Koreans also wanted own naturalized player

MANILA, Philippines - South Korea had wanted to field its own naturalized player for the coming Asian Games but abandoned the plan after its basketball officials realized that it was too late.

No wonder the hosts of this year’s Asian Games scheduled Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 are firm in declaring as ineligible naturalized players from the Philippines and Chinese-Taipei.

Under the rules of the Olympic Council of Asia and the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee, a naturalized player has to be a three-year resident of the country he wants to represent before he is allowed to play.

The Korean Basketball Association wanted to naturalize star forward Aaron Haynes, an American who has been playing in the KBA for six years now.

Haynes, a high-scoring, 6-foot-6 product of Fresno Central High School in California, would have given the hosts a big boost to win the Asian Games gold.

But KBA officials dropped the plan due to the three-year residency rule on naturalized players.

In an article that came out of the Korean Herald last May, the 33-year-old Haynes said he would have loved to represent Korea in the Asian Games as a naturalized player.

However, there was nothing he could do, and the American scoring demon said all he wants now is to continue playing in the KBA.

The Philippines’ Andray Blatche was declared ineligible to play in the Asian Games because of the fact that he only became a naturalized Filipino last June.

Chinese-Taipei was also denied the chance to field its naturalized player, Quincy Davis, in the Incheon Asian Games because he was a couple of months short of the residency requirement.