Friday, March 30, 2001

Taiwan National Team Roster - 2001 East Asia Games

Po.
Name
Age
Birthdate Ht/Wt Team
PG
Yen Shin-shu
25
1976.9.8 182/74 Military
PG
Chen Chih-chun
24
1977.3.2 181/74 Military
PG
Huang Bao-tse
25
1976.9.18 180/70 Yulon
SG
Chiu Chi-yI
26
1975.10.6 182/72 Yulon
SG
Yang Yu-min
22
1979.10.22 180/72 Jutai Tech
SG
Lin Jia-huang
26
1975.9.20 186/85 Mars
SG
O-Yang Jin-hen
22
1979.10.28 191/85 Dacin
SF
Chen Hsin-an
21
1980.7.1 196/90 Yulon
SF
Chou Hong-yu
25
1976.6.15 195/92 Yulon
SF
Lin Chi-jay
19
1982.6.11 192/90 Taiwan Beer
SF
Ho Sho-jen
18
1983.2.15 195/89 Song-shan HS
F
Tien Lei
18
1983.6.1 201/86 San-min HS
PF
Lee Chi-yi
23
1978.10.27 200/90 Mars
PF
Ha Hsiao-yuan
20
1981.5.15 198/98 Dacin
PF
Shan Wei-fan
23
1978.3.9 195/88 Jutai Tech
C
Wu Chi-wei
25
1976.7.31 202/94 Yulon
C
Tsun Wen-din
17
1984.7.6 202/86 Tsai-shin HS
C
Wu Dai-hao
16
1985.2.7 200/98 Tsai-shin HS
Head Coach - Chien Yi-fei (Yulon)
Coach - Tien Shi-ho (Bank of Taiwan)
Assistant Coach - Lee Yung-kwang (Rambo Jack)
Assistant Coach - Jack Mai (Luckipar)

East Asia Games Will Install New Rules

Men's and Women's basketball event in the East Asia Games, which will be held in Osaka, Japan in May, will install the latest FIBA rules of 8-seconds rule and 24-second shot clock. The new rules are figured to have huge impact on the game and dramatically change the game pace.

Teams will have to advance the ball past the mid-court in 8 seconds, two seconds less than the 10 seconds in the old rules. The shot clock is also reduced from 30 seconds down to 24, the same as in the pro game.

Also, the game will be played under four 10-minute quarter format instead of the old two 20-minutes half format. And the third referee is added to the official crew to eliminate the missed calls and the physical play.

Thursday, March 22, 2001

Tien Lei Will Play for Dacin

6-7 High school star Tien Lei, who led San-min HS to back-to-back HBL champions earlier this month, has decided to play for A-League's Dacin Constructions before his departure to the U.S. NCAA. Dacin promises it will help Tien, who was voted this year's HBL Finals MVP, with his enrollment in U.S. college.

Tien Lei intended to play for Luckipar Panthers at first. But rumors have been flying that Luckipar will dismiss the whole team. After that, at least four to five teams have been recruiting Tien Lei aggressively. Tien chose Dacin because it promises to let him go to the U.S. and play in the NCAA.

With young blood Tien Lei joining the already strong nucleus of Cheng Chih-lung, Chu Chih-chin and Hsu Chih-chao, Dacin will be loaded and the team to beat in November's President Cup.

Other Team News:
A-League champion Yulon Dinos, with only nine players on its rosters after Don-fan Che-ter and Lin Jian-ping retire, will have to bring in 5-6 players. SINA will try to complete its 18-man roster. If Luckipar is dismissed, its players also will join other teams. It is said that 198cm C/F Lin Shin-hwa will join BCC Mars and 185cm SG Chao Jia-chun will join Yulon. Dacin also released 188cm veteran Wu Hsien-chen.

Wednesday, March 21, 2001

NT Will Play 5 Warmup Games

Taiwan NT will play five warmup games with a Select Team in April for the preparation of East Asia Games. The Select Team will be comprised of mostly veteran players, including Cheng Chih-lung and Lo Shin-liang.

Taiwan NT started practice this week in Yulon Dino's training facility in Hsin-tien, which is located in suburban Taipei. 26 year-old PG Yen Shin-shu was named team captain, while SF Chou Hong-yu was vice team captain.

With all players under the age of 26, head coach Chien Yi-fei was happy with his players' high spirit in the practice. He said the practice atmosphere is very different from the previous experience. Chien is especially impressed with four first-timers from high school: Tien Lei, Tsun Wen-din, Wu Dai-hao and Ho Sho-jen.

SG Lin Jia-huang will have to sit out for a couple of months because of knee injury.

■Warmup Games Schedule
April 14 - Game1, Taipei
April 21 - Gamne2, Phongshan
April 22 - Game3, Sinchu
April 27 - Game4, Taipei
April 29 - Game5, Taichung

Basketball Schedule 2001

Following is Taiwan's international and local basketball event schedule during the rest of the year. Times are subject to changes.

April 14-29 : Men's NT warmup games (various cities in Taiwan)
April 26- May 12 : Women's NT Training games (Northeast China)
May 19- 27 : 3rd East Asia Games (Osaka, Japan)
June 17-23 : International High School Invitational Tournament (Taipei, Taiwan)
July : National Games Qualification (Kaoshiung, Taiwan)
July 20-28 : 21th Asian Men's Basketball Championships (China)
Late July-mid August : 24th William Jones Cup (Taipei, Taiwan)...Time's not set yet
August 22-September 1 : 21th World University Games (Beijing, China)
October 4-10 : 19th Asian Women's Basketball Championships (Bangkok, Thailand)
October 24-31 : 2nd National Games
November : 7th President Cup (Taipei, Taiwan)

Tuesday, March 13, 2001

San-min Repeat, Tien off to USA

Led by multi-dimensional bigman Tien Lei, defending champion San-min High School beat Tsai-shin HS in the two-game series in the 2001 HBL Finals and became the first back-to-back champion since 1995. Tien Lei is named Finals MVP. In the third-place game, Nan-shan HS beat Ping-tung HS with the score of 80-61.

Tien Lei, who has been selected to the national team, is expected to enroll in NCAA Division II's Cal State-Los Angeles next year with the help from Luckipar head coach Jack Mai, if everything goes well. Tien says he will focus on the national team, which will start practice on March 18, before the NCAA things.

CSLA's head coach Dave Yanai is the first Japanese-American head coach at any level nationally and has been very active in Asian basketball circles in southern California. Currently, Yanai ranks 28th among Division II's winningest active coaches.

It's hard to believe but, if Tien goes to CSLA, he will be the first Taiwanese player playing in US NCAA. Former Taiwanese players going to US played all in NAIA or junior college level. In 1998 NIKE Japan Camp, current Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Donn Nelson said Tien has the potential to be the "Taiwanese version of Scottie Pippen".

On the other side, Jin-O High School beat Tamsuei Business HS two straight in HBL Girls' Finals, winning the school's fifth title and the first since 1993. Gu-bao beat Hu-jian 56-47 in the third-place game.

■Game Summaries
Game1: San-min 90-80 Tsai-shin
San-min: Lee Chi-shun 32p ; Tien Lei 12p, 11rb ; Yao Jun-jay 10p, 5rb ; Cho Shi-yuan 14p
Tsai-shin: Tsun Wen-din 16p, 16rb, 4blocks ; Wu Dai-hao 21p ; Chen Hao-tse 17p

Game2: San-min 86-77 Tsai-shin
San-min: Tien Lei 25p, 15rb, 5blocks, 3a, 3s ; Wu Yong-jen 13p, 12rb, 6a ; Cho Shi-yuan 12p ; Yao Jun-jay 12p
Tsai-shin: Tsun Wen-din 22p, 14rb ; Wu Dai-hao 9p, 8rb ; Chen Hao-tse 12p
MVP: Tien Lei, San-min
Freshman of the Year: Wu Dai-hao, Tsai-shin

***
HBL Girl's Finals
Girls' Game1: Jin-O 49-37 Tansuei
Girls' Game2: Jin-O 44-38 Tamsuei
MVP: Lin Ji-wen, Jin-O
Freshman of the Year: Pan Yu-chin, Tamsuei

Cheng Chih-lung Will Play in China Again

Taiwan's most celebrated player Cheng Chih-lung, who helped Shanghai Sharks to the first CBA Finals in franchise history in 2000, will head to China once again. This time, he will play for Shanshi Dongshen of Division II.

Under the arrangement of team owners of Dacin Construction, which Cheng plays on, and Shanshi Dongshen, Cheng, Chu Chih-chin (PF, 198cm) and Hsu Chih-chao (SG, 188cm) will play for Shanshi in July's Division II league games. Shanshi owner hopes with the help from these three players, the team will finish in the top two in the league and be upgraded to Division I next year.

According to Dacin boss Wang Jen-da, Cheng, Chu and Hsu will be back to Taiwan after helping Shanshi in July's Division II games and play for Dacin in A-League President Cup, which will be held in the end of the year.

Thursday, March 01, 2001

CTBA Announce Surprising NT Roster

No Cheng Chih-lung, the key NT member and fearsome scorer for the last 10 years. No Lo Shin-liang, the most prolific long-range bomber and member of the past two Asian All-Star Teams. No Huang Chun-hsiung, who at 200cm is the most athletic and reliable inside force. CTBA (Chinese Taipei Basketball Association) announced the 2001 Taiwanese NT 18-man roster and surprised almost everyone.

The roster entirely consisted of young players under 26 years-old, with the youngest member Wu Dai-hao, one of four high school players on the roster, is only a 16 year-old high school freshman. CTBA said it's determined to revamp the NT roster and it's time to bring in young blood for the national team.

Players will start practice on March 18 for the upcoming East Asian Game, which will be held in Osaka, Japan in May. The roster will be trimmed to 12 or 13 before the Games.

CTBA did not rule out the possibility to add veterans to the NT after the East Asia Game. CTBA is expected to enter two national teams in this year's Jones Cup, the biggest annual basketball event in Taiwan. And also it might switch to a more veteran-oriented roster for the Asian Basketball Championship in the end of the year.

However, this brand new NT roster has drawn tons of criticism upon its announcement. Most people think, with the young and inexperienced roster, the new NT will have a hard time defeating emerging Asian countries, let alone other major powers like China, Japan and South Korea.

■2001 Taiwanese NT Roster
Position, Name, Age, Birthdate, Height/Weight, Team
PG Yen Shin-shu 25 1976.9.8 182/74 Military
PG Chen Chih-chun 24 1977.3.2 181/74 Military
PG Huang Bao-tse 25 1976.9.18 180/70 Yulon
SG Chiu Chi-yi 26 1975.10.6 182/72 Yulon
SG Yang Yu-min 22 1979.10.22 180/72 JutaiTech
SG Lin Jia-huang 26 1975.9.20 186/85 Mars
SG/PG O-Yang Jin-hen 22 1979.10.28 191/85 Dacin
SF Chen Hsin-an 21 1980.7.1 196/90 Yulon
SF Chou Hong-yu 25 1976.6.15 195/92 Yulon
SF Lin Chi-jay 19 1982.6.11 192/90 Taiwan Beer
SF Ho Sho-jen 18 1983.2.15 195/89 Song-shan HS
SF/PF Tien Lei 18 1983.6.1 201/86 San-min HS
PF Lee Chi-yi 23 1978.10.27 200/90 Mars
PF Ha Hsiao-yuan 20 1981.5.15 198/98 Dacin
PF Shan Wei-fan 23 1978.3.9 195/88 Jutai Tech
C Wu Chi-wei 25 1976.7.31 202/94 Yulon
C Tsun Wen-din 17 1984.7.6 202/86 Tsai-shin HS
C Wu Dai-hao 16 1985.2.7 200/98 Tai-shin HS