 메이저놀이터
Not many expected Korea to win. Unlike Japan, which is preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Korea was led by young players aged 25.5 years on average. Korea only had four days to work together. Nevertheless, Korea knew the importance of the Korea-Japan match and eventually won.
Even if Rui Hachimura and Utah Watanabe were absent, Japan displayed strong performance. The chase after Kawamura Yuki (23 points, three rebounds, six assists, and one steal) in the fourth quarter was extremely fierce. However, the team was shaken by Korea’s perfect balance between offense and defense, and failed to laugh even at the last minute’s chase.
South Korea’s Byun Joon-hyung, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Woo-suk, Yang Jae-min and Ha Yoon-ki started.
For Japan, Kawamura-Hiejima Magoto-Baba Yudai-Watanabe Hu-Josh Hawkinson started.
South Korea started the first quarter 0-8. However, starting with Byun Joon-hyung’s 3-pointer, Yang Jae-min and Oh Jae-hyun accelerated the pace and targeted the Japanese defense. Oh stood out by delivering a great pass to Ha Yoon-ki while finishing the game himself.
South Korea, which added Ha Yoon-ki’s last jumper, lost the first quarter by 13-15, two points.
In the second quarter, which started with a three-point shot from Togashi, but South Korea countered with a cut-in score by Moon Jung-hyun. On top of that, Yoo Ki-sang induced a three-point foul with a clever move, so he was not behind in the power fight against Japan.
Byun Jun-hyung’s brilliant breakthrough was the starting point, and Lee Jung-hyun and Moon Jung-hyun’s consecutive three-pointers split the rim. And Lee Jung-hyun’s brilliant breakthrough and three-point shooting continued to take the lead. After that, Lee Woo-suk led the transition game and thoroughly attacked Japan’s slow transition of offense and defense. South Korea, which dominated the second quarter with Oh Jae-hyun, finished the first half 46-35.
Korea had a perfect third quarter as well. Starting with Ha Yoon-ki’s jumper, Lee Jung-hyun’s three-point shot, and Byun Jun-hyung’s fastball widened the gap. Since then, Lee Jung-hyun’s one-man show has taken place. He scored through various attack routes as well as three-point shots against the Japanese defense.
Japan used its own full-court press to stage a chase. The Korean team seemed to be taken aback, but quickly overcame it and changed the mood with Byun Joon-hyung’s three-point stepback. The Korean team finished the third quarter 72-52 with Ha Yoon-ki’s consecutive dunk.
The start of the fourth quarter was shaky. Baba’s back-to-back points followed by Hawkinson and Kawamura’s pursuit points, which led to a 75-61, 14-point gap. South Korea ran away again due to back-to-back 3-pointers by Lee Jung-hyun and Yoo Ki-sang. Although Kawamura’s counterattack on 3-pointers briefly slowed the team down, the team still maintained its 78-64 lead.
The Korean team faltered. Japan lost defense instantly due to the focus on Kawamura. The loss of Kawamura’s control was costly, and the team ended up trailing 80-79, or even one point. Lee Jung-hyun’s free throw allowed Kawamura to break through again at the end of the fourth quarter. The Republic of Korea, which allowed Kawamura to make 82-84 free throws from behind, succeeded Lee Jung-hyun’s tying jumper and Ha Yoon-ki’s free throw, which was earned through Hawkinson’ foul, to catch Japan.
