“I want to be the player the team needs.”
The Cheongju KB Stars will be training in Taebaek, Gangwon Province from July 7-19.
The training camp is designed to prepare the team’s physical strength and defensive organization for the season. It is the foundation work for the regular season campaign.
Yang Ji-soo from Onyang Girls’ High School is now in her fifth year in the league. She was born in 2003, which is still a young age, but as she gained more years in the pros, the team now has quite a few junior players. 파워볼사이트 Her mindset is different from when she came to Taebaek two years ago.
“I came to Taebaek for the first time in a long time, and I was the youngest, but now there are a lot of players under me, and I’m middle-aged. So if I used to just struggle in the past, I think I’m still trying to give my younger siblings a lot of strength. It makes me want to try harder in front of them,” he said of the responsibility.
KB’s situation is different from last season, when the team won the regular season and reached the championship game. There are many predictions that put them in the bottom half of the standings, and this is a motivating factor for the team.
“We heard a lot about the power evaluation from the outside,” Yang said. However, it also stimulated the players to work harder. We are trying to maintain a positive atmosphere in training as much as possible,” said Yang.
While the team’s strength is generally considered to be weaker than last season, this could be an opportunity for up-and-coming players like Yang. It’s up to the players to seize the opportunity.
“I agree,” Yang nodded, ”I’m working hard to improve my shooting and other aspects of my offense. I think the coach is going to make a lot of defensive changes this season, and I want to be able to help the team in those changes and become a better player.”
KB’s game plan will be easier if Yang Ji-soo and Lee Yoon-mi, who have been rotation resources at the two and three positions, show improvement. Coach Kim Wan-soo had previously expressed his expectations for the two players.
“He doesn’t really tell us that (laughs), but he always comes in and tells (Lee) Yoon-mi and me what he wants, so this year we’re working hard to make sure we can show it,” Yang Ji-su said.
As they say, the beginning is half the battle, so it’s important for KB, which is ranked in the bottom half of the rankings, to get off to a good start and get into the flow. Their opening match is against Hana OneQ. The team’s experience of playing a lot of opening games in recent seasons could be helpful.
“Actually, we’ve played a lot of opening matches in recent years. We’ve been drawn when we’ve been No. 1, and we’ve been drawn when we’ve been bad, so I think we just need to keep everything positive and good, reduce the pressure, and do the same thing we do every year.”
Last season, Yang appeared in 29 games, missing the full roster by one game. His goal for next season is to play all 30 games in the regular league, and he also wants to be more valuable to the team.
“My goal is to play in every game this season,” Yang said. And I don’t just want to play all the games, but I want to be an essential player for the team,” Yang said.
“In order to do everything well on the court, I need to be physically fit. This year, I’m trying to improve my fitness a lot, and when I’m stronger, I’ll be able to play an extra step, so I think I’ll be able to do a better job on defense and offense.”
