The Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League.
| Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus 울산 현대모비스 피버스 | |||
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| League | Korean Basketball League | ||
| Established | 1986 | ||
| History | Kia Motors Basketball Team 1986–1996 Busan Kia Enterprise 1997–2001 Ulsan Mobis Automons 2001–2004 Ulsan Mobis Phoebus 2004–2017 Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus 2017–present | ||
| Arena | Dongchun Gymnasium (Capacity: 5,831) | ||
| Location | Ulsan, South Korea | ||
| Team colours | Red, Dark Blue, White | ||
| General manager | Yoo Jae-hak | ||
| Team manager | Lee Seung-min | ||
| Head coach | Cho Dong-hyun | ||
| Team captain | Ham Ji-hoon | ||
| Ownership | Jo Seong-hwan | ||
| Affiliation(s) | Hyundai Mobis | ||
| Championships | 7 Korean Leagues | ||
| Retired numbers | 6 Yang Dong-geun 10 Woo Ji-won 14 Kim Yoo-taek | ||
| Website | phoebus.kbl.or.kr | ||
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History
editFoundation and amateur era
editBefore the professional Korean Basketball League was established in 1997, domestic basketball was an amateur sport and teams were sponsored by corporate companies or private universities. Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus traces its origins to the basketball team sponsored by Kia Motors in 1986. The team was based in Busan where Kia Motors had manufacturing operations.[1]
During the amateur era, all teams competed in the National Basketball Festival (농구대잔치). The Kia team dominated the late 1980s, despite being relatively new compared to Samsung Electronic and Hyundai's teams (now Seoul Samsung Thunders and Jeonju KCC Egis, respectively). Their roster at that time consisted of the legendary Chung-Ang University quartet: centers Han Ki-bum and Kim Yoo-taek, all-rounded shooting guard Hur Jae and record-breaking point guard Kang Dong-hee. The "Hur-Dong-Taek Trio" would later be retrospectively dubbed the most formidable offensive unit of the amateur era.[2]
Professional era (1997–2001)
editWith the founding of the KBL, Kia chose to register its team and joined the league as Busan Kia Enterprise. They won the inaugural KBL Championship. Although they finished the next two seasons as championship runners-up, the team went through a period of upheaval. As with many major corporations, Kia Motors suffered from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which had hit South Korea hard. Kia was bought over by Hyundai Motor Company in 1998 but the basketball team remained solely under Kia and retained the name.[3] The team was unable to go through a generational change due to financial constraints and the aging squad found themselves behind other teams, especially a much younger Daejeon Hyundai Dynat team driven by the likes of Lee Sang-min and Choo Seung-gyun. Han had already retired by then while Hur and Kang both left for other teams for various reasons.[2]
Hyundai then acquired the basketball team prior to the 2001–02 season as it was no longer feasible for Kia to sponsor a sports team.[4] The team moved to its current home city of Ulsan.
Ulsan era (2001–present)
editThe first several seasons after the move were forgettable, as the newly-renamed Ulsan Mobis Automons mostly finished in the bottom half of the league table. Incumbent head coach Yoo Jae-hak, himself a former Kia player during the amateur era, was hired in 2004.[5][6] At the rookie draft that year, Mobis won the lottery for the first overall pick and Yoo drafted Yang Dong-geun, who would go on to become the team's longest-serving player.
Current roster
editNote: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: 15 November 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Honours
editDomestic
edit- Korean Basketball League championship
- Korean Basketball League regular season
- KBL Cup
- Runners-up: 2022, 2023
Continental
edit- Winners: 1992
- Runners-up: 1997
- Runners-up: 2013
References
edit- ^ "[최기성의 허브車]'바퀴의 제왕' 기아차, '한국 최초' 자전거·삼륜차도 제작". Maeil Business Newspaper (in Korean). January 7, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ a b "코트의 전설, 그 이름 허동택". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). March 21, 2000. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS; Hyundai Completes Deal For Takeover of Kia". The New York Times. December 2, 1998. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "[안테나] 현대모비스, 기아농구단 인수 外". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). September 1, 2001. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "오빠들 플레이 여전히 멋있네". The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). February 19, 2004. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "규율과 자율 사이…유재학은 90년대생도 움직인다". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). May 5, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
External links
edit
- Official website (in Korean)
- Asia-Basket.com