Monday, December 26, 2005

ETSN still looking for first win ; Tien Lei shines

Dec. 25

Yulon 70-57 Taiwan Beer
Chen Chih-chun scored 15 of 17 points in the second half as Yulon beat Taiwan Beer and finished 3-0 in a tough week. Yulon is now leading the league at 5-1.
(Chen Chih-chun 17p+5rb+6a, Tsun Wen-din 11p+10rb, Wu Chih-wei 16p ; Wu Chih-yuan 15p+8rb, Ho Sho-jen 13p, Lin Chih-jay 11)

Dacin 86-81 YMY
Tien Lei's two three-pointers late in the fourth quarter helped Dacin hold off a YMY rally and won its third straight game. Lo Shin-liang's 38 points was his season-high.
(Tien Lei 30p+8rb, Lee Fong-yong 16p, Su Yi-chieh 13p ; Lo Shin-liang 38p+7rb)

Videoland 89-83 ETSN
Lai Kuo-hong shot 10-of-11 in his season debut and scored 23 points as VL beat ETSN, which remained winless at 0-5.
(Lai Kuo-hong 23p, Yang Che-yi 19p, Chen Huei 17p+10rb, Lee Chi-yi 8p+12rb ; Yang Yu-min 27p)

Dec. 24

Yulon 96-61 BOT
Chang Yi-wen scored his season-high 28 points and led Yulon to the most lop-sided victory of the season.
(Chang Yi-wen 28p, Chou Shih-yuan 12p, Wu Chih-wei 12p ; Chien Ming-fu 16p+7rb, Ju Yong-hong 13p)

Dacin 90-75 Videoland
Tien Lei set personal season-high with 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting and led Dacin to its third consecutive win.
(Tien Lei 31p+8rb, Lin Yi-huei 17p, Cheng Chan-jun 16p, Su Yi-chieh 11p+7a ; Lee Chi-yi 16p+8rb, Lin Jia-huang 15p, Lin Shin-hwa 14p+7rb)

Taiwan Beer 94-79 YMY
Taiwan Beer won three straight. YMY rookie Chien Jia-hong had a career-high 20 points.
(Lin Chih-jay 28p+10rb, Wu Chih-yuan 15p+13rb, Chen Shih-nian 12p+6a, Ho Sho-jen 11p, Lee Wei-ming 11p ; Chien Jia-hong 20p, Lo Shin-liang 18p, Hong Chih-shan 13p, Chang Yu-lin 11p)

Standings:
Yulon 5-1, Dacin 4-1, VL 3-2, TB 3-2, YMY 2-3, BOT 1-4, ETSN 0-5

Saturday, December 24, 2005

ETSN lost four straight

Led by as many as 9 points in the third quarter, ETSN Antelopes couldn't keep up with Yulon in the fourth and lost 73-66 to the Dinos, suffering its fourth straight loss. Antelopes remains the only winless team while Yulon climbs back to the top of the standing at 3-1.

YMY beat Bank of Taiwan 96-85 to register its first winning streak in almost two years and tied Dacin, Taiwan Beer and Videoland at 2-1. Lo Shin-liang, voted SBL Baller of the Week last week, had 26 points and 7 rebounds for YMY. Lo was 6-of-12 on three-pointers. YMY forward Wang Chuan-jian added 18 points.

Lin Chun-feng had 31 points, 8 assists and 3 steals for BOT, which has dropped three straight after the opening win. Yang Chin-min had 16.

Tsun Wen-din, Chou Shih-yuan and Chen Chih-chun each scored 16 points for the Dinos. Tsun pulled down 10 rebounds. ETSN was led by Wu Jia-lung's 15 points. Forward Hsiao Yuan-chan had an impressive game with 11 points and 10 boards.

Standing:
Yulon 3-1, Dacin 2-1, VL 2-1, TB 2-1, YMY 2-1, BOT 1-3, ETSN 0-4

Friday, December 23, 2005

Wu Dai-hao doing fine at BYU-Hawaii

Wu Dai-hao, the first Taiwanese player to play in the NCAA in the last decade, is averaging 9.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks as a freshman at BYU-Hawaii after six games. BYU-Hawaii, a Division-II school, is 2-4 after dropping two straight to Chaminade.
 
Wu Dai-hao registered his season-high 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including two three-pointers, in 29 minutes in the 84-76 loss to Chaminade on December 20th.
 
Starting all six games, Wu averages 9.5 points in 20.5 minutes, which is not bad for a freshman who is still adjusting culturally and basketball-wise after stepping on U.S. soil a couple months ago. Wu also scores efficiently as he is making 60% of his field goals, 55.6% on three-pointers and 76.2% free-throws.
 
BYU-Hawaii will play Cheyney (PA) on December 30th in Laie, Hawaii, after the Christmas break.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Nike, World Vision to present 2nd Annual Celebrity Charity Game

The second annual "Embrace Prosperity" Celebrity Charity Basketball Game will be held at Taiwan University Gymnasium on December 28, Nike Taiwan and World Vision Taiwan announced.

SBL players Chen Hsin-an, Tien Lei and Lin Chi-jay will play in the game as well as a collection of Taiwanese entertainers which include Jay Chou. Blackie (Chen Jian-chou) and Yen Hsin-shu, both former national team players, will also participate. All proceeds will be donated to World Vision Taiwan.

Funds raised last year exceeded 3.6 million NTD (110,000 USD).

==
World Vision:
World Vision is an international partnership of Christians whose mission is to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Monday, December 19, 2005

YMY rallied from 24 down to upset Videoland

Chen Shi-jay had three steals in the last minute and a go-ahead layup with 36 seconds remaining to lead YMY overcome a 24-point deficit and upset Videoland, 79-77, in the most exciting finish of a young SBL season.

Veteran Lo Shin-liang had only 8 points but made two three-pointers in the last minute. His second three-pointer with 44 seconds left tied the score at 77 all.

Chen Shi-jay followed with a steal and fastbreak layup put YMY up by two. Videoland had a chance to tie the game but Lee Chi-yi had an imbounding turnover, Wu Cheng-yu's desperation three-pointer missed the rim.

Chen Shi-jay had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals for YMY, who trailed by 24 points late in the third quarter. YMY never gave up and came up with a 30-16 4th quarter to pull off the unbelievable comeback.

YMY snapped a 7-game losing streak spanning last season and also knocked VL off the undefeated seat.

Yang Che-yi had 15 points to pace the Hunters, who made 1-of-16 three-point attempts. Lee Chi-yi added 14 points and 7 rebounds.

ETSN lost to Taiwan Beer, 83-74, and became the only winless SBL team after dropping three straight. TB point guard Chen Shih-nian made a three-point shot with 48.1 seconds remaining to hold off ETSN, who trailed as many as 18 but cut the deficit to six points late in the 4th quarter.

Lin Chi-jay was his usual self, scoring 21 points in a versatile performance that includes 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Chen Shih-nian made 5 of 7 three-point shots and scored 19 points. Ho Sho-jen had 18.

ETSN was hurt by the slump of its backcourt that inludes Chou Jun-san and Yang Yu-ming, who combined for only 10 points. Shin Jin-jan had a team-high 19 points. Wu Jia-lung and O-Yang Jin-hen each scored 15.

Led by Tien Lei, who had 19 points and 5 rebounds, Dacin beat Bank of Taiwan, 77-68, to extended its winning streak vs. BOT to 5 games.

Tien had 9 points in the 4th quarter as Dacin caught up with BOT pretty quick after BOT's 19-8 opening run. Lee Fong-yong had 16 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals for Dacin. Lin Yi-huei had 13 points and puled 7 rebounds. Rookie point guard Su Yi-chieh had 10 points, 7 assists and 4 steals.

BOT was led by center Cheng An-jay, who had 18 points and 9 rebounds.

Standings:
Dacin 2-1, TB 2-1, Yulon 2-1, VL 2-1, YMY 1-1, BOT 1-2, ETSN 0-3

Saturday, December 17, 2005

VL beat Yulon in OT to stay undefeated

Lee Chi-yi hit a game-deciding three-pointer with 20 seconds left in overtime to help Videoland edge two-time defending champion Yulon, 87-83, and became the only undefeated team in the SBL. ETSN is the first team to drop two straight after losing to Dacin, 83-74.

Six of seven SBL team saw action tonight as Videoland snapped Yulon's two-game winning streak and climbed to the top of the standing. Taiwan Beer beat Bank of Taiwan, 84-76, and tied Dacin and BOT at 1-1. YMY (0-1) did not play tonight.

Lee Chi-yi, who had 15 points and 14 rebounds, made a three-pointer at the top of the key with 20 seconds left to increase VL lead to three points. Yulon's Chen Chih-chun missed the game-tying three-point attempt before PG Chen Huei made ne of two free-throws to decide the game.

New Videoland head coach Chou Hai-jun had a good start after winning the first two games of his SBL coaching career. Chou also got the best of Yulon coach Lee Yun-kwang, Taiwan NT head coach who worked with assistant Chou all summer in international competitions.

Yang Che-yi led Videoland with 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Lin Jia-huang came off the bench and had 19 points. Yulon was led by Tsun Wen-din's 21 points and 11 rebounds. Chou Shih-yuan, who was selected the first Ball of the Week after averaging 22 points and 2.5 steals last week, scored 14 points.

Forward Tien Lei had 19 points and 11 rebounds in Dacin's 83-74 victory over ETSN. Chang Chi-feng had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists while Chen Tse-wei came off the bench and scored 10 points, making three threes in the 4th quarter. Dacin led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, when ETSN managed just 11 points.

Yang Yu-ming led ETSN with 20 points. Wu Jia-lung and rookie Cheng Jen-wei each had 13 points.

Taiwan Beers' Lin Chi-jay had 21 points in the first game of the triple-header. TB frontline released its anger on BOT after dropping the opening game to Videoland. Ho Sho-jen had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Wu Chih-yuan had 18 and 7.

BOT's Chien Ming-fu led all players with 22 points. Liin Chun-feng and Chen Shun-hsiang had 17 and 14 points respectively.

Standings:
VL 2-0, Yulon 2-1, Dacin 1-1, TB 1-1, BOT 1-1, YMY 0-1, ETSN 0-2

Monday, December 12, 2005

Yulon beat YMY 91-85 in overtime to go 2-0

Led by Chou Shih-yuan and Chen Chih-chun, Yulon overcame the absence of starting center Tsun Wen-din and edged YMY in overtime, 91-85 to go 2-0. Second-year G/F Lin Tsun-ching scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting and led Videoland to a 77-76 win over Taiwan Beer.

YMY veteran Lo Shin-liang made two three-pointers in the last minute in regulation, with the latter bouncing high off the rim and dropped thru the net as the buzzer sounded to force overtime. But Yulon dominated the extra period.

Chou Shih-yuan had 28 points while Chen Chih-chun had 20 points and 7 assists. Lee Hsueh-lin collected 14 points and 8 rebounds. Lo Shin-liang led YMY with 21 points, followed by Kao Li-min's 15.

Everything Lin Tsun-ching threw up last night went in. He was 6-of-8 from three-poiint range. Yang Che-yi scored 18 points in VL's opening win. TB top scorer Lin Chi-jay also had 32 points, making 6 three-pointers.

Standings:
Yulon 2-0, BOT 1-0, VL 1-0, Dacin 0-1, ETSN 0-1, TB 0-1, YMY 0-1

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Close games highlight SBL opening day

Both games ended in dramatic fashion to highlight the opening day of 2005-06 SBL season as defending champion Yulon edged Dacin 88-87 and Bank of Taiwan shocked ETSN with a 76-69 win.

Last season's Finals MVP Tsun Wen-din had 22 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks and led Yulon to a 7-game winning streak vs. Dacin. Tsun outplayed his NT teammate Tien Lei, who had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals and completed a three-point play to cut the deficit to one in the last minute but fouled out afterwards.

Dacin rookie Su Yi-chieh replaced injured Wang Chih-chun as the starting point guard and did not disappoint, scoring 10 points and dishing out 3 assists in his SBL debut. Su's high-arching running layup made the score 88-87 with 18.8 seconds left, but Dacin failed to score in the last possession.

Chou Shih-yuan had 16 points and 7 rebounds for Yulon, who also received 16 points from Lee Hsueh-lin. Veteran Chou Hong-yu had 12 points, 6 boards and 5 assists.

Chen Shun-hsiang pulled down a key offensive rebound and put back a deciding bucket to help BOT upset his former team ETSN in the second game of the night. Chen, who left ETSN and signed with BOT, scored 12 points. But it was Chien Ming-fu's three-pointer iced the game for BOT, who failed to reach playoffs in the last two seasons.

BOT's defense limited ETSN top scorer Yang Yu-min to 9 points on 2-of-11 shooting and 9 turnovers. Lin Chun-feng led BOT scorers with 17 points and 7 rebounds.

Wu Jun-hsiung had 19 points and 9 rebounds for ETSN. Wu Jia-long had 14 points, followed by Hsiao Yuan-chan's 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Friday, December 09, 2005

SBL starts third season without top star Chen

SBL (Super Basketball League) marches into its third season on Saturday with perennial power Yulon sets sight on its third consecutive title. However, the league is missing top player Chen Hsin-an, who decided to sit out the 2005-06 season.

In a bizarre twist of fate, Chen Hsin-an left Yulon but failed to reach an agreement with ETSN, which agreed to make Chen the highest-paid athlete in Taiwan with a three-year, 15M contract earlier in the summer.

Chen and ETSN are still in the middle of a legal battle that sees no end. Chen said it's impossible for him to join ETSN after all this mess. And an unconfirmed speculation has been flying that Chen is possible to re-sign with Yulon next season once the legal problem is resolved.

Suddenly, Yulon is not the team it used to be. ETSN situation is even more interesting after losing BOTH Chen Hsin-an and Wu Dai-hao, who left the team and enroll at BYU-Hawaii, an NCAA Division-II school, to pursuit his dream of playing in North America.

With Chen and Wu, both National team starters, ETSN could've been right there with defending champion Yulon. They can even make Yulon an underdog. That all changed after the departure of Chen and Wu.

Losing Chen is not as devastating as people think, however, as Yulon is always a team that wins with great team play. Like last season, Lee Yu-kwang will be in charge of in-game substitution and most practice duties although veteran Chien Yi-fei is still listed as the head coach.

Starting center Tsun Wen-din improves by leaps and bounds during this past year and will replace Chen Hsin-an as the focal point in Yulon's defense and offense. Tsun's brilliant play in the Asian Championship obviously outshone Tien Lei, Wu Dai-hao and others.

Yulon grabbed last season's Rookie of the Year Lu Cheng-ju from YMY, formerly known as Sina. Lu should be able to make up the loss of Chen, at least partly, at small forward.

Keeping the core players intact will be the biggest strength for Yulon, which is still the team to beat in the eyes of most observers. It is a team that knows how to win.

Unlike past two seasons, it will be a scramble behind Yulon as no team stands out. But Dacin, who were swept in the finals by Yulon last season, will have the biggest chance of knocking down the Dinos.

Led by two-time SBL MVP Tien Lei, Dacin hopes two big men - second-year center Lin Hwan-chao (203cm) and rookie Kang Chao-hsiang (208cm) - can take some load off Tien in the paint. If Tien Lei gets his double-double every night and two youngsters can hold the paint, Dacin's frontline will be scary.

Dacin also added Su Yi-chieh, the best point guard coming out of high school, to complement Wang Chih-chun. Su will even be a starter if he learns quickly and plays well. His quickness and court vision will be a perfect fit for Dacin's motion offense.

Second-year small forward Lin Yi-huei will be a player to watch and is possible to have a breakout year.

Taiwan Beer is not far behind. Veteran coach Chiu Da-tsun, who coached Sina, Jiangsu and Xinjiang in China's CBA in the last three years, joined TB's coaching staff and took charge of most coaching duties although he is listed as an assistant under head coach Yen Jia-hwa.

TB's lineup is as complete as it can be. Lin Chih-jay and Ho Sho-jen form the most potent scoring 1-2 punch. Ha Hsiao-yuan will be a solid center if he can avoid foul trouble (Ha fouled out in 11 of 30 games last season).

The key will be in the hands of starting point guard Chen Shih-nian, who was seen as a future all-star coming out of high school but improved little in the last two years. Chen has to cut down his dribble and turnovers. Most of all, he needs to know that as a point guard, he has to pass first and shoot second.

Taiwan Beer is a team that thrives on emotion but sometimes plays out of control. Chiu Da-tsun will make sure TB plays "the right way".

Videoland underwent a big change as ex-head coach Chun Chi-mun was promoted to the technical councellor. The hidden fact is: he was axed. Former assistant Chou Hai-jun is the new head coach and should have no problem working with the same group of players. He will try to add the energy to this veteran team which preferred to play at a slower pace.

VL will be led by two NT players Yang Che-yi and Lee Chi-yi. With Lin Shin-hwa, Lai Kuo-hong and Huang Chun-hsiung on board, VL's inside attack will be a headache for every opponent.

But that's the same story as last season. Once again, VL will live and die by their outside shooting. It means the perimeter shooting of veteran Lin Jia-huang, yang Che-yi, Hu Yu-wei, Wu Cheng-yu, rookie Lai Kuei-lin and new arrival Hong Chi-chao can actually decide the fate of this team.

ETSN goes into the new season with a lineup that is so different from the back of their mind. They could've had Chen Hsin-an and Wu Dai-hao at SF and C. They could've been the odds-on favorite to win the title. But things didn't turn out that way.

Life goes on. Shooter Yang Yu-min will again take on the lead role of the Antelopes under the guidance of veteran point guard Chou Jun-san. Hong Yin-che and Wu Jun-hsiung will have to fill the void left by Wu Dai-hao.

Listed as a technical adviser last season, Lee Yun-hsiang is now the head coach. Lee is a young coach who knows how to manage egos and relates well to the players. Lee also knows how to teach his players to "play the simple way and gets the job done" and will use a lot of zone defense to mix with man-to-man.

Bank of Taiwan is another team going through lots of personnel changes. As the team with the fewest budget in the league, it is the way it has to be. Good BOT players are recruited by other teams easily. Chen Hsin-an, Ho Sho-jen and Hsu Hao-cheng all came from BOT, to name a few.

But this is a team that gives little-known players a stage to perform. That's why Hsu Shi-ching, Yua Ying-li and Chen Shun-hsiang came from ETSN and Dacin. And that's why BOT recruit rookie Lin Chih-lung, a 170cm Allen Iverson-type lefty who dominated the collegiate level but no one wanted.

If BOT improves its defense and gives up the idea of putting up a scoring derby with its opponents, it can pull off a couple upset wins even though it's quite a pull to challenge the playoffs.

Sina changed its team name to YMY in the last minute, selling the naming right to the on-line shopping network in order to bring in some sponsorship.

This is a team that almost closed business in the summer and came back to life. Most people wonder what direction this team is going. After all it dropped a lot of veterans along the way and started the rebuilding project that hasn't been successful thus far, evidenced by last season's 3-27 showing.

Lo Shin-liang and Liu Yi-hsiang are the remaining members from the old Sina days. They can both still be productive but obviously they are not in the team plan anymore. Their role will be gradually reduced, which is a doubtful decision to me.

Players to watch this season all came from the same high school - HBL powerhouse Tsai-shin HS - which includes point guard Hong Chih-shan, rookie Zuo Tsun-kai and Chien Jia-hong. If they receive the proper teaching from the coaching staff, YMY's future will be optimistic.

Monday, December 05, 2005

UBA tips-off as TPEC eyes the 11th straight title

TPEC(Taipei Physical Education College), the perennial powerhouse in the collegiate level, is looking down to an unprecedented 11th straight UBA(University Basketball Alliance) champion in the 2005-06 season, which tips-off today. TPEC will also try to extend its unbelievable 116-game winning streak.

Once again, TPEC will look like a SBL All-Star Team. Led by Tsun Wen-din, Lee Chi-yi, point guard Chen Shih-nian and others, TPEC is hard to beat.

And once again, the biggest rival for TPEC will be NTNU(National Taiwan Normal University), which almost snapped TPEC's winning streak and eventually lost in last year's final. NTNU added an outstanding freshman class in PG Su Yi-chieh, PF/C Jian Jia-hong and F Cheng Jen-wei to the upperclass which incudes Tien Lei, Wu Yong-jen, Ho Sho-jen, Lee Fong-yong and Wang Chih-chun. If there's one team that can knock down TPEC, it will be NTNU.

Preliminary round will be followed by the second round and finals, which will take place from March 16-30, 2006.

Friday, December 02, 2005

2005-06 SBL Team-by-Team Roster

Yulon Dinos

Head coach: Chien Yi-fei 1947/04/06
Coach: Lee Yun-kwang 1968/01/08
Coach: Dong-fang Che-ter 1966/08/07

Chou Hong-yu 1976/06/15 29 195 92
Chen Chih-chun 1977/03/02 28 188 70
Lee Hsueh-lin 1984/01/31 21 175 75
Chiu Tsun-chih 1968/09/21 37 198 90
Chou Shih-yuan 1983/11/16 22 190 80
Liu Jui-shen 1983/07/29 22 170 75
Wei Yong-tai 1978/10/23 27 193 90
Wu Chih-wei 1976/07/31 29 202 94
Lu Cheng-ju 1986/08/23 19 194 88
Tsun Wen-din 1984/07/06 21 202 90
Chiu Chi-yi 1975/10/06 30 188 75
Hsu Wei-shen 1985/03/23 20 192 86
Liu Shen-yao 1983/11/24 22 190 88
Chang Yi-wen 1984/04/13 21 187 85
Tsun Chao-jia 1982/11/08 23 181 75

Avg: 24.73 yrs-old, 189.67cm, 83.53kg

In: Lu Cheng-ju(Sina, now YMY), Tsun Chao-jia
Out: Chen Hsin-an(Free Agent), Hong Chi-chao(VL), Chang Bu-jin, Tsun Yi-feng


Dacin Construction

Head coach: Liu Jia-fa 1969/01/06
Assistant coach: Hsu Chi-chao 1974/05/01

Tien Lei 1983/06/01 22 202 88
Lee Fong-yong 1980/12/15 25 197 89
Fan Gun-hsiang 1980/06/22 25 165 65
Lin Yi-huei 1986/03/24 19 193 85
Wang Chih-chun 1982/04/23 23 180 75
Cheng Chan-jun 1980/10/11 25 176 71
Chang Chi-feng 1981/04/22 24 182 84
Deng An-cheng 1985/11/06 20 186 85
Lin Hwan-chao 1985/04/18 20 202 100
Chen Tse-wei 1985/01/30 20 200 78
Yen Jia-wei 1980/04/05 25 188 82
Yu Yu-lun 1981/04/22 24 175 75
Su Yi-chieh 1987/01/28 18 181 72
Kang Chao-hsiang 1987/04/19 18 208 120

Avg: 22.00 yrs-old, 188.21cm, 83.50kg

In: Su Yi-chieh(Rookie), Kang Chao-hsiang(Rookie)
Out: Hsu Chi-chao(Retired, now assistant coach), Lin Chun-min, Kao Cheng-kan, Hsu Shi-ching(BOT)

Videoland Hunters

Technical Advisor: Chun Chi-mun 1956/11/09
Head coach: Chou Hai-jun 1963/08/19
Coach: Bai Ming-li 1966/03/19
Coach: San Mao-sun 1967/11/19

Lin Hsin-hwa 1975/09/20 30 198 93
Yang Che-yi 1978/10/20 27 193 87
Lee Chi-yi 1978/10/27 27 198 90
Lin Jia-huang 1975/09/20 30 185 83
Chen Huei 1978/04/17 27 185 90
Lin Tsun-ching 1986/04/22 19 187 80
Lai Kuo-hong 1974/12/08 31 198 91
Hu Yu-wei 1983/02/13 22 188 95
Hong Chi-chao 1982/02/13 23 188 75
Shen Shin-han 1986/02/28 19 185 70
Wu Cheng-yu 1983/11/28 22 186 80
Hsiung Jen-jen 1972/07/19 33 192 92
Huang Chun-hsiung 1971/11/19 34 200 98
Hsu Kai-jay 1985/05/10 20 198 100
Lai Kuei-lin 1986/11/08 19 182 76
Su Hsiang-wei 1985/10/20 20 184 76
Chen Li-wei 1986/12/08 19 178 70
Yen Chen-hong 1986/02/05 19 196 87

Avg: 24.50 yrs-old, 190.06cm, 85.17kg

In: Lai Kuei-lin(Rookie), Hsu Kai-jay(Sina, now YMY), Su Hsiang-wei(BOT), Chen Li-wei(Rookie), Yen Cheng-hong(Rookie), Hong Chi-chao(Yulon)
Out: Shi Chi-chen, Liao Jian-han, Kao Tian-chi, Yen Shin-shu, Nian Shu-hao

Taiwan Beer

Head coach: Yen Jia-hwa 1954/06/26
Coach: Chiu Da-tsun 1964/07/01
Coach: Chen Jin-hsiung 1944/01/31
Assistant coach: Yang Chih-hao 1974/08/31
Marketing Manager: Chen Jian-chou 1977/05/02

Lin Chih-jay 1982/06/11 23 192 93
Wang Jian-wei 1985/01/07 20 190 91
Lin Che-li 1981/01/05 24 186 81
Wu Yang-huei 1981/12/21 24 194 90
Hsu Cheng-wen 1983/04/06 22 197 123
Hsu Hao-cheng 1982/09/14 23 178 78
Ho Sho-jen 1983/02/15 22 197 93
Ha Hsiao-yuan 1981/05/15 24 202 120
Shan Wei-fan 1978/03/09 27 197 95
Wu Chih-yuan 1983/10/24 22 202 85
Chen Shih-nian 1984/04/08 21 182 79
Lin Kwan-lun 1984/01/23 21 184 77
Pan Jen-der 1979/09/18 26 178 80
Lee Wei-min 1981/04/29 24 185 87
Lo Jian-chih 1984/02/15 21 182 75
Lin Che-wei 1980/01/27 26 195 92

Average: 23.13 yrs-old, 190.06cm, 89.94kg

In: Lin Che-li(ETSN), Lin Che-wei(ETSN), Lo Jian-chi(Rookie)
Out: Chen Jian-chou, Lo Da-wei, Lin Jie-ho

ETSN Antelopes

Head coach: Lee Yun-hsiang 1971/09/22
Coach: Liu Hwa-lin 1957/03/30

Hsu Tse-shin 1982/06/04 23 177 70
Liao Wei-chen 1975/02/23 30 197 100
Huang Bao-tse 1976/09/18 29 183 70
O-Yang Jin-hen 1979/10/28 26 192 89
Yang Yu-min 1979/10/22 26 180 73
Wu Dai-hao 1985/02/07 20 202 100
Shin Jin-jan 1979/09/12 26 190 80
Hsiao Yuan-chan 1984/11/03 21 196 86
Wu Jia-long 1979/03/23 26 186 80
Chou Jun-san 1969/01/28 36 174 73
Wu Jun-hsiung 1984/08/26 21 198 95
Chen Jing-hwan 2986/02/03 19 188 73
Hong Ying-che 1986/01/06 19 200 85
Wu Chih-wei 1987/01/28 18 186 78
Lin Chih-tsun 1984/01/26 21 187 80
Cheng Jen-wei 1987/04/06 18 192 87
Huang Ho-cheng 1980/09/11 25 180 75

Average: 23.76 yrs-old, 188.70cm, 82kg

In: Huang Ho-cheng(Rookie), Wu Chih-wei(Rookie), Cheng Jen-wei(Rookie)
Out: Lin Che-li(Taiwan Beer), Chen Shun-hsiang(BOT), Chao Jia-chun, Yua Ying-li(BOT), Lin Che-wei(Taiwan Beer), Liao Yen-lun, Wu Dai-hao(BYU Hawaii, NCAA Div-II)

Bank of Taiwan

Head coach: Wei Chen-min 1968/08/20
Coach: Lai Liang-chun 1960/08/13

Hsu Chi-chan 1982/10/30 23 193 88
Wu Yong-jen 1982/09/22 23 177 75
Chen Shen-ya 1983/04/20 22 186 82
Yang Chin-min 1984/01/22 23 188 85
Chou Ben-tang 1978/09/16 27 200 95
Chuan Hsiao-wen 1983/10/28 22 189 85
Ju Yong-hong 1976/11/19 29 193 90
Chien Ming-fu 1979/06/22 26 163 68
Lin Chun-feng 1979/05/04 26 188 86
Cheng An-jay 1979/03/19 26 200 100
Wang Shin-kai 1983/10/01 22 176 66
Chen Shun-hsiang 1985/05/02 20 190 85
Yua Ying-li 1984/08/09 21 195 85
Hsu Shi-ching 1984/11/01 21 192 90
Lin Chih-long 1983/12/02 22 173 76
Wen Chih-chun 1981/01/03 24 192 102

Average: 23.56 yrs-old, 187.19cm, 84.88kg

In: Wen Chih-chun(Rookie), Lin Chih-long(Rookie), Hsu Shi-ching(Dacin), Yua Ying-li(ETSN), Chen Shun-hsiang(ETSN)
Out: Lin Jui-qun, Lee Chi-shun, Liu Che-lang, Huang Ju-dao


YMY

Head coach: Liu Jun-ching 1945/09/01
Assistant coach: Chen Yong-le 1959/03/27

Liu Yi-hsiang 1972/10/04 33 201 105
Wang Chuan-jian 1985/12/30 20 196 85
Lo Shin-liang 1971/03/18 34 183 73
Chun Wei-kuo 1977/08/09 28 183 65
Chen Shi-jay 1984/09/24 21 173 73
Chang Yu-lin 1986/01/16 19 192 80
Hong Chih-shan 1985/07/05 20 174 65
Kao Li-min 1979/12/02 26 194 84
Shieh Chih-wei 1980/09/26 25 193 83
Lu Jia-hao 1983/05/12 22 195 90
Tsun Fan-ming 1982/05/28 23 183 75
Yang Cheng-jong 1986/07/27 19 200 87
Chen Yu-chun 1986/12/13 19 198 85
Zuo Tsun-kai 1986/09/15 19 190 78
Chien Jia-hong 1987/03/06 18 196 105
Shin Tse-jay 1987/08/19 18 184 75
Ding Kuo-ju 1982/04/10 23 180 70

Average: 22.76 yrs-old, 189.12cm, 81.06kg

In: Tsun Fan-ming(Rookie), Yang Cheng-jong(Rookie), Chen Yu-chun(Rookie), Zuo Tsun-kai(Rookie), Chien Jia-hong(Rookie), Shin Tse-jay(Rookie), Ding Kuo-ju(Rookie)
Out: Lu Cheng-ju(Yulon), Hsu Yong-yi, Yang Shi-hao, Chen Yi-fan, Wang Wen-jian, Liu Chun-chih, Hsu Kai-jay(VL)

Friday, November 25, 2005

Sina Lions change team name to YMY

Sina Lions inked a major sponsorship deal with YMY ( http://www.ymy.com.tw ) and will change its name to YMY in the 2005-06 season.

Sina, which is owned by Sina.com president Daniel Jiang personally, underwent a rebuilding process starting from last season, when it released most of its veterans and played through the season with a young squad. Word is Jiang had trouble investing more money on the team and had been looking for selling the team or securing sponsorships.

After reaching the SBL Finals in inaugural 2003-04 season, Sina stumbled to 3-27 last year. Adding Chien Jia-hong and Zuo Tsun-kai, both top high school players at their positions, YMY is looking for a better finish this season.

Sina staff will still be in charge of all basketball operations.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Wu Dai-hao starts US college career at BYU-Hawaii

Wu Dai-hao launched his U.S. college career at BYU-Hawaii in the Asia-Pacific Tournament last week. Wu is still getting accustomed to the new environment, teaching and teammates. He had 15 points and 6 rebounds in two Seasiders wins.
 
In his U.S. college debut on November 11th, Wu had 6 points and 4 rebounds on 2 of 3 shooting in 18 minutes in BYUH blowout win over China’s Huaqiao University, 127-57.
 
Wu had 9 points, two rebounds and committed six turnovers in the second game vs. Yonsei University, No.1 powerhouse of South Korea college basketball. BYUH edged Yonsei 90-86.
 
Six teams entered the Asia-Pacific Tournament: BYUH, Yonsei Univ., Huaqiao Univ., De La Salle of Philippines, Maori Select Team of New Zealand and Melbourne Tigers of Australia.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Chen Hsin-an to sit out 05-06 season

Min-shen Daily reported Chen Hsin-an, who remains unsigned amid the contract dispute with ETSN Antelopes, will sit out the entire 2005-06 SBL season to nurse his knee injury. Chen will probably go to the U.S. minor league once again to look for opportunities.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Taiwan beat Japan to win second EAG gold

Tien Lei made two game-clinching free-throws with 3.6 seconds remaining as Taiwan edged Japan 60-55 in East Asian Games title game and won its second EAG gold medal.

Taiwan won its first gold medal in 1997 Busan EAG and got silver in 2001 EAG in Osaka, Japan.

The gold medal didn't come easy. Led by 10(32-22) at halftime and as many as 15 points in the third quarter, Taiwan almost blew the game after missing several free-throws in crucial moments. And Japan rallied behind 19-year-old high schooler Takuya Kawamura, who made three three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Kawamura's last field goal -- a back-breaking three pointer -- cut Japan's deficit to only three, 58-55, with 3.6 seconds left. But it's too late for Japan, who almost trailed the entire game. Tien made both of his free-throws to ice the game.

Lee Hsueh-lin led Taiwan with 15 points. Center Tsun Wen-din had 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Tien Lei had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds and added four steals.

Japan shocked China 68-60 in the semifinal. It's probably the biggest upset in the whole tournament, although China only sent its second national team.

And after today's final, I think Japan has finally found its shooting star of the new generation. Takuya Kawamura, who was named MVP in this summer's Basketball Without Borders Camp in China, is a sweeting-shooting scorer with a big heart -- at 19 years-old. He is tall enough to deal with most backcourt players in Asia at 190 cm. His potential is unlimited.

Taiwan beat South Korea 61-48 in an ugly semifinal game. Tsun Wen-din once again dominated the game with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Tien Lei had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

In women's final, Taiwan Women's NT play picked a wrong time to play poorly. Taiwan Women's, which beat China by more than 30 in the prelim, lost to China 71-67 in the title game.

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Taiwan meets South Korea in EAG semifinal

Taiwan beat Mongolia 107-70 in its last preliminary game to finish 5-1 and No.2 in the prelim and will meet No.3 seed South Korea in the East Asian Games semifinal today. No.1 seed China will meet No.4 japan in the other semifinal.

Chou Shih-yuan scored team-high 20 points. Yang Chin-ming added 19 points. Yang Che-yi had 13 and Tien Lei had 12 points.

Taiwan beat South Korea 75-56 in the preliminary game.

Hong Kong beat Macau 66-61 and finished for fifth place with a 2-5 record. Mongolia(1-6) is sixth and host Macau(0-7) finished last place.

Taiwan women's NT will play for gold in the EAG final vs. China.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Tien Lei leads Taiwan past Japan in EAG

Led by Tien Lei's two power dunks, Taiwan NT shout out to Asia that its 9th-place finish in the Asian Championship is not right after defeating Japan, which ranked for 5th in the Asian Championship, 89-78. Taiwan finished the preliminary round 4-1 and ranked second behind China.
 
Yang Yu-ming made 6 of 7 three-point attempts en route to his game-high 24 points and helped Taiwan lead by as many as 25 points. Tien Lei exploded for 19 points and played probably his best game in two months. Chen Chih-chun and Lee Huseh-lin each scored 12.
 
Taiwan cruised by Macau 120-78 on Tuesday. Chou Shih-yuan finally broke out from his slump and scored 27 points on 11-17 shooting. Center Wu Chih-wei had 22 points and 7 rebounds. Lee Hsueh-lin had 15 points. Lee Chi-yi added 12 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
 
On women side, Taiwan edged Japan to finish th preliminary games 3-0 and advanced to the semifinal.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Taiwan NT lost to China 68-65 in EAG

Taiwan NT suffered the first loss in East Asian Games after losing to China 68-65 today. Facing a Chinese team with mostly second-tier players, Taiwan led by as many as 11 points in the first half but failed to contain China's three-point shooting. Yang Yu-ming committed a turnover in the last possession.
 
Taiwan is now 2-1 in the tournament. China is 3-0. Tien Lei led Taiwan with 11 points and 5 rebounds. Yang Che-yi and Chen Chih-chun each scored 10 points. Taiwan led 39-33 at halftime. Overall, the result is acceptable although China featured only one key player Yi Jianlian from the REAL national team.
 
However, Taiwan NT almost became the victim of upset yesterday, escaping with a 76-74 win over underdog Hong Kong. Head coach Lee Yun-kwang blasted the team for a whole hour after the game. In other games yesterday, China beat Japan 70-57, South Korea beat Mongolia 86-57.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Taiwan beat South Korea 75-56 in EAG opening game

Led by Tsun Wen-din and Tien Lei, who combined for 41 points, Taiwan NT routed South Korea 75-56 in the opening game of East Asian Games in Macau. It's a surprising result, although South Korea only sent a college all-star team.
 
Taiwan head coach Lee Yun-kwang used a news clipping from a local newspaper to motivate his players. In a pre-game analysis, MACAU DAILY listed China, South Korea and Japan as A-Teams and Taiwan in B-Teams, which means Taiwan is not really good.
 
Obviously Taiwan NT does not agree with it. Tsun Wen-din, who had game-high 21 points, scored nine straight points in the second quarter and Taiwan never trailed, leading by as many as 25 points. Tien Lei had 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter. Yang Yu-ming scored 18.
 
As expected, super-power China stomped host Macau 94-43 in its first game. Wang Shipeng led the team with 18. Yi Jianlian had 15 points in 20 minutes.
 

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Taiwan NT ready for East Asian Games, barely

Taiwanese basketball is so quiet you think it's dead. Well, not really. A handful of journalists, me included, are still sober enough to remember East Asian Games is right ahead.
 
The bi-annual games will take place in Macao starting October 29th. Coming off an embarrassing 9th-place finish in Asian Championship, this is the last chance for Taiwan NT to garner some self-confidence before the new year comes.
 
However injuries keep piling up. Tien Lei broke his right little finger in National Games last week and was in a cast. He said he will try to play through the injury in EAG. Yang Chin-min have a swollen lymph nodes, which should heal before the EAG.
 
Seven countries will play in the EAG, including Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea, Macao, Hong Kong and Mongolia. The teams will play under single round robin as top four advance to the semifinals. If there's no major upset, Taiwan, China, Japan and South Korea are expected to make the final four.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Chen Hsin-an remains un-signed

Two months after leaving Yulon, Chen Hsin-an still hasn't signed his name on the dotted line. Chen is hesitant about signing contract with ETSN due to mutual disagreement.
 
It is quite simple. ETSN wants to own every bit of Chen, including his right of portrait. It thinks, for 15 millions, it has to own every bit of Chen. Chen wants to reserve his right of playing in the U.S. minor leagues like NBADL or CBA. ETSN disagrees. It's basically why negotiation is standing still after two months.
 
ETSN is also paying close attention to Chen's knee injury rehab. It is Chen's second knee injury in six months.
 
For now, the situation hasn't changed a bit. Chen doesn't want to back down, nor does ETSN. It is sad to see the best player in Taiwan remains unsigned two months before the season.
 
Observers think Chen is possible to go back to Yulon if he fails to agree to terms with ETSN.
 
Resources reported Chen left Yulon to sign with ETSN for three years and 15 million NTD on August 4th.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Taiwan basketball briefs

-- SBL committee set the maximum for player monthly salary at 120,000 NTD on September 30. The decision came after ETSN reportedly signed Chen Hsin-an away from Yulon for 15 million for three years, thus making Chen the highest-paid basketball player in Taiwan. Teams are concerned player salary will skyrocket after Chen's case
 
Interesting thing is: Chen hasn't officially signed with ETSN because of several mutual disagreement. And for whatever reason, the SBL committee didn't set the minimum monthly wage.
 
Another big problem emerges. Yulon re-signed almost all of its players after Chen's departure with most contracts surpassing the SBL 120,000 limit. ETSN signed Yang Yu-ming for 250,000 NTD per month last week, which is also over the SBL limit. How can teams change signed-contracts? No one knows.
 
And you can almost assured that teams will be paying under-table money to its top players in order to keep them. The maximum monthly salary rule means nothing to average to low-end players.
 
Looks like the SBL always makes some dumb decisions.
 
-- ESPN Taiwan will pay 35 millions for the TV rights in the upcoming third SBL season, but will share rights with Videoland and ETSN. This is another interesting story that gives you a glimpse of the chaotic scene of Taiwanese basketball.
 
-- Taiwan NT lost its first warmup games in Korea 90-78 to KBL's TG. Yang Che-yi led the team with 21 points. Tsun Wen-din and Lee Hsueh-lin scored 16 each. Only nine players suit up for the game. Tien Lei sat out the game because of knee injury. Yang Yu-ming didn't go to Korea with the team due to fever. The team will play five games in Korea for the preparation for the East Asian Games.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Yunnan sign Taiwanese veteran Hsiung Jen-jen

Videoland veteran forward Hsiung jen-jen will pay his second visit to Chinese pro pleague CBA. Yunnan signs Hsiung to a one-year contract with salary undisclosed. Hsiung played in China in 2000-01 when Sina Lions left Taiwan to play in the Chinese League. He will play for VL again once the CBA season is over in March next year, hoping to help VL in the SBL postseason.

Taiwan NT starts training camp again

Taiwan NT opened yet another training camp on Sunday for the upcoming East Asian Games in Macao. It will train in Taipei before leaving for South Korea for a 5-game training tour. After that, the team will be back in Taiwan and train in Chiayi, a southern city, before the East Asian Games. Taiwan NT will play five games vs. KBL teams in Korea from October 1st to October 9th.

Talk n' Text sweeps Taiwan tour 3-0

Philippines' Talk n' Text Phone Pals sweeps Taiwan friendly tour with a perfect 3-0 record as philipino favorite Asi Taulava and Damian Cantrell obvious the brightest stars in the tour. TNT won two games by more than 30 and beat SBL champion Yulon by eight.

Dacin, Videoland and Yulon were all hurt by the absence of current NT players, who are entering another training camp for the preparation of East Asian Games after finishing 9th-place in the Asian Championship earlier this month. The absence of top players resulted in lopsided games which drew little fanfare, averaging only a couple hundreds per game.

Game 1: TNT 118-75 Dacin (A. Taulava 21p+14rb, D. Cantrell 23p+14rb ; Lin Yi-huei 27p, Chen Tse-wei 14p+6rb, Lin Hwan-chao 11p+7rb, Su Yi-chieh 10p+7a)

Game 2: TNT 120-90 VL (D. Cantrell 20p+9rb, A. Washington 17p+8rb ; Hu Yu-wei 18p, Hong Chi-chao 15p)

Game 3: TNT 96-88 Yulon (A. Taulava 23p+11rb ; Wu Chih-wei 21p+5rb+4s+3a, Chiu Chi-yi 29p)

Friday, September 23, 2005

Taiwan NT adds Wu Chih-wei as replacement

Taiwan NT added veteran center Wu Chih-wei to strengthen its frontline for the East Asian Games after the departure of Wu Dai-hao, who enrolled in U.S. BYU-Hawaii and will start his playing career in North America.

Players who missed the Asian Championship -- Chen Hsin-an, Ho Sho-jen, Lin Chi-jay and Chang Chih-feng -- are expected to sit out the East Asian Games, which will be held in Macao in October, as well.

Monday, September 19, 2005

SBL to apply relegation rules, releases provisional season format

Team officials of seven SBL (Super Basketball League) teams gathered for the first committee meeting for the 2005-06 season and came up with a couple conclusions. For the first time the league will install relegation rules. Also the provisional season format was announced.
 
Starting from the end of 2005-06 season, the sixth-place and seventh-place SBL teams will have to play in a double round robin relegation series with the A-League champion. Last-placed team of the series will be downgraded to (or stay in) the A-League. For now, SBL will stay a 7-team league and will not look for expansion.
 
The committee decided the 2005-06 season format as follows:
 
December 1, 2005 - December 4, 2005: Exhibition games.
December 10, 2005 - May 14, 2006: Regular season (Each team faces its opponents five times and plays a total of 30 games).
February 4: All-Star Game
Playoffs:
May 19, 2006 - May 25, 2006: First Round (Best-of-Five)
May 27, 2006 - June 11, 2006: Finals (Best-of-Seven)
 
Other important announcement:
 
-- No import players and Chinese players are allowed to play. All SBL players are required to have Taiwanese IDs.
-- Starting from 2005-06 season, college freshmen can't play in the SBL and the UBA at the same time. A college freshman will play either for his club team or his college team.
-- Any team that boycotts the game or refuses to take the court under protest has to play a 600,000 NTD fine.
-- TV reply will not be used to change calls.
-- Any team that withdraws from the league in mid-season is not allowed to re-enter SBL or play in any CTBA-sanctioned competition in two years.
-- ESPN Taiwan, Videoland and ETSN will share broadcasting right in the 2005-06 season.

Sina will stay in SBL

Sina Lions announced it will stay in the SBL and keep current roster intact, but the team will look for sponsors and is possible to change its team name once sponsors are secured.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Philippines basketball sets foot on Taiwan

Philippines basketball players will be seen a lot in Taiwan before the end of the year. PBA announced it will schedule an regular season oversea game in Taipei on December 14th, the second oversea game in PBA history. PBA's Talk N Text Phone Pal also will visit Taipei for a three-game friendly series.

"Taiwan-Philippines Goodwill Games", hosted by CTBA and sponsored by Dynamic-Sky Multimedia Corp., Philippine Airlines and Elite Express, will feature Talk N Text to take on three Taiwanese SBL teams -- Yulon, Videoland and Dacin -- from September 23-25. All games will be played at TPEC Gym and televised by Videoland Sports TV.

Schedule:

9/23 19:00 Talk N Text vs. Dacin Construction
9/24 15:00 Talk N Text vs. Videoland Hunters
9/25 15:00 Talk N Text vs. Yulon Dinos

PBA will kick off its 31st season (Fiesta Conference) with eight provincial games in provincial venue outside Manila and one oversea game in Taipei. Defending Fiesta Conference champion Talk N Text will meet San Miguel in Taipei.

The first oversea game in PBA history took place last year, when Talk N Text met Shell in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Taiwan beat Kazakhstan for ninth palce in Asian Championship

Yang Yu-min had 20 points and Chen Chih-chun 14 as Taiwan rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat Kazakhstan and finished for ninth place in the 2005 Asian Championship. Taiwan failed to reach the goal of returning to the top six, although they played hard in every game.
 
Taiwan had a 5-2 record in the championship. It lost to China and Iran in the preliminary and was bumped out of the quarterfinal once again. While a ninth-place finish is better than 11th-place in 2003, no one will call it an improvement because the expectation is still high for the basketball-loving country.
 
Kazakhstan almost made every open three versus Taiwan's zone defense in the first 15 minutes and led 30-14 midway thru the second quarter. Sub Yang Che-yi have 9 points, including two timely threes, in the third to help Taiwan take the lead and entered the final quarter leading 57-53.
 
Behind starting point guard Andrei Shpeht, Kazakhstan recharged and took the lead 63-61. Taiwan head coach Lee Yun-kwang quickly put Tsun Wen-din, who had four fouls, back in and regained the momentum.
 
Yang Che-yi had 11 points, including 9 in the third quarter. Wu Dai-hao had 10 points. Lee Chi-yi Had 7 points.
 
Shpeht led Kazakhstan with 16 points. V. Rosnovski had 14 points. Like Taiwan, Kazakhstan came close of making the final eight before losing to Japan by two in the deciding preliminary game.
 
With most of its players born after 1980, Kazakhstan will be a team to watch in Asia's "second division" in the coming years after head coach Aleksei Erupkin and assistant Vitali Strebkov, both former NT players, taking over the new NT coaching staff. And keep an eye on Anton Ponomarev, a 17-year-old kid at 209cm who has a world of potential.

Defending high school champion Tsaishin shut down its basketball program

Tsaishin high school announced it will shut down its prominent basketball program after 15 years in the HBL(High School Basketball League). In 15 years, the private school won 4 titles, two runner-ups, two third-place and one fourth-place finish.
 
Current Taiwan NT players Tsun Wen-din and Wu Dai-hao and current SBL players like Ha Hsiao-yuan, O-Yang Jin-hen, Che Shi-jay, Zuo Tsun-kai, Lin Che-li, Lu Cheng-ju all graduated from Tsaishin HS.
 
Tsaishin won HBL champion in 2004-05 season, which means it won't have a chance to defend its title. It's a sad decision for a school which established its basketball identity and empire.
 
Most Tsaishin players are expected to transfer to other schools. Head coach Hsu Jin-che is also expected to look for coaching opportunities.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Taiwan beat Malaysia 109-71, will go for ninth vs. Kazakhstan

Taiwan NT again demonstrated its firepower in an easy 109-71 victory over Malaysia today and will meet Kazakhstan Friday in the ninth-place game of 2005 Asian Championship.

Taiwan took advantage of Malaysia's weaker defense and shot 17 for 37 from three-point territory. Wu Dai-hao led the team with 18 points. Tsun Wen-din had 16 points. Chou Shih-yuan and Wang Chih-chun scored 14 apiece while Lee Chi-yi had 13. Yang Yu-min collected 10 points.

Taiwan NT beat Kazakhstan in the Jones Cup tournament in July.

Asian Championship - Taiwan eyes ninth-place after beating India

Yang Yu-ming had 28 points, including 14 in the third quarter that shifted the momentum of the game, as Taiwan NT beat India 106-90 in the second game of 9-16 classifications of the 2005 FIBA Men's Asian Championship.
 
Taiwan is expected to beat Malaysia today and fight for ninth-place with Kazakhstan or Kuwait.
 
Yang Yu-ming's four three-pointers in the third quarter led Taiwan to the come-from-behind victory. Tsun Wen-din scored 26 points while Chou Shih-yuan had 17 points. Tien Lei sat out his second straight game after a mild ankle sprain in the game vs. Iran. He is expected to miss today's game also.
 
Sozhasingarayer Robinson led India, which surprisingly led Taiwan 50-46 at halftime, with 26 points.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

An easy win over Indonesia

Coming off a heartbreaking loss to Iran, Taiwan NT exploded all its energy on the Indonesians. With Tien Lei sitting out the game due to mild ankle sprain, Taiwan NT still routed Indonesia 109-88 in the 9-16 classification game.
 
Tsun Wen-din led the team with 16 points. Wu Dai-hao, who sat out the entire Iran game for unknown reason, scored 15 points. Taiwan made 16 three-pointers and had seven players scoring in double-figure.
 
Taiwan will meet India today.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Taiwan dealt another blow, lost to Iran 65-57

Taiwan suffered another heartbreaking loss last night when they lost to Iran 65-57 in the last and most important preoiminary game. With the loss, Taiwan failed to make the quarterfinal in the Asian Championship and fell short of the goal of finishing in the top six.
 
Knowing it's a do-or-die game, Taiwan NT was out of sync in the last seven minutes and watched Iran pull the score away although it trailed by only two points at halftime.
 
Both teams presented abnormal rotation for the game. Iran's Jaber Rouzbahani sat out the whole game, and Taiwan didn't play Wu Dai-hao at all. Iran's wing players, not its Twin Tower, became the accidental heroes for the game as Iman Zandi scored 15 points and Pouya Tajik had 11.
 
Tien Lei led Taiwan with 17 points, including three three-pointers. Tsun Wen-din had 11 and Yang Yu-ming had 10. Taiwan will have to play in 9th-16th place classification games.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Asian Championship Day 2 - Taiwan lost to China, 76-58

Taiwan lost to China 76-58 in the second preliminary game last night and is now looking at its most important game in the Asian Championship, when it faces Iran on Sunday.
 
Wu Dai-hao had team-high 10 points. Chen Chih-chun had 9 points. Tien Lei had 8 points and Tsun Wen-din 7. Yao Ming scored 15 points in 24 minutes for the winner, followed by Zhu Fanyu's 12 and Liu Wei's 11 points.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Asian Championship Day 1: All players score as Taiwan routs Uzbekistan, 111-71

Led by Tien Lei's 22 points, all players scored as Taiwan NT routed Uzbekistan 111-71 in its opening game in the 2005 Asian Championship.

Taiwan tool advantage of its quickness, installing full-court press from time to time to disrupt Uzbekistan's tempo. Following a rusty first quarter, Taiwan gradually pulled away. Tien Lei made four three-pointers in the second half to increase Taiwan's largest lead to 43 points.

Starting point guard Chen Chih-chun had 15 points while starting SG Yang Yu-ming had 12. Wu Dai-hao and Yang Chin-ming scored 11 respectively. Chou Shih-yuan collected 10 points, followed by Lee Hseuh-lin and yang Che-yi, both had 7 points.

Aleksandr Kozlov paced Uzbekistan with 22 points.

Other games:

China 76-61 Iran (32-35)
Qatar 74-62 Japan (41-29)
India 106-87 Hong Kong
Kazakhstan 89-62 Indonesia
Lebanon vs. Jordan N/A

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Sina announces two options for team future

Sina Lions, which said it's pulling out of the SBL on August 18th, announced yesterday it has two options regarding team's future. Either it keeps the team intact and stays in the SBL or it will sell the team to anyone interested. It reiterates that Sina will not close business or drop back to Division-II (A-League).

Meanwhile, Jutai Technology, who's expected to win the A-League title this week, plans to submit the application to CTBA and enter the SBL. It's possible Sina, Bank of Taiwan -- SBL's worst teams last season, and Sina will play a relegation round to decide who's up and who's down.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Taiwan NT leaves for Doha looking for redemption

Is Taiwanese basketball only good enough for the 11th place in Asia? At least it was in 2003 Asian Championship. But a lot of people don't believe it and obviously Taiwan NT doesn't buy it. Two years after the worst finish in Asian Championship history, Taiwan NT left for Doha, Qatar yesterday looking for that sweet redmption, although it's without four wing players -- including its top player Chen Hsin-an.

Losing Chen Hsin-an(Ranked 3rd in SBL scoring last season), Lin Chi-jay(SBL scoring leader last season), Chang Chi-feng(11th in scoring) and Ho Sho-jen(8th in scoring) definitely hurts. But head coach Lee Yun-kwang, taking over the team after a two-year hiatus, is determined to lead Taiwan back to Asian basketball powers. He sets top six as the goal for this team.

The first step to make it back to Asia elite will be making the quarterfinals. It will not be easy for Taiwan as it's in the same preliminary bracket with China, Iran and Uzbekistan. Some people call it the Death Group. China will definitely win the group. That leaves one spot for the remaining three teams.

To win the last seed, Taiwan has to beat Iran, which is a tough task since Iran features three big men -- 223cm Jaber Rouzbahani, 216cm Hamad Hadadi and 209cm Mohammed Shahsavand. Coach Lee knows how hard it is but wouldn't give up before even playing its opponent. He also knows Taiwan has to protect its defensive rebounds, limit Iran's interior attack and look for every fastbreak opportunity.

It's almost the most important game for Taiwan NT in the championship. If it loses it, the best finish for them will be the eighth place.

Tsun Wen-din and Wu Dai-hao will be the key players in the championship. Tsun, who won SBL Finals MVP, and Wu, who enrolled in BYU-Hawaii last week, have to protect the paint, hit the glass and avoid foul trouble to play extended minutes. In other words, Tsun and Wu have to anchor Taiwan's defense, which is the key factor for this team to be successful after losing so many talented offensive players.

On offense, Taiwan will rely heavily on its outside shot once again. Two-time SBL regular season MVP Tien Lei will have to step up and be the leader, playing inside and out. As the best passing big man on the team, Tsun Wen-din will also play an important role. And Taiwanese guards will have to hit their open shots. Chou Shih-yuan and Yang Yu-ming will shoulder major pressure at the perimeter.

**Taiwan NT 12-man Roster for 2005 Asian Championship

(Position, Name, Height, Age, Team)
PG Chen Chih-chun 180 77 28 Yulon
PG Lee Hsueh-lin 175 75 21 Yulon
PG Wang Chih-chun 180 75 23 Dacin
PG Chen Shih-nian 180 76 21 Taiwan Beer
SG Chou Shih-yuan 190 80 22 Yulon
SG Yang Yu-min 180 73 26 ETSN
SF Yang Che-yi 193 85 27 Videoland
SF Yang Chin-min 188 81 21 Bank of Taiwan
PF Lee Chi-yi 198 88 27 Videoland
PF Tien Lei 202 88 22 Dacin
C Wu Dai-hao 202 100 20 ETSN
C Tsun Wen-din 202 90 21 Yulon

Head coach: Lee Yun-kwang(Yulon)
Assistants: Chou Hai-jung(VL), Shiu Tsun-chih(Yulon), Dong-fan Che-ter(Yulon)

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Chou Hai-jung named Videoland head coach

Videoland announced today assistant coach Chou Hai-jung will be the new head coach, while former head coach Chung Chi-mun is "promoted" to the team's Technical Advisor. Of course, it means Chung actually is fired as a head coach.

Chou Hai-jung, currently work with Taiwan NT as an assistant, becomes the latest SBL head coach from the "younger generation". All six SBL head coaches are under 41 years-old, with the youngest one -- ETSN's Lee Yun-hsiang -- only 34.

A former NT SG/SF, Chou has been an assistant both with Videoland (formerly known as BCC Mars) and Taiwan NT for a couple years. It will be interesting to see what he can do with this veteran team.

SBL Head Coach
Team, Coach, Age
Taiwan Beer, Chou Da-tsun, 41
Videoland, Cho Hai-jung, 41
Yulon, Lee Yun-kwang, 37
Bank of Taiwan, Wei Chen-ming, 37
Dacin, Liu Jia-fa, 36
Lee Yun-hsiang, 34

Monday, August 29, 2005

Injury bug hits Taiwan NT

Taiwan NT comes back to Taiwan after a long and draining training tour that takes them to three countries -- U.S., Korea, China. The trip takes its toll. Taiwan NT lost Chen Hsin-an to knee injury. Also, Chang Chi-feng and Ho Sho-jen are possible missing the Asian Championship due to same injuries. Lin Chi-jay is also out of the lineup because of knee operation and rehab.

All this means Taiwan NT has lost four wing players. Moreover, almost every player on the team has some injuries because of playing year-round without rest. Most of these players are still in college, which means they played in the SBL, the college league, the Jones Cup and all these warmup games, non-stop.

Looking back, CTBA's decision to make Taiwan NT play as many games as possible may backfire a little bit because at this moment there are only 11 players on the roster. Wu Dai-hao will join the team in Qatar after enrolling at BYU-Hawaii and complete the 12-man roster.

Taiwan NT finished 5-1 in a five-team friendly tournament in China, playing 6 games in 7 days. Before that, they played 17 games in 24 days, including nine games in nine days in the Jones Cup, where they finished runner-up with a 7-2 record, and eight games in nine days in Korea (3W-5L).

Before the Korea trip, the team spent one month in U.S., where they played with local college teams and pro teams. Also, they played two games in Southern California Pro League.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

A bad news for Chen and Taiwan NT

It's a bad day for Chen Hsin-an and Taiwan NT. Chen re-injured his left knee late in the first quarter of the Taiwan NT-Jiangsu friendly game last night in Quanzhou, Fujian province, China and will be out of the Asian Championship.

Chen was rushed to the hospital and took the MRI test. The results didn't look good as he probably tore his left knee ligament again. Chen tear his left knee ligament in the final game of the SBL Finals in May and thus sat out the Jones Cup. He joined Taiwan NT in Korea and played well in the first three games in China.

Ironically, this will be the third time Chen, regarded the best player in Taiwan, misses the Asian Championship. And this is the second time he is injured in China prior to the Asian Championship.

In 2001, Chen injured his eye in a warmup game in China and almost lost his eyesight. He missed the Asian Championship in Shanghai that year. In 2003, Chen was suspended by CTBA because he withdrew from the NT training camp and went to the Sacramento Kings training camp the previous year.

Till now, Chen only played for Taiwan NT in 1999 Asian Championship when he was a rookie on the team. Without him, Taiwan NT's hope to make the final eight doesn't look good.

Taiwan NT lost to Jiangsu 103-100 last night. Tsun Wen-din had 24 points and 13 rebounds. Yang Yu-min had 18. Jiangsu was led by Zhang Chen's 22 and Yi Li's 19.

Taiwan NT suddenly looks short-handed. They already lost Lin Chi-jay to knee injury, will be without Chen, and probably loses Chang Chi-feng also to knee injury. That means Taiwan NT will go to Doha without three of its best SF/SG. If Wu Dai-hao goes to BYU-Hawaii, he'll also out of the lineup.

Head coach Lee Yun-kwang tries to look at the bright side and says he's still confident the team has enough good players and will do well in Doha. For Taiwanese fans, all they can do is trust Coach Lee and the team, and pray for Chen.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Lopes, Akana and Benoit will coach in NIKE All-Taiwan Camp

The first edition of NIKE All-Taiwan Camp will take place in Taipei from August 24-27. 60 players from age 14 to 18 will be coached by Merv Lopes, Jarinn Akana and David Benoit in the camp.

Merv Lopes, former Chaminade head coach and the director of Pete Newell’s Big Man Camp for more than 13 years, was best known for leading “the greatest upset in college basketball history”. He led little-known NAIA school Chaminade shocked No.1 Virginia in 1982. Virginia featured All-American center Ralph Sampson and was ranked No.1 nationally at the time.

Jarinn Akana, 34, enters his third season with the Denver Nuggets and the second as an assistant coach. A natve of Molokai, Hawaii, Akana played for coach Riley Wallace in the Unversity of Hawaii from 1991-94. He began hs collegiate career in 1988 at BYU-Hawaii. Akana was an assistant at Hawaii from 1995-97 before joining BYU-Hawai coaching staff from 1997-2000.

6-8 David Benoit is an eight-year NBA veteran and enjoys successful professional career in Asia. He played in China and Japan later in his career after short stints in Spain and Israel. Benoit spent most of his NBA career with Utah Jazz, complementing Karl Malone and John Stockton.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Taiwan NT 3-0 in Fuzhou

Taiwan NT wins all three games in the first part of a five-team tournament in Fuzhou, China. Chen Hsin-an, coming off a knee injury, scored 64 points in three wins.

Taiwan NT uses the tourney as the final tune-up before the upcoming Asian Championship in Doha, Qatar. Coaching staff reiterates the outcome of the games are secondary, the main focus is to stay healthy and keep the team focused and in good condition.

Also, Jiangsu and Liaoning didn’t send their best players to the tournament, as better players are in senior and U-21 national teams right now.

Aug. 21 Taiwan 114-107 Jiangsu
Chen Hsin-an and yang Yu-min had 19 points each. Zhang Chen led Jiangsu with 39 points. Yi Li and Meng Da, both joined the team from U-21 NT, scored 26 and 13 respectively.

Videoland beat Liaoning 67-60 in the second game.

Aug. 20 Taiwan 111-90 Videoland
Chen Hsin-an scored team-high 29 points, making 6 of 10 three-point shots. Taiwan NT came back with better shooting touch in the first game, making 18 three-pointers. Chen Shih-nian had 16 points while tang Che-yi had 13. Tien Lei had 11 points. Lai Kuo-hong led VL with 21 points. Hong Chi-chao, who transferred to VL from Yulon, had 19 points.

Aug. 19 Taiwan 77-74 Liaoning
Taiwan NT rallied from a 28-42 deficit in the upset win. Tien Lei led the team with 18 points. Tsun Wen-din had 17 points. Chen Hsin-an had 8 points. Taiwan NT shot only 4 for 37 from three-point territory.

All teams will be off today. Games resumes tomorrow in Chuanzhou, Fujian province with Fujian SBS replacing Liaoning. Three other teams will be the same – Taiwan NT, Videoland and Jiangsu Dragons.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Sina pulls out of SBL

Sina shockingly announced this afternoon that it will pull out of the SBL (Super Basketball League) and start looking for corporations to take over the team. SBL, which is entering its third season, will have only six teams left after Sina dropping out.

Team delegate Tien Zen-jun announced the news in the press conference. Sina owner Daniel Chiang, who took over Sina five years ago from Hong-kuo, is in China now but made the decision after a long talk with Tien on the phone.

Tien cited several reasons about Sina's decision, including CTBA's inability to improve Taiwanese basketball environment and ETSN damaged market balance by signing Chen Hsin-an to a three-year, 15 million contract.

He said Sina will be glad to see interested corporation take over the team. If no company is interested, Sina will then look for place its players and transfer contratcs to other SBL teams. It will try to send players to weaker teams first in order to create parity in the league. If all fails, Sina will probably keep the team intact and opt to play in the second division.

12 of 18 Sina players are currently under contract, including veterans Lo Shin-liang who has one year left and Liu Yi-hsiang with two years left. Meanwhile, Sina just signed two incoming college freshmen -- Chien Jia-hong and Zuo Tsun-kai (both graduated from Tsai-shin HS) -- this summer to four-year contracts.

Daniel Chiang took over Hong-kuo Elephants, which won three consecutive CBA (Taiwanese pro league, folded in 1999) champions, and changed its name to Sina Lions. Sina played in China's CBA during 2001-2003.

According to Sina management, Chiang spent more than 200 million NTD on the team in five years. Sina tried to cut down team salaries before the start of last season by releasing a couple veterans -- Chou Jun-san, Huang Chun-hsiung and Hsiung Jen-jen -- and entered the so-called "rebuilding phase" by signing rookies.

Suddenly, Sina turned itself from the oldest team in the league to almost the youngest within a couple months. It paid a price by going young, finishing dead last in the league with a 3-27 record. It's hard to imagine just one year ago Sina met Yulon in the SBL Finals.

Obviously Daniel Chiang doesn't want to invest his money on a Taiwanese basketball team anymore. He is interested in Chinese basketball more since his business , Sina.com (Chiang is ex-president of Sina.com and still a minority owner), is based in China and is arguably the biggest protal site in China. Observers think his reasoning on pulling out of Taiwanese basketball is just an excuse.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Taiwan NT 3-5 in Korea

Taiwan NT lost the last two warmup games in Korea with a 90-82 loss to LG and a 80-69 loss to SBS. In all, Taiwan NT finished 3-5 in Korea, winning the first three before losing five straight. It will leave for Fujian, China for a five team tournament.

Tsun Wen-din topped the SBS game with 18 points. Chen Hsin-an had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Tien Lei and Chen Chih-chun each had 10 points.

Obviuosly Taiwan NT is fatigued, playing 17 games in the last 24 days. They played nine games in nine days in the Jones Cup, where they finished runner-up, rested for a few days before playing another eight games in nine days in Korea.

But there are more warmup games, six games in seven days, waiting for them. Taiwan NT will enter a five-team tournament in Fujian, China, where they will face Jiangsu Dragons, Liaoning Hunters and Fujian SBS from China's CBA and Videoland from Taiwan. Videoland will be joined by some players from other SBL teams because there are s couple VL players on Taiwan NT.

**Five-team tourney schedule:

Aug. 19 (Fuzhou, Fujian province)
Liaoning-Taiwan NT
Jiangsu-VL

Aug. 20 (Fuzhou, Fujian province)
Taiwan NT-VL
Liaoning-Jiangsu

Aug. 21 (Fuzhou, Fujian province)
Liaoning-VL
Jiangsu-Taiwan NT

Aug. 23
Taiwan NT-VL (Quanzhou, Fujian province)
Fujian SBS-Jiangsu

Aug. 24 (Quanzhou, Fujian province)
Jiangsu-Taiwan NT
Fujian SBS-VL

Aug. 25 (Quanzhou, Fujian province)
Fujian SBS-Taiwan NT
Jiangsu-VL

**Taiwan NT in Korea, 3W-5L
8/6 win 93-71 Sanmu
8/7 win 74-72 Korea World University Games NT
8/9 win 81-70 Chooang University
8/10 loss 74-90 SK
8/11 loss 68-69 ET Land
8/12 loss 83-88 Korea NT
8/13 loss 82-90 LG
8/14 loss 69-80 SBS

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Taiwan NT lost to Korea NT, 88-83

Three costly turnovers in the last minute ruined the warmup game for Taiwan NT, who lost to Korea NT 88-83 yesterday. Taiwan NT had three consecutive losses after winning the first three games in South Korea.

But head coach Lee Yun-kwang felt good about the competitive and tight game. Top players Chen Hsin-an, who had 20 points, and Tien Lei (19 points) were catching up after sitting out the Jones Cup. Center Tsun Wen-din had 18 points while shooting guard Yang Yu-min had 14.

Still, Korea NT was without two of its better players -- center Ha Seung-jin and forward Bang Sung-yoon. Ha and Bang will join the team later and will definitely make Korea NT much stronger.

Taiwan NT will face LG and SBS, both KBL pro teams, in the last two games before leaving for Fujiang, China for a four team tournament.

VC visits Taiwan, T-Mac will follow

New Jersey Nets forward/guard Vince Carter visits Taiwan for an NIKE promotional tour, which is his second trip to Taiwan. adidas Taiwan also announced Tracy McGrady, Vince's cousin, will visit Taiwan on September 1st. It will also be T-Mac's second trip to the island country.

Carter's Taiwan tour in 2001 was a huge success. Fans were crazy about his acrobatic dunks and friendliness. VC will visits underprivileged kids this afternoon and attend a three-on-three tournament in the evening.

McGrady first visited Taiwan in 1999 for adidas Asian Streetball Finals in Taipei.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Taiwan NT lost two straight to KBL pro team

Inchon ET Land Black Slamers beat Taiwan NT 69-68 yesterday. According to a report of Central News Agency(Taiwan), Taiwan NT will play eight games in Korea, which means they may add one more game on the schedule.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

First loss in Korea for Taiwan NT

Taiwan NT lost to SK Knights 90-74 and suffered the first loss in the seven-game Korea trip although it led by nine at halftime. Taiwan NT is now 3-1. Chen Hsin-an led the team with 18 points. Tsun Wen-din had 17.

SK, the first KBL team Taiwan NT encountered in the trip, pulled away with a 29-12 third quarter.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Chou Shih-yuan leads Taiwan past Chooang Univ.

Chou Shih-yuan had a team-high 17 points and led Taiwan NT beat Chooang University 81-70 in the third of seven Korean warmup games. Taiwan NT is now 3-0 in the tour and will face KBL's SK today.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Taiwan NT escapes on Chen's winner

Taiwan NT edged Korea's WUG Team 74-72 in the second warmup game yesterday on Chen Hsin-an's baseline turnaround jumper with 4 seconds left. In the extra fifth period, Taiwan led 22-19. Taiwan is now 2-0 in the seven-game warmup trip.

Tsun Wen-din had 16 points to lead all 12 players played. Chen Hsin-an and Chou Shih-yuan scored 11 points each. Tien Lei had 10 while Yang Che-yi added 9.

Taiwan NT coaching staff did not like the fact Taiwan NT only made five threes in the game, but they were satisfied that the team kept its turnovers under 10.

Julian Kim of Korea WUG Team, which left for Turkey for the World University Games after the game, scored 16 points.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Taiwan NT beat Sanmu in first warmup game in Korea

Min-shen Daily reported that Taiwan NT beat Korea's military team Sanmu 93-71 in the first of seven warmup games in Korea, which is for the preparation for the upcoming Asian Championship. The game was extended for a fifth quarter after regulation time. Taiwan trailed 20-22 in the extra 10 minutes.

Yang Yu-min led Taiwan NT with 16 points. Tien Lei and Chen Hsin-an both played for the first time in Taiwan NT uniform this year and scored 14 points each. Center Tsun Wen-din had 8 points.

** Taiwan NT center/forward Wu Dai-hao will enroll in BYU-Hawaii (NCAA Division II) this fall as a transfer student. Wu should have three years left in his eligibility. Yuta Tabuse, the first Japanese player in the NBA, and Philippines' star player Asi Taulava also attended BYU-Hawaii.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Chen Hsin-an leaves Yulon to sign with ETSN for three years

The news shocked everyone. Chen Hsin-an, Taiwan's No. 1 basketball player, left Yulon and signed with ETSN for three years, 15 million NTD (480,000 USD). The contract doesn't look much but already make Chen the highest-paid athlete in Taiwan.

Chen Hsin-an, who joined Yulon in 2000, became the second player to leave Yulon since combo guard Hong Chi-chao joined Videoland one month ago.

ETSN doesn't plan to stop. It's going to pursuit other big name players like Ho Sho-jen of Taiwan Beer and Yang Chin-min of Bank of Taiwan. All this shows ETSN's determination to be a force in Taiwanese basketball by spending big. Whether it's good or bad for Taiwanese basketball scene, no one is sure.

In Taiwan, any team who has some money to throw around will definitely get those players they want, because most teams don't sign professional contracts with players. Sometimes it's only an oral agreement, and sometimes it's only a simple written agreement.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Taiwan NT to train in Korea and China

-- Taiwan NT will hit the road again after the Jones Cup, going to Korea and China for training tour to complete the final preparation for the Asian Championship.

Korea Tour
August 6-August 16, Seven games
opponents: Sanmu, Chooang University, Korean WUG Team, LG(KBL), SK(KBL), Korean NT(2 games)

China Tour (A four-team tournament)
August 17-August 27
opponents: Videoland(Tawan), Jiangsu, Liaoning
Will play a round robin schedule in Fuzhou and Chuanzhou respectively.

-- Lin Chi-jay confirmed he will be out of Taiwan NT lineup in the Asian Championship in order to nurse his knee injury. Lin will be out of action before the end of the year.

-- Charlie Brock, head coach of the Springfield College(Mass.), will conduct a coaching clinic in Taipei from August 15-19.

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Jones Cup Final Day: Taiwan NT beat Korea to finish runner-up

All-Tournament Team selected by Taiwanese press
G Abdulrahman Ali, Qatar
G Terrance Johnson, USA-Passing Lane
F Steffon Bradford, USA-Passing Lane
F Pavel Ulyanko, Russia-Samara
C Tsun Wen-din, Taiwan

Results:
Russia-Samara 61-55 Qatar (26-27)
Samara: Ulyanko 17p, Bartunov 10p, Ponosov 3p+15rb
Qatar: O. Khamis 12p, Abdulla 11p+6rb, M.A. Ali 11rb, Abdulrahman 10p+10rb

Japan 87-69 India (47-39)
Japan: T. Onishi 20p+10rb, T. Ishizaki 16p, T. Ito 14p+8rb
India: Rai 17p, J. Singh 16p+12rb+6blk+4s, Riyazuddin 12p, T. Singh 11p+5a

Kazakhstan 88-77 Australia-AIS (37-42)
Kazakhstan: Shpeht 19p, Gilyarzutdinov 17p, Nechaev 11p, Pononmarev 10p+7rb, Vdovin 10p, Lopatin 10p
AIS: Baynes 16p, Weigh 15p, Kersten 12p, Ingles 11p

USA-Passing Lane 99-96 Philippines (53-45)
Passing Lane: T. Johnson 33p(9-12 3PT), M. Douthit 21p+6a, C. Okosa 17p+9rb, S. Bradford 12p+7a
Philippines: Taulava 23p+7rb, Hontiveros 13p, Helterbrand 12p, Cablay 10p, Miranda 9p+5a, Raymundo 8p, Dela Cruz 8p, Salvador 8p

Taiwan 84-73 Korea (32-23)
Taiwan: Yang Yu-min 21, Chang Chi-feng 19p, Chen Chih-chun 17p+6a, Tsun Wen-din 7p+9rb+3blk
Korea: Julian Kim 27p+14rb+3blk, Yang Hee-jong 19p, Kim Yong-hwan 10p

Standings:
1. USA-Passing Lane 9-0
2. Taiwan 7-2
3. Philippines 6-3
4. Qatar 6-3
5. Russia-Samara 6-3
6. Korea 4-5
7. Kazakhstan 3-6
8. Japan 2-7
9. Australia-AIS 2-7
10. India 0-10

USA-Passing Lane edges Philippines, wins Jones Cup title

USA-Passing Lane, who has already clinched the 2005 Jones Cup title yesterday, beat Philippines 99-96 in the finale and came away with a perfect 9-0 record. But the final game was not easy as Philippines almost forced the game into overtime until team leader Asi Taulava missed the desperation three-point shot.

Passing Lane came out strong as expected and led by as many as 19 points. But Philippines was too experienced to let the game become a blowout. Taulava, who made two threes in the first half, attacked the rim repeatedly in the second half and led Philippines' furious comeback.

With Philippiines on their tails, Marcus Douthit made a turnaround jumper with 1:23 left to make the score 94-91. Taulava and Mike Williams made a free-throw each before Anthony Helterbrand made a twisting layup to cut the deficit down to one point with 56.2 seconds to go.

Ben Walker and Jordan Salvador traded basket as Passing Lane still led 97-96 with 22 seconds left. But Passing Lane broke down a Philippines full-court press in the next play as Steffon Bradford jammed home the most crucial basket of the game.

Philippines didn't give up. Coach Reyes called timeout to set up the final play. Taulava caught the inbound pass and faked a high post screen before launching the desperation three-pointer that bounced out.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Jones Cup Day 8: Tsun's almost-perfect game leads Taiwan past Philippines

Center Tsun Wen-din shot 10 for 10 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line en route to a 28 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 blocks performance and helped Taiwan NT edge Philippines 82-76. Tsun blocked Asi Taulava's layup with less than 30 seconds to go to seal the victory for the host.

Taiwan, without the service of big man Wu Dai-hao who was injured, was hot from the outside and opened the game with a 23-9 run. Led by Taulava and Hontiveros, Philippines made the final push in the last four minutes to cut the deficit down to four points but Tsun's timely block saved the day.

In another close game, Takanori Onishi made a turn-around winning jumper with 34.8 seconds left as Japan finally get a win in the tournament. Japan beat AIS 71-70 and is now 1-7 with only one game left.

Japan 71-70 Australia-AIS (35-29)
Japan: T. Onishi 31p(13-20 FG)+8rb, T. Ito 13p
AIS: S. Weigh 32p(13-21 FG)+8rb, R. Kersten 12p+6rb+4a, J. Ingles 9p+7rb

USA-Passing Lane 105-76 India (49-35)
Passing Lane: T. Johnson 26p, S. Bradford 14p, C. Okosa 13p, R. Randle 13p, Mike Williams 8p+16rb
India: Riyazuddin 21p, T. Singh 14p, Rai 13p, J. Singh 11p

Qatar 95-55 Kazakhstan (47-28)
Qatar: B.A. Mohammed 15p, O. Khamis 15p, O.A. Salem 14p
Kazakhstan: A. Ponomarev 13p, R. Muravyov 12p

Russia-Samara 77-70 Korea (39-38)
Samara: P. Ulyanko 27p, V. Lirhodey 13p
Korea: Joo Tae-Soo 25p+7rb+4a, Julian Kim 13p+13rb+4blk, Kang Byoung-Hyun 12p, Yang Hee-Jong 11p

Taiwan 82-76 Philippines (45-42)
Taiwan: Tsun Wen-din 28p(10-10 FG, 7-8 FT)+10rb+5a+6blk, Lee Chi-yi 13p, Chen Chih-chun 13p
Philippines: A. Taulava 27p+16rb, Hontiveros 15p, Helterbrand 11p+9rb

Standings:
USA-Passing Lane 8-0
Taiwan 6-2
Philippines 6-2
Qatar 6-2
Russia-Samara 5-3
Korea 4-4
Australia 2-6
Kazakhstan 2-6
Japan 1-7
India 0-8

Friday, July 29, 2005

Jones Cup Day 7: USA-Passing Lane edges Qatar to stay undefeated

Australia-AIS 112-74 India (67-38)
AIS: Weigh 18p+3s, Kersten 19p, Miller 11p+5a, Ogilvy 11p+7rb, Ingers 9p+9rb
India: Rai 19p, Riyazuddin 18p, J. Singh 14p+6rb

Korea 91-73 Japan (36-42)
Korea: Tang Hee-Jong 17p+9rb, Joo Tae-Soo 17p+12rb, Lee Kwang-Jae 16p
Japan: Ito 16p, Onishi 15p

USA-Passing Lane 93-91 Qatar (42-30)
Passing Lane: Okosa 19p+17rb+7blk, Douthit 18p, T. Johnson 18p, Dradford 16p+9rb
Qatar: Abdulrahman 23p, Daoud 22p, Abdulla 12p+8rb

Philippines 91-78 Russia-Samara (52-33)
Philippines: Hontiveros 19p, K. Williams 12p+6rb, Cablay 10p, Adducul 10p
Samara: Petukhov 11p, Zelenskiy 11p, Konovalov 11p

Taiwan 86-66 Kazakhstan (48-34)
Taiwan: Yang Che-yi 17p, Lee Hseuh-lin 12p, Tsun Wen-din 8p+13rb+4blk
Kazakhstan: Keshikevich 12p+9rb, Yargarliev 10+6rb, Ponomarev 10p+9rb

Standings:
USA-Passing Lane 7-0
Philippines 6-1
Qatar 5-2
Taiwan 5-2
Russia-Samara 4-3
Korea 4-3
Kazakhstan 2-5
Australia-AIS 2-5
Japan 1-6
India 0-7

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Jones Cup Day 6: Qatar beat Taiwan 89-84

Philippines 76-72 Japan (38-35)
Philippines: A. Taulava 15p+7rb, A. Dela Cruz 14p+6rb, D. Miranda 13p+7rb, A. Helterbrand 10p
Japan: Y. Kagami 13, T. Ito 11p T. Sato 10p, A. Ota 10p

Korea 84-76 Australia-AIS (42-37)
Korea: Julian Kim 18p+9rb+3s, Joo Tae-Soo 15p+5rb, Song Chang-Moo 15p, Lee Kwang-Jae 15p
AIS: R. Kersten 15p, A. Baynes 11p+8rb, S. Weigh 12p, J. Ingers 11p, A. Ogilvy 10p+9rb, P. Mills 7p+4rb

Kazakhstan 101-73 India (45-42)
Kazakhstan: R. Yargarvliev 35p+9rb, R. Muravyov 19p+7rb, R. Gilyazutdinov 11p+7rb
India: T. Rai 25p, J. Singh 17p+11rb, T. Singh 15p

USA-Passing Lane 101-70 Russia-Samara (55-29)
Passing Lane: S. Bradford 26p+9rb, T. Johnson 18p, R. Randle 13p, B. Walker 10p, M. Goldman 6p
Samara: A. Kotishevsky 10p, V. Livhodey 10p

Qatar 89-84 Taiwan (48-51)
Qatar: A.T. Ali 19p+6rb, Abdulrahman 15p, Daoud 14p, M.S. Abdulla 13p+13rb
Taiwan: Lee Hseuh-lin 23p, Tsun Wen-din 21p+13rb+4blk+3s, Yang Che-yi 11p

Standings:
USA-Passing Lane 6-0
Qatar 5-1
Philippines 5-1
Taiwan 4-2
Russia-Samara 4-2
Korea 3-3
Kazakhstan 2-4
Australia-AIS 2-4
Japan 0-6
India 0-6

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Jones Cup Day 5 - No more undefeated: Philippines and Samara shocked

Halfway thru the tournament, things started to get interesting. After two upsets, top-heavy Jones Cup standing became a long-jam. Philippines and Samara are no more undefeated as Taiwan NT upset Russia-Samara 68-66 while Philippines was shocked 76-80 by AIS -- basically a junior team.

Under the single round robin format, USA-Passing Lane is now officially the one and only favorite.

With a little help from the refs (so-called homecourt advantage, isn't it?) and redhot shooting of Chang Chih-feng and Yang Yu-min, Taiwan NT came away with an important win. Taiwan NT deserved credit for their defensive intensity for the whole 40 minutes. However the outcome wasn't set before Samara missed two potential winning three-pointers in the last 8 seconds.

Philippines' loss was a shock. Steve Weigh of AIS knocked down a game-deciding three-pointer with 35.4 seconds left to increased the lead to five points.

Coming off a four-game losing streak, AIS didn't lay down and die versus the PBA All-Stars. On contrary, Philippines doesn't look like a team who won four straight. Philippines' head was never in the game until the final five minutes. Their 24 turnovers hurt even more.

The Passing Lane-Korea game became a three-point shootout as both teams shot over 40% from three. Passing Lane made 14 three-pointers while Koreans made 15. But Passing Lane dominated the paint just like the previous four games. For the frist time in the tourney, Korea's defense looked helpless.


Kazakhstan 100-78 Japan (50-45)
Kazakhstan: A. Shpht 33p+5rb, R. Gulyazutdinov 21p+12rb, R. Yargavliev 16p+8rb, I Nechaev 12p
Japan: K. Nakagawa 21p+6rb, A. Ota 16p, T. Ito 14p, T. Onishi 13p+7rb

Qatar 108-64 India (42-32)
Qatar: Daoud 21p+7rb, Abdulrahman 20p, M. Salaheldin 17p, E.A. Saeed 13p
India: Sridhar 18p, T. Singh 16p

Australia-AIS 80-76 Philippines (38-39)
AIS: R. Kersten 21p, P. Mills 14p, A. Baynes 13p, S. Weigh 10p
Philippines: R. Adducul 15p+7rb, A. Taulava 14p, A. Helterbrand 14p, A. Dela Cruz 11p

USA-Passing Lane 110-88 Korea (56-50)
Passing Lane: T. Johnson 29p+5rb+4a, S. Bradford 22p+6rb, M. Douthit 19p, B. Walker 12p
Korea: Julian Kim 19p+11rb, Lee Kwang-Jae 19p, No Kyoung-Suk 17p

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Jones Cup Day 4: Qatar beat Korea with brilliant defense

Three of five games of the day ended in lopsided results, which is why Qatar-Korea game the best game of the day. Qatar took Korea's game away with its solid defense, no matter it's man-to-man or zone defense. Korea's best player C Joo Tae-Soo was limited to 11 points.

Philippines' Asi Taulava turned in the best performance by sinking all 11 of his shots en route to game-high 29 points, although he only made 7 of 15 free-throws.

Russia-Samara 72-62 Kazakhstan (35-35)
Samara: O. Bartunov 16p, P. Ulyanko 13p, Y. Strelkin 13p, V. Konovalov 7p+11rb
Kazakhstan: R. Yargavliev 15p, A. Shpht 12p, R. Muravyov 10p

USA-Passing Lane 105-83 Japan (48-44)
Passing Lane: S. Bradford 22p, C. Okosa 18p+9rb, T. Johnson 14p, R. Brown 12p, M. Goldman 12p, M. Douthit 11p+10rb
Japan: T. Ito 20p, T. Ishida 13p, K. Nakagawa 11p+6rb

Philippines 107-69 India (42-37)
Philippines: A. Taulava 29p(11-11 FG, 7-15 FT)+6rb+4a, R. Adducul 18p(8-11 FG), A. Helterbrand 17p(8-14 FG), D. Hontiveros 11p, A. dela Cruz 10p, K. Williams 10p, K. Raymundo 7p+12rb
India: Sridha 22p, T.Singh 13p+6rb, J. Singh 11p+6rb

Qatar 66-56 Korea (28-25)
Qatar: Daoud 19p, E.A. Saeed 14p
Korea: Lee Kwang-Jae 20p, Kang Byung-Hyun 15p+7rb+6a, Joo Tae-Soo 11p

Taiwan 95-82 Australia-AIS (48-38)
Taiwan: Tsun Wen-din 16p, Wu Dai-hao 13p+5rb, Chang Chih-feng 13p, Chou Shih-yuan 12p, Yang Che-yi 11p
AIS: S. Weigh 17p, A.Baynes 16p, J. Ingers 12p, R. Kersten 11p

Standings:
Philippines 4-0
Russia-Samara 4-0
USA-Passing Lane 4-0
Taiwan 3-1
Qatar 3-1
Korea 2-2
India 0-4
Japan 0-4
Australia-AIS 0-4
Kazakhstan 0-4

Monday, July 25, 2005

Jones Cup Day 3: Philippines, Samara, Passing Lane top standing

Led by powerful frontlines Steffon Bradford and Marcus Douthit, who combined 47 points and 26 rebounds, USA-Passing Lane beat Kazakhstan and tops the standings with 3-0 along with Philippines and Russia-Samara. Philippines wins another close game by beating Korea 79-75. Samara once again fired from outside and cruised to a 93-64 vctory over Australia's AIS.

Qatar 78-69 Japan (46-35)
Qatar: E.A. Saeed 24p+11rb, S. Abdulrahman 21p
Japan: K. Nakagawa 23p+7rb+5a, T. Ito 16p, T. Sato 11p

Russia-Samara 93-64 Australia-AIS (49-35)
Samara: Y. Strelkin 18p, O. Bartunov 14p, D. Ponosov 11p+6rb
AIS: S. Weigh 13p, M. Deric 13p, A. Baynes 10p, J. Ingers 10p

USA-Passing Lane 88-78 Kazakhstan (42-29)
Passing Lane: S. Bradford 26p+13rb, M. Douthit 21p+13rb+3blk, R. Johnson 12p
Kazakhstan: A. Ponomerov 24p+6rb, R. Gilyazutdinov 20p+11rb, R. Muravyov 11p

Philippines 79-75 Korea (35-34)
Philippines: A. Taulava 14p+7rb(6-8 FG), C. Brandon 11p, A. Helterbrand 11p+3a, D. Hontiveros 9p, K. Raymundo 9p
Korea: Joo Tae-Soo 23p+6rb(8-13 FG), Yim Hwi-Jong 15p, Yang Hee-Jong 13p

Taiwan 111-70 India (66-32)

Standings:
USA-Passing Lane 3-0
Russia-Samara 3-0
Philippines 3-0
Korea 2-1
Taiwan 2-1
Qatar 2-1
Japan 0-3
Kazakhstan 0-3
AIS 0-3
India 0-3

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Jones Cup Day 2: Passing Lane slams Taiwan NT

With four key players out of the Jones Cup lineup, Taiwan NT couldn't keep up with the Americans. Passing Lane was not only bigger and stronger, its outside shooting was awesome. Taiwan NT, who was known for its three-point shooting, shot 13-for-36(36%) behind the three-point line, while Passing lane made 12 of 29(41%). Also, Taiwan NT was pounded on the boards, trailing 31-59 in the category.

Steffon Bradford and Terrance Johnson led Passing Lane with 17 each. Yang Yu-ming was Taiwan's top scorer with 16.

Taiwan's Chen Hsin-an, Tien Lei, Lin Chi-jay and Chang Chih-feng all will sit out the Jones Cup due to injury.

Passing Lane 95-74 Taiwan (53-35)
Passing Lane: Terrance Johnson 17p, Steffon Bradford 17p+9rb, Marcus Douthit 16p+10rb, Roosevelt Brown 16p, Chuckwunike Okosa 6p+14rb
Taiwan: Yang Yu-ming 16p, Yang Chin-ming 15p, Tsun Wen-din 11p+9rb+4blk

Standings
Korea 2-0
Philippines 2-0
Passing Lane 2-0
Russia 2-0
Taiwan 1-1
Qatar 1-1
India 0-2
Japan 0-2
AIS 0-2
Kazakhstan 0-2

Jones Cup Day 2: Philippines gets 2nd win, loses Miller

Philippines escaped a late Kazakhstan rally with a 82-74 win to go 2-0. The bad news is they lost All-PBA First-Teamer Willie Miller to a severe sprained ankle for the tourney. Anthony Helterbrand led Philippines with 17 points. Anthony De la Cruz, who had 11 points and 9 rebounds, pulled down a crucial offensive rebound in the final 30 seconds to secure the victory.

A lot of Filipinos who work in Taiwan showed up to field support for their national team, the first REAL national team visiting Taiwan since the 1998 Centennial Team. The 1998 team made Jones Cup stadium looked like a Philippines home court with thousands of Filipino fans cheering and waving flags in the stands.

Korea 92-73 India (43-26)
Korea: Joo Tae-Soo 24p+13rb, No Kyoung-Suk 21p+5rb+4s, Sonh Chang-Moo 12p+6rb, Julian Kim 9p+8rb
India: T. Rai 22p, Jagdeep Singh 14p+9rb, T. Singh 12p

Samara 67-50 Japan (35-25)
Samara: P. Ulyanko 24p
Japan: Takaki Ishida 14p, Takanori Onishi 10p

Qatar 80-70 AIS (40-35)
Qatar: Daoud 24p, S. Abdulrahman 22p+8rb
AIS: Patrick Mills 18p+5rb+5s, Aron Baynes 14p, Stephen Weigh 10p

Philippines 82-74 Kazakhstan (45-43)
Philippines: A. Helterbrand 17p(5-8 FG)+5a, R. Adducul 16p+8rb, A. De la Cruz 11p+9rb, A. Taulava 14p
Kazakhstan: I. Nechaev 19p(5 3-PT), A. Ponomarev 14p+7rb, S. Vdovin 10p

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Jones Cup Day 1: Taiwan NT opens with win over Japan

Samara 107-76 India (56-32)
Samara: Ulyanko 17p, Mikheev 13p, Kiriyanov 12p, Kotishevskiy 12p, Petukhov 11p, Ponosov 11p, Strelkin 10p
India: S. Sridhar 13p, S. Ahmed 12p+6rb, T. Singh 12p, Riyazuddin 11p, Jagdeep Singh 10p

Korea 89-69 Kazahstan (43-41)
Korea: Julian Kim 21p+8rb+3blk, Joo Tae-Soo 17p+8rb, Lee Kwang-Jae 14p, Yang Hee-Jong 10p+7rb, No Kyoung-Suk 10p
Kazakhstan: Ponomarev 21p+10rb, Vdovin 17p

Passing Lanes 85-64 AIS (38-28)
Passing Lanes: Steffon Bradford 24p+6rb, Ryan Randle 11p, Tarrance Johnson 11p, Ben Walker 5p+11rb
AIS: Stephen Weigh 25p, Ryan Kersten 15p+5a, Patrick Mills 9p, Aron Baynes 8p+6rb

Taiwan 73-61 Japan (36-24)
Taiwan: Yang Yu-min 13p, Tsun Wen-din 11p+9rb+3a+3s, Yang Ching-min 10p
Japan: Takanori Onishi 13p+7rb, Takuya Sato 13p, Kazuyuki Nakagawa 8p+7rb+4a

Philippines 82-71 Qatar (47-29)
Philippines: Cablay Brandon 17p, A. Helterbrand 12p+6rb, D. Hontiveros 11p, R. Adducul 10p
Qatar: D.M. Daoud 19p, E.A. Saeed 11p+7rb, S. Abdulrahman 10p

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Taiwan Women's NT wins 2005 Jones Cup

Taiwan Women's NT wins the Jones Cup title for the fifth time in tournament history. The competetion level is questioned though. Russia sent its U-18 NT to the tourney. Japan sent its WUG NT, while Korea is conprised of amateur players. And Zhejiang features two American players -- Brandi Teamer (Virginia '05) and Jaclyn Johnson (Kansas '01) as their only and main weapon.


Standings:
1. Taiwan 5-0
2. New Zealand 4-1
3. Zhejiang 2-3
4. Korea 2-3
5. Russia 1-4
6. Japan 1-4

Results:
July 19
New Zealand 72-57 Russia
Japan 94-89 Zhejiang
Taiwan 101-50 Korea

July 20
Korea 68-66 Japan
New Zealand 78-67 Zhejiang
Taiwan 76-50 Russia

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Taiwan leads Jones Cup women's competition with 3-0

Undefeated Taiwan NT leads a six-team field with three wins halfway thru the 2005 Jones Cup women's competition which plays under a single round robin format.

Notes that will give you a clearer picture of the participating teams:

Taiwan and New Zealand: Full national team.
Russia: U-18 NT.
Zhejiang: A new team that will enter China's WCBA next season.
South Korea: Amateur League All-Star team.
Japan: World University Games national team.

Standings:
Taiwan 3-0, New Zealand 2-1, Zhejiang 2-1, South Korea 1-2, Russia 1-2, Japan 0-3

Results:
July 18
Russia 91-89 Japan
Zhejiang 83-58 South Korea
Taiwan 74-70 New Zealand

July 17
South Korea 78-73 Russia
New Zealand 110-71 Japan
Taiwan 91-75 Zhejiang

July 16
New Zealand 98-64 South Korea
Zhejiang 77-54 Russia
Taiwan 108-76 Japan

Friday, July 15, 2005

Jones Cup men's roster: Samara, Kazakhstan, Philippines

RUSSIA-SAMARA CSK VVS Men’s Basketball Team

Head Coach: KIM Oleg
Assistant Coach: Boris LIVANOV

4 Pavel ULYANKO 1979.04.06 204 95
6 Vladislav KONOVALOV 1974.05.02 202 100
8 Yaroslav STRELKIN 1973.07.14 202 98
9 Gennady ZELENSKIY 1982.09.25 185 80
11 Alexey KIRIYANOV 1981.04.20 206 100
23 Victor USKOV 1986.01.31 180 70
25 Oleg BARTUNOV 1985.03.19 197 90
37 Pavel MIKHEEV 1983.05.30 198 90
40 Valery LIRHODEY 1986.10.23 203 88
41 Alexey KOTISHEVSKIY 1985.04.04 190 81
Dmitry PONOSOV 1984.06.25
Andrey PETUKHOV 1986.06.17


KAZAKHSTAN National Men’s Basketball Team

Head Coach: Alexey YEROPKIN
Coach: Vitaliy STREBKOV

Roman MURAVYOV 1984.08.15 190 82
Ruslan GILYAZUTDINOV 1984.09.09 203 102
Anton PONOMAREV 1988.10.31 209 91
Rustam YARGAVLIEV 1986.12.20 193 83
Ivan NECHAEV 1980.12.09 185 78
Alexandr DERBUSH 1977.08.02 187 80
Vyacheslav PASHKEVICH 1980.07.29 202 90
Andrey SHPEHT 1976.01.31 190 80
Yegor BIRYULIN 1986.11.17 185 85
Vyacheslav ROSNOVSKIY 1975.05.22 200 85
Sergey VDOVIN 1982.04.06 202 95
Vitaliy LOPATIN 1981.07.02 187 75


PHILIPPINE PBA-PR National Men’s Basketball Team

Head Coach: Vincent P. REYES
Assistant Coach: Joseph Enrique UICHICO
Assistant Coach: Vincent K. FAVIS
Assistant Coach: Salvador Antonio CASTRO

Rommel ADDUCUL 1976.04.21 198 100
Jimmy Olmedo ALAPAG 1977.12.30 175 77
Nicholas BELASCO 1973.12.10 193 90
Yancy Rozal DE OCAMPO 1980.11.14 203 100
Anthony Bryan DELA CRUZ 1978.08.24 193 90
Anthony HELTERBRAND 1976.10.14 180 86
Donaldo HONTIVEROS 1977.01.01 187 85
Willie MILLER 1977.07.13 177 85
Dorian PENA 1977.10.12 198 105
Daniel Charles SEIGLE 1976.06.14 198 90
Pauliasi TAULAVA 1981.12.07 208 110
Kerby RAYMUNDO 1981.01.19 198 90

Jones Cup: Passing Lane Sports/AIS Roster

Passing Lane Sports(USA)

Head Coach: Jerry LAYTON

Shammgod WELLS 183 73
Terrance JOHNSON 196 95
Ben WALKER 188 99
Michael GOLDMAN 188 93
Ian BOYLAN 198 98
Anthony GLOVER 198 113
Ryan RANDLE 206 116
Brian ROBINSON 201 113
Steffon BRADFORD 201 109
Brian SIGAFOOS 213 113
Marcus DOUTHIT 211 109
Chukwunike OKOSA
Mike WILLIAMS 211 109


AUSTRALIA AIS Men’s Basketball Team

Head Coach: Martin CLARKE
Assistant Coach: Paul GORISS

4 Patrick MILLS 1988.08.11 181
5 Benjamin DOWDELL 201 90
6 Joseph INGLES 1987.10.02 199
7 Ryan KERSTEN 1986.04.21 183
8 Christopher MOLITOR 200 90
9 Zachary NATOLI 180 75
10 Jeffrey DOWDELL 1987.03.13 202
11 Stephen WEIGH 1987.02.28 199
12 Marko DERIC 1987.09.18 204
14 Andrew OGILVY 1988.06.17 206
21 Aron BAYNES 1986.12.09 207

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Jones Cup - Philippines National Team roster

Player, Height, Position, Birth Year, Team(College)

Rommel Adducul 198 F 1976 Ginebra
*Anthony "Jay-Jay" Helterbrand 183 G 1976 Ginebra (Kentucky State, NCAA Div-II)
Kerby Raymundo 200 C 1980 Purefoods
*Tony De la Cruz 193 F 1979 Shell (Cal-Irvine)
*Willie Miller 178 G - Talk N Text
Yancy de Ocampo 203 C 1979 Talk N Text
*Jimmy Alapag 178 G 1977 Talk N Text (Cal State - St. Bernardino, NCAA Div-II)
*Asi Taulava 206 C 1973 Talk N Text
*Donaldo "Dondon" Hontiveros 188 G 1977 San Miguel
*Nic Belasco 198 C 1973 San Miguel (College of Notre Dame, NCAA Div-III)
*Dorian Pena 198 C 1976 San Miguel
*Danny Seigle 198 F/G 1976 San Miguel (Wagner, NCAA Div-I)

Alternative: Enrico Villanueva 196 C 1980 Red Bull

* denotes Philippine-American(Phil-Am)

Monday, July 11, 2005

Jones Cup - Japan, Qatar and Korea Roster

JAPAN National Men’s Basketball Team

Head Coach: IKEUCHI, Yasuaki
Assistant Coach: YAMAMOTO, Akira

4 ITAKURA, Reina 1981.05.11 192 86
6 ISHIDA, Takaki 1982.09.25 186 82
5 NAKAGAWA, Kazuyuki 1982.06.06 180 76
7 ONISHI, Takanori 1983.04.03 195 97
8 MACHIDA, Yosuke 1983.04.04 197 90
9 ITO, Takuro 1983.08.24 182 77
10 SATO, Takuya 1983.08.25 197 110
11 GOYA, Takanori 1983.08.26 188 80
12 KAGAMI, Yuya 1984.01.24 193 89
13 OTA, Atsuya 1984.06.04 206 103
14 SUGATANI, Toru 1984.06.22 215 97
15 ISHIZAKI, Takumi 1984.07.06 187 80


QATAR National Men’s Basketball Team

Head Coach: Joseph Anthony STIEBING
Assistant Coach: Stacy Neal HALLOWELL
Assistant Coach: William Edgar BURGESS

1 Saad Abdulrahman ALI 1985.05.02 193 88
3 Khalid Masoud Al NASR 1980.09.10 175 75
9 Ali Turki ALI 1982.01.10 200 95
10 Yasseen Ismail MUSA 1980.08.12 203 95
11 Mohammed Orabi Al JABRI 1978.02.14 175 78
15 Omer Abdgader SALEM 1983.10.01 205 100
16 Malek Salem ABDULLA 1985.05.13 193 78
21 Khalid Suliman ABDI 1987.02.07 196 86
23 Erfan Ali SAEED 1983.12.20 198 90
24 Hashim Zaidan BSHER 1980.08.13 208 105
26 Mohammed SALAHELDIN 1985.08.04 207 88
27 Omer KHAMIS 1986.12.12 200 90
30 Baker Ahmad MOHAMMED 1986.08.11 197 88
31 Hammam Omer ISMAIL 1983.09.15 199 87
32 Mohammed Abdulla ALI 1987.02.02 190 86
34 Mohammed Seleem ABDULLA 1982.07.17 200 95


KOREA Men’s Basketball Team

Head Coach: JIN, Hyo-Joon
Assistant Coach: KIM, Seung-Hwan

4 KIM, Yong-Hwan 1984.07.05 195 88
5 YIM, Hwi-Jong 1985.02.27 183 82
6 NO, Kyoung-Suk 1983.10.20 187 80
7 KIM, Tae-Sul 1984.08.13 180 72
8 LEE, Kwang-Jae 1984.04.21 188 72
9 YANG, Hee-Jong 1984.05.11 193 90
10 CHO, Sung-Min 0983.12.23 190 82
11 PARK, Sang-Woo 1983.07.30 202 100
12 SONG, Chang-Moo 1982.12.20 207 97
13 JOO, Tae-Soo 1982.11.06 203 100
14 KANG, Byung-Hyun 1985.03.03 192 84
15 KIM, Julian 1982.01.16 200 93