Gomez will do the bulk of the handling”

SK finished the regular season in fourth place last season. It boasted a tremendous momentum from the end of the fifth round and finished the sixth round with a sweep. That’s how the playoffs started. SK’s momentum continued. Even without Choi Jun-yong (200 cm, F), they swept both Jeonju KCC and Changwon LG to advance to the championship game.

They faced Anyang KGC in the best-of-seven series, which went to overtime before SK fell short.

However, the two teams’ offseason paths diverged. SK had a successful offseason despite the departure of Choi Sung-won (184cm, G) and Choi Jun-yong (C), and the addition of Oh Se-geun (200cm, C). KGC, on the other hand, was unable to prevent a decline in power after the departure of their main players.

With the addition of Oh Se-geun, SK is a strong favorite to win the title. SK head coach Jeon Hee-chul said, “Our strength is really good. I think it’s similar to when we won the unified title two years ago. But I have a lot of worries. The players are scattered. Some players are in the team, but some are sick, and (Kim) Sun-hyung-i is with the national team and (Sun) Sang-hyuk is with the U national team. Especially Sun Hyung-i, who joined the team during a cup tournament. The foreign players are also a bit late. We don’t have enough time to put them together.”

Without Choi Sung-won and Kim Sun-hyung, SK will have a point guard problem. That’s why Jeon set his sights on Gomez de Riano (183 cm, G), who was recruited under the Asian quota system.

“We’ll start playing practice games on August 18. We won’t have any linemen then. For now, Gomez will be handling the ball. Gomez has played this role in Japan before. But because we have a lineman, he won’t be able to touch the ball during the season. He’s going to help him and then he’s going to play the main role for about five to 10 minutes. We’ll talk about that in advance,” he said, noting Gomez’s handling.

“It will also be an opportunity for (Oh) Jae-hyun and (Choi) Won-hyuk. Both of them need to improve their two-man game through practice games. Of course, it’s hard to use them right away during the season, but I hope they can show their abilities, so our team will be stronger.” 스포츠토토

When asked to characterize Gomez, the former coach said, “He’s not the same type of player as Albano or Avarientos. But I think he defends better than both of them and has the ability to break through. He can play the two-man game.”

“From what I’ve heard, he also takes pride in his basketball, and that’s something we need to make sure he integrates into the team quickly. (Laughs) If Gomez is able to integrate into the team and (Ahn) comes back during the season, it won’t be as big of a void as the players who left. We have high expectations for Gomez.”

Will the newest addition to the team be the perfect piece to SK’s puzzle? Gomez will be joining the team after his visa issues are resolved.