Choi St. Mary’s is starting anew at Samsung. The Seoul Samsung Thunder, which convened the squad in June, continue to train at the Yongin Samsung Training Center (STC) in the offseason. Samsung has made significant changes in its player lineup this season. Choi, who was hired as an FA, is also a new guard resource.
On the 4th, when Rookie visited the Samsung Training Center, Choi St. Mary’s was focusing on training with other team members. There seemed to be no big problem with his adaptation. Samsung is mainly conducting training by position.
“The facilities are so good, the food is delicious, and it is the best environment for you to focus on your exercise,” Choi said. “As I train by dividing positions, I do a lot of exercises that are necessary for a guard and subdivide them, so I can have more fun doing it.”
Samsung has Lee Dong-yeop, a senior and junior at Korea University, who is close to Choi Sung-mo. Lee Dong-yeop, who played for Samsung for a long time, will be the captain of the upcoming season.
“It’s easier to adjust to Dong-yeop because he has him,” Choi said. “I feel more comfortable because he played a good role as the coach and others.”
Choi, who boasts penetration based on high speed and defense capability, can elevate her team’s energy level. She also received considerable attention in the FA market. As the first free agent since her debut, she chose Samsung after agonizing a lot.
“I had a headache. I thought about it too much, and honestly, I don’t know the future,” Choi said. “It’s up to me to decide which one would be better. I thought about it a lot, but it was even harder for me because it was my first time. I wanted to choose a team that wanted to grow and showed more things as a basketball player, and I was grateful that the teams that showed me great interest gave me good suggestions, and it was a difficult decision.”
As for the reason why he decided to move to Samsung, he said, “I thought about a team that would be easier to adapt to and considered a team that can play a lot more. Of course, I need to improve myself through competition.”
A foreign player with one option is playing differently from KT, which played in the last season. He played with the forward-looking Paris Bath, and will be with Kofi Coburn, an authentic center, this season.
Choi said, “When I was at KT, the match against Samsung was not easy because of Coburn. Destructive power is a great player even to the opponent, and the role of a foreign player is important in the KBL. I think the coach will make good use of Coburn in the off-season, so I think a better performance will come out.”
As for his improvement points, he said, “I want to improve in terms of game management by playing as the No. 1. But these days, the No. 1 players often take advantage of their offensives. It is important for me to be confident even when I enter the stadium and not to let my offensives become stiff. To do that, it is important to develop middle shots or various attack routes. I also need to make good use of those points because fast forwarding is my strength.”
It is also important to save the off-ball move because there are clear handlers such as Lee Dae-sung and Lee Jung-hyun. 동행복권파워볼
“I’m practicing a lot of off-ball moves and shootings derived from them,” Choi said. “Because there are (Lee) Dae-sung and (Lee) Jung-hyun, there will be a lot of chances to take out, and it’s important to make use of them. Coach Choi Soo-hyun is teaching a lot when practicing on that part,” he said.
Finally, when asked about her goal, Choi said, “The team’s goal is to perform better than last year and to reach the semi-finals. Personally, I want to do better than I have played so far, and I want to show various sides.”