Monday, July 31, 2006

Asian U-18 Women's Championship will be played in Thailand

Taiwanese daily newspaper Min-sheng Daily reported that, according to sources from FIBA Asia, the 2006 Asian U-18 Women's Championship will be played in Thailand from January 29 - February 7, 2006. The original host Vietnam has ronunced its right to hold the competition earlier.

Asian U-20 Women's Championship will be held in Singapore from December 19-27 as planned.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Taiwan NT cancelled Korea trip

Too many injured players forced Taiwan NT cancel the 10-day, 6-game Korea trip, CTBA announced in a press release Thursday.

Taiwan NT planned to play six games with local teams that include Korea NT, LG, ETLand and Yonsei University from July 28 - August 6. They will visit Korea in October in another training tour.

Chen Hsin-an has to sit out the practice due to chickenpox, CTBA said. With many players sitting out the practice due to various injuries, there are only seven players available for practice, which makes it impossible for the Korea tour.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Taiwan NT embarks upon extensive training schedule for Asian Games

Taiwanese national team will embark upon an extensive training schedule that takes them to Korea and the U.S. for the preparation of the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar following the William Jones Cup tournament, which they finished for the runner-up.

Taiwan NT will play in the Asian Professional Basketball tournament and friendly games that will be held in Taipei, and train in Korea and Southern California before the Asian Games in December.

The first stop will be Korea, where the team will stay from July 28 - August 6 and play six warmup games with local teams. There will be two games versus the Korean NT, two games versus LG Sakers and one game each versus ETland and Yonsei University.

However a couple players will be unavailable for the trip, including injured Yang Yu-min, Chen Chih-chun and Wu Chih-yuan. Also missing will be starting center Tsun Wen-din, who will attend Pete Newell's Big Men Camp in Las Vegas.

The first edition of APB, which is similiar to the Asian Clubs Championship staged by FIBA Asia, will be held from August 11-19 with five teams participating in the inaugural event.

The participants include Niigata Albirex from Japan's BJ League, LG Sakers from Korea's KBL, Sydney Kings from Australia's NBL, San Miguel Beermen from Philippines' PBA and the home team Taiwan NT.

It will visit the U.S. from August 24 - September 22 for training and a couple friendly games that remain to be arranged.

Right after the U.S. tour the schedule will take the team to Korea again, where it will play another six warmup games in early October before hosting a five or six-game series versus a U.S. team in Taipei in early November. The visiting team is to be decided.

The ultimate goal for all the preparation, of course, is the Asian Games in Doha. Four years ago, Taiwan NT finished an all-time worse 7th-place in the 2002 Busan Asian Games but top players Chen Hsin-an and Lin Chi-jay did not play in Busan.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Women's Jones Cup Final Day - Japan shocks Italy to win Jones Cup crown

First off, I have to apologize for my error in the report yesterday in which I said Italy clinched the Jones Cup crown. You never know what will happen until the final buzzer and my report was the perfect example.

The final ranking of the 2006 women's Jones Cup took a surprising turn Friday as Japan NT shocked Italy 72-65 and won the title with the best points differential from a three-team tie.

Japan, Italy and Taiwan all finished the single round robin tournament with 4 wins and 1 loss. By beating Italy by seven points, Japan finished at the top with a plus 4 point differential. Taiwan was the runner-up with minus 1 while Italy dropped to third with minus 3.

Noriko Sakakibara, who had 17 points in the game, made three 3-pointers in the final quarter. The last of those came at 47.3 seconds remaining and helped Japan enjoy a comforatable 10 point lead, 70-60.

Yuka Watanabe had 13 points and 9 boards and Kumiko Yamada had 14 points for Japan.

Italy was led by Bubravka Dacic's 24 points and Laura Macchi's 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Taiwan routed Korea 93-70 in the last game but still finished runner-up. Veteran Chien Wei-chuan led the all-out attack by dishing out 10 assists to go with 2 points and 7 rebounds. Taiwan used a 58-20 rally in the second and third quarter to put the game away.

New Zealand U-20 NT beat Australia U-18 NT, 71-55.

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

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Women's Jones Cup Day 4 - Italy beat Taiwan to clinch Jones Cup crown

201cm center Dubravka Dacic had two baskets and a block in the last minute and former WNBA LA Sparks forward Laura Macchi made two free-throws with 26 seconds to go as Italy edged Taiwan 75-71 Thursday to clinch the Jones Cup crown on the second-to-last day of the five-team tournament.

Taiwan failed to accomplish its three-peat quest and will meet Korea tomorrow in the last game. Italy will face Japan.

Macchi scored on a fastbreak layup after a steal to help Italy break a 67-67 tie with 2:30 to go. Dacic powered inside to scored two baskets and blocked Chiang Feng-chun's shot underneath in the next two minutes. Tsai Pei-chen made two baseline jumpers during the same span, with the second one coming at 14.6 seconds remaining when the score was 73-71.

After another missed shot, Taiwan was forced to foul on Macchi, who made the ensuing free-throws and secured the victory.

Macchi scored a game-high 30 points for Italy, which was a perfect 12-for-12 at the charity line. Raffaella Masciadri, the other Italian forward with WNBA experience, and Dacic each chipped in 12 points. Simona Ballardini scored 6 points.

Liu Chun-yi led Taiwan with 21 points. Chiang Feng-chun had 13 points and Wen Chi had 12. Center Tsai Pei-chen had 10.

Australia U-18 NT 80-59 Korea WKBL All-Star 2nd Team
AUS - Abby Bishop 27p+14rb+4a, Elyse Penaluna 14p+6rb, Marianna Tolo 11p+5rb
KOR - Han Chae-jin 16p, Kim Youn-joo 11p, Kim Soo-yeon 10p+14rb

Japan 79-42 New Zealand
JAP - Ryoko Utsumi 20p, Yuka Watanabe 15p, Emi Isoyama 10p
NZ - Jessica McCormack 11p+9rb

Standings:
Italy 4-0
Taiwan 3-1
Japan 3-1
Australia 1-3
New Zealand 1-3
Korea 0-4

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Women's Jones Cup Day 3 - Italy, Taiwan marching on

It's not official yet, but it looks like Italy and Taiwan will meet for the 2006 women's Jones Cup title tomorrow.

Taiwan and Italy were both 3-0 after cruising to another win today, as Taiwan beat Australia U-19 NT 85-68 and Italy routed New Zealand U-21 NT 65-31. Japan beat Korea 66-57 for its second straight win.

With advantages in experience and speed, Taiwan used a 21-4 run to increased the lead in the second half, when they outscored the Australians 41-27 to put the game out of reach after a 44-41 first half.

Lin Hui-mei led Taiwan with 17 points, including 5 of 8 from threes. Chiang Feng-chun had 14 points and 7 steals while point guard Wen Chi dished out 6 assists to go with 14 points.

Australia was paced by Abbey Bishop's 18 points and 8 boards. Marianna Tolo had 11.

Italy, a team that crashed in the first round of the 2005 Euro and didn't make it to the final stage, totally dominated the younger New Zealanders by allowing less than 10 points each in the final three quarters. New Zealand scored 10 in the first period and had five, eight and eight in the last three.

Laura Macchi scored game-high 22 points again for the Italians. Simona Ballardini had 10. Micaela Cocks was the only double-digit scorer for New Zealand with 11 points.

In the most competitive game of the day, Japan's Asami Ikeda scored on an offensive rebound with less than a minute to go and helped Japan increase the lead to six, 63-57. Japan then scored again on a fastbreak off a steal to decide the outcome.

Noriko Sakakibara led Japan with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Center Kumiko Yamada had 19 points and 5 boards.

Korea, which dropped to 0-3, was led by Han Chae-jin's 19 points and 8 rebounds. Kim Youn-joo had 13 points and Kim Soo-yeon turned in 12 points, 5 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Standings:
Italy 3-0
Taiwan 3-0
Japan 2-1
New Zealand 1-2
Australia 0-3
Korea 0-3

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Women's Jones Cup Day 2

Taiwan NT 79-50 New Zealand U-21 NT
Taiwan didn't give New Zealand any chance, jumping to a 21-8 lead in the first quarter nad led by as many as 33 points. Liu Chun-yi led with 16 points. Lan Jui-yu had 15 points. Sun Chieh-ping had 13 and Tsai Pei-chen collected 10 points and 6 boards.

Italy NT 119-67 Korea WKBL All-Star 2nd Team
ITA - Rafaella Masciadri 23p+3a+4s, Laura Macchi 21p+10rb+7a+3s
KOR - Kim Youn-joo 15p, Han Chae-jin 14p+5rb

Japan NT 68-66 Australia U-19 NT
JPN - Noriko Sakakibara 16p, Ryoko Utsumi 10p, Yuko Oga 10p+5rb+4a
AUS - Abby Bishop 22p+9rb, Elyse Penaluna 14p, Cayla Francis 11p+5rb

Standings:
Italy 2-0
Taiwan 2-0
Japan 1-1
New Zealand 1-1
Korea 0-2
Australia 0-2

Women's Jones Cup - Two OT games highlight first day action

The women's Jones Cup tournament followed highly popular men's competition with dramatical results, featuring two overtime games in three games of the first day as Taiwan NT beat Japan NT, 95-92, and Italy NT edged Australia U-18 NT, 78-70. New Zealand U-20 NT also surprised Korean's WKBL All-Star 2nd Team in a 72-65 win.

Taiwan forward Liu Chun-yi made two free-throws with 15 seconds to go in the first overtime to ensure the victory for Taiwan Women's NT, which is seeking its third consecutive title in the Jones Cup. Liu had 24 points to go with Chiang Feng-Chun's 27 points.

Ryoko Utsumi led Japan with 26 points while Yuko Oga had 20 points. 192cm center Kumiko Yamada scored 18 points.

Taiwan led 39-38 at halftime and led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter.

Italy 78-70(OT) Australia (38-24, 64-64)
ITA - Laura Macchi 27p+5rb+4s, Raffaella Masciadri 12p, Simona Ballardini 10p+4rb+7s
AUS - Abby Bishop 18p+10rb, Katie Rae Ebzery 11p+7rb, Cayla Francis 10p+7rb+5a+3s

New Zealand 72-65 Korea WKBL (36-20)
NZ - Lisa Wallbutton 15p+10rb, Jessica McCormack 13p+8rb
KOR - Han Chae-jin 26p, Hong Bo-ra 23p

Standings: (Single round robin)
Taiwan 1-0
Italy 1-0
New Zealand 1-0
Australia 0-1
Japan 0-1
Korea 0-1

Monday, July 17, 2006

Jones Cup Final Day - Athletes in Action wins 2006 Jones Cup Tournament

Athletes in Action, representing USA, beat home team Taiwan NT Sunday night in the 2006 Jones Cup tournament title game, 79-69.

Led by well-known former NCAA coach Mike Jarvis, AIA dominated the paint and successfully limited Taiwan's outside shot. The home team only made 6 of 26 three-point attempts (23%).

Tsun Wen-din led Taiwan with 16 points and 7 boards but also committed 7 turnovers. Lee Hsueh-lin had 13 points while Chen Hsin-an had 10.

In the bronze medal game, Qatar also used its height advantage to beat Korea University Select Team 87-74. The Koreans made an astonishing 20-for-40 from 3-point territory but was outrebounded 21-41.

Kazakhstan beat Philippines 98-86 to win the fifth-place. Isakov Evgeni and Arwind Santos were both ejected for confrontation when fighting for rebounding position.

Japan grabbed its first win in the last game, beating Australia U-19 NT, 89-84, thanks to tournament leading scorer Yusuke Okada's 26 points. Chris Goulding led the Aussie with 24 points.

Final Placing:
1. Athletes in Action
2. Taiwan NT
3. Qatar NT
4. Korea University Select Team
5. Kazakhstan NT
6. Philippines PBA Select Team
7. Japan U-24 NT
8. Australia U-19 NT

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Jones Cup Semifinal - Taiwan beat Qatar again to meet AIA for gold

Never underestimate the home team. Taiwan NT once again routed Qatar, 83-63, for the second time in three nights to win the 2006 Jones Cup semifinal and booked the final ticket as the No.4 seed. Taiwan will meet Athletes in Action, which routed Korea University Select Team in the other semi, 88-74, in the title game tomorrow.

Qatar, which entered the semifinal round with a 6-1 record as the No.1 seed, will play Korea for the bronze medal. For a team that won the bronze medal in the last Asian Championship, it's hard to believe they dropped two games to Taiwan, ninth-place in the last Asian Championship, by a combined margin of 41 points.

Simply put, Qatar's outside shot did not fall for the second consecutive game. And give Taiwan's defense credit. With center Tsun Wen-din, who sat out the last game due to a sprained right ankle, anchoring the zone defense from the middle, Taiwan almost led from start to finish and never gave Qatar a chance, leading by as many as 25.

Lee Hsueh-lin had a team-high 23 points and 7 assists. Tien Lei followed with 19 points, including four 3-pointers in the final quarter that put the Qatari away. Tsun Wen-din tallied 15 points and 8 blocks while Yang Che-yi scored 11.

Taiwan head coach Lee Yun-kwang made a bold move when he played Chen Hsin-an, who's regarded by many as Taiwan's best player but had been playing without concentration and defense lately, for only six minutes. Chen had only 3 points in the game but Taiwan's offensive flow was obviously better without him.

Athletes in Action dominated the paint and limited the Koreans for only 10 for 39 from the 3-point line in the other lopsided game.

In other games, Kazakhstan beat Japan U-24 NT, 104-86. Yusuke Okada, the tournament's leading scorer, still had 30 points though. Philippines edged Australia U-19 NT, 69-67, thanks to John Arigo's winning basket with 22 seconds to go.

Kazakhstan will meet Philippines in the 5th-place game and Australia will play Japan in the 7th-place game tomorrow, the last day of the tournament.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Jone Cup Day 7 - AIA, Qatar, Taiwan and Korea in Semis

Taiwan NT clinched the semifinal birth in the afternoon but lost to Korea University Select Team, 86-74, in the last game to finish the preliminary round at 4-3. Taiwan will face Qatar in the semifinal tomorrow to vie for the right to play in the title game.

Korea finished the prelims with 5-2 and will meet Athletes in Action tomorrow in the other semifinal matchup. Winners of the semis advance to the title game while losers play for the third-place.

The young Koreans demostrated their maturity in the last quarter, when they outscored the home team 22-11, and came away with a convincing victory. Park Sung Woo led Korea with 20 points and Kang Byung Hyung scored 11. Park Sang Hyung and Lee Ji Yoon had 10 apiece.

Taiwan was able to see eye to eye with Korea in the first three quarters but was hurt by their 17.9% 3-point shooting, especially when you consider most of their shots came from behind the three-point line.

Lee Chi-yi, Chen Hsin-an and Tien Lei scored 14 points each. Lee Hsueh-lin had 12 points while Yang Che-yi had 10. Lin Chi-jay scored 9 points.

In the 5th-8th place games, Kazakhstan will meet Japan and Philippines meets Australia. Winners will play for the fifth-place on Sunday while losers play for the 7-th place.

Athletes in Action 84-74 Kazakhstan(46-30)
Trailing from the opening minute, Kazakhstan managed to tie the score in the third quarter before fading again. AIA opened the game with a 13-0 run and finished the game strong.

Kazakhstan's loss also clinched Taiwan's semifinal birth before Taiwan meets Korea later tonight.

Kazakhstan, which has eight U-18 players on its roster, proves it's going to be a strong team in the Asian Junior Championship this year in Urumqi, China.

AIA - Anthony Dandridge 16p, Troy Devries 15p, Josh Carter 12p, Dominique Kirk 11p
KAZ - Isakov Evgeni 17p, Anton Ponomarev 15p, Rustam Yargaliev 13p

Qatar 90-65 Australia U-19 NT(49-35)

Philippines 112-86 Japan U-24 NT(53-43)
Just 23 seconds into the game Philippines' Nino Canaleta was ejected for swinging elbow at a Japanese player. Aside from that, the PBA Select Team was hardly challenged by the Japanese as the seasoned veterans of Philippines could always pull off another run after Japan closed the gap.

PHI - Arwind Santos 22p, John Arigo 20p, Ali Peek 14p, Dennis Miranda 13p, Alfred Tenorio 12p
JPN - Yusuke Okada 23p, Yosuke Machida 17p, Takumi Ishizaki 12p

Standings:
1. Qatar 6-1
2. AIA 6-1
3. Korea 5-2
4. Taiwan 4-3
5. Kazakstan 3-4
6. Australia 2-5
7. Philippines 2-5
8. Japan 0-7

Jones Cup Day 6 - Taiwan upset Qatar in 21-point rout

Taiwan NT limited Qatar to 6 points in the final quarter as the home team surprisingly upset Qatar by 21 points, 85-64, and knocked down the last undefeated team in the tournament.

Qatar is 5-1 and tied with Athletes in Action in the first place, followed by Taiwan and Korea University Select team which tied at 4-2. Qatar and AIA have clinched semifinal births while Taiwan and Korea are one foot in the door.

Coming off a two-game losing streak, a fired-up Taiwanese team opened the game with a 13-3 run. Qatar made five threes to keep the score close and jumped to a 39-33 lead at halftime.

Tien Lei's 3-pointer inginited a 13-0 run midway in the third period to help Taiwan regain the lead, 64-58. A 11-2 spurt that opened the final period pushed the game out of reach. Qatar had many open looks but their shots did not fall in the final 10 minutes, scoring only 6 points.

Yang Che-yi led Taiwan with 18 points, followed by Tien Lei's 15 and Tsun Wen-din's 14. Chen Hsin-an had 13 while Lee Hsueh-lin dished out tournament-high 11 assists.

Erfan Ali Saeed had 13 points and 10 boards for Qatar, which also received 10 points from Saad Abdulrahman Ali.

Kazakhstan 98-75 Japan U-24 NT
KAZ - Anton Ponomarev 20p+10rb, Isakov Evgeni 15p+14rb
JAP - Yusuke Okada 33p

Korea University Select team 87-76 Australia U-19 NT
KOR - Park Sung Woo 24p
AUS - Jordan Dodman 12p+10rb, Andrew Ogilvy 12p

AIA 91-68 Philippines PBS Select
AIA - Troy DeVries 29p, Justin Herndon 15p, Luke Zeller 13p, Anthony Dandridge 11p
PHI - D. Hontiveros 11p

Standings:
Qatar 5-1
AIA 5-1
Korea 4-2
Taiwan 4-2
Kazakhstan 3-3
Australia 2-4
Philippines 1-5
Japan 0-6

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Jones Cup Day 5 - Qatar remains undefeated

Led by Erfan Ali Saeed's 22 points and 7 rebounds, Qatar NT beat Korea University Select Team 88-78 to reach 5-0 in the Jones Cup Tournament and remained the only undefeated team in the 8-team field.

Qatar did all it can to stop Koreans' outside shooting but still allowed 16 3-pointers. The Qatari made up with its dominance in the paint as Malek Salem Abdulla collected 17 points and 16 boards.

Park Sang Woo led Korea with 21 points and 6 boards, while Woo Sung Yin scored 20.

Athletes in Action 108-81 Japan U-24 NT
AIA - Justin Herndon 28p, Troy DeVries 19p, Anthony Dandridge 20p+11rb, Josh Carter 11p+12rb
JAP - Takumi Ishizaki 17p+7rb+8a, Yusuke Machida 16p

Kazakhstan NT 91-86 Philippines PBA Select Team

KAZ - Anton Ponomarev 23p+5rb, Dmitriy Klimov 12p
PHI - Ranidel de Ocampo 18p+5rb, Hontiveros 15p+8rb, M. Cortez 12p, Ali Peek 10p

Taiwan NT 69-61 Australia U-19 NT (37-26)
Chen Hsin-an scored all his 14 points, including three 3-pointers, in the 4th quarter and led Taiwan NT snap a two-game losing streak in a 69-61 win over Australia U-19 NT.

Using an 18-2 run in the second quarter and a 13-2 rally in the fourth, the home team managed to get the ugly win over the unexperienced youngsters from Down Under.

Temper flied as Taiwan NT pulled off the last rally in the last five minutes, center Tsun Wen-din and Andrew Ogilvy engaged in a confrontation that was initiated by the Australians because of the over-aggressiveness and cheap-shots on defense.

The incidents resulted in a double fouls as forward Lee Chi-yi made a 3-pointer following the ensuing timeout to increased the lead.

Australia had a 42-28 rebounding advantage.

TWN - Chen Hsin-an 14p, Lin Chi-jay 14p
AUS - Ben Smith 15p

Standings:
Qatar 5-0
AIA 4-1
Korea 3-2
Taiwan 3-2
Kazakhstan 2-3
Australia 2-3
Philippines 1-4
Japan 0-5

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Jones Cup Day 4 - Kazakhstan beat Taiwan, 88-85

Kazakhstan, with most of its players come from its U-19 NT, upset Taiwan NT 88-85 for its first win in the tournament, while Taiwan NT suffered second straight defeat in consecutive nights.

Lost of concentration and fundementals cost Taiwan NT dearly. The host team failed to pull down defensive rebounds in consecutive possessions in the last minute while the Kazaks made three of four free-throws in crunch time to seal the win.

For the second straight night, Taiwan NT lost on the last minute.

KAZ - Anton Ponomarev 15p+6rb, Isakov Evgeni 19p+9rb, Rustam Yargaliev 16p+4rb, Egor Biryulin 11p+6a
TWN - Tien Lei 26p+6rb, Tsun Wen-din 20p+10rb, Chen Hsin-an 20p (5-14 3PT)

Korea University Select Team 127-85 Japan U-24 NT (66-32)
The game was almost a firing demonstration. Korea University Select Team made 20 threes in the game, including 14 in the first half, to make the game out of reach from the first quarter, when Korea led 40-17. Korea made a total of 61 threes in four games, averaging more than 15 per game.
KOR - Cha Chai Yin 19p
JAP - Yusuke Okada 26p

Philippines PBA Select Team 76-67 Australia U-19 NT (32-27)
PHI - Joseph Yeo 15p, Albert Peek 14p+5rb
AUS - Kevin Probert 13p

Qatar NT 83-77 Athletes in Action (37-35)
QAT - Yaseen Ismail Musa 13p+5rb
AIA -

Standings:
Qatar 4-0
AIA 3-1
Korea 3-1
Australia 2-2
Taiwan 2-2
Kazakhstan 1-3
Philippines 1-3
Japan 0-4

Monday, July 10, 2006

Jones Cup Day 3 - Athletes in Action beat Taiwan in buzzer

Mike Jarvis' last designated play was perfect. Josh Carter made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer and led Athletes in Action to a 86-83 win over Taiwan NT and became the second 3-0 team in the tournament.

Taiwan NT trailed after a 10-0 run by the visitors early in the 4th quarter. but Chen Hsin-an made three consecutive threes in the last 4 minutes and center Tsun Wen-din made two free-throws to tie the game at 83 all with 52.2 seconds to go.

Chen Hsin-an rushed on his 3-point attempt which missed the rim and gave the Americans 6 seconds for the last shot. After three consecutive timeouts by both sides, Josh Carter inbounded the ball to Dominique Kirk. Kirk drove in the middle and dished the ball back to Carter, who received the pass at baseline and launched a high-arching shot that went in at the final buzzer.

AIA - T. DeVries 23p, J. Carter 20p
TWN - Tien Lei 20p+11rb, Tsun Wen-din 17p+7rb, Lin Chi-jay 14p+7rb, Chen Chih-chun 10p+5a

Australia 95-90 Japan U-24 NT
Australia squandered a 19-point lead but Shannon Seebohm made two free-throws with 1.7 seconds remaining to secure the win. Japan cut the deficit to three with 6 seconds to go.
AUS - Dowdell 23p+9rb, Ogilvy 16p+10rb
JAP - Yusuke Okada 35p (8-15 3PT)

Qatar 87-78 Kazakhstan Junior NT
Abdulrahman Ali's three-pointer with 2:29 to go iced a victory for Qatar, which won its third straight game but has been inconsistent in all three. Kazakhstan made 15 3-pointers as a team.
QAT - Ali Turki 18p
KAZ - Anton Ponomarev 23p

Korea University All-Stars 96-88 Philippines
KOR - Park Sung Woo 27p+5rb, Cha Chai Yin 23p+7rb
PHI - Ali Peek 27p+7rb

Standings:
AIA 3-0
Qatar 3-0
Australia 2-1
Taiwan 2-1
Korea 2-1
Kazakhstan 0-3
Japan 0-3
Philippines 0-3

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Jones Cup Day 2 - Taiwan NT edged Philippines, 77-72

Chen Chih-chun's steal and fastbreak layup sealed a close win for Taiwan NT as the host team escaped with a 77-72 victory over the Philippines in the second day of the Jones Cup tournament.

Philippines PBA All-Stars trailed by as many 10 points in the second half but never give up. Ranidel de Ocampo made three 3-pointers in the second half as the visitors clawed back into the game and cut the deficit to three, 75-72, with 11 seconds to go.

Philippines came out of the time out feeling confident, ready to ride the last momentum to tie the game but the point guard lost the ball even before initiating the last attack. Chen Chih-chun picked up the loose ball and dashed upcourt for the winning layup.

TWN - Tien Lei 19p, Tsun Wen-din 17p+8rb+7blk
PHI - J. Arigo 17p, R. de Ocampo 15p(5-6 3PT)

Australia U-19 87-84 Kazakhstan (47-44)
Kazakhstan fumbled its final possession out of bound as Australia U-19 escaped with a 87-84 thriller. Australians showed their lack of experience, missing six straight free-throws(Kevin Probert four, Chris Goudling two) to let Kazakhstan get back in the game. Probert committed a silly intentional foul with 6.5 seconds remaining to give Kazakhstan the final chance. Australia was only 7 for 25 from the foul line but outrebounded Kazakhstan 43-32.
AUS - B. Dowdell 17p, J. Dodman 12p, A. Ogilvy 11p, T. Demos 10p, K. Probert 10p
KAZ - A. Ponomarev 34p, K. Dmitriy 14p, R. Yargaliev 14p

Athletes in Action 93-89 Korea University All-Stars (44-44)
AIA used a 31-16 third quarter outburst to neutralize Koreans' 15 threes in the game, leading by as many as 18 in the third before easing up in the final period.
AIA - T. Dandridge 21p, J. Carter 14p, T. DeVries 13p, D. Kirk 13p, D. Faris 12p
KOR - Park Sung Woo 21p, Lee Ji Yun 20p, Woo Sung Yen 15p

Qatar 102-81 Japan U-24 (44-41)
Qatar dominated the paint with a 55-21 rebounding advantage and closed out the game with a 30-18 4th quarter en route to a 102-81 rout of Japan U-24 National Team. Qatar won its second consecutive game as Japan dropped two straight.
QAT - Hammam Omer Ismail 18p+15rb, Erfan Ali Saeed 17p+13rb, Ali Turki Ali 18p, Khalid Suliman Abdi 17p
JAP - Yusuke Okada 32p(8 3PT), Yosuke Machida 18p, Takumi Ishizaki 12p

Standings:
AIA 2-0
Taiwan 2-0
Qatar 2-0
Australia 1-1
Korea 1-1
Kazakhstan 0-2
Japan 0-2
Philippines 0-2

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Jones Cup Day 1

Athlete in Action 70-51 Australia U-19 NT (33-26)
Josh Carter 16p, Troy Devries 13p+6rb+6a+6s ; Ben Smith 9p, Chris Goulding 9p

Qatar 68-63 Philippines (42-28)
Saad Abdulrahman Ali 18p, Erfan Ali Saeed 13p, Hammam Omer Ismail 9p+10rb ; Yancy Ocampo 13p, Albert Peek 13p

Korea 93-58 Kazakhstan (39-32)

Taiwan 113-70 Japan U-24 NT
Tsun Wen-din 21p, Tien Lei 21p, Lin Chi-jay 15p, Yang Che-yi 11p, Chen Hsin-an 10p, Lee Chi-yi 10p ; Okada Yosuke 26p

Monday, July 03, 2006

SBL teams allowed to hire imports in weird development

Taiwanese basketball teams haven't hire any import player since the pro league CBA folded in 1999. In a weird development, the situation is going to change.

The SBL Committee, the highest governing body of the three-year league, announced that its committee members had reached an agreement that allows non-playoff teams -- which means Videoland, YMY and ETSN -- to hire import players starting next season.

Each team is allowed to hire an import player -- under 200cm if the player comes from non-Asian country and no height limit if he's from Asia.

Any team which makes the playoff is not allowed to hir import players the next season.

Import hiring will be banned three years from now, when the draft system should be established and running smoothly, the committee said.

SBL teams are still divided on the draft system, which has been talked about for a long time but no agreement was reached. It's not a secret that Taiwanese teams pay high school players, even junior high school players, and control their "rights" even though no contract was signed.

In other words, everything is still uncertain regarding the draft system.

And the import hiring system is just plainly weird. Also don't forget, every "agreement" can be re-written in Taiwanese basketball. So hold your resume.

First edition of Asian Professional Basketball competition to be played in Taiwan

The first edition of Asian Professional Basketball (APB), which is similiar to the Asian Clubs Championship staged by FIBA Asia, will be played in Taiwan from August 11-19 with five teams participating in the inaugural event.

Five participants will be Niigata Albirex from Japan's BJ League, LG Sakers from Korea's KBL, Sydney Kings from Australia's NBL, San Miguel Beermen from Philippines' PBA and the home team Taiwan, which sends its national team instead of a club team.

Organizers wanted to invite the champions of Asian leagues but things did not work out as expected.

APB Schedule

Elimination round
Aug. 11
18:30 Niigata Albirex vs. Sydney Kings
20:30 LG Sakers vs. Taiwan

Aug. 12
18:30 Niigata Albirex vs. San Miguel Beermen
20:30 Sydney Kings vs. Taiwan

Aug. 13
18:30 Sydney Kings vs. LG Sakers
20:30 San Miguel Beermen vs. Taiwan

Aug. 14
18:30 LG Sakers vs. San Miguel Beermen
20:30 Niigata Albirex vs. Taiwan

Aug. 15
18:30 Niigata Albirex vs. LG Sakers
20:30 Sydney Kings vs. San Miguel Beermen

Semifinal round
Aug. 16
18:30 No. 1 vs. No. 4
20:30 No. 2 vs. No. 3

Aug. 17
18:30 No. 2 vs. No. 4
20:30 No. 1 vs. No. 3

Aug. 18
18:30 No. 3 vs. No. 4
20:30 No. 1 vs. No. 2

Championship round
Aug. 19
18:30 3-4/place game
20:30 Title game

Venue: Taipei Physical Education Gymnasium
Broadcast TV station: TVBS

Six women's teams in Jones Cup tournament

The annual William Jones Cup International Invitational Tournament will tip off July 8 in Taipei with 8 men's teams and 6 women's teams participating in the most popular basketball event in Taiwan.

The men's competition will be played from July 8-16 while the women's competition follows from July 17-21. All games will be played in Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium.

CTBA did not elaborate in its press release about the exact participating teams, only listing the country names of participating teams on the game schedule.

Six participating teams will play in a single round robin system to determine the winner.

Women's Schedule

July 17
15:00 Australia vs. Italy
17:00 Korea vs. New Zealand
19:00 Taiwan vs. Japan

July 18
15:00 Italy vs. Korea
17:00 Japan vs. Australia
19:00 Taiwan vs. New Zealand

July 19
15:00 Korea vs. Japan
17:00 New Zealand vs. Italy
19:00 Taiwan vs. Australia

July 20
15:00 Australia vs. Korea
17:00 Japan vs. New Zealand
19:00 Taiwan vs. Italy

July 21
15:00 Japan vs. Italy
17:00 New Zealand vs. Australia
19:00 Taiwan vs. Korea
21:00 Closing Ceremony

William Jones Cup tips-off July 8

The annual William Jones Cup International Invitational Tournament will tip off July 8 in Taipei with 8 men's teams and 6 women's teams participating in the most popular basketball event in Taiwan.

The men's competition will be played from July 8-16 while the women's competition follows from July 17-21. All games will be played in Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium.

As usual, Japan, Qatar and Kazakhstan will send their men's national teams to Taiwan. However CTBA did not elaborate in its press release about the exact participating teams, only listing the country names of participating teams on the game schedule.

Eight men's teams will play in a single round robin system in the preliminary round. In the second round No. 5-8 teams and No. 1-4 teams will meet in cross-over games with winners advance to the 5/6-place game and title game while losers play in the 7/8-place game and 3/4-place game.

Men's Schedule

July 8
13:00 Australia vs. USA
15:00 Qatar vs. Philippines
17:00 Korea vs. Kazakhstan
19:00 Opening Ceremony
19:30 Taiwan vs. Japan

July 9
13:00 Kazakhstan vs. Australia
15:00 USA vs. Korea
17:00 Japan vs. Qatar
19:00 Philippines vs. Taiwan

July 10
13:00 Qatar vs. Kazakhstan
15:00 Australia vs. Japan
17:00 Korea vs. Philippines
19:00 Taiwan vs. USA

July 11
13:00 Japan vs. Korea
15:00 Philippines vs. Australia
17:00 Qatar vs. USA
19:00 Kazakhstan vs. Taiwan

July 12
13:00 USA vs. Japan
15:00 Kazakhstan vs. Philippines
17:00 Korea vs. Qatar
19:00 Taiwan vs. Australia

July 13
13:00 Japan vs. Kazakhstan
15:00 Australia vs. Korea
17:00 USA vs. Philippines
19:00 Qatar vs. Taiwan

July 14
13:00 Kazakhstan vs. USA
15:00 Australia vs. Qatar
17:00 Philippines vs. Japan
19:00 Taiwan vs. Korea

July 15
13:00 No. 5 vs. No. 8
15:00 No. 6 vs. No. 7
17:00 No. 4 vs. No. 1
19:00 No. 2 vs. No. 3

July 16
13:00 7/8-place game
15:00 5/6-place game
17:00 3/4-place game
19:00 Title game
21:00 Closing Ceremony