Sunday, June 18, 2006

Wu Yong-jen, Lee Wei-min join VL

Bank of Taiwan point guard Wu Yong-jen, SBL's assist leader last season, and Lee Wei-min, Taiwan Beer's defensive ace, will sign with Videoland, local newspaper Min-sheng Daily reported.

Report: Cheng Chih-lung takes over as Videoland head coach

Min-sheng Daily reported that former Taiwan NT star Cheng Chih-lung, one of the most celebrated players in Taiwanese basketball history, will replace Chou Hai-jung as new Videoland head coach next season.

Cheng will be Videoland's third head coach in three years. Chou Hai-jung replaced long-time VL head coach Chun Chi-mun before the 2005-06 SBL season.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Taiwan women's NT failed to qualify for WWL finals

Taiwan women's NT finished 1-2 in Group B preliminaries of the FIBA Women's World League in Pecs, Hungary and failed to qualify for the final round that will be played next year in Russia.

Basketball Club Habana of Cuba and MiZo Pécs of Hungary, which hosted Group B games, advanced to the finals along with Group A qualifiers WCBA All Stars China and TEO of Lithuania.

Taiwan lost to host MiZo Pecs, 86-53, and dropped a close one to Basketball Club Habana, 78-74, before routing Mali in a 32-point win.

Taiwan women's NT, which is warming up for the World Championship in September, is visiting Czech Republic for three friendly games and will be playing four games in China.

2006 WWL preliminary round standings:

Group A:
1. WCBA All Stars China 4-0
2. TEO (Lithuania) 2-2
3. Canberra Capitals (Australia) 2-2
4. Baltiyskaya Zwezda (Russia) 0-4

Group B:
1. MiZo Pécs (Hungary) 3-0
2. Basketball Club Habana (Cuba) 2-1
3. CTNW (Taiwan) 1-2
4. Djoliba AC (Mali) 0-3

Monday, June 05, 2006

CTBA announces 16-man roster of 2006 Taiwan NT

Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) announced the 16-man men's national team roster that will participate in three events in 2006 Sunday with Yang Yu-min and Chien Ming-fu among surprised absentees.

The national team will participate in the annual William Jones Cup Invitational and the 2006 Asia Professional Basketball (APB), a new competition trying to duplicate the format of Asian Professional Basetball Tournament that gathers Asia's top professional teams in a single tournament, in August and the Asian Games, which will be held in Qatar, in December.

Full roster is listed below:

Coaches:
Head coach: Lee Yun-kwang (Yulon)
Assistants: Liu Jia-fa (Dacin), Dong-fan Che-ter (Yulon)
Manager: Chiu Tsun-chih (Yulon)

Players:
Center: Tsun Wen-din (Yulon)
Forwards: Wu Chih-yuan (TB), Lee Chi-yi (VL), Chen Hsin-an (Yulon), Lin Chi-jay (TB), Tien Lei (Dacin), Yua Yin-li (BOT), Yang Chin-min (BOT), Ho Sho-jen (TB), Yang Che-yi (VL)
Guards: Chen Chih-chun (Yulon), Chen Shih-nian (TB), Wu Yong-jen (BOT), Lee Hsueh-lin (Yulon), Chou Shi-yuan (Yulon), Chang Chi-feng (Dacin)

ETSN guard Yang Yu-min, a national team constant in the past years, was surprisingly omitted, as well as BOT point guard Chien Ming-fu, a SBL first team selection this past season.

BOT forward Yua Yin-li made his national team debut after a breakout year that saw his scoring and blocks more than double from last season.

CTBA did not rule out the possibility to include Wu Dai-hao, who is playing in the U.S. for NCAA Div-II BYU-Hawaii, to bolster the weak frontline if Wu is permitted to play for his home country.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Lee Yun-kwang named 2006 Taiwan NT head coach

Yulon head coach Lee Yun-kwang, who led Yulon to a SBL three-peat and Taiwan NT to the gold medal in last year's East Asian Games in Macao, will lead Taiwan national team once again in two international events in 2006.

CTBA Senior Basketball Committee selected Lee over Taiwan Beer's Chiu Da-tsun and BOT's Wei Chen-ming as the NT head coach for the upcoming William Jones Cup and Asian Games in Qatar.

The remaining coaching staff and the national team roster will be determined on a later date, CTBA said in a press release.

Yulon wins 2006 Guanhu Cup Invitational

Yulon's Big Three scored more than 20 points each to help the Dinos defeat Kyung Hee University of South Korea in the title game of the 2006 Guanhu Cup Invitational on May 28.

Tsun Wen-din had 27 points, Chou Shih-yuan and Chen Hsin-an scored 21 and 20 points respectively for the Dinos, which won the tournament with an undefeated record of 5-0.

Yulon took advantage of its more experienced lineup and used a 14-4 run early in the second half to open up the game, leading by as many as 20 points.

On May 27, Chen Hsin-an exploded for 38 points, including 18 points in the 4th quarter, in Yulon's 86-84 win over Osaka Evessa. Chen had nine 3-pointers in the game with the last one coming with 16.4 seconds left and helped Yulon pull ahead by three.

Matt Lottich evened the score with 9.2 seconds to go with another three before Tsun Wen-din tipped-in his own miss before the final buzzer.

Aisin Seahorses of Japan's JBL (Japan Basketball League) won the title last year.

May 28
Championship: Yulon 87, Kyung Hee University 74
3/4: Osaka Evessa 102, ETSN 83
5/6: Dacin 88, TB 84(OT)
7/8: YMY 83, Videoland 82

Prelim Standings:
Group A: Kyung Hee Univ. 4-0, ETSN 2-2, TB 2-2, YMY 1-3, Spring Cooking Oil 1-3
Group B: Yulon 4-0, Evessa 2-2, Dacin 2-2, VL 1-3, BOT 1-3


May 27
Yulon 86, Evessa 84
ETSN 89, TB 86
Kyung Hee Univ. 96, Spring Cooking Oil 80
VL 83, BOT 80
Evessa 119, Dacin 97

May 26
Kyung Hee Univ. 92, TB 75
BOT 95, Evessa 93
Yulon 102, BOT 87
ETSN 104, YMY 88
Dacin 84, VL 74