What a magical day!

What a magical day it was. Tien Lei recorded SBL’s first 20-20 game with 23 points and 24 rebounds and helped Dacin rout SINA 89-60, snapping SINA’s 12-game winning streak. And if that was not enough, Bank of Taiwan overcame Lin Chih-jay’s 37-point explosion to beat Taiwan Beer 88-81, ending their 11-game losing streak.

Tien Lei shot 10 for 16 from the field and single-handedly dominated on the boards, with 6 of his SBL-record 24 rebounds coming from the offensive end. Chang Chi-feng came out of the slump and scored 25 points.

SINA obviously lost their concentration in the game, scoring only 4 points in the third quarter – a new SBL single period low. They pretty much gave up the game in the middle of the third quarter.

Led by hot-shooting Wu Yong-jen and Yang Chin-min, BOT jumped in front of Taiwan Beer early, leading 52-35 at the half and as many as 25 points. League leading scorer Lin Chih-jay tried to bring TB back in the game in the second half but came up short in the end.

Summary
Dacin 89-60 SINA (Half 41-35)
Dacin – Chang Chi-feng 25p, Tien Lei 23p+24rb+2blk, Huang Chih-chun 11p+6rb+4a+3s
SINA – Liu Yi-hsiang 10p

Bank of Taiwan 88-81 Taiwan Beer (Half 52-35)
BOT – Wu Yong-jen 23p+10rb+6a, Yang Chin-min 22p, Hsu Hao-cheng 17p+4a+6s
TB – Lin Chih-jay 37p, Wu Chih-yuan 14p+7rb, Chen Shih-nian 12p, Pan Jen-der 10p

Week 12 Baller of the week: Hsu Hao-cheng

Bank of Taiwan guard Hsu Hao-cheng was voted Week 12(Feb.21-22) Baller of the week by media. "Baller of the week" is a weekly award presented to the player who shows ultimate fighting spirit, determination and hustle on the court without consideration for his stats. Starting in February 13, the award was voted by media, not fans.

Previous BOW winner:
Feb.13-15: Hong Chi-chao(Yulon)
Feb.6-8: Liu Yi-hsiang(SINA)
Jan.30-Feb.1: Huang Chun-hsiung(SINA)
Jan 16-18: Chou Jun-san(SINA)
Jan.9-11: Tien Lei(Dacin)
Jan.2-4: Chou Jun-san(SINA)
Dec.26-28: Huang Chun-hsiung(SINA)
Dec.12-14: Lo Shin-liang(SINA)

SINA beat Yulon for 12th straight victory

All-Star backcourt Chou Jun-san and Lo Shin-liang combined for almost half of SINA’s points as SINA beat Yulon 68-60 for its 12th straight win and broke Yulon’s season-high 11-game winning streak record. SINA (12-3) is now only a half game behind Yulon (13-2).

In the second game of the night, O-Yang Jin-hen scored the winning layup off Yang Yu-ming’s pass with 5.6 seconds remaining to lift Jutai over Dacin, 72-71, for its third consecutive win. This is also the second straight game Jutai won in the last play. Hsu Tse-shin’s buzzer-beating 20-footer helped Jutai to a 78-76 win over Mars last week.

Summary
SINA 68-60 Yulon (Half 30-31)
SINA – Chou Jun-san 18p+6a, Lo Shin-liang 15p+9rb, Huang Chun-hsiung 8p+13rb+4s
Yulon – Chen Hsin-an 17p+10rb, Tsun Wen-din 15p, Chen Chih-chung 14p

Jutai 72-71 Dacin (Half 37-39)
Jutai – Yang Yu-ming 15p, Wu Dai-hao 14p+9rb, O-Yang Jin-hen 14p, Shin Jin-jan 13p
Dacin – Lee Fong-yong 18p+7rb, Tien Lei 14p+11rb+4s+5blk, Chang Chi-feng 16p, Hsu Chi-chao 13p

SBL announced playoffs schedule

*Top four teams advance to the playoffs.

First Round (Best-of-Three)

No.1 vs. No.4
Game 1: April 8
Game 2: April 10
Game 3: April 12

No.2 vs. No.3
Game 1: April 9
Game 2: April 11
Game 3: April 13

Finals (Best-of-Five)

Game 1: April 15
Game 2: April 17
Game 3: April 18
Game 4: April 23
Game 5: April 25

Yulon stays on top

Chen Chih-chung had 26 points on 9-for-11 shooting (4-5 3PT) in the 92-77 win over Taiwan Beer to help Yulon stay on top of the standings with one game ahead of SINA. However, Chen Hsin-an had his worst game of the season with season-low 3 points, shooting 1-for-10 from the field and 1-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Bank of Taiwan played its best game in a month but still lost to Mars 63-74 to drop 11 straight.

Summary
Yulon 92-77 Taiwan Beer (Half 50-46)
Yulon – Chen Chih-chung 26+7rb+4a, Chou Shih-yuan 19p, Wei Yong-tai 13p+7rb,Tsun Wen-din 11p+12rb+4a+3s+6blk

Mars 74-63 Bank of Taiwan (Half 46-37)
Mars – Yang Che-yi 19p, Lee Chi-yi 14p+10rb+3blk, Yen Shin-shu 12p+8a, Lai Kuo-hong 10p
BOT – Hsu Hao-cheng 15p+6rb+4a, Wu Yong-jen 14p, Yang Chin-min 10p, Ju Yong-hong 10p, Chou Ben-tang 8p+10rb

Jutai forward Lin out of season

Lin Che-wei, who is averaging 3.1p, 3.1 rebounds and 0.7 blocks for Jutai Tech, will be out of the season after breaking the ACL of his right knee. Lin has been Jutai’s most reliable interior defender with his outstanding shot-blocking ability.

Jutai has two inspiring wins in three days

Hsu Tse-shin knocked down a winning 20-footer - his only basket in the game - when the buzzer sounded to give Jutai Tech a thrilling 78-76 victory over BCC Mars. Jutai grabbed two wins this week to pull within one game behind Mars for the fourth seed with 7 games left to play.

On Friday, O-Yang Jin-hen had 21 points and 8 rebounds and led Jutai to a 80-63 win over BOT, who has lost 10 straight following the Sunday night loss to SINA. SINA extended its winning streak to 11 games.

Mars had a tough week. With only seven players available, they limited Taiwan Beer to 18 second-half points on Saturday en route to a come-from-behind win. League leading scorer Lin Chih-jay still dropped 34 points on Mars though.

With 7.1 seconds remaining and the scored tied at 76 tonight in the game versus Jutai, the game clock started about two or three seconds late when Mars inbounded the ball for Yen Shi-shu’s last shot, a fadeaway jumper that missed.

Jutai pulled down the rebound and rushed upcourt. Hsu Tse-shin, who didn’t even attempt a shot before this moment, made the game-winning shot in front of outstretched hands of Mars defenders.

Mars head coach Chun Chi-mun was raged at the technical mistake but couldn’t do anything about it. Mars again dropped to 7-8, only one game ahead of 5th-place Jutai.

Summary
2/15
SINA 64-50 Bank of Taiwan (Half 32-32)
SINA - Chou Jun-san 20p+7rb+7a, Lo Shin-liang 20p+9rb
BOT - Wu Yong-jen 11p, Ju Yong-hong 11p+7rb

Jutai 78-76 Mars (Half 44-43)
Jutai - Yang Yu-min 31p+8TO, Shan Wei-fan 13p+8rb+4a, Wu Cheng-dao 10p, Wu Dai-hao 3p+8rb+3s
Mars - Lee Chi-yi 16p+13rb+3s, Lai Kuo-hong 13p, Yang Che-yi 12p, Yen Shin-shu 11p+7rb+5a

2/14
Mars 82-72 Taiwan Beer (Half 36-44)
Mars - Lai Kuo-hong 24p+10rb, Yang Che-yi 17p, Lee Chi-yi 16p+7rb, Yen Shin-shu 14p+9rb+7a+5s
TB - Lin Chih-jay 34p+6rb, Chen Shih-nian 15p+6rb+8a

Yulon 67-64 Dacin (Half 38-37)
Yulon - Hong Chi-chao 18p, Chen Hsin-an 16p+10rb
Dacin - Tien Lei 15p+9rb+6blk, Lee Fong-fong 15p+8rb, Cheng Chan-jun 14p, Chang Chi-feng 13p+11rb

2/13
Jutai 80-63 Bank of Taiwan (Half 36-34)
Jutai - O-Yang Jin-hen 21p+8rb, Wu Dai-hao 14p+7rb, Yang Yu-min 15p, Shan Wei-fan 14p+8rb+4a
BOT - Chuan Xiao-wen16p, Hsu Hao-cheng 10p+11rb+3s, Wu Yong-jen 11p+3s

SINA keeps rolling

Liu Yi-hsiang scored season-high 18 points as SINA beat Jutai 69-65 last night and extended its winning streak to 10 games.

Chen Hsin-an single-handedly destroyed Mars for the second consecutive game, scoring 33 following a SBL season-high 41-points performance in the last meeting. Yulon snapped its two-game losing streak while Mars dropped below .500 again with a 6-7 record. Mars star point guard Yen Shin-shu didn’t play because of knee injury.

Summary
SINA 69-65 Jutai (Half 39-32)
SINA – Liu Yi-hsiang 18p+6rb+4blk, Chou Jun-san 16p+6a, Huang Chun-hsiung 14p+8rb
Jutai – Shan Wei-fan 18p, Yang Yu-min 13p+6a, Wu Dai-hao 12p+13rb+4s, Wu Cheng-dao 12p+7rb

Yulon 80-71 Mars (Half 46-39)
Yulon – Chen Hsin-an 33p+7rb, Wu Chih-wei 7p+10rb, Chen Chih-chun 6p+9rb
Mars – Lee Chi-yi 21p+6rb+3blk, Chen Huei 12p, Lin Jia-huang 11p

Jutai refused to finish controversial game

Jutai refused to finish the game with 1:10 remaining, when they trailed 72-76 to Taiwan Beer, due to three consecutive controversial calls. Jutai coaching staff and players walked out of the court and refused to re-enter the game, which was ruled a Taiwan Beer victory later by officials.

This is the first major controversy in the inaugural SBL season.

Anyway, Lin Chih-jay led all scorers with 30 points and helped TB snap a 4-game losing streak. Jutai lost the first game after snapping Yulon’s 11-game winning streak.

Summary
Taiwan Beer 76-72 Jutai (Half 30-36)
TB – Lin Chih-jay 30p+6rb+6a, Ho Sho-jen 12p, Liao Wei-chen 6p+10rb, Chen Shih-nian 9p+6a+4s
Jutai – Shin Jin-jan 5p+8rb, Wu Dai-hao 13p+10rb+3blk, Shan Wei-fan 13p+9rb

Dacin 85-70 Bank of Taiwan (Half 42-32)
Dacin – Tien Lei 25p+8rb+4a+5s, Chang Chi-feng 21p+5a, Hsu Chi-chao 15p, Huang Chih-chun 4p+11rb+6a
BOT – Lin Chun-feng 21p+6rb, Wu Yong-jen 14p, Yang Chin-min 12p, Ju Yong-hong 11p

SINA beat Yulon for ninth straight win

Led by Lo Shin-liang, who scored 22 points, and center Liu Yi-hsiang’s inside-outside attack, SINA overcame a 12-point halftime deficit and beat Yulon 75-68 for its 9th straight win. Right now SINA is only 1 1/2 games behind Yulon.

Yulon covered SINA’s perimeter well in the first half, limiting SINA to 8 points in the second quarter, when they led 38-26. Liu Yi-hsiang’s three-pointer near midcourt early in the third quarter sparked SINA’s offensive momentum. All of a sudden, everything clicked for SINA, who attacked Yulon from inside and out.

SINA outscored Yulon 49-30 in the second half.

Hampered by severe flu and covered by SINA defender Hsiung Jen-jen for all time, Chen Hsin-an didn’t deliver for Yulon this time, scoring only 7 points on 2-for-8 shooting and committing six turnovers.

Just like the last game when they lost to Jutai, Yulon panicked in crunch time and lost the confidence. Yulon dropped two straight after an 11-game winning streak and definitely have something to think about after tonight’s loss.

Summary
SINA 75-68 Yulon (Half 26-38)
SINA – Lo Shin-liang 22p+4s, Liu Yi-hsiang 17p+9rb, Chou Jun-san 18p+9rb+5a, Hsiung Jen-jen 15p+4s, Huang Chun-hsiung 6p+7rb
Yulon – Tsun Wen-din 17p, Chou Shih-yuan 13p, Chen Hsin-an 7p+10rb+6TO

Mid-season look at SBL teams

Yulon(11-1)
The 11-game winning streak says it all. This is a deep, balanced and experienced team who takes you 40-minute concentration in order to beat them. The consistent play from C Tsun Wen-din(12.5p, 10rb) and PG Chen Chih-chung(10.5p, 2.6s) takes a lot of pressure off of Chen Hsin-an(18.8p, 7.3rb, 3.9a). But Yulon is a different team without Chen, and sometimes they rely on Chen too much. Yulon is still expected to dominate the second half of the season though.

SINA(8-3)
After the season-opening 3-game losing streak, they won their last 8 games. SINA’s experience helped them in the close games and recover from the slump. SINA basically relies on three veterans SG Lo Shin-liang(16.7p), PG Chou Jun-san(12.8p, 5.2a) and PF Huang Chun-hsiung(15.4p, 9.4rb), all older than 32. Throw in C Liu Yi-hsiang(9.8p, 5.9rb), these are four veterans who eat up most of SINA’s scoring load. The coaching staff needs to blend in younger players like Tan Bo-chan, Lin Yu-shu, Chen Shi-jay and Chun Wei-kuo with the vets in the second half. Otherwise, they are one major injury from collapsing again.

Dacin(6-6)
With his awesome stats – 22p, 11.5rb, 3.1s and 1.9blocks – Tien Lei established himself as the most versatile player in Taiwan. However Dacin still won only half of its games. SG Chang Chi-feng(9.5p, 5.3rb, 2s) needs to become a more assertive scorer to help Tien Lei. And head coach Liu Jia-fa may need to give veteran SF Hsu Chi-chao(13.4p) more playing time(less than 25 minutes per game) to help his younger teammates, who sometimes panic in crucial moments. PF/C Lee Fong-yong(7.4p, 4.5rb) also needs to step up following his brilliant play in last year’s President Cup. F Chen Tse-wei improved quite a bit, showing his determination to defend downlow.

Mars(6-6)
The inside play of F Lee Chi-yi(12.7p, 8.8rb) and C Lai Kuo-hong(12.7p, 5.4rb) dominates most of Mars’ offense. But this team has been hurt by different injuries of core players like PG Yen Shin-shu(9.7p, 4.3rb, 4.4a, 2.4s) and SF Yang Che-yi(8.9p). Combo guard Chen Huei(10.5p, 4.3rb, 4.1a, 2.2s) had an outstanding first half as lead guard or Yen’s backup and partner. If all players are helthy, Mars will push for a strong second half.

Jutai(5-8)
Jutai has been playing its way back to normal after the early season slump. Led by SG Yang Yu-ming(20.6p), Jutai is as deep as any team, with 6 players averaged more than 6.7 points per game. And they can hurt people when they’re on, just like they handed Yulon its first loss. C/F Wu Dai-hao(7.9p, 8.2rb, 2.2blocks) has been finding back his aggressiveness. Jutai needs him to step up more on the offensive end to become more consistent. F Shan Wei-fan(10.8p) and SG Wu Cheng-dao(9p) are both reliable scorer when needed.

Taiwan Beer(4-8)
Most will agree this is a one-man team that belongs to SF Lin Chih-jay(21.9p, 6.2rb, 3.8a, 1.5s) in the first half of the season.There is no double-digit scorer besides Lin. With NT player SF Ho Sho-jen(13 points in season debut), Ho and Lin are expected to form the most fearsome one-two punch in the league and take Taiwan Beer up a notch in the second half. But before that can happen, Taiwan Beer will need to make some rotation adjustments. TB also needs better decision-making from PG Chen Shih-nian(9.9p, 4.2rb, 4.3a), who costed TB a couple games with his turnovers and bad decisions. SG Pan Jen-der(9.9p), probably the most valuable sixth man in the league, is a pleasant find for TB.

Bank of Taiwan(2-10)
Don’t be fooled by their W-L record, BOT has been highly competitive in all games except the last two, when they basically just gave up and lost by a combined 40 points. But BOT was hurt a lot by numerous injuries. F Lo Da-wei will miss the entire season after injuring his knee in the opening game. PF Ju Yong-hong(10.9p, 8.9rb) and SF Lin Chun-feng(11.8p, 6.4rb) also missed a couple. Without help, C Chou Ben-tang(7.9p, 9.1rb, 1.4blocks) has no chance to deal with opponents in the paint by himself. SF Chen Shen-ya’s drawback is disappointing for BOT, who also need better play from its three-PG rotation of Wu Yong-jen(9.8p), Hsu Hao-cheng(6.1p, 4.8rb, 3a) and Chien Ming-fu.

SINA rallies to beat Taiwan Beer

You can’t teach experience. SINA used a third quarter 32-14 run to rally from a nine-point halftime deficit and beat Taiwan Beer 81-80 last night to win its eighth straight. SINA holds the longest winning streak after Yulon’s winning streak stopped at 11.

With the activation of Ho Sho-jen, who suffered a potential season-ending wrist injury prior to the start of the season, Taiwan Beer finally had someone who can pair with powerful scorer Lin Chih-jay.

It looked like Taiwan Beer was ready to snap SINA’s winning streak in the first half. But SINA’s decisive third quarter turnaround change the momentum. Haung Chun-hsiung once and again sneaked inside for putbacks, while Chou Jun-san fired from outside.

Ho Sho-jen had a brilliant debut though, making 5 of 7 shots including 3-for-4 from three-point territory. Lin Chih-jay also connected 6 of his 13 three-point tries to keep TB in front. But point guard Chen Shih-nian dribbled away most of the shot clock in the last play, when TB trailed 80-81, before launching an off-balance three-point shot that missed the rim.

Plagued by the absence of injured big man Ju Yong-hong, Bank of Taiwan lost its league-high seventh straight game after an 81-62 loss to Mars.

Summary
SINA 81-80 Taiwan Beer (Half 35-44)
SINA – Huang Chun-hsiung 24p+7rb, Chou Jun-san 21p+5a
TB – Lin Chih-jay 27p+7rb+6a, Chen Shih-nian 14p, Ho Sho-jen 13p

Mars 81-62 Bank of Taiwan (Half 42-23)
Mars – Lai Kuo-hong 14p, Yen Shin-shu 10p+4a+4s, Lee Chi-yi 8p+14rb
BOT – Lin Chun-feng 17p+7rb, Wu Yong-jen 17p, Yang Chin-min 13p