KT’s loss to Taiwanese team Taoyuan left him deeply troubled. So was Han Hee-won.
Suwon KT fell to the Taoyuan Pilots 70-91 in the second game of Group A of the 2024-2025 East Asian Super League (EASL) on Wednesday at the Suwon KT Sonic Boom Arena. They won Game 1 against San Miguel Beermen 87-81 in the Philippines, but failed to win back-to-back 스포츠토토사이트 games.
The EASL is an East Asian basketball club competition that is in its third season. In the first and second seasons, Anyang KGC (now Jungkwanjang) and Japan’s Chiba Jets were crowned champions, respectively. Ten teams are divided into two groups and play a group stage through February, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals. This year, KBL teams KCC and KT, who finished first and second in the 2023-2024 season, qualified.
KT took an early lead in the game, but then slowly took over after a close first quarter. They finished the third quarter with a 63-66 lead, but collapsed in the fourth quarter and raised the white flag. Heo Hoon scored 21 points and Jeremiah Tillman added 18, but overall the team struggled from the field and failed to control the ball. Two foreign players got into foul trouble side by side, adding to the messy atmosphere.
Han Hee-won, who scored nine points on three-pointers alone, said, “It’s too bad. I think we lost because we couldn’t stop their aces No. 21 (Alec Brown) and No. 24 (Trevion Graham),” he said briefly.
Despite the loss, Han, who hit back-to-back outside shots midway through the third quarter to prevent the game from being decided earlier, said, “I try to throw with confidence. “I try to shoot confidently, so the odds are good,” he said of his shooting, but he also pointed out that ”I’m confident in my patterned shots, but I think I still need to improve in other areas.
Han Hee-won, who is experiencing the tournament for the first time, said, “I think we need to learn from the toughness of the Philippines and Taiwan. If we can overcome this, I think we will be able to show a positive performance in the KBL,” he concluded.
KT has been on a roll. For the second consecutive game in the opening week, KT was unable to pull away and let the game slip away.
They still have games on the 25th (vs Seoul SK) and 27th (vs Hyundai Mobis). Stamina issues were a consideration.
Coach Song Young-jin also said, “We had to think about the domestic schedule. If we could have saved them, we would have played until the end, but we had no choice because the atmosphere was already over.”
If the team’s performance continues, it could throw cold water on their league schedule.
Can KT and Han Hee-won bounce back from the loss and turn the tide?