Wednesday, March 29, 2006

UBA men's and women's final four all set

Taiwan's college basketball tournament is a lot different from U.S. NCAA. In other words, it's very predictable. Powerhouses Taipei Physical Education College, Fujen University and National Taiwan Normal University all sent their men's and women's teams to the final four.

Men's final four: TPEC, Fujen Univ., NTCPE, NTNU
Women's final four: TPEC, Fujen Univ., NTNU, NCU

Men's Quarterfinal results:
(1) TPEC 119-98 (8) NTIT
(2) Fujen Univ. 89-70 (7) TNIT
(3) NTCPE 83-78 (6) NTUA
(5) NTNU 103-75 (4) NCU

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Taiwan's HBL All-Stars win double 2006 IHBT champions

Taiwan's HBL Men's All-Stars defeated Kitsilano Secondary School of Vancouver 74-53 to win the 2006 International High School Basketball Tournament champion Sunday while Women's All-Stars edged Japan's Ohka-Gakuen 67-64 in the title game.

This is the fifth straight champion for Taiwan Men's team and third straight for the women's team in the tournament.

Fukuoka Daiichi High School beat Kwang Shin Informationa and Industrial High School 95-83 in men's third-place game. Ashram College Alphen aan de Rijn of the Netherlands, with an average height of 194cm, finished for fifth in the men's competition.

Song Eui High School of South Korea beat Germany's Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium 82-40 in women's third-place game.

Chang Tsung-hsien of host team Taiwan was named men's MVP, but it was Narito Namizato of Japan's Fukuoka Daiichi HS who caught everyone's attention. At 170cm, Namizato led the tournament in assists, rebounding and steals.

Most observers said Namizato looks like "The second coming of Yuta Tabuse" or "Yuta Tabuse with a jump shot."

Namizato is obviously the most matured player on the court. He reads the floor well, can pass with either hand anytime anywhere. He can take any player one-on-one and break down opponents' defense at will.

So, keep an eye on this kid who honed his skills in hometown Okinawa against many American players.

Go Ah-ra(Song Eui HS) led women's competition in rebounding and steals. Natsumi Horikawa of Ohka-Gakuen was the assists leader.

Men's competition:
1. HBL All-Stars (Taiwan)
2. Kitsilano Secondary School(Vancouver, Canada)
3. Fukuoka Daiichi HS (Japan)
4. Kwang Shin Information and Industrial HS (S. Korea)
5. Ashram College Alphen aan de Rijn (Netherlands)

Women's competition:
1. HBL All-Stars (Taiwan)
2. Ohka-Gakuen HS (Japan)
3. Song Eui HS (S. Korea)
4. Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium (Germany)

Awards:
Men's MVP: Chang Tsung-hsien (Taiwan)
Women's MVP: Huang Fan-shan (Taiwan)

UBA final eight set

UBA final eight was set as TPEC's quest for an unprecedented 11th straight university league title moves on to the final stage. Starting in the final eight, the games will apply a single-elimination format.

It will not be hard for TPEC to defend its title, as it features many NT players including Chen Hsin-an, Tsun Wen-din and Chen Shih-nian, to name a few.

Final Eight seeds:
1. TPEC (Taipei Physical Education College)
2. Fujeng Univ.
3. NTCPE (National Taiwan College of Physical Education)
4. NCU (National Culture University)
5. NTNU (National Taiwan Normal University)
6. NTUA (National Taiwan University of Arts)
7. TNIT (Tung-nan Institute of Technology)
8. NTIT (National Taipei Institute of Technology)

Quarterfinal:
1 vs. 8
2 vs. 7
3 vs. 6
4 vs. 5

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Hsin-jung HS wins first ever HBL champion

Hsin-jung HS beat Nan-shan HS 76-67 Friday to win its first ever HBL title in school history. Senior forward Chang Jung-hsuan was named Most Valuable Player. Neng-jen HS beat San-min HS 77-58 in the third-place game.

Hsin-jung HS previously lost to Tsai-shin HS in the title games twice, 2003 and 2005. Neng-jen HS finished third-place in its first appearance in the eilte eight.

Nan-shan point guard Peng Jun-yen was named Freshman of the Year.

In women's competition, Hai-shan HS beat Jin-O HS 69-44 to win its first HBL women's title in school history and snapped a three-game losing streak in the HBL title game. Yang Shu-jing was named MVP and forward/center Huang Pin-chen was named Freshman of the Year.

Defending champion Tamshui HS beat Taipei First Women's HS 86-59 in the third-place game.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Wu Dai-hao finishes first season at BYU-Hawaii

Former ETSN Antelope and NT player Wu Dai-hao finished his first season at BYU-Hawaii, which had a 14-11 season and failed to make the postseason.

For a player who's trying to get his first look at American basketball, Wu's overall performance as a freshman is OK. He started 14 of 24 games with a 23 minutes playing time average.

Wu averaged 8.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.6 blks and 0.6 steals, also shooting 56% from the field, 30.4% on three-pointers and 75.4% from the free-throw line.

However, his 3.2 turnovers per game is way too many and he fouled out of three games and had been bothered by foul trouble all season long. And by coming off the bench in the second half of the season after starting every game in the first half, you know something was not going right.

Maybe we can argue that Wu is still getting used to American style of play. So let's see what happen next season when he had an year of experience under his belt and shoulder more responsibility after three seniors graduated.

One thing is for sure. Taiwanese basketball fans will still root for Wu even all they can do is reading the boxscores after the games.

BYU-Hawaii finished 6-6 in the Pacific West Conference of the NCAA Division II. It is 10-4 at home and 4-6 on the road.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Tsun's 44 keeps BOT one step away from playoffs

Yulon center Tsun Wen-din scored a career-high 44 points to go with 12 rebounds and 6 blocks as Yulon edged Bank of Taiwan 101-94 Sunday and stopped BOT from clinching a playoff seed.

BOT will qualify for the playoffs if it wins one of two remaining games or Videoland suffers another loss. But BOT has to wait four more weeks before that can happen.

SBL regular season will be suspended for about one month to make room for the UBA quarterfinal playoffs. Most SBL players are college students and have to play for their college teams in the UBA.

Dacin forward-guard Chang Chi-feng scored a career-high 36 points on the same night, helping Dacin to a 100-72 rout of Taiwan Beer. Tien Lei had 27 points and 19 rebounds.

Dacin, which applied an effective 3-2 zone defense in the game, is now leading TB by one game on the standings. But the show will go on as both teams are expected to meet again in the first round playoffs.

Yulon 101-94 BOT
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 44p+12rb+6blk, Chiu Chi-yi 15p+5a, Chou Shih-yuan 14p
BOT: Chien Ming-fu 26p, Ju Yong-hong 16p+11rb

Dacin 100-72 TB
Dacin: Chang Chi-feng 36p+12rb+4a+4s, Tien Lei 27p+19rb
TB: 21p+8rb, Lin Chi-jay 16p

Standings:
1. Yulon 21-6
2. Dacin 19-8
3. TB 17-9
4. BOT 14-14
5. VL 11-15
6. ETSN 9-17
7. YMY 2-24

Sunday, March 12, 2006

BOT wins again, ETSN upset Beermen

Bank of Taiwan (14-13) is one step closer to the impossible. The inspiring BOT edged YMY 99-97 Friday to take home its sixth win in the last seven games and is one win away from the first playoff appearance in its 3-year SBL history.

The SBL regular season will be suspended for a month after two games tonight to accomodate the University league UBA, which will be hosting its quarterfinals starting March 18. SBL action will resume from April 7 and close the regular season on April 16.

If BOT manages to upset Yulon tonight, it can clinch the fourth and last playoff seed. Yulon, Dacin and Taiwan Beer have all qualified for the playoffs. BOT will make the playoffs if Videoland loses any of its four remaining games.

BOT head coach Wei Chen-min said: "We don't want to play the waiting game since Videoland's next game is one month away. We want to take the matters in our own hands and make the playoffs [by beating Yulon]."

BOT had five players scoring in double-figures in the close win over last-placed YMY. 165cm point guard Chien Ming-fu had a game-high 24 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

Meanwhile, ETSN upset TB 76-75 in the absence of leading scorer Yang Yu-min, who did not suit up for the game due to family decease, and snapped its 4-game losing streak.

Led by O-Yang Jin-hen and Wu Jia-long, who scored 17 apiece, ETSN grabbed its first win vs. the top three teams this season.

YMY dropped both games this week so far and extended its all-time consecutive losing streak record to 23 games.

Yulon defeated VL Friday 100-91 with Chou Shih-yuan exploded for his SBL career-high 33 points and Lee Hsueh-lin scoring 20 to make up for the loss of Chen Chih-chun, who broke his nose last week and is out indefinitely.

March 10
BOT 99-97 YMY
BOT: Chien Ming-fu 24p+9rb+7a, Yang Ching-min 18p, Lin Chun-feng 18p, Wu Yong-jen 14p+5rb+6a, Ju Yong-hong 10p+12rb
YMY: Lo Shing-liang 29p, Chien Jia-hong 17p+7rb, Hsieh Chih-wei 16p+11rb
Yulon 100-91 VL
Yulon: Chou Shih-yuan 33p, Lee Hsueh-lin 20p+6a, Tsun Wen-din 17p+13rb
VL: Lee Chi-yi 31p+10rb, Yang Che-yi 17p, Lai Kuo-hong 16p+9rb

March 11
Dacin 106-80 YMY
Dacin: Tien Lei 24p+9rb, Chang Chi-feng 17p, Lin Yi-huei 17p
YMY: Chien Jia-hong 20p, Zuo Tsun-kai 15p
ETSN 76-75 TB
ETSN: O-Yang Jin-hen 17p, Wu Jia-lung 17p, Huang Bao-tse 12p
TB: Lin Chi-jay 16p, Ho Sho-jen 12p

Standings:
Yulon 20-6, Dacin 18-8, TB 17-8, BOT 14-13, VL 11-15, ETSN 9-17, YMY 2-24

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

TB clinches for playoffs ; BOT routs VL

Taiwan Beer cruised by YMY 101-84 Sunday to become the third team
clinching for the playoffs, follwing Yulon and Dacin. YMY was handed
its 22nd consecutive loss.

Bank of Taiwan used a 61-38 second half to rout Videoland 109-87 and
opened up a 1.5 games lead over the Hunters. Both teams have four
games left to play.

March 5
BOT 109-87 VL
BOT: Lin Chun-feng 28p, Ju Yong-hong 15p, Chien Ming-fu 14p, Wu
Yong-jen 13p, Chuan Hsiao-wen 13p
VL: Lee Chi-yi 31p, Hong Chi-chao 27p

TB 101-84 YMY
TB: Lin Chi-jay 23, Lee Wei-min 13p
YMY: Hsieh Chih-wei 20p, Ding Kuo-chu 16p

Yulon 91-81 ETSN
Yulon: Chou Shih-yuan 28p, Liu Shen-yao 18p, Tsun Wen-din 13p+6rb+6a
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 29p, Hsiao Yuan-chan 14p+8rb

Standings:
Yulon 19-6, TB 17-7, Dacin 17-8, BOT 13-13, VL 11-14, ETSN 8-17, YMY 2-22

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Taiwan Beer looks to clinch playoff seed tonight

Chen Shih-nian and Lin Chi-jay scored 21 points apiece as Taiwan Beer beat Dacin 90-80 Saturday, snapping Dacin's 5-game winning streak, and will look to clinch a playoff seed tonight when it meets last-placed YMY.

Yulon (18-6) and Dacin (17-8) were the only teams that clinched for the playoffs.

Tien Lei followed his career-high 46 points Friday (vs. BOT) with 31 points and 12 rebounds but had no help from his teammates in the losing effort, which was only its second loss in the last 13 games.

Meanwhile, BOT kept pushing for the first playoff appearance in three years by beating ETSN, 90-84, with a late 11-0 run in crunch time. BOT won four of its last five and led VL by a half game while ETSN dropped three straight.

BOT will meet VL tonight in one of the most important games before the playoffs. If BOT wins it will lead VL by one and a half games and is one step closer to the postseason.

The comeback of Chien Ming-fu, who has been suspended for two games along with YMY forward Lu Jia-hao for fighting, will be good news for BOT.

For YMY, it still hasn't seen the light in the end of the tunnel. YMY pushed its SBL all-time losing streak to 20 games after losing to Yulon 118-98.

ETSN is no better, although mathametically it's not out of playoffs yet. All season long ETSN head coach Lee Yun-hsiang changed his starting lineups on game-to-game basis. Lee has been known for managing egos but obviously he has to know how to manage the game first.

March 3
Dacin 106-84 BOT
Dacin: Tien Lei 46p+17rb+6s, Wang Chih-chun 19p, Chang Chi-feng 15p
BOT: Yang Chin-min 20p, Chen Shun-hsiang 16p
VL 82-73 ETSN
VL: Lee Chi-yi 21p+10rb, Yang Che-yi 17p, Chen Huei 16p
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 22p

March 4
Yulon 118-98 YMY
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 23p, Lu Cheng-ju 20p, Chou Shih-yuan 16p, Wu Chih-wei 16p
YMY: Chien Jia-hong 19p, Lo Shin-liang 16p
BOT 90-84 ETSN
BOT: Wu Yong-jen 23p, Chen Shun-hsiang 21p+4blk, Yang Chin-min 18p
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 20p, Wu Jun-hsiung 15p+10rb
TB 90-80 Dacin
TB: Chen Shih-nian 21p+10rb, Lin Chi-jay 21p+8rb
Dacin: Tien Lei 31p+12rb, Chang Chi-feng 17p, Wang Chih-chun 16p

Standings:
Yulon 18-6, TB 16-7, Dacin 17-8, BOT 12-13, VL 11-13, ETSN 8-16, YMY 2-21

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Tien Lei wins February MVP

Tien Lei, who led Dacin to a 8-1 record in February, was named SBL February Most Valuable Player Wednesday.

Tien averaged 28.9 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in February and registered seven double-doubles in nine games. On February 5 Tien scored a career-high 45 points in the game versus YMY.