An unexpected first place finish in last year’s FIBA Asia Men’s Under 16 Championship has earned South Korea an outright berth to this year’s FIBA Under 17 World Championship for men that will be held in Zaragoza, Spain from June 23 to July 7.
The reigning champions of Asia will return with an intact roster from last year’s outstanding finish and head coach Oh Se-iL of Gunsan Highschool also returning to the sidelines to steer the team for the U17 tournament.
South Korea 2016 U17 Men’s National Team
Lee Jung-Hyun
Seo Myeong-Jin
Kim Dong-Jun
Park Min-Chae
Kim Han-Young
Kim Hyeong-Jun
Seomoon Sechan
Lee Hyun-Jung
Park Min-Woo
Shin Min-Seok
Yang Jae-Min
Cho Hwee-Ung
The outstanding scorers Yang Jae-Min, Seo Moon-Sechan, Lee Jung-Hyun and Lee Hyeon-Jung — whom all averaged double digits scoring are back to provide South Korea its needed firepower against a higher level of defensive skill and coordination that will be shored up by the other teams competing in the U17 tournament.
Park Min-Woo, who recently averaged 23.4 points per game and 12.4 rebounds per game in the Heojanggi tournament is looking much more confident in his second participation with the national team. Park, who now has a much improved post game with an emerging consistency with the mid-range touch made essential in today’s modern game even for big men, caused defensive nightmares in the Heojanggi tournament as Park proved unstoppable even for the defense of powerhouse Gunsan – who is coached by Oh Se-iL. Park Min-Woo would end up with a stat line of 35 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Now, Park will have the chance to take an active part in the offense unlike last year’s focus on rebounding and defense.
Despite last year’s championship in the U16 Asia tournament, preparations could have gone better as the team merely had two weeks’ worth of practice. This year, the Korean Basketball Association is making sure that the FIBA U17 Men’s team will be much more prepared for the bigger challenge. The team will have more than a month of training in Korea that will include scrimmages with top collegiate teams such as Yonsei and a two week stop-over in Zaragoza to play other national teams preparing for the tournament.
Last month, former Spain national team head coach Juan Antonio Orenga held a coaching seminar and skills camp in Seoul for professional and amateur coaches. Then the Spanish coach held a skills and training camp for the youth that included several players from the men and women U17 teams. The player that impressed Orenga the most was the 201cm Yang Jae-Min. Already known as a basketball phenom since at the age of 13 years old, Yang demonstrated a combination of agility, coordination and dribbling rare for his age and size in Korea. With comparisons looming large with Yonsei’s Choi Jun-Young, Yang is determined to make every opportunity to get better.
“It was a great experience being supervised by coach Orenga”, said the self-confessed fan of Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant. “Coach (Orenga) identified several ways for me to improve my overall game from shooting to dribbling”, Jae-Min was quoted by reporter from Naver after the workout.
Korea is in Group D with Bosnia and Herzegovina, France and the Dominican Republic. Group A consists of powerhouse the United States, Egypt, Turkey and Chinese Taipei. Group B holds Argentina, Spain, Mali and Lithuania while Group C is comprised of Australia, Finland, China and Canada.
Despite calls for shoring up the front-line with much bigger players, head coach Oh Se-iL believes that the exact team from last year’s squad, given a much better training duration, may even surprise teams in their bracket. Coach Oh is banking on skill, versatility and tactics in making the team competitive against the world’s best.
Training camp will open in June 1 this week with a carefully guided skills and nutrition program for the young men of Korea who have since made national news after last year’s FIBA Asia championship.
Sakerland 