Kim Joo-sung (45), head coach of Wonju DB in professional basketball, will take on a new challenge in the 2024-25 season. 안전놀이터

Having led DB to a wire-to-wire win in the regular league throughout the last season, he finished the season behind Jeonju KCC in the semi-final playoff. His goal is to get rid of the disappointment of PO in the new season. 

Didrick Lawson, who was at the core of DB last season, left the team without renewing his contract. It is also a task for Kim to completely change his team's color in just one season after recruiting Chianu Onuaku, an authentic center with experience playing in DB five years ago. 

DB has been conducting off-season training in Sapporo and Osaka, Japan for 20 days from the 10th to the 19th. I heard from coach Kim Joo-sung how he is preparing for the new season.
 
-Didrick Lawson really contributed to DB's regular league win last season. As Lawson leaves the team without renewing his contract, he will have to create a new team. 

"I think we were able to win because of Lawson's good performance in the first round of the regular league last year. The first and second rounds were really important in the winning process, because Lawson led us completely. The winning team usually has to prepare for the championship by refining it a little bit more than changing players completely… It is true that we have to completely prepare again. There are some difficulties because we started the practice game last."

-How to use Onuaku who rejoined this season?

"If we were an offensive team focused on the outside when we were Lawson, this season will be defensive basketball using Onuaku." 

-Should I think that the old days of 'DB Fortress' will come back? 

"That's what I'm trying to do... It's not like "tick-tick" or anything. But Onuaku did as well as he expected. While watching Onuaku join and play, I thought, "The players must be reliable because of Onuaku."

-If you look at Lawson's play last season, he was so versatile that he actually played the role of a guard. I think he might have concerns about the No. 1 role. 

"That was Lawson's strength. He even served as a ball handler in difficult situations. Now, when he is blocked during a game, Lawson's absence is huge. Instead, As Onuaku comes in, he tries to deal with these weaknesses through fastballs by defense. Probably, he can play much faster basketball than last season. Last season, our team had bad rebounds, but we had good fastballs. That's because Kang Sang-jae and Kim Jong-gyu ran for it. Players have DNA to play like that. Seeing Onuaku play in Sono last season, I love things like outlet passes. If I focus on defense, I'm sure my score will drop, but I'm trying to make up for it in my fastballs. If I score 70 points, I will play to block the opponent at the 65 point level."

-Doesn't that mean you have a lot to prepare for in defense during the offseason? 

"I'm thinking about using Onuaku's strengths to push my opponent under the basket or press him with our strengths, our strengths, height. I'm going to try some tactics that I thought of through practice games during this training camp." 

-Will Kim Jong-gyu and Kang Sang-jae also change their roles as Onuaku comes along?

"Kang Sang-jae is going to use the No. 3 side. Albano will be in charge of Lawson's game. There will be a part where Kang Sang-jae needs to release Kim Jong-kyu 2-2." With Onuaku coming, Kim Jong-kyu's movement under the basket has improved. I think Jong-gyu's movement is better because Onuaku holds out well under the basket."

-Veteran Kim Si-rae and Lee Kwan-hee were recruited as transfer students during the off-season.

"Kim Si-rae had a minor injury, so he came to Japan for a training session and started training in earnest. He is certainly seasoned. He definitely plays a role of releasing him as a guard. He will play a backup role to support Albano in the background. Lee Kwan-hee is a 3&D player, and I think he can do well in both attack and defense. Lee's strength is that he is also aggressive in defense. What we didn't do in the semifinal playoff last season was that we also had to be aggressive in defense, but we were passive. Lee Kwan-hee tends to be aggressive. Lee will be able to switch to positions 2nd or 3rd and use him."  

-To bring up last season's semifinal PO again, I think I would have analyzed the loss more precisely over time. 

"Of course, it was the coach's fault. If I had to give you an excuse, it was regrettable that the period was long until the semifinal match. I couldn't practice and waited for two to three weeks. However, that's just an excuse. I thought our players were not good at rough-and-ready, so we were pushed by reckless players of KCC. The coach should have made the game better." 

-When he was a player, he was only in one team (DB). As a player, he garnered many wins, and as a main character of his permanent absence, he managed the relevant team and won the regular league title. As a legendary coach, if he wins the championship, wouldn't he be able to create a new story. 

"Not many people in professional basketball have been in one team for a long time (laughs). For me, anyway, it's an honor to be the coach of this team in itself. Since I've been in this team for over 20 years, I've been through so many things, and I always think that I want to be the foundation for the team's growth. It hurts me to be eliminated from the semifinal PO last season, but I think, oh, I have another homework to do."