A common Japanese characteristic is tatemae (建前).

It means saying something that sounds good to the other person, even if it’s not what you really think.

However, Masashi Ogino (53, Japan), the head coach of OK Financial Group in men’s volleyball, is a straight-talking coach.

After the team’s 0-3 loss to Korean Air on Sept. 22 at Sangryoksu Gymnasium in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, Ogino spoke out.

“I think the level of individual players on our team is the lowest among the seven clubs,” Ogino said.

“We are trying to raise it. When we lose a game, we need to reflect on it, and when we win, we need to use it as a springboard to move up,” but the Japanese coach’s statement that the level of players on the team is low is something of an outlier.

He also talked about “volleyball IQ,” which means the ability to read the pulse of the game and react in the moment.

“The other team’s foreign players are more intelligent,” Ogino said, taking a swipe at foreigner Leo, “and I don’t think our team’s (volleyball IQ) is very good, so we’re working on it.”

“The ‘volleyball IQ’ is something we’ve been talking about since I got here. “I’m from Japan, so I’ve seen a lot of world volleyball. My job is to bring OK Financial Group players to the world level,” he emphasized.

Despite Ogino’s rhetoric, OK Financial Group’s record is not bad.

With 6 wins, 4 losses, and 15 points, they are in fourth place, just behind third-place Samsung Fire (6 wins, 3 losses, 16 points).

Ogino’s rants are not actually a reflection of the quality of OK Financial Group’s players, but more of a way to motivate them.

Ogino, the first Japanese coach in the V-League men’s division to take charge of OK Financial Group this season, has created a buzz with his unconventional approach to volleyball.

In the first round, he ordered all players except Leonardo Leyva Martinez (nicknamed Leo) to use a floating serve, which involves sending the ball up in the air rather than a spike serve.

While it’s standard practice to shake up an opponent’s reception with a hard serve, he chose to play strong defense rather than give up points to his opponent with an unforced error.

Recently, other players have started to use spike serves as well, but Ogino’s basic philosophy is to play defense and attack from behind.

OK Financial Group’s next game is against Woori Card on the 26th.

Woori Card is a team that is racing to the top of the league with 8 wins, 1 loss, and 22 points.

In their first meeting this season on March 3, OK Financial Group won 3-0, handing Woori Card its only loss.

“We want to win as a team, even if (our individual performance) is poor,” said Ogino. We need to think about how to solve the match against Woori Card as a team,” Ogino said. 먹튀검증