Saturday, August 26, 2006

Kobe Bryant to visit Taiwan

U.S. basketball star Kobe Bryant, who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, will make a whirlwind 24-hour visit to Taiwan Sept. 7, Nike Taiwan announced at a press conference Friday.

Bryant, who will be visiting Taiwan for the first time, will meet 4,000 fans in the National Taiwan University Gymnasium, where he will conduct a short basketball clinic, according to Nike Taiwan General Manager Roxanne Chiu.

Bryant will meet the local media at a press conference and will leave for Seoul the next day, Chiu said.

Taiwan is the third stop for Bryant on his Sep. 4- 9 Asia Tour, which also includes Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Beijing.

However, he is not expected to put on an extensive demonstration or competition as he is still in rehabilitation following knee surgery in July.

(Source: Central News Agency)

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Perth Wildcats claims Asia Professional Basketball crown

Perth Wildcats beat LG Sakers 86-64 Saturday to win the inaugural Asia Professional Basketball tournament, which means the Wildcats can say they are the best pro club in Asia -- period. The Wildcats won all 8 games they've played.

In the third-place game, Taiwan NT broke the game open in the second half and beat Niigata Albirex 75-58. The game was tied 32-32 at halftime but the host ended the third quarter with a 11-2 run and cruised in the final period.

Tien Lei had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Tsun Wen-din had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Yang Che-yi and Lee Hsueh-lin each had 10 points.

Daiki Terashita led Niigata with 17 points, followed by Makoto Hasegawa's 12. Jonathan Sanders had 11 points and 12 boards.

Taiwan NT will train in the U.S. from Aug. 26 - Sep. 23 before coming back and meet Dongbu Promy, which ranked 3rd in the KBL regular season last season, in a three-game warmup series on Sep. 27, 28 and Oct. 1.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

APB 2nd Round - Taiwan beat Niigata 80-70

Without Chen Hsin-an and Chou Shih-yuan, Taiwan NT managed to beat Niigata Albirex 80-70 in the final second round game of the APB tournament with the play of Tsun Wen-din and Lee Hsueh-lin, who combined for 39 points.

Tsun had 21 points. Lee had 18 points and Tien Lei had 14. Taiwan head coach Lee Yun-kwang did not play Chen Hsin-an and Chou Shih-yuan, who missed the game for funeral of his grandfather, since the game was virtually meaningless.

Taiwan will meet Niigata again tomorrow in the third-place game while Perth Wildcats comes up against LG Sakers in the championship game.

Friday, August 18, 2006

APB 2nd Round - Wildcats, Sakers will meet in championship

Perth Wildcats stayed undefeated through six games after a 84-57 win over Niigata and LG Sakers beat Taiwan NT 91-78 Thursday as both teams clinched APB championship berths.

In the four-team second round, the Wildcats and the Sakers are both 2-0 with one game left. Taiwan NT and the Albirex are both 0-2 and will meet for the third-place. The results make tomorrow's last second round games meaningless.

Led by Pervis Pasco's 18 points and 19 rebounds, LG pounded the home team without mercy, making 16 3-pointers in the game. LG sank 6 threes in a 34-19 third quarter that pulled the score away after a 43-38 first half.

Taiwan also made 14 3-pointers but was outrebounded 34-18. Tsun Wen-din scored a team-high 16 points, followed by Chen Hsin-an's 15. Chen Shih-nian had 12 while Lin Chi-jay had 10.

Cho Sang-hyun led LG with 21 points, including six 3-pointers. Hyun Joo-yup had 12.

Second Round standings:
Perth Wildcats 2-0
LG Sakers 2-0
Taiwan NT 0-2
Niigata 0-2

Thursday, August 17, 2006

APB 2nd Round - Wildcats beat Taiwan again

Perth Wildacts beat Taiwan NT on consecutive nights in a 99-93 victory Wednesday, following a 100-74 blowout Tuesday, to open its second round campaign in the Asia Professional Basketball tournament. The Wildcats is riding on a five-game winning streak and looks like the favorite to win it all.

Following the single round-robin preliminaries, Taiwan NT, Perth Wildcats, LG Sakers and Niigata Albirex will play in yet another single round-robin second round before the final round, where the top two teams meet for gold and the other two play for the third-place Saturday.

Ben Hunt scored six of his team-high 19 points in the last two minutes to keep the score out of reach. Perth led from start to finish and as many as 24 points in the third quarter before Taiwan NT made the last push.

With a 21-7 run in the third and another 8-0 run in the fourth quarter, the home team cut the deficit to three, 89-86, with 2:35 to go. But Hunter took over from there and increased the lead to eight with 28.2 seconds remaining.

Tony Ronaldson scored 14 points for the winner. Adam Caporn had 12.

Lin Chi-jay scored 19 to lead the Taiwanese, followed by Chen Hisn-an's 18. Chou Shih-yuan came off the bench to score 16, including four 3-pointers, in 22 minutes. Tsun Wen-din had 15 points and 9 assists. Lee Chi-yi had 11 points.

In the second game of the night, LG routed Niigata 102-73 to avenge the 97-84 loss last night to the Albirex in its last preliminary game. LG opened the game with a 20-1 run and led by as many as 31 points.

Second round standings:
Perth Wildcats 1-0
Niigata Albirex 1-0
Taiwan NT 0-1
LG Sakers 0-1

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

APB - Perth Wildcats finished atop first round

Perth Wildcats routed Taiwan NT 100-74 Tuesday night and finished with a perfect 4-0 record after the first round in the APB tournament, which will enter another single round robin second round.

LG Sakers of Korea, Niigata Albirex and Taiwan NT all finished 2-2 but were ranked in a No.2 - 4 order after the point margin comparison. San Miguel Beermen of PBA was eliminated after dropping all four games.

Paul Rogers made 11 of 12 shots en route to a 24-point, 7-rebound night to lead a balanced attack as the Wildcats overwhelmed the host in the last 30 minutes. Lin Chi-jay led Taiwan with 12 points. Yue Yin-li and Tsun Wen-din each scored 11 points while Lee Hsueh-lin had 10.

Niigata beat San Miguel 97-84 in the final preliminary game to win its second straight game after dropping the first two. The Japanese team was able to hold off San Miguel's rally mostly because of its 12-for-27 three-point shooting.

Jonathan Sanders had 22 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists for Niigata, which also had 14 points from veteran Makoto Hasegawa.

Dorian Pena had 22 points for the Beermen, whose acting head coach Chot Reyes (head coach of the national team) opted to rest Danny Siegle and Donald Hontiveros in the game because both of them and Pena will join the national team for a tournament in Palau starting Aug. 18.

The tournament enters the second round phase Wednesday. Top two teams of the second round will play for gold while the other two will meet for the third-place on the final day, Aug. 19.

Aug. 13 results:
Niigata 84-81 LG
Perth 89-70 San Miguel

Monday, August 14, 2006

APB Day 3 - Taiwan NT KO San Miguel, 105-76

Taiwan NT turned in its best performance in the APB tournament Sunday night, knocking out San Miguel 105-76 in a game that was meaningful for 10 minutes.

Inspired by five 3-pointers from Tien Lei and Chen Hsin-an, Taiwan NT opened the game with a 18-1 run over the Beermen, who couldn't find the basket and seemed uninterested all game long. The game was never close as the host led by as many as 37 points.

At one point San Miguel head coach Chot Reyes told his players they were embarrassing themsleves. But his words obviously neither pick up the players' spirit nor stop the last 30 minutes of the game from turning into garbage times.

All 11 players on Taiwan NT scored while five hit double figures. Chen Hsin-an led with 24 points, followed by Tien Lei's 16 and Lin Chi-jay's 14. Lee Chi-yi and Chou Shih-yuan had 13 points each.

Center Tsun Wen-din, who returned to Taiwan Sunday morning from Pete Newell Big Man Camp in Las Vegas, didn't play until the third quarter and had 5 points and 3 boards in 10 minutes.

In the ohter game, Perth Wildcats defeated LG Sakers 82-68 to remain undefeated at 2-0. LG is now 2-1 and tied with Taiwan NT.

Standings:
Perth Wildcats 2-0
Taiwan NT 2-1
LG Sakers 2-1
San Miguel 0-2
Niigata Albirex 0-2

Sunday, August 13, 2006

APB Day 2 - Taiwan edged Niigata in overtime, 101-98

Led by Lin Chi-jay, who had 37 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals, Taiwan NT edged Niigata Albirex 101-98 in overtime for its first win Saturday in the inaugural Asian Professional Basketball (APB) tournament.

Taiwan NT escaped with the fortunate win after making 3 of 6 foul shots in the last minute in overtime as Albirex came up with two airballs.

Tien Lei had 21 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals before fouling out. Lee Chi-yi had 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks while Lee Hsueh-lin had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

Niigata stayed with the home team because Taiwan NT kept missing free throws. The home team made only 8 of 21 free throws in the second half, including 5 of 12 in overtime.

Kimitake Sato, who had a team-high 24 points in the game, tied the game with a 3-pointer with 2:27 left in overtime, but that was the last basket for Niigata, which was hurt with more than 20 turnovers.

Sato scored five unanswered points in the last minute of the regulation to put Albirex on top, 90-87. Lin Chi-jay tied the game with a 3-poineter with 7.6 seconds to go before Niigata head coach Masaya Hirose called timeout for the last shot.

Veteran Makoto Hasegawa went to the basket but was stripped of the ball by Yang Che-yi, who was fouled hard and taken off the court due to injury. Lin Chi-jay, however, missed two potential game-winning free-throws with 0.9 seconds to go.

LG Sakers of South Korea defeated San Miguel Beermen, 76-65, to top the standing with two straight wins.

Preliminary Standings:
LG Sakers 2-0
Perth Wildcats 1-0
Taiwan NT 1-1
San Miguel 0-1
Niigata 0-2

Saturday, August 12, 2006

APB Day 1 - LG routed Taiwan NT 94-65

LG Sakers of Korea's KBL routed Taiwan NT 94-65 in the opening night of the inaugural APB (Asian Professional Basketball) tournament Friday while Perth Wildcats came up with an easy 81-70 win over Niigata Albirex of Japan's BJ League.

Taiwan NT entered the game without Tsun Wen-din, who is in Las Vegas for Pete Newell Big Man Camp and will not join the team before Aug. 14, and Chen Chih-chung, who is injured.

But it's hard to believe the home team could only hang with the Koreans for only a quarter. Led by Pervis Pasco, who had 15 points and 12 boards in the game, LG pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back.

Veteran Hoon Joo-yup had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists for Sakers, which outrebounded Taiwan 40-22 and was 13 for 26 from threes.

Tien Lei had 23 points and 7 boards before fouling out. Taiwan NT once again relied heavily on three-pointers but shot only 10 for 42.

Paul Rogers had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists to pace the Wiladcats.

Asian Professional Basketball tournament to begin in Taipei

Taipei, Aug. 10 (CNA) Five top Asian basketball teams have gathered in Taipei for the Asian Professional Basketball (APB) tournament, which will be played from Aug. 11-19, to vie for the position as the top club in Asia.

The Taiwan national team, the only non-club participant, will be joined by four teams from Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Australia in the nine-day, 18-game tournament.

The visiting teams include Niigata Albirex of the Basketball Japan League, the LG Sakers of the Korean Basketball League, the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippines Basketball Association, and the Perth Wildcats of Australia's National Basketball League.

The APB is patterned after the Asia Series of professional baseball.

The Taiwan team, which will use the tournament as part of its preparations for the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, will face the LG Sakers on the opening day, while the Perth Wildcats will take on Niigata Albirex.

The inaugural game will be played at the Taipei Physical Education Gymnasium.
(Source: Central News Agency)

Friday, August 04, 2006

Trade a player....for a coach

Taiwanese basketball never stop surprising its fans. ETSN Antelopes announced that it swapped veteran point guard Chou Jun-san with Taiwan Beer in exchange for Chiu Da-tsun, TB's head coach last season.

And it's not even a trade, ETSN said in its press release. It said the transaction was an "bilateral exchange." Does anyone know what it means?

Anyway, it means Liu Hwa-lin, who was set to replace Lee Yun-hsiang as the head coach, was replaced before coaching his first game in ETSN.

And the Antelopes got their wish in finding the best coach available in Taiwan, as Chiu is an exprienced veteran who spent a couple of years in China's CBA(Chinese Basketball Association) with Sina, Jiangsu and Xinjiang as well as Taiwna's defunct league CBA(Chinese Basketball Alliance).

As for Chou Jun-san, he is expected to act as a player/coach and eventually a full-time coach, since Taiwan Beer is already loaded with young and talented point guards in Chen Shih-nian and Hsu Hao-cheng.