South Korea National Team 2013-2014

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Korea's friendlies with New Zealand aka Tall Blacks confirmed.

Basketball: Tall Blacks confirm schedule for home games


The Tall Blacks will play internationals in Wellington, Tauranga and Auckland this year in the lead up to the Basketball World Cup.

Basketball New Zealand has just locked in the venues for the home series against South Korea in July.

BBNZ boss Iain Potter says they are undecided if they'll play the Auckland game at the North Shore Events Centre or Vector Arena.

"We've got to know that we're going to get enough punters along to make it all work for us. We're confident of getting a good crowd but Vector Arena would be an ambitious target for us."

Potter says unfortunately the South Island misses out, but venues were unavailable on the dates required.

However, he says strengthened ties in the Asian region mean they will aim to play in the South Island soon.

"Next year there'll be opportunities because we'll be playing Korea regularly. We've had really healthy and useful conversations with the Philippines and Japan as well about future tours.

"So were confident we'll have something every year."

Potter says they will leave selecting their World Cup squad until late.

"They'll take a slightly enlarged squad away for the first leg through Korea and China, so it gives the coaches an opportunity to keep looking at those players that are on the fringe.

"So that's a slight luxury as well that probably we haven't had before."

The Tall Blacks will meet South Korea on July 15 in Wellington, July 17 in Tauranga, and July 19 in Auckland.

They will play a return series in South Korea a week later, before a four team series in China, a four nation series in Lithuania then a two game series against Serbia.

The World Cup starts in late August.

In response to this, Lee Sang-Beom (assistant coach of the Korean national team) said in a statement that Korea will have a busy preparation schedule compared to last year's preparations. The team would like to peak and be prime for the Asian Games and not suffer fatigue.

For my part, New Zealand will be the closest simulation games to have somewhat of a "feel" for the Australia national team.

 

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Some bit of good news for the national team. Lee Seung-Jun aka Eric Sandrin posted photos of him doing some sprinting to get back into proper conditioning on the Wonju Club facebook group.

 

[Khalid802]

The South Korean federation is trying hard to sign Hassan Whiteside to join their NT... They sent scouts and representatives of the South Korean bball league to Lebanon a couple of weeks ago to see Hassan in action while playing in the Lebanese league and it has been said that they are going to offer him 100,000 US$ per month to play with the South Korean NT.

The Lebanese bball federation really wanted to sign with Hassan to play with the Lebanese NT especially since he's young and playing at a high level but unfortunately they can't match the offer that the South Koreans have made for Hassan... Moreover the federation is currently trying it's best to do what FIBA has requested from them in order to remove the ban

 

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The South Korean federation is trying hard to sign Hassan Whiteside to join their NT... They sent scouts and representatives of the South Korean bball league to Lebanon a couple of weeks ago to see Hassan in action while playing in the Lebanese league and it has been said that they are going to offer him 100,000 US$ per month to play with the South Korean NT.

The Lebanese bball federation really wanted to sign with Hassan to play with the Lebanese NT especially since he's young and playing at a high level but unfortunately they can't match the offer that the South Koreans have made for Hassan... Moreover the federation is currently trying it's best to do what FIBA has requested from them in order to remove the ban

The rumors are true then but I would rather see Whiteside join the Lebanese team in the near future.

Other names floating for Korea's naturalize player list are:

Eric Dawson
Jeremy Tyler (Who is also being pursued by the Japanese federation)

 

[Khalid802]

The rumors are true then but I would rather see Whiteside join the Lebanese team in the near future.

Other names floating for Korea's naturalize player list are:

Eric Dawson
Jeremy Tyler (Who is also being pursued by the Japanese federation)

I came to know today from a Lebanese friend who is in touch with one of the South Korean scouts who came to Lebanon that the deal with Hassan Whiteside is almost finalized and Hassan will be joining the South Korean NT...
Moreover I heard that Hassan has also secured an NBA tryout for next summer so his mind is already set on trying to make it back in the NBA for next season...

I doubt he will be staying in Lebanon once the season ends by the end of next month.

 

[Ador Cruzado2]

Whiteside is Chris Lutz's teammate in Marshall.
Eric Dawson is like a bulkier version of a prime Marcus Douthit.

Any of those guys will be good help for Korea. I see Dawson being more serviceable though. Whiteside's NBA dream is not yet done, so he clearly has other things in mind aside from settling as a naturalized player and playing outside of the NBA.

 

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I came to know today from a Lebanese friend who is in touch with one of the South Korean scouts who came to Lebanon that the deal with Hassan Whiteside is almost finalized and Hassan will be joining the South Korean NT...
Moreover I heard that Hassan has also secured an NBA tryout for next summer so his mind is already set on trying to make it back in the NBA for next season...

I doubt he will be staying in Lebanon once the season ends by the end of next month.

Thanks for the information. News broke out in Korea this morning but Yoo Jae-Hak did not issue a statement about it as he said it will be addressed in time when everything is in order and he said something about focusing on the KBL finals. From the news going around, Hyundai through Ulsan Mobis Phoebus (Yoo Jae-Hak's team), Samsung and LG have signed up as sponsors for the national team until next year and that maybe the key on how all of a sudden, Korea had the budget to offer $100K a month when last year, the budget was so scarce that they had to scrimp the national team's training.

 

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Kyung Hee's star, Han Hee-Won has expressed his hopes that he will be selected for training with the national team this summer, citing that it helped his predecessors like Kim Min-Goo get better.

 

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Busan's Cho Sung-Min was recently in attendance of Game 4 of the KBL finals with his wife. After the game, Sports Seoul interviewed him and he said that he is currently on vacation and will re-join the national team in late May after some rehabilitation on his ankle.

 

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Korea will be hard pressed to find a worthy successor for Yang Dong-Geun, who won his fourth KBL championship tonight. Now he is considered the best point guard in KBL's history. That said, the most likely successors are SK's Kim Sun-Hyung and LG's Kim Si-Rae. Along the way, Yang Dong-Geun out-performed and ultimately, bested the two.

Against SK, Yang Dong-Geun could not be stopped. At 33, he showed Kim Sun-Hyung aged 25 on how a point guard's decision making in crunch time wins or loses games. Kim Sun-Hyung had missed shots and turnovers as SK fell. In the finals, Yang was up against his protege, Kim Si-Rae who backed him up on last year's championship run prior to being dealt following that championship. In the finals, Yang Dong-Geun was cool under fire and with cerebral marksmanship, drained clutch shots against Kim's defense. Yang still has the quickness and fitness to play the young man's game. Kim Si-Rae could not defend Yang effectively. Kim was getting lost on Yang's quick step and fell victim to impeding fouls on trying to stop Yang.

Both will charge it to experience for now. Kim Sun-Hyung since 2009 has been with the B-team and the main team. Kim Si-Rae played only with the U16 team and has yet to be tested in the seniors level of competition. Park Chan-Hee is a good all around guard, but his leadership is not even comparable to Yang Dong-Geun over the years.

Good thing is that Yang plans to play until 2015.

 

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Assistant coach Lee Sang-Beom revealed in an interview with Sports Seoul that the federation has reached out to 20 NBA / NBA D-League / Americans abroad with a contract that will run until October this year.

Lee Sang-Beom stated that three have expressed willingness among the 20 players. Based on unconfirmed reports, the three players willing are Hassan Whiteside, Eric Dawson and Peter Roberson.

 

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The road to the Asian Games begin by the end of this April. Recently, the plan was mid April but it got pushed as the quarter finals went the distance. Players like Cho Sung-Min and Yang Dong-Geun will have a two week delay for injury recuperations.
http://vip.mk.co.kr/news/view/21/21/2119835.html

The article hinted that players from the armed forces could be called up and this year's batch includes Anyang KGC's Oh Se-Keun and Choi Jin-Soo from the Goyang Orions.

 

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News broke out this morning that the federation are now looking to naturalize either of the ff:

Rod Benson (Ulsan Mobis Phoebus)
Aaron Haynes (Seoul SK knights)
Courtney Sims (Seoul SK Knights)
Davon Jefferson (Changwon LG Sakers)

This happened within the wake that the women's side is close to an agreement with former Minnesota Lynx 4th overall pick, Amber Harris to suit up for naturalization in which the federation congress will vote in April 24 next week. Yoo Jae-Hak admitted that pursuing the former NBAers is too costly in terms of time and that is something that they can ill afford given that training camp opens in four weeks. Most likely, it will be a contest between Benson and Jefferson. But both are untested in actual FIBA competitions. Rumor has it that both Hassan Whiteside and Peter Roberson are willing but it should be for next year as Whiteside is due for NBA summer league while Roberson has D-League aspirations.

 

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24 Player Pool named.

Kim Min-Goo (KCC Egis)
Kim Sun-Hyung (SK Knights)
Kim Si-Rae (LG Sakers)
Kim Tae-Sol (Anyang KGC)
Park Chan-Hee (Anyang KGC)
Yang Dong-Geun (Ulsan Mobis Phoebus)
Lee Dae-Sung (Ulsan Mobis Phoebus)
Jeong Young-Sam (Incheon ET Land)
Cho Sung-Min (Busan Sonicboom KT)
Kim Joo-Sung (Wonju Dongbu Promy)
Moon Seung-Gon (Korea University)
Yang Hee-Jong (Anyang KGC)
Yoon Ho-Young (Wonju Dongbu Promy)
Lee Seung-Hyun (Korea University)
Choi Joon-Young (Yonsei University)
Choi Jin-Soo (Goyang Orions)
Heo Il-Young (Goyang Orions)
Moon Tae-Jong (LG Sakers)
Kim Jong-Kyu (LG Sakers)
Lee Jong-Hyun (Korea University)
Oh Se-Keun (Anyang KGC)
Ha Seung-Jin (KCC Egis)
Jang Jae-Seok (Goyang Orions)
Choi Buk-Young (SK Knights)

Ha Seung-Jin is included because he seems injury free after two years of missing basketball altogether. Federation got an early release from the civil service act due to the Asian Games campaign. No Lee Seung-Jun but Moon Tae-Jong is the not not so new naturalized player for this call of duty. Park Chan-Hee over Kim Si-Rae.

 

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KBA is really fixated on Ha Seung-Jin's inclusion for the World Cup and Asian Games. Without Lee Seung-Jun, Moon Tae-Jong seems to be a lock at the moment and such addition means that from last year's squad in Manila, Moon Seung-Gon gets bump off. Federation also believes that Lee Seung-Jun's absence means a thin front-line and that is where Ha Seung-Jin plugs in.

Barring any major injuries for Seung-Jin the bigs will be:

Ha Seung-Jin / Lee Jong-Hyun
Kim Jong-Kyu / Kim Joo-Sung

Main wild card I see is Oh Se-Keun, assuming that one of the names listed above gets injured.

 

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Lee Jong-Hyun was interviewed by Kookmin Sports Show over at SpotV and Lee said he is looking forward to the world cup and Asian games experience. He also said that the prospect of him defending Ha Seung-Jin on practice will be difficult as Lee admitted that he is at a disadvantage in terms of weight and height.

For my part, Lee Jong-Hyun has the wingspan, decent jump and improved timing to block a shot to challenge Seung-Jin. But in the offense part where Seung-Jin will guard Jong-Hyun, he will have trouble as Lee is more of a pressure release center than a low post operator.

 

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The following were excluded for training camp that opens next week:

Kim Si-Rae (Changwon LG Sakers)
Park Chan-Hee (Anyang KGC)
Jeong Young-Sam (Incheon ET Land)
Moon Seung-Gon (Korea University)
Yang Hee-Jong (Anyang KGC)
Heo Il-Young (Goyang Orions)
Moon Tae-Jong (Changwon LG Sakers)
Choi Buk-Young (Seoul SK Knights)

In a huge surprise, Moon Tae-Jong, the only naturalized player in the pool was excluded initially. Moon Seung-Gon was a member of the team that played in Manila last year. But the exclusion does not end their chances of playing in the world cup or Asian games as Yoo Jae-Hak said that the excluded ones are just on floating status. Ha Seung-Jin will not be present in the first phase of training camp as he is up for June instead of July.

The following will attend training camp:

Kim Min-Goo (Jeonju KCC Egis)
Kim Sun-Hyung (Seoul SK Knights)
Kim Tae-Sol (Anyang KGC)
Yang Dong-Geun (Ulsan Mobis Phoebus)
Lee Dae-Sung (Ulsan Mobis Phoebus)
Cho Sung-Min (Busan Sonicboom KT)
Kim Joo-Sung (Wonju Dongbu Promy)
Yoon Ho-Young (Wonju Dongbu Promy)
Lee Seung-Hyun (Korea University)
Choi Joon-Young (Yonsei University)
Choi Jin-Soo (Goyang Orions)
Kim Jong-Kyu (LG Sakers)
Lee Jong-Hyun (Korea University)
Oh Se-Keun (Anyang KGC)
Jang Jae-Seok (Goyang Orions)

Reports now floating up that the federation is still pulling out a last minute arrangement for a naturalized player to join the team.

 

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Kim Jong-Kyu and Kim Min-Goo have been training as individuals for the past two weeks. Jong-Kyu with weight lifting and shooting. While Min-Goo was in Busan, working on his lateral movement and conditioning.

 

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Seoul SK Knights promoting the naturalization of Aaron Haynes.
http://sports.chosun.com/news/utype.htm?id=201405110100088840005959&ServiceDate=20140511

 

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Today, Yoo Jae-Hak stated that they are looking at height factor when asked about the four naturalization candidates of Benson, Sims, Haynes and Jefferson. But the team may go without a naturalized player if the said player underform upon expectation.

Tallest among the naturalization prospects is Rod Benson at 207cm, Courtney Sims at 206cm.