On the 24th, at Ulsan Dongchun Gymnasium, the 2022-2023 SKT A-Dot Professional Basketball Regular League 6th round will be played between Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus and Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation.
A significant event awaits after the match. The retirement ceremony for general manager Yoo Jae-hak, who led the golden age of Hyundai Mobis, will be held.
Coach Yoo Jae-hak, who played an active role as a player at Yonsei University and Kia Motors, started his life as a commanding officer at Daewoo Zeus (now Daegu Korea Gas Corporation) in 1998. From 2004, he moved the team to Mobis (now Hyundai Mobis).
Coach Yoo has been a manager at Hyundai Mobis for 19 years and has risen to the ranks of the best managers in the league. Coach Yoo, who has won six championships in Hyundai Mobis alone, is the KBL coach with the most wins in both the regular league (724 wins) and playoffs (58 wins). Yang Dong-geun and Ham Ji-hoon went through the guidance of director Yoo.
Director Jo Dong-hyun, who took the baton of Hyundai Mobis following director Yoo, also has a deep relationship with director Yoo. In 1999, coach Jo Dong-hyun entered KBL after being nominated by Incheon Shinsegi VIXX, and at this time, coach Yoo Jae-hak was the head coach. The two also worked together as coaches and managers at Hyundai Mobis.
That’s why the retirement ceremony of director Yoo Jae-hak on this day will be more meaningful. He will of course have a strong desire to show good performance in the game with his teacher at the end.
Coach Cho said in a pre-game interview, “It is true that there is more pressure than other games. It is the last home game in the regular league this season, and I want to show a good game.” 스포츠토토
When asked what he learned the most from coach Yoo Jae-hak, he said, “Anyway, it’s management. Needless to say, it’s a basketball aspect. I don’t think you’ll do push-and-pull, but sometimes you do push-and-pull. The time has come when you have to do that, and it’s not a situation where you can do it with your fists.”
“From a certain point on, the players were given a lot of autonomy, and that’s why he said three years ago that we should reduce team training and increase individual training. Looking at Japan, we don’t do as much team training as our country, but giving individual training time is also a good thing. He said it’s a method. That’s also included in management. Instead, during team training, focus as much as possible while keeping the team in sync. Hyundai Mobis has a lot of good culture of focusing as much as possible during practice.”
KGC coach Kim Sang-sik, who visited Ulsan as an away team that day, also showed respect when asked about general manager Yoo Jae-hak.
Manager Kim said, “He is a great person. It is difficult for me to evaluate. Of course, he is a great person and has a lot to learn from. Both as a coach and as a player, he is a legend and needs to learn a lot. I learned a lot about it,” he said.
On this day, even though it was a weekday, more spectators than usual visited the Ulsan Dongchun Gymnasium to celebrate the retirement ceremony of general manager Yoo Jae-hak. The home team, Hyundai Mobis, who received enthusiastic support from the fans, rewarded the heat by scoring 32 points in the first quarter alone.