Korea basketball league MVP: Yang or Ratliffe?

With Korea`s professional basketball regular league coming to an end on Thursday. attention is drawn to the candidates of MVP. The Hyundai Mobis confirmed itself as the winner on Sunday and it is likely that MVP competition will also surround among Mobis players. For the past 18 seasons since professional basketball launched, the winning team has churned out MVPs except for just four cases.

Yang Dong-keun and Ricardo Ratliffe, the strongest candidates, share one common trait, steadiness. Both played in all 53 games this season. Yang was in court for 34 minutes 59 seconds on average per game, the longest time per-game this season, while Ratliffe played 28 minutes 58 seconds per game, the longest as a foreigner.

If Ratliffe becomes MVP, he will be the first ever foreign player to grab the title. No foreign player has won an MVP award since the 2011-2012 season, when foreign player award was integrated into MVP. Ratliffe has 19.89 scores on average per game (fourth place in league) and average 10 rebounds (No. 1 in the league). Ratliffe is considered as weaker in attack, compared to Davon Jefferson of LG Electronics, another potential MVP, but he is the only player that has double-digit score and rebound.

If Mobis pillar Yang grabs the title, he will be the winningest MVP in Korea`s professional basketball league. Yang was MVP for the 2005-2006 season (together with Suh Jang-hoon) and for the 2006-2007 season. Lee Sang-min (currently Samsung Thunders coach), Suh Jang-hoon (retired) and Kim Ju-sung (Wonju Dongbu coach) are two-time MVP winners.

"It would be best for both players to win MVP, but if I have to choose it`s Ratliffe," said Hyundai Mobis coach Yoo Jae-hak. "Because Yang already won MVP but Ratliffe missed it at the All Star game and."

aj@donga.com