*This content was translated by AI.
The men's basketball team, which appointed its first-ever foreign head coach, suffered a painful upset in its fateful showdown with Japan on March 1st. Latvian coach Nikolais Majuls vowed a rebound after the loss.
South Korea, led by head coach Marjules, lost 72-78 away to Japan in the fourth Group B match of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifying round at Suntori Arena in Okinawa on the 1st.
It is a total of two losses following the match against Taiwan under the new coach. South Korea, which won two consecutive games against China under interim coach Jeon Hee-chul, has won two consecutive games since Marjules took office, marking two wins and two losses in the group qualifying round. On the other hand, Japan led Group B with a 3-1 victory over Korea-Japan match.
According to the Korea Basketball Association, Marjules said after the game, "Today's game was a very close game. "The lead was so fierce that it changed several times throughout the game," he said. "In the end, the details decided the game. Running the game with a small lineup made it difficult in the rebound fight. In the process, he said, "It's a pity that Japan was able to easily score a second chance."
Regarding the short reorganization time after the defeat against Taiwan, he said, "There was not much training time to supplement the tactics after the Taiwan match," adding, "Japan is a team with power forward Utah Watanabe who plays like a guard." I had no choice but to choose a small lineup to respond to this," he explained.
South Korea finished the first quarter with a 16-15 lead, but lost points to Joshua Hawkinson and Watanabe in the second quarter, pushing the first half to 38-42. In the third quarter, Lee Hyun-joong's outer shot and Daniel's block shot made it 55-54, and at the beginning of the fourth quarter, he seemed to win by running to 62-56.
However, South Korea finally knelt down, allowing Saito a decisive 3-pointer with 1:09 left in the game.
Lee Hyun-joong struggled to score the most points in the game by recording a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds, including five three-point shots. Yoo Ki-sang scored 11 points and Ahn Young-joon added 10 points.
Japan's naturalized player Hawkinson led the victory with 24 points and 7 rebounds and Watanabe, who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), had 15 points and 7 rebounds.
"It is important for the players to finish the season without injury," said Marjules, who finished Windows 2, adding, "South Korea has the potential to become a strong team." The key is to steadily raise it," he stressed.
"We would like to thank fans who came to Taiwan and Japan to support them in person. Cheering is a big boost. We will do our best to show you results that will meet expectations," he promised.
The Korean national team swallowed its disappointment by giving up victory to Japan on the monumental day of March 1st. South Korea, which failed to continue its two-game winning streak in the warm-up match held in Anyang in July last year, is now in a position to worry about being eliminated from the World Cup qualifying round.
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*This content was translated by AI.
