“You have to be as prepared as possible so you don’t have any regrets”
Since the 2012-2013 season, Seoul SK has transformed into a powerhouse. This was due to a combination of a deep roster, solid offensive and defensive organization, and a player who could dominate games (Kim Sun-hyung).
SK won the playoffs in the 2017-2018 season and finished the 2019-2020 season tied for first place (28 wins and 15 losses) with Wonju DB. In the 2021-2022 season, SK won the Cup, regular league, and playoffs. The team won the “integrated championship” 안전놀이터 for the first time in its history.
Then came the 2022-2023 season. SK was once again a force to be reckoned with. Despite the injury to Choi Jun-yong (200 cm, F), the MVP of the 2021-2022 regular season, the team soared.
After finishing the regular season in third place, SK went undefeated in the best-of-six and best-of-four playoffs. They won all six playoff games and advanced to the championship game with ease. They battled KGC Ginseng Corporation of Anyang to overtime in Game 7.
However, KGC Ginseng won the overall title. Their physical limitations were revealed. In particular, they lacked a backup big man to support Choi Buk-kyung (200 cm, F).
The same was true in the 2023-2024 season. Oh Se-geun (200 cm, C) joined the team, but he was unable to step up. Choi Buk-kyung also failed to contribute like before. The young big man’s growth was desperately needed.
Sun Sang-hyuk (206 cm, C) is another big man who needs to grow up. He was drafted by SK with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 KBL Domestic Rookie Draft and played in the regular season every season from 2021-2022 to 2023-2024.
However, Sun Sang-hyuk only played one regular season game in the 2023-2024 season. He played 4 minutes and 30 seconds. It was the least amount of playing time since his debut.
“I suffered two injuries in the summer of 2023,” he said. Because of this, I couldn’t train properly in the off-season. I couldn’t build my body properly. Therefore, I couldn’t trust the manager and coach,” he said, explaining the difference between the 2023-2024 season and the previous one.
As mentioned above, the keyword for SK is ‘growth’. That’s why SK head coach Jeon Hee-chul is giving young big men a chance. They have to live up to the expectations of the team. The same goes for Sun Sang-hyuk.
“I had a different mindset from the beginning of this offseason,” he said. I finished the eight weeks of physical training well and performed well in practice. I wanted to gain the trust of the manager and coach,” he said.
“I had a bone chip in my right knee that didn’t feel good, so I had a procedure and luckily it was just a bone chip. I want to recover as much as possible in the next two to three weeks and join the training camp in Japan,” he said, adding that the knee procedure was a variable.
“After recovering, I need to start playing defense and hard work. I want to contribute to the team’s energy, and to do that, I have to get my mind right,” he said.
“From the beginning of the off-season, I was thinking, ‘Let’s train as much as possible without getting injured. I need to prepare as hard as I can, so I won’t have any regrets.” I didn’t want to think about ‘regrets’ from the beginning of my preparation.
