Tuesday, August 31, 1999

TAIWAN LOST TO KOREA IN HEARTBREAKER

DEATH GROUP, indeed. Taiwan's hot shooting finally comes to an end and lost to defending champion South Korea 54-61. The loss seemingly cost them the ticket in the final four.

Led by Seo Joong-Hoon and Hoon Joo-Yup's inside attack, Korea exposed Taiwan's most glaring weakness--interior offense and defense. Seo scored 21 and Hoon contributed 11. Korea led 34-20 at halftime and was never threatened by Taiwan.

South Korea sent its 193cm F/G Kim Young-Mun on Taiwan's Lo Shin-Liang, who were 21-27 from the field and averaged 28.5 ppg in Taiwan's first two wins, and it paid off. Lo scored only seven points in the game.

Taiwan was led again by Cheng Chih-Lung's 16 points. 200cm F/C Huang Chun-Hsiun scored 11 on three 3-PT in the second half. Cheng and Huang were the only two that reached double-figure.

Host Japan demonstrated its outstanding defense to cruise by Syria, 78-58. They won their first four games by an eye-whopping 38 ppg and looks like a lock to win the group F.

In the other games, Saudi Arabia surprisingly pounded Lebanon 92-69. Powerhouse China passed Kuwait 91-54 with no problem and averaged 33.7 in winning margins in three games.

RESULTS
GROUP E(1-8)
Saudi Arabia 92-69 Lebanon(48-44)
China 91-54 Kuwait(41-20)
Standing:China 1-0, Saudi Arabia 1-0, Lebanon 0-1, Kuwait 0-1

GROUP F(1-8)
Japan 78-58 Syria(38-27)
South Korea 61-54 Taiwan(34-20)
Standing:Japan 1-0, South Korea 1-0, Taiwan 0-1, Syria 0-1

GROUP G(9-15)
UAE 79-72 Bahrain(28-34)
Hong Kong 89-59 Malaysia(44-32)

GROUP H(9-15)
Uzbekistan 94-64 Philippines(52-30)

(Notes)
International recruiting and scouting has expended to Asia. Several pro scouts and big-name coaches are observing on the sideline, including Seattle SuperSonics scout Dwayne Casey. Former LSU coach Dale Brown and former University of Hawaii coach Bruce O'Neal will arrive in Japan on September 1. Casey's No.1 target is China's 7-6 center Yao Ming. He will also take a look at Chen Hsin-An, the 6-3 high-flying forward/guard of Taiwan.

Monday, August 30, 1999

TAIWAN, KOREA AND JAPAN CLASH IN "DEATH GROUP"

With the preliminary games concluded, brackets are set for the ensuing second round. Korea's loss to Lebanon not only dropped them to 2nd in Group A but also makes the outlook of the second round even more interesting.

Korea, Japan Taiwan and Syria are in the Group F, also called "Death Group", while heavy-favorite China, Lebanon, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are in the much more predictable Group E. With Taiwan, Japan and defending champ Korea in the same group, one of them will be left out of the semifinals and go home dissappointed.

Meanwhile, teams failed to advance to the second round are bracketd to Group G & H and will start playing round-robin games today also.

SECOND ROUND BRACKET
Group E: Lebanon, China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Group F: Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Syria

Group G: UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bahrain
Group H: Thailand, Uzbekistan, Philippines


RESULTS
Group A
South Korea 88-51 UAE(51-26)
Lebanon 60-50 Philippines
Standing:Lebanon 3-0, South Korea 2-1, UAE 1-2, Philippines 0-3

Group B
Japan 86-39 Kuwait(44-21)
Thailand 89-82 Hong Kong(45-47)
Standing:Japan 3-0, Kuwait 2-1, Thailand 1-2, Hong Kong 0-3

Group C
Syria 92-62 Malaysia(48-26)
Standing:China 2-0, Syria 1-1, Malaysia 0-2

Group D
Taiwan 68-59 Bahrain
Saudi Arabia 82-63 Uzbekistan
Standing:Taiwan 3-0, Saudi Arabia 2-1, Uzbekistan 1-2, Bahrain 0-3


UPCOMING SECOND ROUND SCHEDULE
(Only Group E & F schedule are listed here)
8/31
13:00 Lebanon-Saudi Arabia
15:00 China-Kuwait
17:00 Japan-Syria
19:00 Taiwan-South Korea

9/1
13:00 Kuwait-Lebanon
15:00 Saudi Arabia-China
17:00 South Korea-Japan
19:00 Syria-Taiwan

9/2
13:00 Lebanon-China
15:00 Kuwait-Saudi Arabia
17:00 Taiwan-Japan
19:00 South Korea-Syria

Sunday, August 29, 1999

LEBANON UPSET DEFENDING CHAMP SOUTH KOREA

Lebanon shocked South Korea 75-65 with the biggest upset in the Asian Basketball Championship so far and dropped South Korean to 1-1. South Korea has to knock out UAE today to advance to the second round.

Rumors said it was South Koreans' tactics to lose the game on purpose in order to dodge super-power China in the cross-over semifinals. It looks like South Korea will join Japan, Taiwan and probably Syria in the second round bracket.

If they manage to finish first in the group, they will face the other group's No.2 seed in the semi. It will not be China, of course. Thus South Korea can save the last battle with China to the championship game.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's duo Cheng Chih-Lung and Lo Shin-Liang were both unstoppable in the first two game. Cheng averaged 24.5 and Lo averaged an astounding 28.5ppg. Taiwan NT shot extremely well from the outside as a team also. In both wins, they were 65% and 62%, respectively, from 2-PT range and 50% and 67% from 3-PT territory. They are on a high now and can probably achieve their somewhat impossible mission: gain back their top four status in Asian basketball.

Lebanon, Japan, Kuwait, Taiwan and China all secured a birth in the second round.


Results/Standings

Group A
Lebanon 75-65 South Korea(40-34)
UAE 95-81 Philippines(56-44)
Standings:Lebanon 2-0, South Korea 1-1, UAE 1-1, Philippines 0-2

Group B
Japan 88-58 Hong Kong(38-31)
Kuwait 113-80 Thailand(56-43)
Standings:Japan 2-0, Kuwait 2-0, Thailand 0-2, Hong Kong 0-2

Group C
China 112-61 Syria(63-17)
Standings:China 2-0, Syria 0-1, Malaysia 0-1

Group D
Uzbekistan 62-47 Bahrain(28-20)
Taiwan 92-78 Saudi Arabia(50-36)
(Note)Lo Shin-Liang 28p, Cheng Chih-Lung 21p, Chou Hung-Yu 16p, Huang Chun-Shiung 12p....Team shooting 62% from 2PT range and 10-15 from 3PT line....
Standings:Taiwan 2-0, Saudi Arabia 1-1, Uzbekistan 1-1, Bahrain 0-2

Saturday, August 28, 1999

20TH Asian Basketball Championship Preliminary Round

Results
Group A(Halftime score)
South Korea 98-63 Philippines(58-38)
Lebanon 75-70 UAE(36-43)

Group B
Japan 85-38 Thailand(39-19)
Kuwait 88-62 Hong Kong(33-41)

Group C
China 54-41 Malaysia(34-22)

Group D
Saudi Arabia 79-63 Bahrain(32-28)
Taiwan 90-82 Uzbekistan(41-35)
(Note)Lo Shin-Liang 29p, Cheng Chih-Lung 28p, Huang Chun-Shun 15rb. Taiwan's shooting was outstanding, 65% in 2pt FG, 50% in 3pt FG and led 25-21 in rebounding versus the taller Uzbek team.

Standing
Group A
South Korea 1-0
Lebanon 1-0
UAE 0-1
Philippines 0-1

Group B
Japan 1-0
Kuwait 1-0
Thailand 0-1
Hong Kong 0-1

Group C
China 1-0
Malaysia 0-1
Syria 0-0

Group D
Taiwan 1-0
Saudi Arabia 1-0
Uzbekistan 0-1
Bahrain 0-1

Tuesday, August 24, 1999

Re-opening Could Be Delayed

It looks like the CBA could not but delay its projected re-opening date of January 14, 2000. The last meeting of team general managers went without any developement while teams still have different opinions on many issues.

It's believed that the league officials announced the re-opening date to force team owners pick up their negotiation pace. Team owners are the dicision-makers in the CBA, not GMs. But there's no any formal meeting between owners since the league suspended its fifth season on
March 14. The CBA will not have a new season until all owners are on the same page.

Meanwhile, Chao Li-Yun, Director of the National Sports Council and the highest Sports official in Taiwan, had met most of the owners on different occasions. She will try to lay out the league's future and clear the mess because she knows basketball is Taiwan's No.1 sports and the fans could not tolerate the fact that there's no professional basketball in this island.

Thursday, August 19, 1999

20TH Asian Basketball Championship Team Roster

Note:All rosters are subject to pre-game changes (player, position, height/weight, pro club)

GROUP A:

SOUTH KOREA
Jang-hoon Seo C 207 SK Knights(1999 KBL Best Center)
Kyung-ho Chung C 205 Naray
Eun-ho Lee C/F 197 Daewoo
Jae-hun Park C 200 LG
Joo-yup Hyun F 197 SK Knights
Jae Hur F 190 Naray
Seung-gyun Choo F 192 Hyundai
Young-man Kim F 193 Kia
Sang-hyun Cho F 190 Nasan
Sang-min Lee G 188 Hyundai(1999 KBL MVP)
Dong-hee Kang G 180 Kia
Sung-won Cho G 182 Hyundai

Head Coach:Sun-woo Shin(Hyundai)
Assistant:Jae-hak Ryu(Daewoo)


PHILIPPINES(Consisted of MBA players)
Jovito Sese C 198 Laguna Lakers(11W-12L,Northern#5)
Alvin L. Teng F 192 Laguna Lakers
Crizaldo Bade F 192 Laguna Lakers
Rolly Basilides F 192 Laguna Lakers
Richard Melencio G 183 Laguna Lakers
Wynne Arboleda G 180 Laguna Lakers
Michael Garcia F 188 Laguna Lakers
Oscar Simon G 183 Laguna Lakers
Donaldo Hontiveros G 188 Cebu Gems(16W-8L,Southern#1)
Dale Singson G 180 Iloilo Megavoltz(13W-7L,Southern#2)
Ferdinand V. Ravena G 185 Pasig-Rizal Pirates(18.3ppg,#9)
Vigildo Quezon Babilonia C 198 Pasig-Rizal Pirates(17W-6L,Northern#2)

Head Coach:Victor Sanchez(Laguna Lakers)
Assistant:Cecilio Marcelino
Johnny Tam


UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
N/A at this moment


LEBANON
Dumiati,Walid El 179 G Sporting
El Hajj,Yasser 198 F/C Sporting
Kansou,Jasem 193 F Sporting
Mushantaf,Elie 193 F Sagesse
Kozah,Mark 190 F Tadamon
Naser,Elie 195 C Tadamon
Hamouche,Dany 180 G Sporting
Chidiac,Abdo 183 G Antranik
Fahd,Roni 183 G
Eskedjian,Vicken 193 F
Boustiani,Ghazi 188 G
Baroud,Tony 189 F Rosaire
Fawaz,Elie 196 C Sagesse
Saad,Charly 188 F Sagesse
El Khatib,Fadi 197 F Sagesse
Seikaly,Rony 207 C NBA(ineligible to play)

Head Coach:


GROUP B:

JAPAN
4 Akifumi Yamasaki C 216/112
5 Dan Weiss C 206/100 Toyota
6 Kiyofumi Shioya F 201/105
7 Kenichi Sake G 179/82 Isuzu Motors
8 Makoto Hasegawa G 185/85
9 Takehiko Orimo G 190/77 Toyota
10 Takahiro Setsumasa G 180/75 Toshiba
11 Rc?§﹐y1F?] G 188/85
12 Michael Takahashi F 198/90 Isuzu Motors
13 Satoru Furuta F 199/95
14 Satoshi Sakumoto F 190/82 Isuzu Motors
15 Takuya Kita G 185/83 Toshiba

Head Coach:Mototaka Kohama(Isuzu Motors)


THAILAND
N/A at this moment


HONG KONG
N/A at this moment


KUWAIT
N/A at this moment


GROUP C:

CHINA
Wang Zhi-zhi C 214/108 Bayi Rockets
Liu Yu-dong F 198/99 Bayi Rockets
Zhang Jin-song F 198/95 Bayi Rockets
Li Nan F 198/96 Bayi Rockets
Fan Bin G 178/80 Bayi Rockets
Li Xiao-yong G 189/80 Liaoning
Gong Xiao-bin F 202/104 Shangdong
Yao Ming C 223/107 Shanghai
Zhang Wen-qi F 201/93 Shanghai
Hu Wei-dong G 197/90 Jiangsu
Sun Jun F 198/105 Jilin
Bateer C 210/110 --

Head Coach:Wang Fei



SYRIA
4 TARIF KOTRASH G 181/85 AL WEHDA
5 HEKMAT HADDAD F 197/90 AL HURRIYA
6 MOHAMMAD ABOU SAADA G 179/87 AL ITTIHAD
7 SHARIF AL SHARIF G 188/70 AL WEHDA
8 SAAD MAHAINI F 196/85 AL WEHDA
9 OMAR KASSAS F 194/90 AL ITTIHAD
10 FIRAS HAMWE G 187/79 ARMY
11 MOHAMMAD IMAM F 203/100 AL ITTIHAD
12 ABDELKADER FATTUF C 204/105 AL ITTIHAD
13 TALAL YOUNES F 193/85 ARMY
14 FAYEZ HINNAWI F 198/95 AL WEHDA
15 OUSAMA MADANI C 208/98 ARMY

Head Coach:

MALAYSIA
N/A at this moment


GROUP D:

SAUDI ARABIA
N/A at this moment


TAIWAN
Liu Yi-Hsian C 200/93 Hong-kuo
Chu Chi-Chin C 198/98 Homg-fu
Chen Hsin-An F 193/89 Amateur
Cheng Chih-Lung F 192/85 Hong-kuo
Huang Chun-Hsiun F 200/94 Hong-kuo
Chen Jian-Chou F 190/90 Amateur
Hsu Chi-Chao F 190/85 Dacin
Chou Hong-Yu F 195/88 Yulon
Chou Jun-San G 175/75 Hong-kuo
Yen Hsin-Shu G 183/75 Mars
Chen Chi-Chun G 183/74 Luckipar
Lo Shin-Liang G 180/80 Hong-kuo
Chiu Chih-Yi G 180/70 Amateur

Head Coach:Chen Yi-Fei(Yulon)
Assistant:Tien Shi-Ho(Amateur)
Technical Advisor:Cheng Kong-Hee(Dacin)


BAHRAIN
Murtadha Abbas G 172/85
Mahmood Nowrooz G 186/72
Mohamed Malek G 185/82
Ayyoob Ghuloom G 179/69
Hussain Qaheri G 165/67
Abdul Majeed Norooz F 194/82
Mohamed Abdul Rasool G 186/75
Yaser Bunafoor F 190/85
Nooh Akber F 187/86
Hassan Nasaif C 196/90
Osama Ateeq C 193/95
Ahmed Malalla F 188/107

Head Coach: Salman Ramadan


UZBEKISTAN
N/A at this moment

Saturday, August 14, 1999

20th ABC Championship Primer

Date:28th August- 5th September, 1999
Place:Fukuoka, Japan
Venue:Fukuoka Kokusai Center & Fukuoka Civic Gymnasium

The 20th Asian Basketball Championship for Men which features 15 Asian national teams will send the tournament's winner to the 27th Olympic Games to be held in Sydney, Australia from September 16 to October 1, 2000.

North Korea and Kazakhstan pulled out of the tournament for unspecified reason, leaving Group C with only two teams. ABC immediately added Malaysia into the bracket.

Updated Bracket
Group A:South Korea, UAE, Lebanon, Philippines
Group B:Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Kuwait
Group C:China, Syria, Malaysia
Group D:Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain

Format:
15 participating teams will be divided into 4 groups and each team shall play all the other teams within each group. Top two finishers from each group will advance to the Quarter-finals. Eight teams qualified for the Quarter-finals will be divided into two groups of 4 teams each in the following manner:
Group I : A1,B2,C1,D2
Group II: A2,B1,C2,D1
Top two finisher from both groups will advance to the cross-over Semi-finals:
I-1 vs II-2
I-2 vs II-1
Winners of the semi-finals will compete for 1st place and the losers for 3rd place.

Classification games:
I-3 vs II-3 for 5th place
I-4 vs II-4 for 7th place
Eight teams eliminated from the Preliminary Round will be divided into two groups of four teams each, with each team playing all the other teams within each own group.
Group III: A3,B4,C3,D4
Group IV: A4,B3,C4,D3
Classification Finals:
III-1 vs IV-1 for 9th place
III-2 vs IV-2 for 11th place
III-3 vs IV-3 for 13th place
III-4 vs IV-4 for 15th place

Preliminary Round schedules
8/28
Kokusai
1300 Japan-Thailand
1500 Korea-Philippines
1700 China-Malaysia
1900 UAE-Lebanon
Civic Center
1300 Kuwait-Hong Kong
1500 Saudi Arabia-Bahrain
1700 Uzbekistan-Taiwan

8/29
Kokusai
1300 Hong Kong-Japan
1500 Lebanon-Korea
1700 Syria-China
1900 Taiwan-Suadi Arabia
Civic Center
1300 Tailand-Kuwait
1500 Philippines-UAE
1700 Bahrain-Uzbekistan

8/30
Kokusai
1300 Japan-Kuwait
1500 Korea-UAE
1700 Philippines-Lebanon
1900 Taiwan-Bahrain
Civic Center
1300 Thailand-Hong Kong
1500 Malaysia-Syria
1700 Saudi Arabia-Uzbekistan

Saturday, August 07, 1999

SOUTH KOREA WON FIRST EVER JONES CUP TITLE

Led by tournament MVP Hur Jae's 18 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, South Korea NT edged Taiwan NT 70-67 in front of 4,000 screaming crowds and won their first ever William Jones Cup title. Taiwan NT finished second for the second year in a row, losing to Philippines in 1998.

Dubbed as Asia's most dangerous shooting team, South Korea scored 15 of its first 20 points on 5 three-pointers and led by 32-19 with 6 minutes remaining in the first half. Cheng Chih-Lung, who scored 14 points in the first half, remained the most reliable scorer for Taiwan. Lo Shing-Liang scored 9 points to lead a closing 14-4 run before the halftime buzzer, when Taiwan trailed 33-36.

Taiwan opened the second half with an 8-4 spurt in 3 minutes to taste its first lead, 41-40. The ensuing 15 minutes became the dual of South Korea's Hur Jae and Taiwan's Yen Shin-Shu. Hur Jae exploded for 12 points while Yen answered with 8 points, including two three-pointers. South Korea still led 67-61 with 2 minutes left.

Taiwan found its shooting touch in time and made its last push. Cheng Chih-Lung and reserve Hsu Chih-Chao consecutively swished two three-pointers within 30 seconds to tie the score at 67 with 1:12 remaining.

Taiwan then toughened up its defense, leaving South Korean 0.22 seconds away from 30-second violation. But South Korea executed a brilliant backdoor play after timeout with Hyun Joo-Yup laying in the decisive basket for 69-67 lead. Taiwan NT collapsed in the final 30 seconds, committing two turnovers and finally let South Koreans walk away with the victory.

Seo Jang-Hoon, KBL's best center last season, led South Korea with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Clearly he was too strong in the paint for Taiwanese frontline to handle. Hyun Joo-Yup contributed 15.

Cheng Chih-Lung's 19 lead Taiwan NT and Lo Shing-Liang scored 17. Yen Shin-Shu, who scored 30 in last win vs New Zealand, managed 11 points and dished out 6 assists.

New Zealand 62-60 Costa Rica
New Zealand again used its balanced scoring to bounce back from 26-27 halftime deficit and finished 3rd in the Jones Cup. PG Kent Mori led with 11 points. Costa Rica's Henry Martinez tallied 22 points and tournament scoring leader Jorge Arias scored 13.

Taiwan National Second 74-47 Bahrain NT
Taiwan National Second's transition offense made Bahrain one step slow for the whole game. 195cm Center Shan Wei-Fan played his best game in the tournament, tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Chang Hsien-Ming scored 14. Taiwan National shot 56 percent from two point range and limited Bahrain to a miserable 11-49 shooting.


FINAL STANDING
1.South Korea NT
2.Taiwan NT
3.New Zealand
4.Costa Rica
5.Taiwan National Second
6.Bahrain NT
7.Soweto Panthers
8.Philippines


TOURNAMENT AWARDS
MVP: Hur Jae(South Korea)
NOKIA Most Smart Player Award: Cheng Chih-Lung(Taiwan NT)
STATS LEADERS(based on tournament totals)
Scoring: 80,Jorge Arias(Costa Rica)
Rebounding: 40,Andres Leandro(Costa Rica)
Assists: 33,Hur Jae(South Korea)
Steals: 10,Orlando Daly(Costa Rica)
Blocked Shots: 5,Lee Chih-Yi(Taiwan National Second)
Three-pointers: 14,Cho Sung-Won(South Korea)

CBA RELAUNCH NEXT JANUARY

After a six-month suspension, Taiwan's professional basketball is back. Chinese Basketball Alliance(CBA) announced in a written statement which was officially released yesterday (August 6) that it will start its 6th season on January 14, 2000.

In the statement, the CBA also lay out its preliminary re-structure schedule. In August and September it will arrange a total of four meetings of team managers and owners to set up the re-structure schedule and various plans in details.

Each team has to remit the deposit, estimated between 30M-40M NT dollar, before the deadline of September 21, for admission to the new season.

The league will set up the 2000 season schedule, start the referee training camp and the working crew training in October. The local and foreign players draft will take place in November. Also in this month the league will start the TV contract negotiation and all promotional events.

All teams will play a number of exhibition games in December and gear up for the January 14 opening game. Playoffs start in July, 2000.

CBA's six teams are: Hong-kuo Elephants, Kaoshiung Mars, Yulon Dinos, Luckipar Panthers, Hong-fu Rams and Dacin Tigers. Except for Mars and Rams, the other four teams are financially stable so far.

Friday, August 06, 1999

Taiwan NT will face South Korea in Jones Cup final

Taiwan NT played its best tournament game in the last 10 plus years, defeating New Zealand 79-73 and advance to the Jones Cup final, in which they will face long time nemesis South Korea NT.

Both Taiwan and South Korea are 2-0 in the single-round, four-team playoff. Two winless teams in the playoffs, Costa Rica and New Zealand will play for the third place.

Yen Hsin-Shu(182cm), the most promising point guard in years, switched to shooting guard and exploded for 30 points, shooting unbelievable 7-10 from three-point range. He also remembered how to pass, dishing out game-high 6 assists.

Yen made four three-pointers in a five-minute stretch and led Taiwan jumped to a 33-21 early lead. New Zealand answer back with a 10-0 run and trailed by 5 in halftime, 35-40.

In the second half, Yen scored 3 points in a 8-4 opening spurt to boost Taiwan's lead back to nine. New Zealand's 7-foot center Robert Hickey then scored 8 in a 13-4 run to tie the score at 52 with 13:20 remaining. Yen again stepped forward, making three three-pointers and an acrobatic drive to up Taiwan's lead to double-digit with 2:30 remaining, 79-68.

Lo Shing-Liang scored 19 for Taiwan and PG Chou Jung-San dished out five assists. But the credit also goes to Taiwan's bluecollar frontline, which fight the whole game to keep New Zealand's two seven-footers from the paint. Undersized Taiwan surprisingly won the rebounding battle 27-22. Huang Chun-Shun pulled down team-high 8 rebounds. In all, Taiwan shot a respectable 12-27 from three-point territory.

New Zealand was led by Robert Hickey's 17 and Pero Cameron's 15.

South Korea NT 90-84 Costa Rica
South Korea:Kang Dong-Hee 23p(5-7 3PT),6a, Cho Sang-Won 23p(7-12 3PT), Hur Jae 13p,10a
Costa Rica:Jimmy Garcia 18p(6-11 3PT), Henry Martinez 17p

Bahrain NT 50-49 Soweto Panthers
Bahrain trailed almost the entire game but Ayyoob Ghuloom knocked down a winning three-pointer with 4 seconds remaining and saved the day for Bahrain. Soweto Panthers finished 7th in the tournament.
Bahrain NT:Hussain Quaheri 15p, Nooh Akber 14p
Soweto Panthers:Eric Makwela 14p, Sfiso Ncgobo 13p

Tournament Update
Championship game: Taiwan NT-South Korea NT
3rd Place game:New Zealand-Costa Rica
5th place game:Taiwan National Second-Bahrain
7th place:Soweto Panthers
8th place:Philippines

Thursday, August 05, 1999

PHILIPPINES LEFT TAIWAN EARLY

Philippines decided to withdraw from William Jones Cup and go home as soon as possible, leaving Taiwan at 10:20 this morning. Head coach Danny Gaveires released an apology letter before departure.

Because Philippines refused to play their only game left, in which they will play another home team Taiwan National Second, CTBA announced it will have to place Philippines as the last-place(8th) team in the tournament.

Philippines claimed they withdrew from the game because of "safety concerns" of their players.

Game 1: Costa Rica 76-46 Bahrain
Costa Rica: Jorge Arias 17p, Orland Daly 16p, Jimmy Garcia 10p,7rb,5a
Bahrain:Abdul Majeed Norooz 10p,10rb

Game 2: Korea 83-49 Soweto Panthers
South Korea: Cho Sang-Hyun 21p(6-10 3PT), Seo Jang-Hoon 14p,10rb, Lee Eun-Ho 12p, Hur Jae 3p,8a
Soweto Panthers:Sfiso Ncgobo 12p,6rb, Tshwantsho Melato 11p,11rb

Game 3: New Zealand 87-60 Taiwan National Second
New Zealand: Pero Cameron 15p, Robert Hickey 12p, Michael Tompson 10p
Taiwan National Second: Chen Chih-Chung 22p, Chang Hsien-Ming 21p

Preliminary Standing(thru August 5)
Group A
1.Taiwan NT 3-0*
2.Costa Rica 2-1*
3.Bahrain 0-3
4.Philippines 1-2(Withdrew from tournament)

Group B
1.South Korea 3-0*
2.New Zealand 2-1*
3.Taiwan National Second 1-2
4.Soweto Panthers 0-3

* Advance to semifinals

Wednesday, August 04, 1999

TAIWAN VS PHILIPPINES ENDED WITH BRAWL

You got it all: basketball, cheap-shots, flying elbows and mineral water bottles, and finally, blood. The game featuring host Taiwan NT and defending champion Philippines ended with the biggest brawl in recent Jones Cup memory, resulting one of the Taiwan player and a fan injured.

Chief official ruled Taiwan won 66-42, the score when the brawl took place. This is the first brawl since 1987, when Taiwan eangaged in a similar fight with long time rival South Korea.

With 4:03 remaining in the game, Taiwan's Lo Shing-Liang was fouled and suddenly the players of both sides, including Philippines' assistant coach and trainer, stormed onto the court and threw punches at each other. Hundreds of fans also threw down mineral water plastic bottles from the stands. The whole gymnasium exploded into a warzone.

Philippine players then threw the bottles back into the stands and hit a female fan on the forehead. Taiwan's Chou Hung-Yu was hit on the forehead also. Both were sent to the hospital immediately.

According to one of the local TV station's report, Philippines' Joey Mente, who threw punches first and started the fight, was mildly injured and was sent to the hospital, too.

With Taiwan having slight home court advantage, Philippines found itself trailing 8-20 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half and their temper started to takeover. Coaches complained and shouted with every foul call. Players started taking cheapshots at Taiwan NT. Chiu Chih-Yi of Taiwan answered back with a flagrant foul minutes later, just to make things worse.

After that the Philippine players looked like they'd rather fight and hit than play basketball. Its coaching staff finally drew a technical foul complaining a taunting act by Cheng Chih-Lung went unnoticed by both refs with 52.6 seconds before halftime, when they trail by 20 with the unbelievable score of 25-45.

Although the referees warned both teams to tone down their behaviour and physical play before second half tipoff, tension's still high. Less than 5 minutes later, Santamaria confronted Taiwan PG Yen Shin-Shu again. Finally the bomb exploded with 4:03 left. Joey Mente , who had been going at several Taiwan players earlier, attacked Huang Chun-Hsiung from his back, resulting the brawl.

Chinese Taipei Basketball Association immediately released an official statement. CTBA stated that it felt sorry for the whole incident and the injured players and fans. It promised to send the addtional police to ensure Philippines players' safety and prohibited fans carrying any plastic and metal bottles from now on.

At the same time, former CTBA president Wang Jen-Da criticized Philippines' rough play and the unbelievable bahaviour that threw the bottles at fans. He said CTBA may consider not inviting Philippines to Jones Cup after this year. Wang had asked Taiwan coach Chen Yi-Fei
at halftime not to play Chiu Chih-Yi and Cheng Chih-Lung, who both had committed hard fouls earlier, in the second half. And coach Chen followed his idea.

It's a wide belief that Philippines plays a street-style basketball with unsportsmanlike cheapshot. Today they prove it again. They won the fight but lost the game, failing to advance to the final four. Selecting Iloilo to represent the MBA and the Philippines looks like a not-so-good decision.

Taiwan:Lo Shing-Liang 16p, Chou Hung-Yu 12p..team fouls 16, 5-6 FT
Philippines:Singson 11p...team shooting 11-40 from 2PT range, 4-13 from 3PT, 8-16 FT..team fouls 13


Taiwan National Second 81-37 Soweto Panthers
Taiwan National Second:Chen Jian-Chou 19p

South Korea 62-53 New Zealand
South Korea:Cho Sung-Wo 13p, Cho Sang-Hyun 13p, Kang Dong-Hee 11p, 5rb, 4a, Hur Jae 4p, 5rb, 8a
New Zealand:Peter Pokai 11p,6rb, Robert Hickey 10p, Pero Cameron 6p, 12rb

Standing thru August 4
Group A
Taiwan NT 3-0
Costa Rica 1-1
Philippines 1-2
Bahrain 0-2

Group B
South Korea 2-0
New Zealand 1-1
Taiwan National Second 1-1
Soweto Panthers 0-2

Tuesday, August 03, 1999

1999 Jones Cup Report

Game 1:New Zealand NT 97-30 Soweto Panthers

It's like Goliath vs. David, Men vs. Boys. New Zealand took advantage of its height and humiliate the undersized Soweto Panthers 97-30 in their Jones Cup debut. All New Zealand players scored at least 4 points, with 19-year-old guard Kirk Penney's 16 leading the way.

Seven-foot centers Tony Rampton and Robert Hickey led New Zealand to a huge rebounding dominance, 54-21, and created numerous fast break oppurtunities for their teammtes. New Zealand took a quick 47-18 halftime lead and put the game out of reach.

Soweto Panthers' performance at both ends of the floor showed why it's only a club team. Sipho Mabeka, who scored 10 points, was the only player reaching double figure.

Game 2:Philippines 91-74 Bahrain

Philippines finally played its best twenty minutes of basketball in the Jones Cup and completed a come-from-behind victory vs Bahrain NT, 91-74. Philippines is now 1-1.

Philippines, which trailed 37-38 in the half, outscored Bahrain NT 54-36 in the second half. Vincente Hizon tallied 18p, 5rb and 3 assists. Ronald Magtulis again turned in a solid performance with 13 points. Alejandro Lim Jr. contributed 12 points. Ageless Elpidio Villanmin
provided 8 points and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes.

Philippines surprisingly faced a deciplined halfcourt offense from Bahrain NT. Bahrain's Nooh Akber, who scored game-high 20 points, repeatedly hurt the Filipinos from the wing. Strong Ahmed Malalla mixed it up in the paint, on the other hand. Malalla finished with 13 and 6.

With assistman Dale Singson directing the way, Philippines finally controlled the tempo with a 15-7 spurt in the first four minutes in the second half and led by double figures. Bahrain's fatigue made things worse for them afterward. They were never able to threaten Philippines from that point on.

Game 3:Taiwan National 65-61 Costa Rica

Favorite Taiwan NT survived another scare in two days, edging Costa Rica 65-61 and became the first team to win two straight games in the Jones Cup. Lo Shing-Liang led Taiwan NT with 19 points, including three back-breaking three-pointers in the second half.

Taiwan NT clinged to 32-29 halftime lead by making 17 of 26 foul shots in the first twenty minutes, although they couldn't find the basket. Costa Rica fought back to lead 47-44 with 10 minutes remaining with their frontlines' relentless offensive rebounding. Orlando Daily and Andres Leandro(205cm) time and time again helped Costa Rica with their second shot opportunities.

"Wonder Boy" Lo Shing-Liang knocked down two tying three-pointers less in three minutes, then swished another one while fouled by Costa Rica defender. He completed the four-point play with 4 minutes remaining to boost the lead to five points and make Taiwan NT have an easier breathing room.

Cheng Chih-Lung scored 17. Huang Chun-Hsiung scored 10, including two vicious dunks that excited the crowd. Chu Chih-Chinturned in 7p and 7rb.

Jones Cup Standing
Group A
Taiwan NT 2-0
Costa Rica NT 1-1
Philippines 1-1
Bahrain NT 0-2

Group B
South Korea NT 1-0
New Zealand NT 1-0
Taiwan Second 0-1
Soweto Panthers 0-1

Monday, August 02, 1999

1999 Jones Cup Report

Game 1:Costa Rica 70-58 Philippines

Underrated Costa Rica stunned defending champion Philippine 70-58 in the opening game of the 22nd R. Williams Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament.

Costa Rica used its frontline advantage and led as many as 18 points. Hotshooting of Jorge Arias, who exploded for 22p and 9rb, kept Filipino still one step behind in the second half. Orlando Daily(194cm) and Andres Leandro(205cm) netted 13 each.

On the other hand, cold shooting Philippine never recover from early double digit deficit. Trailing 58-59 with 2:30 remaining, two ill-time turnovers cost them the first chance to take the lead. Philippines collapsed in the final minute.

Philippines shot 11-39 from two-point range, 5-14 from three-point range and committing 14 turnovers. Ronald Magtulis and Dale Singson led with 11 points each. Vincente Hizon scored 10 points.

Iloilo players demonstrated dazzling one-on-one skills but engaged too much in isolations, scored only 8 points in the first 10 minutes and trailed 8-25. Costa Rica's Orland Daily had three monter dunks in the same span. Hizon's three-pointer at the buzzer cut the deficit
to 31-38 at halftime.

Philippine regained its form in the second half, quick penetration resulted in numerous free throw chances and gradually crawling back. Magtulis scored seven consecutive points and led Philippine rallying to 58-59, when Hizon committed his fifth fouls and left the game.

Costa Rica's Daily grabbed 9 rebounds and Leandro grabbed 8 also.

Philippines:Singson 11p(4-15),5rb,1a..Magtulis11p(4-7),4rb,2a...Hizon 10p(3-10),3rb...Aquino 9p...Santamaria 6p...Villamin 5p...Mente 4p...Dominic Uy 2p

Game 2: South Korea 93-89(OT) Taiwan National Second

Defending Asian champion South Korea was pushed by Taiwan's youngsters to the last minute and survived another shocker. South Korea , which trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, was led by Cho Sung-Won's 25 points, coupled with Seo Jang-Hoon's 22 and Hyun Joo-Yup's 17. 34 year-old Hur Jae finished with mediocre 11 points.

Former Korean national coach Cheng Kong-Hee, the technical advisor for Taiwan National Second, used his knowledge on Korean basketball and help Taiwan National Second cut off Korea's passing game. Lin Jia-Huang made 4 three-pointers in the first half, totaling five in the game and led Taiwan National Second with 25 points. Chang Hsian-Min scored 21.

Game was tied with 78-78 in the end of regulation after three foul shots by Taiwan National Second with 0.3 seconds remaining.

Game 3: Taiwan National 65-56 Bahrain National

Chu Chih-Chin exposed Bahrain's lack of height with 14 points to lead the balanced-scoring Taiwan National pass Bahrain. It's almost like an automatic win for Taiwan. However, local media was worried about their NT's second-tier performance.

(NOTE)
CTBA changed Jones Cup's semifinal format to single round robin yesterday to ensure Taiwan and South Korea meet at least once in the final four. Under the new format, four semifinal team play each other once before the top two winning teams going to the final.

The original semi format was A1 vs B2 and B1 vs A2 with winners advancing to the championship game.

Sunday, August 01, 1999

1999 Jones Cup Preview

South Korea NT demonstrated its deadly outside shooting during pre-game team practice and looked like the team to beat in the 1999 R. Williams Jones Cup Tournament, which starts action today(Aug.2)

6-3 lefty guard Hur Jae, who had been expelled from the NT because of numerous off-court problems, is back on the team and became the media darling in the press conference yesterday(July 31).

Taiwan basketball fans are familiar with 34-year-old Hur Jae mainly because he broke their heart a ton of times by leading South Korea pass Taiwan NT in several Asian tournaments.

The DUAL between Hur Jae and local star Cheng Chih-Lung is highly anticipated by local fans and media. Both play the same position in shooting guard/small forward, possess unstoppable scoring ability and showmanship. And both were named to Jones Cup All-Star Team a record six times.

Defending champion Philippines sends Iloilo Megavoltz of MBA to this year's Jones Cup. However Iloilo did not draw too much attention prior to the tournament because Taiwan is not familiar with the newly MBA, which is just in its second year. CENTENNIAL TEAM, consisted of PBA superstars, dominated Jones Cup last year and won it all eventually. Every Philippines game was sold out thanks to many Filipinos working in Taiwan. Filipino fans screamed thru the whole game and held cardboards to support their hometown heros. Whether we'll see this again is remained to be seen.

Among the other participating teams, New Zealand took a big hit by the absence of 6-11 center Sean Marks, who's in Toronto Raptors' summer league team right now. New Zealand is also the team everybody doesn't know about because it did not participate too many tournaments in Asia.

Costa Rica visited Taiwan for the second year in a row and look for improving their fifth place finish last year, with only five players on last year's roster. South Africa's Soweto Panthers, Bahrain NT and Taiwan National Second are expected to be out of the semifinal also.

At this moment, the favorites to squeeze into the final four are South Korea, New Zealand, Philippines and the home team Taiwan NT.