Wednesday, January 31, 2001

Preliminaries Resume After New Year's Break

Taiwanese A-League preliminaries will resume on February 1 after 10 day's Chinese New Year breaks. Jutai Tech and SINA both jumped to an early 2-0 lead in this single-round robin games before the long vacation.

Meantime, local hoop star Cheng Chih-lung, who plays for Dacin this year, was charged for drunken driving the other night during a minor auto accident and will face the court trial in the next few weeks. He is expected to be fined but will not be in jail.

Preliminaries started on January 20. Results of the eight games played so far are listed below:

1/20
Bank of Taiwan 67-46 Yitong Trust
BT - Lin Yu-shu 18p, 8rb ; Lo Da-wei 14p, 10rb ; Hsu Hao-chen 10p, 5a
Yulon 47-45 Taiwan Beer
SINA 51-48 Luckipar
Jutai 88-69 BCC Mars
Jutai - Shan Wei-fan 30p, 7rb, 4a ; Yang Yu-min 19p ; Lin Che-wei 6p, 9rb, 4blk

1/21
Taiwan Beer 59-56 Bank of Taiwan
TB - Wen Tong 13p ; BT - Lin Yu-shu 19p, 10rb
Jutai 52-48 Military
Jutai - Yang Yu-min 21p (including 10 straight in the 4th quarter), Lin Che-wei 4p, 10rb
Military - Yen Shin-shu 4p, 10rb, 8a, 6s
Dacin 63-61 Luckipar
Dacin - Cheng Chih-lung 18p, 11rb, 6a, 4s ; Chu Chih-chin 11p, 8rb (Cheng and Chu scored Dacin's last 16 points)
Luckipar - Chun Hsao-tse 13p, 10rb ; Lin Hsin-hwa 13p, 10rb
SINA 57-56 Yulon
SINA - Huang Chun-hsiung 17p, 13rb ; Lo Shin-liang 13p ; Chou Jun-san 11p
Yulon - Chen Hsin-an 17p

Sunday, January 21, 2001

Chien Yi-fei Named 2001 NT Head Coach

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.

Taiwan Beer, Yitong Advance; Preliminary Begins

Taiwan Beer and Yitong Trust Agency grabbed the last two spots of the 2001 A-League preliminary games after finishing the wild-card games on January 20. They will join the other eight teams in the preliminary games, which starts January 21.

Taiwan Beer finished 3-0 in the wild-card games after defeating Culture University, 66-51, in their last game. Yitong beat Fushiang Hotel 66-58 with a 2-1 record in the wild-card and advance with the No.2 finish.

10 teams in the preliminaries will be Dacin, Luckipar, Bank of Taiwan, Yulon, Military, Jutai Technology (Last year's Top 6), SINA, BCC Mars (Qualification games qualifiers), Taiwan Beer and Yitong (Wild-card games qualifiers).

After a single-round robin preliminary games, the top 6 teams will advance to another single-round robin second-round games with top 4 advancing to the playoffs.

Wildcard Games Standings:
1. Taiwan Beer 3-0
2. Yitong Trust Agency 2-1
3. Culture University 1-2
4. Fushiang Hotel 0-3

A-League Women: Koutai Wins 10th Straight Title

Kuotai Life proved once again they are unbeatable in Taiwan women's basketball on January 20, winning their unprecedent tenth straight A-League Women's title after edging Tai-yuan Textile 60-55 in the third and decisive game of the 2001 women's finals.

Kuo-tai's 188cm center Cheng Huei-yun, Taiwan's version of "Female Shaq", led the way with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 5 assists. But it's 170cm veteran playmaker Chien Wei-juan that carried the whole team on her back with timely baskets and brilliant passes. 30 year-old Chien, who collected 13 points, 6 assists and 5 steals, said after the game that she wants to keep playing until she's 36 years-old.

Bronze medal series also presented a thrilling final game. Taiwan Telecom forward Ma Yi-hong swished two free-throws with 5.7 seconds remaining, leading Taiwan Telecom to a 61-59 victory over Taiwan Electricity and the third-place finish.

Women's Finals Results(Best-of-Three):
Game 1: Kuotai 72-49 Tai-yuan
Game 2: Tai-yuan 69-67(OT) Kuotai
Game 3: Kuotai 60-55 Tai-yuan

Women's Third-place Series Results(Best-of-Three):
Game 1: Taiwan Telecom 64-57 Taiwan Electricity
Game 2: Taiwan Electricity 64-58 Taiwan Telecom
Game 3: Taiwan Telecom 61-59 Taiwan Electricity

A-League Qualification and Wild-card Games Standings

2001 Standings (Qualification)
GROUP A
Team W-L GB
x-SINA 4-0 -
y-Taiwan Beer 3-1 1
y-Fushiang 2-2 2
Rambo Jack 1-3 3
Dayeh 0-4 4
GROUP B
Team W-L GB
x-Mars 4-0 -
y-Culture 3-1 1
y-Yitong 1-3 3
Tsaishin 1-3 3
Dongnan 0-4 4
(thru Jan.14)
x-advance to preliminary
y-advance to wildcard games


2001 Standings (Wild-card Games)
Team W-L GB
x-Taiwan Beer 3-0 -
x-Yitong 2-1 1
Culture Univ. 1-2 2
Fushiang 0-3 3
(thru Jan.20)
x-advance to preliminary

Monday, January 15, 2001

SINA, Mars Advance to Preliminary Games

SINA (former Hong-kuo Elephants) and BCC Mars live up to the expectations placed upon them before the A-League qualification games, both finishing 4-0 in their bracket and clinching their spots in the upcoming preliminary games.

SINA and Mars became the 7th and 8th team who clinches their spot in the preliminary games, joining Dacin, Luckipar, Bank of Taiwan, Yulon, Military and Jutai Technology, the top six teams from last year's regular season.

A total of four teams, 2nd and 3rd-place teams of Group A and B, will play in the wild-card games(single-round robin format) starting in January 16 and fight for the last two seeds of the preliminary. The four participating teams are Taiwan Beer(Group A 2nd), Fushiang Hotel(Group A 3rd), Culture University(Group B 2nd) and Yitong Trust Agency(Group B 3rd).

BCC Mars pulled the game away early and trounced Yitong Trust Agency 66-41 in their fourth and final qualification game, jumping to a 22-4 lead in the end of the first quarter. SG Lin Chia-huang led BCC with 23 points.

Kuo-tai and Tai-yuan in Women's Finals

Although they lost the final preliminary game, traditional power Kuo-tai life still finished on top of the standings and will face No.2 Tai-yuan Textile in the best-of-three series of the 2001 A-League Women Finals, which starts on January 17.

Chunghwa Telecom and Ya-dong will battle for bronze medal also in a best-of-three series.

Preliminary games standings:
1. Kuo-tai Life     9-1
2. Tai-yuan Textile   8-2
3. Chunghwa Telecom  7-3
4. Ya-dong      4-6
5. Taiwan Electricity   3-7
6. Nan-ya Plastics   0-10

Wednesday, January 03, 2001

A-League Tipoff on Jan.3

Taiwanese A-League will tip-off its season today with the mixed feeling of earlier professional basketball collapse and the excitement of a brand new season.

Five of the six pro teams re-enter the amateur ranks after the CBA failed to relaunch and boost the A-League teams to an all-time high 16. For the first time in the past six years, Taiwanese players gather to play in one single basketball league.

According to the league format, last season's top 6 teams automatically advance to the preliminary games, while the other 10 teams will have to play thru the qualification and wild-card games to determine the remaining four seeds in the preliminary games.

Qualification games and wild-card games will run thru January 3 to January 17. Preliminary games start on February 3, right after the Chinese New Year. The regular season champion will be crowned on March 2 after a best-of-five finals.

Three former CBA teams, Dacin, Yulon and SINA (Taken over by a new owner and thus changed its name from Hong-kuo to SINA) are the favorites to win the regular season. Dacin is powered by hottest local star player Cheng Chih-lung and former Hong-fu center Chu Chi-chin. Yulon is led by high-flying youngster Chen Hsin-an and a trio of young legs in Wu Chi-wei, Chou Hong-yu and Chiu-Chi-yi. And SINA features almost the same starting five of Hong-kuo's three-peat days in the CBA.

After the REGULAR SEASON, A-League will hold its annual PRESIDENT CUP, which is perceived as the league's second season, in the end of the year.

Tuesday, January 02, 2001

Chinese Basketball Alliance Brief History 1993-2000

1993
8.14 Team owners announced the intention to set up the first professional Taiwanese basketball league - CBA, in an official press conference.

9.17 Owners of Hong-kuo, Yulon, Luckipar and Shin-zuei(corporation names later changed to Tera) formed the CBA Organizing Committee.

1994
4.07 CBA logo released.

5.18 Hong-kuo won the exhbition/promotion games.

5.23 Hong-kuo named its team Elephants. Luckipar named its team Panthers.

10.22 Yulon named its team Dinos. Tera named its team Mars.

11.12 Hong-kuo defeated Yulon in CBA's inaugural game. Hong-kuo's import Rex Menu scored the first point in CBA history.

12.07 Cheng Chih-lung of Hong-kuo was voted MVP of the month and became the first recipient of this award in league history.

12.24 Dwight Myvett of Luckipar became the first player in CBA history to record a triple-double, tallying 27 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in one game. Chen Chun-chian of Tera was the first player being ejected in the CBA.

1995
1.22 Yulon won the first stage of the 1994-95 season.

2.08 Dwight Myvett was voted the MVP in CBA's inaugural All-Star Game.

2.12 Tsun Yi-chin(Luckipar) and Kelvin Benton(Mars) were both ejected in the first brawl in league history.

4.25 League office announced each team can register 4 imports in the 1995-96 season, but only two can play at the same time.

4.28 Yulon won the second stage of the regular season. According to the rules, Yulon automatically became the 1994-95 CBA champion.(No playoffs back then.)

5.13 Joe Temple helped Hong-kuo knock out Yulon 3-0 in the Challenge Cup and was voted the MVP.

7.18 Board of Govenors approved the expansion of Hong-fu and Chung-shin(Later sold the team to Dacin) in the 1995-96 season.

11.02 CBA signed trading card contract with Upperdeck.

11.14 1995-96 season tip-off.

11.15 Todd Rowe of Tera Mars became the first player to surpass 1,000 points milestone.

12.07 Mars center Wang Li-bin became the first local plyer to record a triple-double(17 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists).

1996
1.16 Kenny Kao became the first player to switch team when he transferred from Luckipar to Mars.

1.21 Yulon won the first stage of the regular season.

2.11 Todd Rowe took home the MVP trophy in the 1995-96 season All-Star Game.

5.09 Hong-kuo won the second stage of the regular season.

5.21 CBA held its first ever playoffs.

6.05 Hong-kuo beat Yulon 4-2 to win the 1995-96 CBA Championship.

6.06 Cheng Chih-lung of Hong-kuo was voted the Finals MVP.

7.02 Chung-shin Tigers changed its name to Dacin Tigers.

1997
1.02 CBA experimented double-headers in Touliu.

2.24 Tsun Yi-chin of Luckipar was killed in an automobile accident.

2.27 Mars released its new logo.

3.29 Huang Chun-hsiung of Hong-kuo won the MVP in the 1996-97 All-Star Game.

6.22 Yulon Dinos became the first team to reach the 100-win plateau. At the same time, Chien Yi-fei became the first coach to 100 wins.

7.10 Hong-kuo PG Chou Jun-san became the first player to dish out 1,000 assists.

8.12 Hong-kuo beat Yulon 4-3 again and won the 1996-97 CBA Championship.

8.13 Joe Temple was named the Finals MVP.

1998
1.01 1997-98 season tip-off.

2.05 Todd Rowe became the first player to score 4,000 career points.

3.28 Luckipar became the first team to suffer 100 defeats.

4.05 Todd Rowe won the MVP in 1997-98 All-Star Game.

4.18 The game featured Hong-fu vs. Dacin became the first game in CBA history to go into three overtimes.

4.23 CBA cancelled a game for the first time because of electricity breakdown. Dacin became the fastest team to reach 100 defeats(in 136 games).

7.16 Todd Rowe of Mars became the first player to reach 5,000 career points.

8.18 After trailing 1-3 early in the 1997-98 CBA Finals, Hong-kuo won three straight and beat Mars 4-3, completing the unprecendent three-peat.

11.10 The news of Kuo-yang Group, which owns the Mars, was in the financially crisis shocked the league. Mars admitted it was seeking buyer.

11.19 CBA announced the 1998-99 season will tip-off on December 31 as planned.

12.01 The league was feeling the first wave of the financial crisis throughout Asia. After hour-long meeting, CBA teams decided to impose a 20-percent paycut on local players, while Mars players took a 50-percent paycut. However, salaries for foreign coaches and import players will be the same.

12.31 1998-99 season tip-off. Hong-kuo beat Mars 87-82 in the opening game.

1999
1.20 Rumors said Hong-fu was also in severe financial crisis.

1.21 CBA terminated its broadcast contract with ETV after the contract disputes between two sides.

2.09 CBA called an emergency board meeting to discuss its financial situation. The meeting decided to increase the capitol by 50.4M NT dollars in order to keep the season going.

3.09 CBA again called for an emergency board meeting and decided it will suspend the 1998-99 season starting from March 14, because of financial difficulties of the league.

3.15 CBA suspended its season indefinitely.

8.07 Chinese Basketball Alliance(CBA) announced in a written statement 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.

11.06 Assisted by the NSC(National Sports Council), the CBA decided to field a "RE-STRUCURE COMMITTEE" after a five-hour marathon meeting on November 3. Mars head coach CHUN CHI-MUN and three-time champion Hong-kuo Elephant owner LIN HONG-DAO were named the co-chairman of the committee, which includes six GMs of CBA teams and a official from the NSC.

2000
1.29 Officials of Yulon Dinos, Luckipar Panthers and Dacin Tigers all expressed they plan to take a step back and re-join the semi-pro A-League.

2.24 CHEN CHENG-CHUN, owner of HONG-FU RAMS, was elected President of the "new" CBA on February 22. Chen said he will work toward the goal of re-launching the league in November.

3.28 Yulon Dinos defeated Hong-kuo Elephants 76-66 and swept the best-of-five Millennium Series Finals in three games.

6.17 CBA President/General Manager CHEN CHENG-CHUN announced that the Chinese Basketball Alliance will re-open its season on November 17. Five of the original six teams, except the Dacin Tigers, will compete in the new season.

6.27 Former ruling party KMT(also known as National Party), which lost the presidential election in March to rival DPP, announced it will take over the Mars. This move, many believe, will make Mars one of the few teams in the world which is owned by a political party.

8.31 Hong-kuo, who won the CBA's last three championships between 1996-98, received the first overall pick in the Balance Draft after the open draw on August 31. BBC Mars will pick second in the first round, while Luckipar follows in the third. The fourth pick went to Yulon. Hong-fu will pick last in the first round.

9.04 The first ever CBA Balance Draft offered few surprises for those who expected dramatic changes. In the draft held on September 4th, most of the players were drafted by their former teams. The biggest surprise in the draft is maybe Ger Jia-shiang, a former unknown, going No.1 to the Hong-kuo Elephants. Of the 34 players drafted, only five players switched teams.

11.07 Hong-kuo Group decided to dismiss the Hong-kuo Elephants, the most successful team in the CBA, because of financial crisis within its mother corporation. This news virtually shocked the whole basketball cummunity.

11.08 Yulon Dinos owner Yen Kai-tai announced that Yulon will pull out of the CBA indefinitely, leaving the CBA with only three teams. The CBA's future is again in doubt. Yulon became the third CBA team in the last six months to drop out or folds. Dacin Tigers was the first team to pull out, deciding to drop back to less competitive A-League.

11.22 Luckipar Panthers made clear they will follow the footsteps of Hong-kuo and Yulon and will not play in the new CBA season.

11.27 Chen Cheng-chun, the president of the CBA and the chief organizer of the new season, announced the relaunch plan of the league is suspended indefinitely. Yen Kai-tai, the CEO of Yulon Group, also announced Yulon will not consider re-entering the professional ranks again before December 31, 2001. Powerful dotcom company SINA.COM announced it will take over the original Hong-kuo players and enter the A-League with a new team.

Monday, January 01, 2001

Taiwan Junior Women finished 4th in ABC Championship

Taiwan Junior Women's NT suffered a devastating loss to Korea NT 64-67 in the bronze medal game on December 23, 2000, finishing only fourth in the Asian Junior Women Championship. This is obvious one of the most disappointing and weird loss in Taiwanese basketball history.

Taiwan Women's NT failed to hold on the five-point advantage within the last 17 seconds, surrendering a 0-8 run during that span to the Koreans, and eventually lost the game by 3 points. After the Koreans made a three-pointer and cut the deficit to 62-64 with 17 seconds remaining, Taiwanese surprised everyone.

Not only did they not dribble out the clock, they instead attempted a shot underneath the basket and missed. South Korea soon tied the score with a fast-breaking layup. Taiwan NT then again committed a crucial turnover when Chang Shao-yu stepped on the sideline when inbounding the ball, turning the possession back to South Korea. South Korean iced the game with two free-throws and sent the Taiwanese home empty-handed.

In the championship game, China beat Japan 79-58 and took home its record-breaking eighth Asian junior women's title, surpassing South Korea's seven.