Korea set bar high in 2015

MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on my Mind) - Korea had a successful year in 2014, finishing third at the FIBA Asia U18 Championship in Doha, Qatar to qualify for the 2015 FIBA U19 Championship, which will be held in Heraklion (Crete), Greece from 27 June-5 July.

In addition to that feat, the Koreans also played solidly at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain and peaked at the 2014 Asian Games, where they won the gold medal for the first time in more than a decade.

Not surprisingly, the country is aiming to continue finding success this year, with its sights set on impressing at the U19 tournament and, of course, qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio by way of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, which will be hosted by China (23 September-3 October).

The two men expected to lead this charge for the Koreans are coach Yoo Jae-Hak and iconic playmaker Yang Dong-Geun, both of whom recently copped another Korean Basketball League (KBL) title for Ulsan Mobis Phoebus, the team's third in a row.

Coach Yoo has bee on the forefront of Korea's national team for two years now, steering them to a third-place finish at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship held in Manila. He has achieved a great deal of success both locally and internationally and is widely regarded as one of the best Korean coaches of all time.

Yang, for his part, has been a main fixture of the national side since first donning the national colors in 2001. Since 2007, he has been the team's default starting playmaker, averaging close to 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in major FIBA and FIBA Asia events.

The main concern for the team in 2015 is the fact that many of their bulwarks are already in the twilight of their respective careers. After the Asian Games last year, celebrated big man Kim Joo-Sung announced his retirment from playing international basketball, while Yang has also expressed the possibility of retiring from the sport altogether after one more season in the KBL. Aside from them, veterans like sniper Cho Sung-Min, point guard Kim Tae-Sul, swingman Yang Hee-Jong and naturalized player Moon Tae-Jong are all pushing past 30 years old. Needless to say, their days of playing for Korea are nearing their end.

Tabbed to inherit the mantle of leadership from these experienced ballers are fast-rising pro stars like Kim Sun-Hyung and Kim Jong-Kyu and young guns like Lee Jong-Hyun, Jeon Hyun-Woo and Kim Kyung-Won. The first three already boast significant international experience, having played at the continental championship in the Philippines two years ago, at Spain 2014 and the 2014 Asian Games, while the latter two are expected to be Korea's spearheads at the U19 Worlds.

Kim Sun-Hyung, Kim Jong-Kyu and Lee Jong-Hyun, in particular, are expected to be given bigger roles this year, as they play the exact same positions that Yang Dong-Geun and Kim Joo-Sung do.

Without a doubt, Sun-Hyung, who averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.5 steals in the 2014-2015 KBL season, is projected to be the team's main point guard in the foreseeable future, while Jong-Kyu has already started most of the national team's games in the past two years. He was one of the KBL's best centers this past season, putting up 12.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while also shooting 53 percent from the field. Jong-Hyun, meanwhile, has been Korea's top teenage player since starring for the U16 team in 2009. He is expected to pair up with Jong-Kyu to form an imposing and athletic twin tower combination for the Koreans.

One significant matter that still needs to be addressed, however, is the question of who the team's naturalized player will be.

At the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, that role was played by Moon Tae-Jong (his American name is Jarod Stevenson and he is, in fact, half-Korean), while in 2013, Lee Seung-Jun (his American name is Eric Sandrin and, like Moon, he is also half-Korean) became the team's naturalized hoopster.

Given how Moon will turn 40 this year while Lee is already 37 years old, neither seems the ideal fit to be Korea's naturalized player. Moon Tae-Jong's slightly younger brother, Moon Tae-Young (his American name is Gregory Stevenson) has been tearing the KBL up with his uncanny ways to score, but he, too, just turned 37. In 2014, Korea was hoping to have KBL import Aaron Haynes fill in as the naturalized player, but he will be 34 by the time the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship begins. Korea needs someone younger and stronger, which is why rumors of having Ulsan Mobis Phoebus import Ricardo Ratliffe (he is just 26 years old) naturalized have been creating some buzz.

Regardless, however, of which player Korea eventually chooses to naturalize or which stars coach Yoo decides to call up to the national team, it's clear that the team is aiming to build on the successes of 2014 - after moving up four places in the FIBA bwin World Ranking Men - and continue their rise in 2015.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.