Korean U19 duo playing way into consideration for 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup

HERAKLION (2015 FIBA U19 World Championship) - Korea came to the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship not expecting to win the title. But the Asians may have seen a glimpse of their future as two players have taken a step closer to playing at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Jeon Hyun Woo and Song Kyo Chang are Korea's two main leaders at the U19 Worlds in Heraklion and the team's coach Kim Seung Ki believes the two 19-year-olds have the goods to make in-roads into the senior team by the time FIBA's flagship tournament hits Asia in four years.

"Jeon's shooting is really good right now, but his weakness is driving to the basket and his stamina," Kim said about Jeon, the team's leading scorer with 19.6 points per game, including hitting 5.0 of his 11.2 three-point attempts (45 percent) per game.

"In four years he will cover those weaknesses, and he will be able to play better and he will be a better player at that time." 

The 1.94m Jeon also averaged 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists for Korea, who on Friday picked up their first win of the tournament, beating China 77-54, to play in the Classification 9-12 round on Saturday and Sunday.

"Because of his physicality, he's been avoiding driving to the lane, but he'll be an even better player then and when he comes into [the] World Cup he will probably be the youngest player on the team," Kim said of Jeon.

While Kim believes Jeon has good chances of playing at the 2019 World Cup, the coach says Song also has the potential but must make the next step.

"Song is showing much improvement every day. If he can improve himself physically, he will be a much better player later on because he's still young," he said of Song, who is averaging 11.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

The coach expects basketball in Korea to improve generally in the near future.

"I think we have a brighter future in five years or so because we are seeing changes within Korea, a lot of changes with coaches," the coach said.

"They are watching more national games and are participating more in national games going on around the world.

The coaches are learning a lot. In four years I think there will be a big change in the Korean national team."

FIBA