BNK's new head coach Lee Jong-ae has a lot of duties to fulfill.

Busan BNK finished the 2020-2021 season with 5 wins and 25 losses. In particular, it only scored 29 points in the final match of the 2020-2021 season. It was the minimum score for a WKBL team in history. In addition, its loss in the final match gave Asan Woori Bank the regular league title.

BNK was desperate. After the end of the 2020-2021 season, it recruited Kim Han-byul (178 cm, F) and Kang Ah-jeong (180 cm, F). Both Kim Han-byul and Kang Ah-jeong are veteran resources. BNK wanted to add experience to their youth.

BNK also replaced its head coach. It appointed Park Jeong-eun, then the head of WKBL's game management division, as its second-generation coach. Although it struggled in the early 2021-2022 season, it made its first playoff appearance with a last-minute spurt. In the 2022-2023 season, it advanced to the championship game for the first time.

However, BNK has once again subsided during the 2023-2024 season. The team was the bottom with 6 wins and 24 losses. Due to conflicts within the club's secretariat, it has become a bad topic. And after the 2023-2024 season, Lee Jong-ae was appointed as the new head coach.

BNK coach Park Jung-eun said, "My strength has been strengthened, but I have a lot of tasks. I need to raise a big man. And the players struggled a lot due to their poor performance last season. I had to regain my self-esteem."

"Coach Lee Jong-ae was a WKBL legend big man during his active career. He also received a doctorate in sports psychology from Sookmyung Women's University. I wanted to take good care of the players' psychology as well as raise the big man," he said, explaining the background of Lee Jong-ae's appointment.

Head coach Lee Jong-ae, who was selected by BNK, first said, "I was away from the field as I was studying sports psychology. However, when I was serving as the welfare committee chairman at WKBL, I often watched the games. The players were also interested in me," and talked about the period of my time away.

"After earning my doctorate last year, I thought to myself, 'I want to coach.' Coach Park Jung-eun gave me a great opportunity. I came back to the site, and it was so nice. (laughs) It feels like I'm back in my hometown," he said, adding how he felt about returning to the site.

As mentioned above, BNK coach Park Jung-eun wants 'team mental care' from Lee Jong-ae. Lee Jong-ae also said, "I studied sports psychology because I want to understand how players feel. So, I am thinking about how to approach the players? How to combine what I have studied?" and agonized over the gap between what I had studied and what I had studied.

Meanwhile, BNK head coach Lee Jong-ae has taught players at Yongin University after his retirement. However, he has never coached professional players. That's why you may feel the difference between a professional and an amateur.

BNK head coach Lee Jong-ae said, "Professional and university are definitely different. That's why I'm careful when approaching players. However, the characteristics of athletes seem to be almost the same. For that reason, 'How do I approach?' seems to be important. Also, since it's still early in the off-season, I try to approach carefully. However, I think I'll get used to it as time goes by," explaining the difference between a professional and an amateur.

BNK is undergoing another change. Kim Han-byul has retired, and Jinan (181 cm, C), one-choice big man, has moved to Bucheon Hana One Q. Lee Ha-eun (182 cm, F) and Byun So-jeong (180 cm, F) have joined, but all of them require competition or time. BNK coach Lee Jong-ae, a former big man, needs to increase the competitiveness of BNK's big men.

BNK coach Lee Jong-ae said, "(Lee) Ha-eun, (Choi) Min-ju, and (Park) Sung-jin are all young. However, they definitely have the talent they have. "I have to maximize their talents. That's important. You have to teach them skills, but you have to keep their minds calm," BNK coach Lee Jong-ae said.

He continued, "The team's performance was not good. I talked about that a lot with the coach, too. Also, I think the players were hurt a lot (because of their performance last season). In my case, I studied sports psychology, so I need to get closer to the players better. After grasping the players well, you need to be able to empathize with their stories. You need to warm them up like your mother," he said, putting importance on the players' psychology.

Lastly, he said, "This seems like a great opportunity for me. And the goal of a professional team is to win. I also want to try to win as a coach of the Copro team. In order to do so, I will help the coach, the coaching staff, and the players well." He vowed to stick to his given duties in order to realize his goals.

BY: 스포츠토토핫