MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on My Mind) – After watching Korea nail their seventh Asian Qualifiers victory, I'm pondering if Ra GunA could be the best naturalized player in FIBA Asia history.

Yes, it's a crazy thing to even think, mainly because Ra's body of work hasn't been very extensive yet, well at least in terms of the number of years he has played for Korea. He has, in fact, hasn't even reached his first year anniversary yet, but in the short time he has seen action for Korea - both in the current FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers and the Asian Games 2018 - the man formerly known as Ricardo Ratliffe has been extremely dominant and has been setting records.

Here are some tidbits for you to chew at:
- Ra grabbed nine offensive rebounds against Lebanon, and that is the most any player has tallied in a single Asian Qualifiers game.

- He just recorded his fifth double-double in the Asian Qualifiers, and that is the most among all FIBA Asia players.

- Ra has combined for 20+ points and 10+ rebounds exactly five times in the Asian Qualifiers, and again, that is the most among all Asian players in the competition.

- He has attempted 20+ shots from the field for the fourth time in his seven appearances in the Asian Qualifiers, and, not surprisingly, that, too, is the most by any FIBA Asia player so far.

Currently, the Virginia-born Ra is averaging 29.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 61.6% from the field. He leads the entire Asian Qualifiers in scoring, field goal shooting, rebounding and player efficiency.

Anchored on his play, Korea have charge on, winning 6 of the 7 contestes in which he has played. He was also superbly effective when Korea went 5-1 in the Asian Games and bagged the bronze medal.

One of the things that has made Ra so successful as a naturalized player for Korea has been fit. Ra fills a void for Korea and fits near perfectly into their play style.

For so long, Korea has had to be almost exclusively a perimeter-oriented squad, living and dying with their outside shooting and transition scoring, which was augmented by lithe big men who ran the floor well and also could hit from long distance.

The problem was when they would be ranged against massive teams with more hulking centers, Korea had trouble matching up. Sure, guys like Oh SeKeun, Kim JongKyu and Lee JongHyun were all solid, but none of them could routinely take over a game.

Enter Ra, who for the longest time was among the best foreign players in the Korean Basketball League (KBL). He may not be the tallest player at just 6ft 7in (2.00m), but his heft and ability to finish in traffic and with contact make him such a force of nature around the basket never seen in Korean team since the time of Seo JangHoon.

Ra's addition has also quite interestingly made Korea's perimeter game even more potent. Because they know there's an extremely effective rebounder who can secure second chance opportunities, Korea's shooters are much more confident to take their shots. It's an arrangement that has benefitted not just Ra, but the entire squad top to bottom.

 
It's also changed Korea's collective character. Ra gives them a high degree of toughness and physicality - traits that were not usually associated with the speedy and streaky Koreans.

Do all these things make Ra a good candidate to be among the best naturalized players in FIBA Asia history? I say yes. Right now, I'm putting him in very impressive company alongside Lebanon's Joseph Vogel, Jordan's Rasheim Wright, Chinese Taipei's Quincy Davis and the Philippines' Andray Blatche and Marcus Douthit.

But will Ra eventually be the best ever? It remains to be seen, but he is definitely on the right track?

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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