“He’s practically a foreign player. He can score 30 points even if you block him.”
That’s what Ulsan Hyundai Mobis head coach Cho Dong-hyun said of Lee Jung-hyun (SONO), who has become the best guard in the league this season.
Just like his nemesis, Lee exploded for 38 points in a 102-87 home win over the Hyundai Mobis in the 2023-2024 regular season at Goyang Gymnasium in Gyeonggi-do, 바카라사이트 Gyeonggi-do, on Feb. 22.
It was his third consecutive 30-point game, following a 35-point performance against Daegu KOGAS on Dec. 17 and a 34-point performance against SK on Dec. 19.
This is the first time a Korean player has scored 30 or more points in three consecutive games since Cho Sung-won in the 2000-2001 season.
With 22.6 points in 42 games this season, Lee is the first Korean player to average at least 20 points in 13 years. Even if Lee doesn’t score a single point in SONO’s remaining two games, he will surpass the 20-point barrier.
The last player to do so was Moon Tae-young (22.04 points) in the 2010-2011 season. If you narrow it down to Korean draft picks, the record goes back to Bang Sung-yoon (22.09 points) in the 2007-2008 season.
Even though he’s made history in professional basketball, Lee wants to improve.
His former teammate from the youth national team, forward Lee Hyun-joong (Ilawara), recently gave him the right push.
Considered one of the most skilled forwards in South Korea, Lee was born in 2000 and is a year younger than Lee Jung-hyun.
After heading to Australia to play professional basketball in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Lee Hyun-Joong has been playing in Japan’s B League for a while as the league’s season winds down.
He made his Japanese debut in an Osaka Evesa jersey on Dec. 20, where he poured in 24 points as he showed off his skills against Japanese players at a higher level.
“I watched an edited video of that game. “I saw the edit of that game, and I thought it was so different,” he said. “They had multiple offensive routes, and they were scoring at an incredibly high rate. It was a different level,” he said.
“I was definitely motivated. I’m not saying that I’m going to challenge overseas right now, but I think I’m going to try to move up slowly one step at a time (like Lee Hyun-jung), and I think I’ll have to work hard.”
Instead of knocking on the door of a Korean university or the KBL, Lee enrolled at NCAA member Davidson College, where he was exposed to advanced basketball early on.
Lee Jung-hyun is on a different path than Lee Hyun-jung.
He is dominating the domestic scene under the intensive tutelage of Goyang Sono coach Kim Seung-gi.
Even Sono’s foreign player Chinanu Onuaku recognizes his skills. As Coach Kim puts it, “He’s the only one I look for.
If he’s on the court, he looks for him, but if he’s not, he doesn’t pass the ball to other Korean guards.
Onuaku has played in the NBA and has also played in the Spanish league, which is considered the second highest league after the United States.
“We trust each other,” says Lee. We play a lot of competitions in training and games, and we have faith that it’s okay to make mistakes,” Lee said, adding, “I’m grateful that he always fights and protects me under the basket.”
Onuaku finished with 27 points and 23 rebounds on the night, single-handedly overpowering the Hyundai Mobis big men anchored by Gage Prim.
Lee Jung-hyun, who learned how to be a “charge leader” from watching last season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Kim Sun-hyung (SK), is weighed down by his team’s performance.
While Lee is playing at the peak of his career, Sono has slipped to eighth place (19 wins and 33 losses) and failed to qualify for the best-of-six playoffs (PO).
“Even if it was as tough as today’s match, if (I) had taken charge and led the victory until the end, I would have won more matches,” Lee said, adding, “It’s a shame that I suffered so many losses this season. I will definitely grow more next season,” he said.
