KIA and head coach Lee Bum-ho picked 'defensive' and 'backup player' as keywords for 'two consecutive losses in integration'

KIA and head coach Lee Bum-ho picked 'defensive' and 'backup player' as keywords for 'two consecutive losses in integration'

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Will the KIA Tigers, who won the integrated championship for the first time in seven years, be able to fill the gap and make a second consecutive integrated championship.

KIA, which had been in the spotlight as a favorite even before the opening of the 2024 season, finished the regular season first with 87 wins, two draws and 55 losses (0.613). After the end of the regular season, the team had three weeks to reorganize and achieved its 12th Korean Series title in the Korean Series with 4 wins and 1 loss in the series against the Samsung Lions.

Lee Bum-ho's leadership, veteran players' performance, young players' growth, and the club's full support led to the victory, even though it was his first season as a head coach. All the members worked diligently in their place.

However, this does not necessarily mean that Kia has shown satisfactory performance throughout the season. It certainly had tasks to tackle as well. The biggest problem was defense. KIA had the most errors among the 10 teams while committing 146 during the regular season.

Problems also appeared in short-term matches. KIA won in the first and second games of the Korean Series, but had three errors in the first game and two errors in the second game, which left a sense of regret in defense. In the third and fifth games, the team conducted without making any errors.

The head coach is also clearly aware of this. "I think defense is the most important thing (in preparing for next year's season). As for this season, we supported our defense capabilities with our offense capabilities, but if we have enough defense capabilities to the extent that we do not have to support them with our offense capabilities, our team can become much stronger," coach Lee Bum-ho said.

Another task that head coach Lee Bum-ho mentioned is the development of backup players' skills. There are many young players in the team, but there are also many veteran players. The head coach wants more players to establish themselves in the first team for a successful generational change.

"I think the part that we need to prepare for this final camp (from April 4 to 28) is to quickly develop backup players who can improve performance with the main players," Lee said. "At a time when senior players are getting older and the team color changes little by little with young players, we need to prepare well so that our team can run smoothly. We are trying to focus on that and prepare well."

Kia, which is preparing for the 2025 season as the "defending champion," is under pressure to keep its position as the crown prince. No other team has won the Korean Series title for two consecutive years since the Doosan Bears in 2015-2016. The most recent team that won the title for two consecutive years was Samsung from 2011 to 2014 (four consecutive wins). As such, it is not easy to lose the title for two consecutive seasons. Kia needs to make up for its shortcomings while minimizing power leakage during the off-season. 메이저사이트

"As 2024 was a great honor for us, we will have to prepare anew from now on. Players must also be aware that the break period is a new beginning," Lee said. "I will do my best to go in a good direction with the players. I think my 2025 season has begun and I will work hard to prepare for it."