Guangdong Freecs head coach Kim Dae-ho wasn’t smiling after his team won its first game of the season.
Gwangdong defeated DRX 2-0 in the first game of the team’s 2023 LoL Champions Korea (LCK) Summer Season regular season at the LCK Arena in Jongno-gu, Seoul on Monday. With a 1-0 record (+2), the team begins the first week tied for first place with DePlus Gia.
Despite the 2-0 win, there were a number of mistakes that didn’t show up on the scoreboard that frustrated Kim. In the post-match press conference, Kim lamented the fact that the opponents were playing rookies from the third team and were unable to complete the sweep.
“We won, but we didn’t win. It’s hard to finish seventh with this kind of performance,” he said bitterly. “We won, so we’ll celebrate, feel good, and prepare well for (the next game),” he said, but also expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s performance, saying, “We were lucky today.”
Kim interpreted the first set as a game in which the opponent was lethargic but unable to complete the sweep. “They didn’t operate,” he said. We were the only ones operating, so we had all the options,” he said, adding, “We lost because we were outplayed even against a rookie team in a fight that was the end of the operation.”
Kim pointed to a point in the Nasher Baron’s Nest battle where he failed to get a single kill on the opposing ranged dealer. “After that, I felt like I won because today was the one day in the entire Summer Season that the gods helped me. I didn’t play the ‘doo doo’ move today. It’s like the gods played a game for me.” 안전놀이터
As the team enters the summer season, Kim is eager to decide on a starter, but he also acknowledged that it’s not easy. “I want to finalize the starting lineup,” Kim said, “but if (‘Jun’ Yoon continues to play like he did in the first set today, we won’t have a chance,” he added.
“I will try to help Se-joon as much as possible to play well,” said Kim, who added, “If I stick with the same lineup even if he makes the same mistakes, then I’m not doing my job. But if (the mistakes) keep happening and I can feel the player’s limitations, I’ll look for other ways to make sure the other four’s efforts don’t go to waste.”
“Right now, Guangdong’s strength is seventh or lower,” Kim said. “We have one month of pre-season scrimmages and three months of the season. It’s better to grow in three months of competition than in one month of scrimmages, both in terms of duration and quality.” “We will not waste the remaining three months and aim for fifth or sixth place,” he added.