Putting an end to the country’s title drought in the ASEAN Basketball League is what Korean reinforcements and brothers Lee Seung-jun and Lee Dong-jun have in mind
The two Koreans, born and raised in Seattle, Washington, signed and committed with Alab Pilipinas weeks before the seventh season raised it’s curtains late November.
The 39-year-old Seung-jun came to the Philippines first and suited up for Alab in their debut last November 27, posting a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards in a losing effort versus Singapore.
And on Sunday night, both Seung-jun and Dong-jun finally played alongside each other, scoring eight points apiece to aid the Filipino squad en route to their first win of the season, 91-82, at the expense of Kaohsiung Truth.
However, the Italian-Korean-American brothers, who last played in the Korean Basketball League, still believes that they are far from their usual selves despite having good showings, ruing that they still have lots of adjustments to do.
“I didn’t play very good tonight. A big adjustment is the weather. It’s very hot in here,” admitted Seung-jun. “For today, I didn’t play very good but luckily my teammates had a really good game today. They picked me up when I had a bad game.”
Dongjun, meanwhile, is concerned more about his shape. “I know I’m not a hundred percent in terms of condition. I missed some easy shots, and I tried to go a little bit too fast,” added Dong-jun. “So the next game I’ll take it a little bit slower, line up my shots a little bit.”
They still have adjustments to make indeed, as both the Seattle Pacific alumni haven’t played competitive basketball for months, especially after announcing their retirement from Korean basketball just this May.
Their vacation off retirement could have been much longer if it weren’t for their trip in Singapore months ago that paved the way for them down to the Philippines, according to the 36-year-old Dongjun.
“Eric (Seung-jun) used to play for the Singapore Slingers years ago, when they’re in the Australian League. He was the foreign player there, and he still maintained good relationships with the team owners.
“We were in Singapore for a vacation because we retired from Korean basketball last May. We know them and they (owners) said ‘hey, the Philippines is looking for players’ so it just worked out that way. They hooked us up with Jericho [Ilagan], and then he hooked us up with Charlie [Dy] and it just went from there,” explained Dong-jun in full detail.
For Seung-jun, who last played for Seoul SK Knights alongside Dong-jun in the KBL, his decision to agree to Alab’s offer stems from his excitement to represent a basketball-crazy country, aside from his desire to know how the Southeast Asian pro league has developed over the years.
“I wanted to see how the league has grown because it was almost ten years ago when they created the league,” said Seung-jun, who had meaningful stints in Europe and in Brazil.
“And I know that people in the Philippines love basketball more than anything else. The fans are amazing. Everytime I come here to play, it’s been an amazing experience.”
With two games already in the books for them and Alab, both Seung-jun and Dong-jun think that they still have a lot more to bring to the table.
“I think I can bring a lot more. I can bring rebounding, attacking, shooting, playmaking. If I play better, the team will be better. I need to play better to help the team win,” claimed the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship bronze medalist.
Dong-jun, on the other hand, believes that leadership is what he can contribute to the young Alab squad.
“As a veteran player, what I want to do is to kinda slow it down, organize it, run more team basketball… You know, just to take it a little bit slow for the younger guys. I’m just trying to help the team win,” said the KBL veteran.
With them already serving as the team’s veterans due to their rich experience playing international basketball, the Lee Brothers, believes that Alab’s composition is already enough to bring the Philippines back on top of ASEAN basketball after three unfruitful years.
“Looking at the team, looking at the league… We’ve only been together for a week. But the more our chemistry builds and the better we get, then we have a chance to win the championship.
“They haven’t won the championship in three years, so it would be nice to give these passionate fans another championship to celebrate. So that’s our goal,” said Seung-jun.
But before they set their sights for a title run in the league’s seventh edition, they have to develop more as single unit, said the younger Lee.
“Our team has to get together. I like our team in general. We have a balanced attack.
“As our team gets better, we gotta set our goal to the championship. There’s nothing less,” affirmed Dong-jun.
