Sunday, January 16, 2000

Millennium Series Report

1/14 MARS 91-80 HONG-FU
With five players scoring in double figures, Mars routed Hong-fu 91-80 in a sloppy game. PG Yen Hsin-hsu tallied 24 points on 9-14 shooting and collected 5 assists for the Mars. Brian Reese added 21p, 10rb and 7a. 6-10 center Song Tao also contributed 9p, 11rb and three blocks.

Hong-fu was led by import Michael Elliott's 21 points and 4 steals. 198cm center Chu Chih-chin turned in a brilliant performance with 14p, 8rb, 3s and 5 blocks. 195cm forward Shan Wei-fan added 18p+6rb.

Two teams combined for 34 turnovers. Mars was able to maintain a comfortable lead thanks to its 47.9% shooting, compared to Rams' miserable 40.9%.

1/15 HONG-KUO 83-79 LUCKIPAR
The game is not over till it's over. Inexperience and bad excution down the stretch hurt the Luckipar Panthers, who still led by 9 in the end of 3rd quarter and led as many as 17 early in the first half. Luckipar received another heartbreaking loss and face an embarrassing three-game losing streak, losing to Hong-kuo 79-83.

Newly-acquired import Erik Martin could not give the Panthers the first win of the season, even though he tallied 27 points, pulled down 20 rebounds and handed out 4 assists in his outstanding debut. Compared to Hong-kuo's 10 , Luckipar committed 22 fouls in the whole game, which led to a 6-24 FT attempt deficit and eventually cost them the game.

The officiating in the game, especially in the fourth quarter, was somewhat controversial however. Erik Martin replaced Gentry Sparks, who was released by Luckipar earlier in the week.

Hong-kuo was led by sharpshooter Lo Shing-lian's 18 points, 6-8 Rex Manu collected another double-double with 17 and 19. 200cm forward Huang Chun-hsiung added 17p+9rb, while reliable PG Chou Jun-san provided with 15p, 8 rb and 7 assists.

1/16 YULON 99-90 DACIN
Absolutely no surprise. Yulon Dinos beat Dacin Tigers 99-90 and became the only undefeated team in the league. Yulon not only open the season with a 3-game winning streak but also handed Dacin its first loss of the season.

Dinos import Emmett Hall dominated the game with 23 points and 14 rebounds, helping Yulon lead from start to finish. 5-11 young guard Huang Bao-tze turned in his best game in the CBA so far, scoring 16 on 7-12 shooting and passed out 8 assists.

Although Dacin's main weapon Von Bennett managed to score 23 points and oulled down 20 rebounds, Yulon's double-teaming forced Dacin rely on its perimeter shooting for the most of the game. Yulon led by as many as 20 in the first half. The bottom half was virtually garbage time only.

STANDINGS(Thru January 16)
1.Yulon 3-0
2.Mars 2-1
2.Hong-kuo 2-1
4.Dacin 1-1
5.Hong-fu 0-2
6.Luckipar 0-3