Who created Samsung's master basketball team, planned to rebuild the national team

After returning to Samsung as a coach in 2000, he finally became the head coach of his old team four years later. He was 48 years old then.

Under Ahn, Samsung was truly a famed professional basketball player. Ahn served as the coach for seven seasons from the 2010-2011 season, and Samsung played in the playoffs every season.

He has made it to the championship only three times. He won the trophy in the 2005-2006 season and was runner-up in the 2007-2008-2009 season.

At Samsung, Ahn won 203 games and 175 games in the regular league. His winning rate stands at 53.7 percent.

Seo Dong-cheol, who led Suwon KT until last season, is the leader who shared the same feelings with Ahn during this period. Seo, who assisted Ahn as the head coach, left the team together in 2011 when Ahn and Samsung failed to renew their contract.

The "leadership duo," which made Samsung a prestigious basketball team in the 2000s, is expected to meet again at the men's basketball team for the first time in 12 years.

The Korea Basketball Association's Performance Improvement Committee conducted an interview on the 19th for national coach and coach candidates.

Among the three teams nominated, coach Ahn and coach Seo received the highest score and will be reviewed by the board of directors on January 23 next year.

If no special reason is found for disqualification, Ahn will take the helm. If this happens, Ahn will return to the basketball scene for the first time in 12 years.

In an interview with Yonhap News after the interview, Ahn said, "Men's basketball has been sluggish since the 2014 Asian Games, when we won the gold medal. I supported men's basketball to make another leap forward," stressing his commitment to Korean basketball.

"There are two pillars in Korean basketball. One of them, the quality of professional basketball, needs to be improved, but the other axis, the national team, needs to show performance in international competitions," he said. "The two axes must roll as well as a wheel to expand the base of basketball."

Ahn is said to have focused on basketball while away from the field. He went to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), participated in a camp in the U.S., and learned advanced basketball.

In addition, he stressed that during the last five seasons of former coach Seo leading the kt, he tried not to lose his "sense" of basketball by discussing the team's overall strategy and tactics with him.

In fact, former coach Ahn was praised as a leader who was good at organizing the overall "plate" such as player composition and major tactics thanks to his achievements during his time at Samsung.

However, basketball has completely changed since he was a leader. The center of basketball has already shifted from under the basket to the outskirts.

In the last season of Ahn's professional basketball league, the SK Wyverns (20.5) threw the most three points in the 2010-2011 season. The team that throws the least three points in this season, 12 years later, is Ulsan Hyundai Mobis, which shoots 20.7 points per game.

Under Ahn, Samsung did not enjoy hitting outside shots. He scored 18.7 three points in every game in seven seasons on average, and he was still in the bottom position at that time.

Concerns over whether he may be left out in the development of modern basketball are further amplified by the age of Ahn. Born in 1956, Ahn is in his late 60s and his students are now taking over the positions of coach of each team.

Busan KCC coach Lee Sang-min has been a Samsung coach for eight seasons, and acting coach Kang Hyuk is also leading Daegu Korea Gas Corporation this season.

In fact, during the scoring and meeting of the performance improvement committee after the interview, there was a strong opinion that young basketball players, not "senior leaders," including former coach Ahn, should be given a chance.

After hearing these concerns, former coach Ahn has now vowed to play outside basketball in line with the "trend."

"I want to realize basketball that is the trend these days. I want to play basketball that focuses on fastballs and fast attacks and keeps creating chances to score through outside attacks," he said. "Of course, we have to aim under the basket, but it is a given that our height is inferior in the international stage."

It is up to Seo, who was on the professional basketball scene until the 2022-2023 season to resolve concerns surrounding Ahn.

"The right person to lead the national team is Ahn Jun-ho. I think we need someone to strengthen our teamwork again," Seo said. "The teamwork of a coach and a coach is important wherever we go. I tell my coach a lot about tactics, strategies, and training."

In particular, former coach Seo saw that the priority was to strengthen the defensive organization of our national team, which ranked seventh, the lowest ever at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

"The national team's performance is not good these days because its defense has weakened. Its strong performance has disappeared," he said. "Attacks may or may not work well, but they are not defense. It is the essence of basketball to prepare solid defense."

"If you look at the group match against Japan, the part that we struggled with was defense. Japan is organized and strong, but we only played in offense," he said. "If he is appointed as the final player, we will catch all of these parts."

The national men's basketball coach and coach, who will be selected this time, will guide the national team from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifying round in February 2024 to the FIBA Asia Cup finals in 2025. 메이저사이트