Epistola is preparing for its second season in South Korea.
The Jeonju KCC Aegis played a scrimmage against Korea University at the KCC Gymnasium in Mabuk-dong on the 17th. The game lasted until the fifth quarter, and the score was 86-71 in favor of KCC after four quarters. After the end of the fourth quarter, the score was reset and a fifth quarter was played.
KCC’s Filipino-Asian quarterback Kelvin Epistola also made an appearance in the game. Epistola, who has been with KCC since the beginning of the offseason, has also been training in Taebaek.
“I’m having a great offseason,” Epistola said. I studied Korean style of play before the training started, and on my days off, I didn’t do anything special, just focused on taking care of my body,” he said.
When asked about the differences from last season, when he joined the team in the middle of the season, he said, “Unlike last year, I was able to start the season preparation process from scratch, which is more helpful. I think it’s a positive thing that I’ve been able to build my body through conditioning workouts, and I’ve been with the team since the beginning of the off-season, so I’ve been able to integrate into the team chemistry.”
Born in Toronto, Canada, Epistola played at the University of Ottawa and has spent a lot of time in Canada. She hasn’t had any difficulty adjusting to Korean food or culture.
“In terms of food, I had already tasted Korean food in Canada, and my parents often cook Filipino food, so there’s not much difference between Filipino and Korean food. Culturally, I had lived in Korea for the last year and the weather and temperature are similar compared to the Canadian summer, so I didn’t have any difficulties.”
Epistola said the thing that stood out the most about the Korean players was that they all played with a lot of passion and didn’t care about the score.
“The biggest thing that stood out to me about playing in Korea was that every player played with passion and gave 100%, regardless of the score or record. That’s the difference from Canada. I was really impressed with the passion of the players.”
Epistola, who joined the team midway through last season, averaged 2.7 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists. A prospect who will have to compete for playing time to show more. In the offseason, he focused on his shooting and defense.
“I focused on being consistent with my shooting,” Epistola said. “Other than that, we worked a lot on our defense and how to attack when we get the ball,” he said.
“The captain (Jung Chang-young) and other veteran players (Heo Woong, Choi Jun-yong, and Jeon Jun-beom) actively told me not to play timidly and to maintain my bold style of play. The coaches told me to shoot more aggressively from my favorite shooting spots. They’ve been emphasizing more on my defensive rotations,” he added. 먹튀검증
“My goal is to be as healthy as possible before the season starts, and I want to help the team win as many games as possible so we can win the championship,” Epistola concluded. “The fans were very supportive last year and I hope they will come to the gym and support us again this year. Thank you very much for your support,” he said to the fans.