Led by young stars duo Chou Hong-yu/Chen Hsin-an and import Emmett Hall, Yulon Dinos opened a four -game winning streak when they defeated Mars 99-92 on January 22. Luckipar Panthers, which lost its previous three games all in the fourth quarter, trounced Hong-fu 90-77 on January 23 and got its first win of the season with the help of former Cincinnati standout Erik Martin, who socred CBA season-high 31 points and pulled down 24 rebounds.
Yulon led the league with 4-0 while Hong-fu Rams(0-3) is the only winless team. Defending champion Hong-kuo, whose star player Cheng Chih-lung elected to play in China's Hilton League, showed some growing pain but managed to finish second with a 3-1 record. Mars(2-2) and Dacin(1-2) rank third and fourth, respectively.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Starting in this season, Hong-kuo's coach Chiu Da-tsun ultilizes his "7-seconds attack", asking his players to shoot within 7 seconds in every possession. Although Hong-kuo is 3-1 at the moment, the tactic is still questioned by many insiders because the Elephants is without its top gun Cheng Chih-lung and relies heavily on youngsters or less talented players. It makes no sense to initiate a shooting match with its opponents.....Following the loss to Luckipar, Hong-fu coach Hu Tsai-lin criticized import Mike Elliot's play, claiming he's too selfish without realizing his point guard role. Hu said the Rams will probably try to find a big man, which they need desperately, to replace Elliot....
IMPORT STATS(thru January 23)
Erik Martin 29.0p, 22.0rb
Von Bennett 23.7p, 23.3rb
Mike Elliot 23.7p, 4.3a
Emmett Hall 20.8p, 10rb
Brian Reese 19.0p
Rex Manu 16.3p, 14rb
Matt Bryant 15.0p
1/23 LUCKIPAR 90-77 HONG-FU
Luckipar - Erik Martin 31p(12-23 FG), 24rb, 3s;Chen Chih-chun 15p, 6a; Lin Hsin-hwa 13p, 9rb
Hong-fu - Mike Elliot 23p, 12rb, 5a;Shan Wei-fan 15p, 6rb;Chu Chih-chin 10p, 9rb
1/22 YULON 99-92 MARS
Yulon - Chou Hong-yu 22p, 5rb, 3s;Chen Hsin-an 21p, 5rb;Emmett Hall 19p, 11rb;Dong Fan Che-ter 16p
Mars - Brian Reese 21p, 9rb;Yen Hsin-hsu 16p, 6rb, 5a, 3s;;Matt Bryant 14p; Lee Chi-yi 12p, 8rb;Song Tao 12p
1/21 HONG-KUO 82-67 DACIN
Hong-kuo - Chou Jun-san 17p, 4rb, 6a;Lo Shin-liang 17p, 7rb, 5s;Rex Manu 12p, 13rb
Dacin - Von Bennett 23p, 26rb
STANDING(thru January 23)
Yulon 4-0
Hong-kuo 3-1
Mars 2-2
Dacin 1-2
Luckipar 1-3
Hong-fu 0-3