Hur Jae ready for off-season journey
Egis coach to lead national team in Olympics quest
The first time Jeonju KCC Egis head coach Hur Jae guided the Korean national team in international competition back in 2009, things didn’t go so well.
Korea finished 7th at the 2009 FIBA Asia Basketball Championship, its worst showing in tournament history.
But having led his Egis to its second KBL title this year - the first came under Hur in the 2008-2009 season - Hur was again named the national team’s coach last Tuesday and will be looking for a better result this time around, even a 2012 Olympics berth, no matter how unlikely.
“I am really pressured because I failed two years ago,” Hur said to Ilgan Sports, the JoongAng Ilbo’s daily sports newspaper.
“But I will examine the reason why my team failed and capture the Olympic ticket to London. I really want to do well this time.”
But to earn a pass to the 2012 Olympics, Hur will have to guide his team through a tight gauntlet of a schedule - his busiest off-season coaching schedule since he started as coach in 2005, he says - until September, when the domestic league starts up again and he has to continue coaching the Egis.
Hur already announced the 12-man roster for the East Asia Basketball Championship next month in Nanjing, China.
And if Korea finishes fourth or better, the team will earn a berth at the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship in September.
But before that, Hur will enter his team in the William Jones Cup in Taiwan to get them ready for the heavyweights they’ll face at the FIBA event in Wuhan, China.
Only the winner of the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship gets a ticket to London.
The 42-year-old coach only got a short break after the KBL season ended about a month ago before taking the helm of the national team.
But he did get what most would consider “rest” - greeting fans and friends, spending time with family and even watching Kim Yu-na’s performances two weeks ago.
“After the final series, I was busy saying thank you to all the people I know,” Hur said. “But I was never tired, it felt like I ate wild ginseng [for my energy].”
Good thing then that Hur feels energetic, even during rest, because after September, Hur will end his duties as national team coach and immediately head back to Jeonju to work with the Egis just 20 days before the next KBL season begins.
And when the season starts, he may end up working until next April.
“[I know] it’s not easy to coach both the national team and my professional team,” Hur said. “I think I will miss most of the Egis’ preseason training.”
But Hur is confident he can do both jobs well, acknowledging that his long off-season journey has just begun.
“This is the beginning, I will not have time to rest for a year,” Hur said. “I am concerned, but I can’t turn back now.”
