‘War of the Stars’ Conducted by Kim Sang-sik and Cho Dong-hyun… “There is no trial and error like when you are a beginner director”
The two coaches, who had a bitter taste in their first challenge as a professional coach, are dreaming of winning the second command tower challenge. This is the story of KGC coach Kim Sang-sik (55) and Hyundai Mobis coach Jo Dong-hyun (47), who took the baton ahead of this season. Coach Kim and coach Jo lead ‘Team Dae-Sung Lee’ and ‘Team Heo-Woong’ respectively in the professional basketball All-Star game on the 15th.
KGC coach Kim, who has maintained the No. 1 position right after the opening, assumed the Orions command tower for the 2008-2009 season. However, due to poor performance (9th place), he voluntarily resigned at the end of the season. Coach Cho also took the helm of KT in 2015, after two years of coaching at Hyundai Mobis. He failed to renew his contract after three years at the bottom of the table. Both coaches were labeled ‘failed managers’ in their first professional attempts.
Coach Kim took office ahead of this season as the successor to Kim Seung-ki (51), who led KGC to win the championship twice. A KGC official said, “Director Kim’s performance was not good when he was coaching the Orions, but the team situation was not good at the time.” Hyundai Mobis appointed Cho as the successor to head coach Yoo Jae-hak (60), who led the team for 18 years and won six championships each in the regular league and championship matches. An official from Mobis said, “Director Cho is a person who was diligent and sincere. He has been the head coach since 2018 and knows the team better than anyone else, so we decided he was the right person.”
After the two directors were appointed last year, other directors showed a worried look, saying, “Even if you do well, it will be a lot of pressure because it is a good match.” When asked about director Cho, who went through similar trials and errors, Director Kim laughed and said, “Did you feel the same?” Coach Cho said, “It must have been a burden since Coach Kim also came as the successor to the winning coach. It was the same for me,” he said.
Both coaches aim to win the championship this season. As of the 13th, KGC is in first place, and Hyundai Mobis is in third place, one game behind coach Cho’s twin brother Jo Sang-hyun’s LG. Manager Kim said, “After running in first place, both I and the players are greedy for (winning).” Coach Cho also said, “My goal was to advance to the playoffs (PO) before the season, but the players are good at it, so I’m greedy (to win).” 바카라