Former pro team Yulon Dinos head coach Chien Yi-fei was named 2001 National Team head coach on January 16 by CTBA. Chien will coach the national team in three major tournaments this year: East Asia Games in Osaka, Japan, Williams Jones Cup and the ABC Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.
Chien will name its coaching staff within one week and submit the NT roster around mid-March, after the completion of A-League regular season games. Chien also pointed out that this year will be a rebuilding year for Taiwanese NT because all other Asian countries are revamping their NT roster with younger players. To stay competitive in Asia, Taiwan will have to assemble a brand new NT lineup for the new century before it's too late.
Chien considers inviting three to five high school players to the NT camp and saying there will probably only two or three veteran players on the final NT rosters, with star forward/guard Cheng Chih-lung the first priority.
202cm C/F Tien Lei of San-min HS, 195cm F Ho Sho-jen of Song-shan HS and Tsai-shin High School's "Twin Tower"-- 203cm C Tsun Wen-ding and 200cm F/C Wu Dai-hao are among the favorite to get invited. These youngsters are all under 20 years-old and considered the best local high school prospects.