B.League officials visited Korea to watch KBL.
On the 17th, the 2022-2023 SKT A-Dot Professional Basketball Anyang KGC and Jeonju KCC faced off in the 5th round at Anyang Gymnasium. Four strange men were watching the game with eagle eyes. They were Japanese B.League officials who visited Korea to watch a KBL game. On this day, officials from four teams visited Sun Locus Shibuya, Shimane Susanu Magic, Kawasaki Brave Thunders, and Osaka Ebesa.
Ryota Matsuoka, who is in charge of player contracts, scouting, and U18 youth team work in Shibuya, said, “I often visited Korea to watch KBL in the past. However, he has not been able to come for several years due to COVID-19. He got better this year, so he searched for KBL, met officials, and gathered information,” he said, explaining the reason for his visit to Korea.
As time passes, exchanges between the KBL and the B.League are becoming more active. With the implementation of the Asian quota system, Taichi Nakamura (former DB) and Hisashi Moriguchi (Carrot) stepped on Korean soil. Jaemin Yang슬롯사이트, a Korean prospect, is currently playing for Utsunomiya Brex. In addition, Park Jae-hyeon (Niigata) and Lee Jung-je (Tokyo Z) recently signed contracts with the Japanese team.
“I think it is positive that we are having an exchange. Korean players can show their skills in Japan, and conversely, Japanese players can play well in Korea. Above all, I think it will have a better effect in terms of marketing in a few years.” Matsuoka’s words.
Four officials, including Matsuoka, watched the matches between Seoul SK and Suwon KT on the 14th, followed by KGC and Changwon LG on the 15th, Seoul Samsung and SK on the 16th, and KGC and KCC on the 17th.
The player who caught their attention was Oh Se-geun. In the match against LG on the 15th, Oh Se-geun led the team’s victory by performing a one-man show with 26 points and 10 rebounds, including 4 3-pointers. He was not pushed back in the matchup with Assem Marey. On the 17th, against KCC, he recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Matsuoka said, “KGC’s uniform number 41 Oh Se-geun was the most impressive. Even though it was a matchup with a foreign player, he did really well. In Japan, it is rare for two foreign players to play against a local player. In the match against LG, he showed a very good performance. And SK’s Kim Seon-hyeong also caught the eye because he managed the game well and had an accurate shot.”
As time goes on, more and more players are expected to advance from Korea to the B.League. B.League officials can apply it to their scouting work based on the games they visited and watched in Korea.
Matsuoka said, “The B.League can only have one of the naturalized players and Asian quarter players. I have to compare the two and bring them back, but I keep watching Korean players during the season. It is difficult to answer whether they will try to recruit. It’s still a bit early,” he laughed.