Monday, March 28, 2005

SBL weekend report

Mar. 26
Videoland 83-70 Dacin
VL: Lee Chi-yi 17p+7rb+4a+4s, Yang Che-yi 13p, Lai Kuo-hong 16p
Dacin: Tien Lei 28p+16rb+5a, Chang Chi-feng 12p

Taiwan Beer 87-74 Sina
TB: Lin Chi-jay 40p(9-14 3PT), Ho Sho-jen 20p+6rb
Sina: Kao Li-min 17p+9rb

Mar. 27
Yulon 86-84 ETSN
Yulon: Chou Shih-yuan 21p, Chen Hsin-an 18p+6rb+6a, Tsun Wen-din 13p+8rb+4blk
ETSN: Wu Dai-hao 37p+9rb+3blk, Wu Cheng-dao 15p, Yang Yu-min 10p+9a

Dacin 91-76 BOT
Dacin: Tien Lei 29p+10rb, Chang Chi-feng 18p, Hsu Chi-chao 16p+7rb
BOT: Yang Chin-min 27p, Wu Yong-jen 18p+5rb+6a, Ju Yong-hong 12p+5rb

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Chen Hsin-an has 14 in season debut

Chen Hsin-an (aka Sean Chen) scored 14 points in his first game of the season Friday night, after completing ABA season with Long Beach Jam. Chen helped Yulon to a 79-64 convincing win over Taiwan Beer, re-assuring Yulon's status as the best team in the league at 17-4.

Chen Hsin-an had a couple practices with Yulon but still looked a little bit rusty, shooting 6 for 15 in the game. But his two one-handed dunks were all the fans wanted. Chen did not start, checking into the game with 6 minutes left in the first quarter and drew applauses and screamings from the stands.

With one season of North American pro ball experience under his belt, Chen showed more power in his game and did not hesitate with taking shots, which was a lot different than his old self. Chen said after the game he still needs to adjust to the playing style and the officiating in Taiwan after being away from taiwan for almost 6 months.

The game also marked the first dual between Chen and Lin Chi-jay, two of the most popular players in Taiwan. Lin, the No.2 scorer in SBL, did not play particularly well either. He had 14 points on 6 of 14 shooting.

Chou Shih-yuan, who became Yulon's No. 1 offensive option during Chen's absence, had game-high 26 points. Tsun Wen-din had only 6 points but pulled down 8 rebounds to go with 5 steals and 6 blocks.

Ho Sho-jen led TB with 25 points.

In the second game, ETSN rallied from a 35-44 halftime deficit and beat BOT 74-68. Center Wu Dai-hao had 20 points and 13 rebounds. Wu Jun-hsiung also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Yang Chin-min had 18 points and 9 rebounds to lead BOT, now one game behind ETSN at fifth-place. Lin CHun-feng had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Monday, March 21, 2005

Lin Chi-jay drops SBL-record 10 threes in win

"The Monster" did it again. F/G Lin Chi-jay made SBL-record 10 three-pointers and scored 39 points as Taiwan Beer beat Dacin 87-81 in double overtime Sunday night. Lin made 10 of 20 three-point tries with three of those helped TB even the score in the end of regulation.

Dacin's Tien Lei had 22 points and 15 rebounds in the game and became the first SBL player to reach 1000 points and 500 rebounds milestone. But his accomplishment was less meaningful after the heartbreaking loss.

The game was dubbed as the DUAL between Lin Chi-jay and Tien Lei, top two leading scorers in the league, and did not disappoint. But Lin Chi-jay showed why he is nicknamed "The Monster", making three back-breaking three-pointers in the last minute of regulation. Dacin kept Lin closely guarded but couldn't do anything on Lin's NBA-range bombs.

Tien Lei faded in the 4th quarter and two overtimes, maybe because of fatigue. Dacin set up the last play in regulation which made Tien the bait and veteran Hsu Chi-chao waited at the baseline for the pass and the laast shot. But Tien was a little bit hesitant in the middle and was called for travelling.

Chen Shi-nian had 17 points and 8 rebounds for TB, also committed 7 turnovers. Ho Sho-jen had 14 and backup PG Hsu Hso-cheng had 12 points, including 8 points after regulation.

Bank of Taiwan surprised Videoland 70-69 for the second time this season. Yang Chin-min had team-leading 22 points while PG Wu Yong-jen had 20. Lin Jia-huang led VL with 20 points. Lee Chi-yi, who didn't make the last shot, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

*Standings:
Yulon 16-4, VL 15-7, Dacin 13-9, TB 10-10, ETSN 9-12, BOT 9-12, Sina 2-20

*Stats leaders:

Scoring
1. Tien Lei 22.8
2. Lin Chi-jay 22.6
3. Yang Chin-min 19.5
4. Yang Che-yi 17.6
5. Chou Shih-yuan 17.0

Rebounding
1. Tien Lei 10.1
2. Tsun Wen-din 9.2
3. Cheng An-jay 7.9
4. Lin Chi-jay 7.7
5. Wu Dai-hao 7.4

Assists
1. Chen Huei 5.6
2. Chen Shi-nian 4.7
3. Wang Chih-chun 4.4
4. Yang Yu-min 3.6
5. Wu Yong-jen 3.5

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Tien Lei fastest to reach 1000 points

NT forward Tien Lei scored 31 points in Dacin's 93-67 win over ETSN and became the first SBL player to reach 1000 points plateau Saturday night. Tien Lei edged out Taiwan Beer G/F Lin Chi-jay, who accumulated 999 points in two years, for the honor and also pulled down 11 rebounds and had 4 assists.

Lin Chi-jay scored 22 points on Friday's 82-81 win over ETSN to push his scroing record to 999 points but after making only 1 of 2 free-throws on his last scoring opportunity, leaving the door open for Tien Lei.

Meanwhile, Chen Hsin-an, who played for ABA's Long Beach Jam, was back in Taiwan early Sunday morning. He is expected to join Yulon and play in March 25 game versus Taiwan Beer.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Friday & Saturday SBL action

Hsu Tse-shin played a game of his life, making an twisting left-hand layup with 0.2 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and scored 8 points in the overtime en route to his SBL-career high 28 points as ETSN upset Videoland on March 11. ETSN tied TB, which lost its fourth straight game, with 8-10.

Videoland bounced back the next day, beating Taiwan Beer 85-80. Yang Che-yi and Chen Huei combined for 42 points for Videoland, which trails Yulon by only one game.

Mar. 11
ETSN 88-81(OT) VL
ETSN: Hsu Tse-shin 28p(11-18 FG, 5-8 3PT), Wu Dai-hao 22p+11rb, Wu Cheng-dao 16p
VL: Yang Che-yi 16p, Lee Chi-yi 15p, Chen Huei 11p+8rb+4a

BOT 73-60 Sina
BOT: Chien Ming-fu 20p+4s, Ju Yong-hong 12p+11rb+4a+5s+2blk, Wu Yong-jen 12p+13rb
SIna: Lo Shin-liang 18p+7rb+5a, Wang Chuan-jian 10p

Mar. 12
VL 85-80 Taiwan Beer
VL: Yang Che-yi 23p+8rb, Chen Huei 19p+6a, Lin Jia-huang 18p, Lin Shin-hwa 10p+10rb
TB: Lin Chi-jay 26p+7rb, Ho Sho-jen 25p, Hsu hao-cheng 5p+8rb+5a

Yulon 92-73 BOT
Yulon: Chou Shih-yuan 17p+6rb, Chiu Chi-yi 12p, CHou Hong-yu 11p
BOT: Lin Chun-feng 16p+8rb, Chou Ben-tang 15p, Wu Yong-jen 13p+6a

Friday, March 11, 2005

ABA season ends for Chen Hsin-an

Long Beach Jam lost to Utah Snowbears 115-130 in the second round of the ABA playoffs, marking the end of Chen Hsin-an’s first season in North America professional basketball. Chen (aka Sean Chen) scored just one point in his season finale and is expected to be back to Taiwan and join his former team Yulon.

Chen appeared in 12 games, all as a starter, for Long Beach Jam and averaged 8.8 points in 15.7 minutes, while shooting over 50% in three-pointers. In total, Chen averaged 8.1 points in 13 ABA games. He played one game for the defuncted Orange County Crush but didn’t attempt any shot in 4 minutes.

Chen scored his season-high 21 points in 24 minutes in a 139-111 win over Tijuana Dragons on February 25, making 5 of 7 three-point shots.

Chen said he will join Yulon in late March, trying to win another championship for the team. And he plans to go to U.S. this summer to tryout for the NBA summer league teams.

Since arriving in America in November 2004, Chen has improved his defense and shot selection under tutelage of team coaching staff. At the same time his English also improved. Staying in U.S. for extended period of time helped him to blend in American culture, life-wise and basketball-wise.

The ABA experience is quite different from the last two times he tested himself in North American basketball. Chen was in Sacramento Kings 2002 pre-season training camp and Denver Nuggets 2003 summer league tryout. Although playing in lower level this time, it’s better for him to start from square one, learning fundamentals and nuances of the game.


2005 ABA Season Chen Hsin-an(Sean Chen) Game-by-Game

[Date, Results, Stats, FG(3-PT FG), Minutes]

Orange County Crush
1/9 OC 127-114 LB Jam, 0p, 0-0(0-0), 4min

Long Beach Jam
1/24 LB 84-98 Ontario Warriors, 9p, 4-9(1-2), 13min
1/28 LB 139-114 Tijuana Dragons, 12p+2rb+1a+1s, 4-8(3-4), 12min
1/29 LB 126-132 Las Vegas Rattlers, 0p+1a, 0-3(0-2), 11min
1/31 LB 137-111 Ontario Warriors, 8p+1rb+1a, 3-7(2-4), 15min
2/6 LB 132-122 California Buzz, 10p+4rb+3a+1s, 3-6(2-4), 19min
2/13 LB 108-106 Ontario Warriors, 8p+2rb+3a, 3-4(2-2), 13min
2/20 LB 125-122 Ontario Warriors, 13p+4rb+1a, 5-11(3-5), 19min
2/21 LB 165-126 OC Buzz, 10p+1rb+7a+2s, 4-9(2-5), 20min
2/25 LB 139-111 Tijuana Dragons, 21p+2rb+2a, 6-11(5-7), 24min
2/27 LB 117-102 LA Stars, 2p+2rb+3a, 1-3(0-2), 15min
3/6 LB 148-126 Las Vegas Rattlers, 11p+1a, 4-7(2-4), 15min
3/9 LB 115-130 Utah Snowbears, 1p, 0-4(n/a), 12min

Thursday, March 10, 2005

TPEC wins 10th straight UBA title

TPEC (Taipei Physical Education College) breezed past NTNU (National Taiwan Normal University) 73-59 to win its 10th straight UBA (University Basketball Association) title with a 2-0 sweep in the finals. TPEC's incredible 116-game winning streak is still counting.

TPEC, featuring even stronger lineup than any single first division SBL team, used 2-3 and 3-2 zone defense for almost 40 minutes to limit NTNU's perimeter attack. On the offensive end, Yulon's inside-outside duo Tsun Wen-din and Chou Shih-yuan were still unstoppable, scoring 17 and 19 respectively.

NYNU was led by Ho Sho-jen's 30 points. Leading scorer Tien Lei, who was really passive in the game, scored only 9 points.

Compared to Game 2, last night's controvercial Game 1 is the game everyone talks about. A foul was called on Tsun Wen-din apparently after the final horn is sounded with TPEC leading, 62-61, giving NTNU two free-throws and a chance to wrap up the game.

TPEC head coach Lee Yung-kwang protested to the refs, who didn't hear the final horn because of the noise, claiming the game is already over and the free-throws shouldn't be awarded. The funny thing is, neither both refs nor courtside stats crew were sure about how much time was left or whether the foul occured after the final horn.

Coach Lee even looked at instant TV reply to prove his point. But the refs said they couldn't use instant reply to overturn calls. TPEC refused to take the court while NTNU patiently waited for two free-throws on the sideline.

Believe or not, 4 and a half hours from tipoff NTNU's Lee Fong-yong finally stepped on the free-throw line, and missed BOTH to end the controversial game, which TPEC won 62-61. The game started on 7 PM and ended right before midnight.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Dacin handed TB third straight loss

Chang Chi-feng had 22 points and Tien Lei was his usual self, collecting 20 points and 14 rebounds, as Dacin stomped Taiwan Beer 86-68 Sunday. Dacin won 7 of its last 9 games while TB dropped three straight to the top three teams -- Yulon, Videoland and Dacin.

Yang Che-yi scored 23 of his 25 points in the final quarter as Videoland pulled away in the final five minutes and beat Sina 88-79. VL now trails No.1 Yulon by only 1/2 game.

Dacin 86-68 TB
Dacin: Chang Chi-feng 22p, Tien Lei 20p+14rb+4a+3blk, Wang Chih-chun 13p+7rb+9a
TB: Ho Sho-jen 27p, Ha Hsiao-yuan 19p+6rb, Lin Chi-jay 15p+13rb

Videoland 88-79 Sina
Videoland: Yang Che-yi 25p, Lee Chi-yi 22p+8rb
Sina: Lu Cheng-ju 18p+6rb, Chang Yu-lin 17p

Standings:
Yulon 13-4, VL 13-5, Dacin 12-7, TB 8-9, ETSN 7-10, BOT 7-11, Sina 2-16

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Tien Lei explodes for 44 points, sets SBL record

It’s definitely a magical night. Tien Lei put on a one man show, exploding for SBL single-game record 44 points as Dacin routed Bank of Taiwan 79-59. Less than two hours later, Lee Chi-yi’s fadeaway jumper with 3.3 seconds remaining helped Videoland escape with an 80-79 win over league-leading Yulon.

Tien Lei made 19 of 34 shots and was virtually unstoppable in the fourth quarter, when BOT tried to make the last push. Tien’s 44 points surpassed the old record 43 points, which was set by Lin Chi-jay of Taiwan Beer on January 28. Tien also pulled down 13 rebounds.

Videoland almost squandered an 18-point lead in the second game of the evening. Yulon, which trailed most of the game, cut the lead and pulled ahead in the final minute after Tsun Wen-din coverted a layup and was fouled by Lai Kuo-hong. Tsun missed the ensuing free-throw before Videoland called timeout.

Lin Jia-huang then made a perfect “rainbow” pass upcourt, which reminds fans of the pass Grant Hill threw to Christian Laettner in Duke’s 1992 NCAA tourney win over Kentucky. Lee Chi-yi received the pass at the right baseline, turned around and swished the game-winner over Chou Hong-yu’s outstretched arm. Chou Shih-yuan’s desperation shot missed the rim entirely.

This is definitely the week for Lee Chi-yi, who also made a game-winner Thursday and helped keep TPEC’s 112-game UBA winning streak alive.

Dacin 79-59 BOT
Dacin: Tien Lei 44p(19-34 FG, 4-12 3PT)+13rb+3a, Chang Chi-feng 12p
BOT: Yang Chin-min 13p, Ju Yong-hong 9p+10rb, Chien Ming-fu 11p+5rb

Videoland 80-79 Yulon
VL: Lin Jia-huang 21p, Yang Che-yi 18p, Lee Chi-yi 11p
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 20p+9rb, Chen Chih-chun 15p, Lee Hseuh-lin 15p, Chou Shih-yuan 12p

Friday, March 04, 2005

Basketball Notes

UBA: TPEC escapes to keep winning streak alive
Lee Chi-yi made a winning layup with 2.6 seconds remaining as TPEC (Taipei Physical Education College) escaped for a 78-77 come-from-behind victory over NTNU (National Taiwan Normal University) Thursday night and kept its 112-game winning streak UBA (University Basketball Association) record alive.

Tsun Wen-din led TPEC with 24 points and 9 rebounds. TPEC finished the second round 7-0 and is going for its 10th straight UBA title.

For the second time in two years, NTNU has a chance to end TPEC winning streak but instead ends up with heartbreaking losses. NTNU led by as many as 14 and still led by 9 in the end of the third quarter, but they couldn’t control Tsun Wen-din’s inside attack and TPEC’s 3-2 zone in the final quarter.

Tien led NTNU with 24 points. Ho Sho-jen had 18 while PG Wang Chih-chung had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

UBA: Final Four
TPEC, NTNU, NTCPE and Fu Jen Univ. reached UBA Final Four after the second round. The best-of-three semifinals will start on March 6, with No.1 TPEC vs. No.4 Fu Jen and No.2 NTNU vs. No.3 NTCPE.

Second Round standings:
1. Taipei Physical Education College 7-0
2. National Taiwan Normal University 6-1
3. National Taiwan College of Physical Education 5-2
4. Fu Jen Catholic University 4-3
5. National Taiwan University of Arts 3-4
6. National University of Tainan 2-5
7. Tung Nan Institute of Technology 1-6
8. Chinese Culture University 0-7

SBL: February Play of the Month
Tsun Wen-din of Yulon was named Play of the Month for February. Tsun averaged 19.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks and led Yulon to 4-0 in the month.

BOT beat ETSN, snaps 4-game losing streak

Bank of Taiwan improved its defense and beat ETSN 70-64 Friday night to snap its 4-game losing streak. BOT and ETSN were tied at 7-10 after the game. Yulon (13-3) edged Taiwan Beer (8-8) for its 5th consecutive win. Yulon won 12 of last 13 games after a 1-2 start.

BOT 70-64 ETSN
BOT: Yang Chin-min 24p+6rb, Lin Chun-feng 13p
ETSN: Chou Jun-san 17p+5a, Wu Jun-hsiung 14p+9rb, Wu Cheng-dao 11p+5rb

Yulon 76-67 Taiwan Beer
Yulon: Chou Shih-yuan 29p+6rb, Tsun Wen-din 16p+5rb+7blk, Lee Hsueh-lin 15p+8rb
TB: Lin Chi-jay 22p+8rb, Wu Chih-yuan 12p+8rb