Woori Won coach Wie Sung-woo one win away from No. 300

Asan Woori Bank Woori Won head coach Wie Sung-woo could be one game away from becoming the first-ever WKBL head coach to record 300 wins. Wie revamped the team a decade ago, lifting it from a pitiful win record to repeat championships.

Asan Woori Bank Woori Won head coach Wie Sung-woo poses for a photo with basketballs shaped in 300 at the team's training center in Seongbuk District, central Seoul on Jan. 9. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Asan Woori Bank Woori Won head coach Wie Sung-woo is one game away from becoming the first-ever WKBL head coach to record 300 wins.

“I had no idea I would win this many games,” Wie said during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at Woori Won’s training center in Seongbuk District, central Seoul earlier this month. “I did think that I would reach the 300-win mark as I started this season. I forgot about it as I was busy with the game schedule and competition in the league.

“I only think about winning the next game, and I don’t look back at wins in the past."

Wie has secured 299 wins as of Tuesday and may manage his 300th win as head coach if Woori Won beat Samsung Life Blueminx on Thursday.

Wie is already the head coach with the most amount of wins in WKBL history. His stats are incomparable as former Incheon Shinhan Bank S-birds head coach Lim Dal-sik, the head coach with the second most amount of wins, managed 199.

“The players made the wins as they worked hard on the court,” Wie said. “As a head coach, I just take wins. It is therefore right to say ‘Woori Won made it,' not ‘I made it.’”

Wie was not spectacularly successful as a player, but he has seen great success since he started his coaching career in 2005.

During his seven-year spell as assistant coach for the S-birds, the team swept the league and championship titles for six straight seasons from 2007 through 2012.

Wie then took the helm of Woori Won ahead of the 2012-13 season and revamped the team which at that time had secured just a single-digit number of wins in their previous four seasons by putting them through intense training.

His so-called “night owl hell training” required his players to be on alert at all times. Wie’s approach led to immense success, and the team swept the league and championship titles for six straight years.

“I was not a key player, but I wanted to be a prominent coach,” Wie said. “Back then, I only thought about making my players overcome the sense of defeat through tough physical training.”

This year marks Wie’s 12th year as Woori Won head coach, making him the longest-serving head coach in WKBL history.

Wie’s journey with Woori Won will continue, with his eyes set on winning the league and championship titles — again.

Woori Won sit in second place on the six-team table as of Tuesday. The defending champions’ next game against Blueminx will take place at Yi Sun-sin Gymnasium in Asan, South Chungcheong on Thursday at 7 p.m.

BY PI JOO-YOUNG [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]