What’s the source of Geum Myung Joong’s excellence?

Jeon’s mother is a former basketball player. She played and coached for an unemployment team. She influenced him to start playing basketball.
But it was her father who had a bigger impact on her. His father played basketball as a recreational sport, and he was the first to pick up a basketball.
With his mother’s and father’s talent, Jeon excelled in elementary school. After attending Geum Myung Joong, he was given many opportunities from the lower grades. In the 2023 season, he is a junior and captain of the team. She plans to put all her energy into the final competition of her middle school career.

Can you start by introducing yourself?
My name is Jeon Ye-chan, and I play guard and forward for Geum Myung Joong. I’m 179 centimeters tall.

How have you been doing lately?
After the Weekend League Wangjoong, I got a vacation. I went on a trip with my basketball teammates, and I’m working hard on my personal training. I’m also planning to play in the Autumn League.

How did you perform in the Weekend League?
I lost in the quarterfinals, but I’m satisfied that my performance has been getting better and better. At the beginning of the 2023 season, I was eliminated in the qualifiers, but I reached the quarterfinals of the King of Kings and the individual championships.

Why did you struggle at the beginning of the 2023 season?
In 2021 and 2022, I reached the quarterfinals with my brothers, but in 2023, as captain, I felt sorry for my teammates because I gave up a little bit in the middle of the game. I was frustrated with myself, frustrated with the team’s repeated losses, and frustrated with our defense.

How did you turn things around?
We won the weekend league regional qualifiers, and all the hard work we did practicing with my brothers from Busan Jungang High School came out on the court. We turned the tide, and I personally got better mentally.
And when I watched the games from the beginning of the 2023 season, I thought, “This is not right.” Coach Kim Il-mo said, “We have to fix it,” and I was determined to fix it.

How did you start playing basketball?
My mom was on the unemployment team and was a coach. My dad also plays basketball for recreational sports. I used to follow him around, so I touched the basketball once or twice, and it was fun to touch the ball. I think my dad had a little more influence on me to start playing basketball. I started in September of my fourth grade year.

Did you have any opposition from your parents?
Both of my parents were neither for nor against playing basketball. They were like, “If you want to play basketball, we’re going to support you.”
I was actually fat when I started playing, and I thought about quitting because it was hard to run, but I told them I would do it, so here I am.

You must have inherited your talent from your parents. Did you stand out in elementary school?
I think my best grade in elementary school was quarterfinals, so I think I had “a little bit” of talent. I followed my parents around from a young age, so I knew how to pass, and I saw point guards from the beginning of basketball.

Was the middle school stage different from elementary school?
As soon as I got out of winter training, it was easy to adjust, because the seniors were scoring a lot of points my freshman year, and I was getting a lot of playing time, and the seniors didn’t play in the fall conference games, so I was more of a starter. I didn’t know what to expect, and I was having fun.
My sophomore year, I knew more about basketball than I did my freshman year, so when I made mistakes, I felt bad for my brothers. When the coach said, “Substitute,” I was scared. I was thinking a lot, so I didn’t show my full game, because I felt that one mistake could cost the team. So I focused on reducing my mistakes, and I saved my brothers a lot. But we made it to the quarterfinals twice. It was a golden time.

This was your first season as a team captain. The responsibility must have been different.
Early on, when we were getting knocked out of the tournament, it was really frustrating, and I was really angry with myself. When we were losing, I was rushing to score one more goal, but I was in a hurry, and that made it worse.
If you look at myself, I had a high percentage of steals and mid-range jumpers, and I had a lot of good plays in the second quarter, but in the third quarter, I just fell apart. I was in a rush, and I wasn’t focused, and I felt bad for my teammates because I was supposed to be leading the team, and I just played like I was giving up.

What’s your personality like in general?
I’m a hairy person. I’m usually calm, but when I’m on the court, I’m more urgent than usual. If the team is winning, I’m not urgent, but if we’re losing, I’m urgent. It depends on the situation.
When I get rushed, I tell myself to be calm, and then I get a little bit better. I need to get better.

I heard that your sister (Geum Myung Joong freshman Jeon Yoo Chan) also plays for Geum Myung Joong.
It’s exciting to see her wearing the same jersey as me, but she’s still young and we don’t get to share the court much. 토스카지노

Do you teach your brother much about basketball?
I usually try to teach him a lot, because we’re two years apart, so we fight a lot. (Laughs) But I wouldn’t trade my basketball skills for his, because he’s so good at it, and he says my strength is my shooting.

Coach Kim Il-mo said that Jeon’s strength is his breakthrough, and his weakness is his one-on-one defense.
Like Coach Kim said, I like breaking through, and I’ve recently opened my eyes to passing. I’ve always had a good sense of passing, but I enjoy playing daringly.
I’m good at team defense, but I’m in a hurry, so sometimes I can get open at once.

Which players are your role models?
In elementary school, Lee Dae-sung (Seahorses Mikawa, Japan B League) was my role model, but now I don’t have a specific player in mind.
My favorite players are Kim Sun-hyung (Seoul SK) and Heo Hoon (Armed Forces Athletic Corps). Kim Sun-hyung is a little bit more similar to my playing style, so I want to be more like him, but both of them are calm and relaxed. They are solid players who do what they do when they do it, and I want to learn how to be relaxed in competition.
In the NBA, I like Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) because I want to be able to shoot well like him. I usually have a lot of ups and downs in my shooting, so I want to be able to shoot well consistently like Curry.

What does basketball mean to you?
It’s my life, it’s my dream, and I’ve been playing since elementary school, so I have to work hard until the end and go pro, so basketball is my life.
When I was in junior high school, I felt happy, because I reached the quarterfinals of the spring league and the weekend league championship with my brothers, and I prepared well before the tournament, so I felt proud and accomplished that I reached the quarterfinals.
But right now, I feel the most frustrated. My biggest regret is that I was only able to reach the quarterfinals in the Weekend League Wangjoong Wang and Gyeonggi Championships this season. Especially in the Wangjoong Wang, I lost to An Nam-joong in overtime. I’m trying to practice harder so that I can overcome that situation.

What are your goals for the future?
My goal is to improve on my shortcomings and go to a higher level. My ultimate goal is to be a good player in the professional scene. I can’t wait to play with my high school brothers. I’m both excited and nervous.