Monday, July 30, 2007

Taiwan back to Asian Championship quarterfinal

0730_TPE_TAI_HAO_WU
Wu Dai-hao. (photo source: fiba.com)

It's not an achievement at all, but Taiwan Men's NT is finally back in the elite eight in the Asian Men's Basketball Championship after a long hard six years. The last time Taiwan was in the quarterfinals was in 2001, when it ranked 7th in the tournament.

Led by center Wu Dai-hao's 24 points, Taiwan beat Hong Kong 98-81 in its final prelim and wrapped up the preliminary round with a 2-1 record and advanced to the quarter as the No. 2 seed in Group D along with group leader Korea, which was 3-0 after defeating Syria 89-79.

Taiwan dominated the game and never gave Hong Kong a chance. Wu made 10 of 13 shots en route to another solid performance of 24 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. SBL regular season and Finals MVP Lin Chih-jay had 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Chen Hsin-an added 17 points and 7 boards while Yang Che-yi had 11 points and 5 rebounds. Taiwan almost made 70 percent of its two-pointers and had 11 threes in the game.

Hong was led by Li Kim Wong's 18 points. Lo Yi Ting had 12 while Fong Shing Yee added 10.

Taiwan was 7th in the 2001 Asian Championship but fell to an all-time worst 11th place in 2003. In 2005 it ranked 9th.

Making the quarterfinal will be the first step for newly-hired Korean head coach Chung Kwang-suk, who had said he hoped to lead Taiwan to the semifinals when he took over the team and replaced former head coach Lee Yung-kwang.

Wu Dai-hao averaged for 18 points, 6 rebounds and 2.3 assists after three games and has been successfully filled the void left by the absence of two injured big men Tsun Wen-din and Tien Lei.

Lin Chih-jay also averaged for 18 points to go with 6.3 rebounds. Chen Hsin-an is averaging 17 points and 6.3 rebounds. Yang Che-yi averaged for 15.7 points. These four players had accounted for almost 80 percent of Taiwan's scoring.

The one question remained before the second round: Will injured Tsun Wen-din play? Tsun's presence will take a lot of pressure off of Wu Dai-hao and Chen Hsin-an, who was forced to switched to the power forward position.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Taiwan lost to Korea in Asian Championship

0729_KOR_SEUNG JIN_HA
Taiwan NT had trouble defending Korean center Ha Seung-jin.

Taiwan NT had trouble dealing with Korea's balance attack and lost 85-70 to the Koreans in its second preliminary game in the Asian Championship. Taiwan is now tied at 1-1 with Hong Kong, which surprised Syria earlier today, in Group D.

Mathematically, no team has clinched quarterfinal seeds yet but Korea is expected to beat Syria and top the group with three wins. Taiwan and Hong Kong will meet tomorrow for the other quarterfinal seed.

Taiwan trailed immediately after the game started, giving up a 7-0 run to Korea. But for 25 minutes, it was able to hang with Korea and kept the deficit within single digit. Give credit to center Wu Dai-hao, who had 20 points (10-15 FG) and 5 boards in the game and had a tough time going against 223cm giant Ha Seung-jin in the paint.

But Ha was too big for Taiwanese cagers as he had a game-high 25 points on 8 of 9 shooting and making 9 of 11 free-throws. And whenever Taiwan made a push, Korean guards answered with a timely three. Yang Dong-guen had 13 points and Shin Ki-sung had 11.

Chen Hsin-an had 14 points for Taiwan, which also had 13 points from Lin Chih-chieh and 10 points from NT rookie Lin Yi-huei.

0729_TPE_KWANG-SUK_CHUNG

0729_TPE_TAI-HAO_WU

0729_KOR_JOO_SUNG_KIM

0729_TPE_HSIN-AN_CHEN

-- Game results:
Kazakhstan 97-74 India
Hong Kong 104-100 Syria
UAE 69-68 Kuwait
Qatar 86-45 Indonesia
Korea 85-70 Taiwan
Japan 77-67 Lebanon
Philippines 79-74 China
Iran 60-54 Jordan

-- Standings:
Group A
Iran 2-0
Jordan 1-1
Philippines 1-1
China 0-2

Group B
Japan 2-0
Lebanon 1-1
UAE 1-1
Kuwait 0-2

Group C
Qatar 2-0
Kazakhstan 2-0
India 0-2
Indonesia 0-2

Group D
Korea 2-0
Taiwan 1-1
Hong Kong 1-1
Syria 0-2

(photo source: fiba.com)

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Yang Che-yi led Taiwan to key win over Syria

0728_tpe_hsin-an_chen
Chen Hsin-an

Yang Che-yi exploded for 30 points to match basket by basket with Syria's ultra-talented scorer Michael Madanly and led Taiwan NT to a 90-66 blowout, probably the most important victory for Taiwan in the entire Asian Men's Basketball Championship, which opened in Tokushima, Japan Saturday.

By defeating Syria, Taiwan is expected to earn a quarterfinal seat although there are still two games vs. Korea and Hong Kong to be played. If everything goes as expected, Taiwan and Korea will be top two in Group D and advance to the final eight.

Yang was hot for the entire game, making 13 of 19 shots including 4-of-9 from threes. Yang's hot hand helped Taiwan to a 55-29 second half. Taiwan was a different team in the second half, when they sank 8 of 12 threes to break the game open.

Chen Hsin-an had his best game in a while in turning in 20 points and 7 rebounds. Lin Chih-jay had 18 points to go with 11 rebounds. Wu Dai-hao added 10 points and 9 boards while Lee Hsueh-lin had 12 points.

Hurt by losing Tien Lei and Tsun Wen-din, Taiwan successfully protected the glass and outrebounded Syria, which explained why it took advantage of its speed and scored a bunch on the transition.

Taiwan head coach Cheng Kwang-suk did not want to mess up with the important game and only played seven players with Yang Che-yi, Lin Chih-jay and Chen Hsin-an all played 40 minutes.

Taiwan trailed 37-35 at halftime.

Syria was paced by Madanly's 37 points but no one else stepped up their game. Madanly did give Taiwanese defenders trouble inside and out as no one could defend him.

Strangely, Syria did not played its Brazilian-Syrian players -- Eduardo Caviglia and Marcelo De Andrade Correa. According to reports they had problem with the time when they had acquired their Syrian citizenship. However, Japan did play American player J.R. Sakuragi, who didn't get his Japenese citizenship until July 2. I don't what was happening there.

0728_tpe_chung_kwang
Cheng Kwang-suk

0728_tpe_wu_tai-hao
Wu Dai-hao

0728_syr_madanly_micheal
Michael Madanly

Game results:
Qatar 106-49 India
Kazakhstan 107-53 Indonesia
Jordan 78-65 China
Korea 107-67 Hong Kong
Taiwan 90-66 Syria
Japan 109-66 UAE
Iran 75-69 Philippines
Lebanon 104-59 Kuwait

(Photo source: fiba.com)

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Tsun questionable for Asian Championship

Another bad news for Taiwan NT, which will head for Tokushima, Japan for the 2007 Asian Championship. Starting center Tsun Wen-din is questionable for the tournament because of a right-knee injury, United Daily News reported. Losing two big men, Taiwan NT is now down to only one big man who's over 6-7 -- Wu Dai-hao -- in its entire roster.

Taiwan NT had already lost another designated starter Tien Lei, who had injuries in his hands and knees.

This was obviously not a good news for the team, which will face Syria in the opening game in Tokushima. And I doubt that Tsun's spot will be replaced by head coach Cheng Kwong Hee because it's still possible that Tsun will suit up.

Tsun sustained the injury in a game vs. the Philippines in the Jones Cup and hasn't practiced with the team since the tournament concluded two weeks ago.

Taiwan is scheduled to meet Syria on July 28, Korea on July 29 and Hong Kong on July 30 in the preliminary round. The game vs. Syria will be the most important one if it wants to advance to the quarterfinal.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Chang Tsun-hsien to play in German league

張宗憲2

Chang Tsun-hsien, who was expected to be the No. 1 draft pick in the 2007 SBL local players draft, withdrew his name on the eve of the draft and told media that he will play for BG 74 Goettingen, a team in German top league 1. Bundesliga, next season.

If Chang makes the team, the 18 years-old guard out of Hsin-jung High School will be the first Taiwanese player in an European basketball league.

There have been several options for Chang, who was regarded as the best player in this year's high school class and was invited to attend the LeBron James Skill Camp in Akron, Ohio.

A minority owner of U.S. minor league ABA's Anaheim Arsenal, who is a Chinese, tried to bring Chang to play college ball before Chang declined. Chang then put his name in the SBL draft and was ready to play in Taiwan before pulling out.

With the help from BG 74 head coach John Patrick and Nike Taiwan, Chang is now trying to fulfill his dream of playing overseas and the first Taiwanese basketball player to play in Europe.

High-flying Chang led Hsin-jung High School to the 2007 HBL championship game and had 32 points and 7 rebounds in the overtime loss to the eventual champion Nan-shan High School. He was the leading scorer of Taiwan U-18 NT, which took fourth place in the Asian U-18 Championship in Urmuqi, China last year.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Wu Fong-cheng goes No. 1 in 2007 SBL local draft

台銀韋陳明(左)吳奉晟
BOT selected Wu Fong-cheng at No. 1.

選秀狀元吳奉晟
Wu Fong-cheng.

Bank of Taiwan selected 194cm forward Wu Fong-cheng with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 SBL local players draft Saturday as 22 of 89 players were picked up by seven SBL teams in the symbolic draft -- the first time the four-year league had conducted such draft.

190cm Chang Tsun-hsien, who was expected to be the No. 1 pick prior to the draft, withdrew from the draft and announced he will play for German professional club BG74, a team in the top league, next season.

The draft was held amid the controversy about the agreement between the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) and the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation (CTUSF). Last year both parties had agreed upon a multi-year initiative to take college players out of the professional league.

The controversy remained unresolved. Under the standing agreement, most draftees will not be able to play in the 2007-08 SBL season.

Wu Fong-cheng, an athletic swingman who came from Gao-yuan high school, is currently a collegge player at the National College of Physical Education and Sports.

Azio selected Chen Jun-jay with the No. 2 pick and 199cm Lee Jun-wei went No. 3 to ETSN. Athletic forward Chen Yu-an went to Dacin at the fourth pick. Defensing Champ Taiwan Beer picked Yao Shen-han at the fifth while Wu Min-hsien, the high school league MVP last year, was picked up by Videoland at No. 6 as its only selection in the draft.

Yulon also selected only one player -- Fang Wen-shi -- at the final pick of the first round.

The draft ended after all teams passed up. ETSN selected seven players in the draft. Azio and Taiwan Beer each selected four players. Dacin had three. Bank of Taiwan grabbed two.

According to the regulation announced by the SBL Committee before the draft, Teams are allowed to sign the first round draftees to a maximum three-year contract with a monthly salary between NT$20,000 - 50,000 (US$607 - 1518). Second rounders can be signed to a maximum one-year contract with a NT$50,000 (US$1518) monthly salary cap.

US$ 607 - 1518 monthly salary? You may think that's a joke. Yes it is, but it's also true.

In addition, a player who failed to reach agreement with team which drafted him will be a free agent if the team grants his release. Undrafted players are seen as free agents and can sign with any team.

Draft results:

Round 1
1. BOT / Wu Fong-cheng, 194cm, 1986/11/29
2. Azio / Chen Jun-jay, 180cm, 1983/6/4
3. ETSN / Lee Jun-wei, 199cm, 1988/10/17
4. Dacin / Chen Yu-an, 194cm, 1989/1/2
5. Taiwan Beer / Yao Shen-han, 197cm, 1988/11/15
6. Videoland / Wu Min-hsien, 182cm, 1988/12/19
7. Yulon / Fang Yong-shi, 190cm, 1989/3/28

Round 2
1. BOT / Hong Jay, 188cm, 1987/12/22
2. Azio / Cheng Chi-hao, 208cm, 1987/12/10
3. ETSN / Yang Cheng-lun, 178cm, 1989/1/18
4. Dacin / Huang Wen-ying, 184cm, 1987/12/15
5. Taiwan Beer / Hsieh Cheng-yang, 192cm, 1989/7/10
6. Videoland / (Pass)
7. Yulon / (Pass)

Round 3
1. BOT / (Pass)
2. Azio / Lin Jin-bang, 190cm, 1985/6/15
3. ETSN / Hsu Ching-feng, 190cm, 1987/1/13
4. Dacin / Chuang Tsun-shun, 190cm, 1988/12/24
5. Taiwan Beer / Ho Wei-cheng, 196cm, 1988/9/24
6. Videoland / (Pass)
7. Yulon / (Pass)

Round 4
1. BOT / (Pass)
2. Azio / Chu Yi-tsun, 186cm, 1986/8/4
3. ETSN / Lin Yi-fu, 186cm, 1988/12/22
4. Dacin / (Pass)
5. Taiwan Beer / Chen Kwan-chun, 182cm, 1988/10/3
6. Videoland / (Pass)
7. Yulon / (Pass)

Round 5
1. BOT / (Pass)
2. Azio / (Pass)
3. ETSN / Chang Ming-che, 190cm, 1984/6/20
4. Dacin / (Pass)
5. Taiwan Beer / (Pass)
6. Videoland / (Pass)
7. Yulon / (Pass)

Round 6
1. BOT / (Pass)
2. Azio / (Pass)
3. ETSN / Lee Wei-lun, 172cm, 1985/9/7
4. Dacin / (Pass)
5. Taiwan Beer / (Pass)
6. Videoland / (Pass)
7. Yulon / (Pass)

Round 7
1. BOT / (Pass)
2. Azio / (Pass)
3. ETSN / Wang Nan-kuei, 180cm, 1983/5/21
4. Dacin / (Pass)
5. Taiwan Beer / (Pass)
6. Videoland / (Pass)
7. Yulon / (Pass)

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Azio Eagles abalienated to Pure Youth Construction Teams



Get used to it. This team will probably change their name and management on an annual basis. Azio Eagles confirmed yesterday that Daniel Jiang, the owner of the team, has abalienated the team to Pure Youth Construction Teams.

Why ABALIENATED and not SOLD? Because Jiang basically handed the team over to the construction group for free. And I had to find the word ABALIENATE from a dictionary.

Anyway, Azio became the second SBL team changing ownership this summer following ETSN's sale to Segway Technology last week.

Azio, now Pure Youth, had a long history of struggling between different ownerships and names. It was known as Hong-kuo Elephants during the defunct pro league CBA (Chinese Basketball Alliance) days from 1994-1999. After that it was bought by former Sina.com President Jiang and renamed to Sina.

Jiang then relocated the team to Suzhou, China and played in China's CBA for two years before going back to Taiwan and joined the SBL. The team name was changed to YMY, then Azio.

Australia wins 2007 Jones Cup women's title



Australia NT routed Taiwan Blue Team 74-44 Tuesday and won the 2007 Jones Cup tournament women's title with a perfect 6-0 record. 190cm center Hollie Grima was named MVP of the tournament after averaging 15.2 points and 6.3 rebounds in six games.

In the other games of the final day, Woori Bank from South Korea edged New Zealand 69-60 and Athletes in Action (AIA) beat Taiwan White Team 83-72.

Final standings:

1. Australia NT 6-0
2. Taiwan Blue Team 4-2
3. AIA 4-2
4. Woori Bank 3-3
5. New Zealand 2-4
6. Taiwan White Team 2-4
7. Japan 0-6

87 players in 2007 SBL local draft



A total of 87 players had applied for the 2007 SBL local draft, which will be held on July 20, CTBA announced Tuesday.

Among them, 53 applicants are college players and 32 are current or former high school players. Two applicants are U.S. based Taiwanese -- 33-year-old Long Island University graduate Liao Tse-hsiang and 190cm Tao Tse-an.

According to a news report, Liao played Division I college ball at LIU.

The order of the draft will be the reverse of the 2006-07 regular season standings:

1. Bank of Taiwan
2. Azio Eagles
3. ETSN Antelopes
4. Dacin Tigers
5. Taiwan Beers
6. Videoland Hunters
7. Yulon Dinos

Notable players expected in the draft include 191cm forward/guard Chang Tsun-hsien from Hsin-jun High School, HBL MVP Wu Min-hsien from Nan-shan High School, 194cm forward Wu Fong-cheng from Gao-yuan HS and 194cm forward Chen Yu-an from Nan-shan HS, and 197cm center Lee Jun-wei from Nan-shan HS.

Monday, July 16, 2007

California Asian Traveling Stars win friendship tournament

IMG_5529

IMG_5541

California Asian Traveling Stars Cats routed Nenren High School, 113-78, in the championship of a friendship tournament on July 14 and won the tourney undefeated, averaging an eye-popping 27.3-point winning margin in three games.

Sanmin High School beat Nanshan High School, 64-58, to win the bronze medal, while Chiangshu High School beat Zhong-min High School, 71-50, in the 5th-place game.

California Asian Traveling Stars visited Taiwan from July 12 - 14 for a friendship tournament that features Cats and six Taiwan high school teams.

The visiting team consists of Asian American high school players in California and is led by former Taiwan NT player Sun Chia-kang, who now lives in California. The three-day tournament is sponsored by Costco Wholesale Taiwan, which is now headed by former Taiwan NT player Richard Chang.

Richard Chang, 6-7, played for the University of California at Berkeley in early 1980's. He came back to Taiwan and joined Taiwanese national team before embarking upon his personal career in business.

Taiwan NT 12-man roster for Asian Championship announced



The final 12-man Taiwan NT roster for 2007 Asian Championship in Tokushima, Japan was announced Monday by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA). Two-time SBL regular season MVP Tien Lei will sit out the tournament due to injury.

The final roster:

Guard: Lee Hsueh-lin, Chen Shih-nian, Hsu Hao-cheng, Lin Yi-huei, Yang Che-yi, Lu Cheng-ju
Forward: Lin Chih-jay, Chen Hsin-an, Yua Ying-li, Lee Chi-yi
Center: Tsun Wen-din, Wu Dai-hao


Hsu Hao-cheng, Lin Yi-huei and Lu Cheng-ju will be making their international debut.


Tien Lei will not play in Tokushima.

Tien Lei, who already sat out the Jones Cup, was not on the roster due to injuries in his right thumb and stress fracture in his left leg. Tien's absence was definitely a bad news for Taiwan NT, which was limited to two big men of Tsun Wen-din and Wu Dai-hao.

Judging from the games in Jones Cup, Taiwan NT was always one inside player short both offensively and defensively. The absence of Tien Lei made it difficult for Taiwan head coach Cheng Kwang-suk to find an ideal frontcourt rotation.

Without Tien, who is capable of tallying at least 15 points and 10 rebounds in every game he's in, Tsun and Wu will have to shoulder the responsibilities of protecting the glass, score inside, and keep themselves on the floor without foul trouble.

Three players who played in Doha Asian Games last year did not make the roster this time, including Chou Shih-yuan, Yang Chin-min and Wu Yong-jen.

Taiwan is bracketed in the same group with Syria, Hong Kong and South Korea in the Asian Championship, which will start play in Tokushima, Japan from July 28 to August 5.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Taiwan Hoops on Bloggers in Taiwan

999

Taiwan Hoops was featured in Bloggers in Taiwan, a website that introduces English blogs and bloggers in Taiwan. I appreciate the website for the introduction and exposure.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Cats meet Nenren HS for friendship tournament title

能仁力拼南山
Nenren vs. Nanshan.

California Asian Traveling Stars Cats and Nenren High School advanced to the championship with two wins after two days in a friendship tournament, which is taking place in Taipei from July 12 - 14.

July 12
Cats 98, Chiangshu 73
Sanmin 98, Songhsna 78
Nenren 73, Zhongmin 62
Nanshan 82, Fengshan 43

July 13
Cats 93, Sanmin 71
Nenren 95, Nanshan 91
Zhongmin 62, Fengshan 15
Changshu 86, Songshan 38

July 14
Zhongmin vs. Chiangshu
3rd-place game: Sanmin vs. Nanshan
Championship: Cats vs. Nenren

Friday, July 13, 2007

1,000 posts !!

twhoops1000b

1,000th post since 1999. A milestone...sort of.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

ETSN Antelopes sold to Segway Technology


ETSN was sold.

ETSN ended its three-year ownership of its basketball team and sold it to Segway Technology for NT$ 10 million, local news outlets reported.

Rumor has been flying since June that ETSN has been looking to sell the team because of financial trouble of its mother group EMG. It was said a real estate management company and Jutai Technology, former owner of the team, considered buying the team but it never materialized.


Head coach Chiu Da-tsun (middle) will leave the team.

Current Antelopes head coach Chiu Da-tsun will leave the team and be replaced by either Lee Ching-chi or Chen Jin-hsiung and Lo Tian-jin, Central News Agency and United News Daily reported. Assistant coach Liu Hwa-lin was not kept either.

Lee Ching-chi coached Luckipar Panthers in the defunct pro league CBA, which folded in 1999. Chen Jin-hsiung and Lo Tian-jin were both veteran coaches who have coached in high school and A-League levels for a long time.

According to reports, a number of players, including Huang Bao-tse, Liao Wei-cheng and Hsu Tse-shin, have been released. Starting center Wu Dai-hao opted to sign with defending champion Taiwan Beer.


Yang Yu-min will be different uniform next season.

Only 11 players, including Yang Yu-min, O-Yang Jin-hen, Cheng Jen-wei, Shin Jin-jan, Wu Jia-long, Wu Jun-hsiung, Chen Jing-hwan, Wang Chuan-jian, Hong Ying-che, Hsiao Yuan-chan and Lin Jui-kun, have been taken by the new owner, CNA reported.

Segway Technology, which already had a team in the Amateur League (A-League) that won the league title last year, has been known for its ambition to feild a team in the Super Basketball League (SBL).

The new team name has not been announced yet. It's said the name could be "dmedia." Dmedia System Co. is an affiliation company of Segway Technology.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

California Asian Traveling Stars visit basketball summer camp

California Asian Traveling Stars, which is in Taiwan for a tournament from July 12 - 14, visited a children basketball summer camp in Yungho City, Taipei County Wednesday.

The team consists of Asian American high school players in California and is led by former Taiwan NT player Sun Chia-kang, who now lives in California. The three-day tournament is sponsored by Costco Wholesale Taiwan, which is now headed by former Taiwan NT player Richard Chang.

Richard Chang, 6-7, played for the University of California at Berkeley in early 1980's. He came back to Taiwan and joined Taiwanese national team before embarking upon his personal career in business.

金介壽介紹張嗣漢
Richard Chang, second from right.

CATS 與小朋友互動2
Cats players worked with kids in the camp.

CATS 與夏令營小粉絲合照
Cats players and kids in the camp.

Jones Cup video highlights compilation

I have recorded most of the games on DVDs but here are a couple short highlight clips of some teams. Feel free to check them out.

Jones Cup - Taiwan beat Lebanon 00:17



How Tsun Wen-din made a last-second basket off Chen Hsin-an's miss and helped Taiwan beat Lebanon in overtime.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Jordan wins 2007 Jones Cup title


Jordan won 2007 Jones Cup, Rashiem Wright (middle) named MVP.

Jordan won the 2007 William Jones Cup Tournament champion with a 7-2 record although it suffered a shocking 102-101 overtime loss to Japan WUG squad in its last game. Japan's seldom-used substitute Shusaka Oya made his only field goal in the game with a left hook at the buzzer to pull off the unbelievable win.

-- Japan 102-101(OT) Jordan

JAP: Takanori Onishi 21p, Taiji Sakai 20p, Yusuke Okada 18p, Takumi Ishizaki 13p
JOR: Rashiem Wright 26p, Zaid Abbaas 17p+11rb, Wesam Al-Sous 20p, Ayman Idais 13p+13rb, Enver Soobzokov 10p

-- Lebanon 85-77 Qatar

LIB: Fadi Khatib 21p, Ali Mahmoud 14p, Bassem Balaa 11p+10rb, Roy Samaha 12p
QAT: K.S. Abdi 23p, Yasseen Ismail Musa 17p+6rb

-- South Korea 82-59 Taiwan

Korea starting forward Kim Joo-sung proves he was ready for the Asian Championship by tallying 22 points on 9 of 10 shooting and pulled down 9 rebounds in the lopsided 82-59 win. Taiwan's hot outside shooting in its previous game vs. AIA suddenly went cold again, making only 17 of 58 shots.


Taiwan NT finished 7th with 5 wins and 4 losses.

KOR: Kim Joo-sung 22p(9-10 FG)+9rb, Ha Seung-jin 14p+9rb+5blk, Kim Dong-woo 10p
TWN: Wu Dai-hao 17p, Tsun Wen-din 10p+7rb

-- Kazakhstan 107-90 Philippines

Kazakhstan shocked Philippines with a 31-18 fourth quarter rally.


Philippines won bronze.

KAZ: A. Ponomarev 23p, R. Yargarliyev 28p, A. Tyutyunik 12p, Y. Issakov 11p, M. Yevstigneyev 10p, A. Shpekht 10p
PHI: Jimmy Alapag 21p, Mark Caguioa 24p, Kelly Williams 13p+8rb, D. Hontiveros 14p

-- Iran 91-74 AIA

Iran rallied in the second half when they outscored the Aemricans 50-28. Iran sank 14 of 28 three-point field goal attempts.

IRN: M.S. Nikkah Bahrami 25p+6rb+5a, H. Hadadi 18p+12rb, Aidin Nikkah Bahrami 18p, H.A. Eslamieh 12p, Amir Amini 10p+8a
AIA: C. Hammonds 20p, T. Hendley 18p, R. Rawlings 13p+9rb

2007 Jones Cup Stats leaders

Scoring
1 El Cheikh Fadi El Khatib 23.9
2 M.S. Nikkhah Bahrami 20.3
3 Anton Ponomarev 18.7
4 Rashiem Wright 17.3
5 Kim Joo-sung 17.0
6 Shohei Kikuchi 16.4
7 Joseph Vogel 16.2
8 Lin Chih-jay 16.0
9 Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami 15.9
10 Yasseen Ismail Musa 15.9

Rebounding
1 Anton Ponomarev 9.7
2 Hamed Ehadadi 9.1
3 Joseph Vogel 8.8
4 Wu Dai-hao 7.3
5 Zaid Al Khas 7.2
6 Erfan Ali Saeed 7.1
7 Kim Joo-sung 6.5
8 El Cheikh Fadi El Khatib 6.5
9 Yasseen Ismail Musa 6.3
10 Ayman Idais 6.2
11 Omer Abdgader Salem 6.2
12 Pauliasi Taulava 6.2

Assists
1 Yang Dong-guen 5.9
2 Kim Seung-hyun 4.7
3 Javad Davan 4.4
4 Takumi Ishizaki 4.2
5 Osama Daghles 4.1

Steals
1 Hamed Afagh Eslamieh 1.9
2 Yang Dong-guen 1.9
3 Kim Seung-hyun 1.8
4 Yang Hee-jong 1.7
5 Reed Rawlings 1.7

Blocked Shots
1 Kim Joo-sung 2.0
2 Ha Seung-jin 2.0
3 Tsun Wen-din 1.9
4 Hamed Ehadadi 1.7
5 Wu Dai-hao 1.7

Final 2007 Jones Cup Tournament placings and MVP

1. Jordan 7-2
2. Lebanon 6-3
3. Philippines 5-4
4. Iran 5-4
5. South Korea 5-4
6. AIA 5-4
7. Taiwan 5-4
8. Qatar 3-6
9. Kazakhstan 2-7
10. Japan 2-7

MVP: Rashiem Wright (Jordan)
17.3p, 3.4rb, 2.3a, 1.2s

Zaid Al Khas (Jordan) and Osama Daghles (Jordan) finished 2nd and 3rd in the MVP voting.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Jones Cup Day 8: Jordan clinches Jones Cup title


Chen Hsin-an

-- Jordan 72-71 Iran

The Asian Championship is still three weeks away, but Jordan will convince itself that it was ready for the challenge.

Jordan closed out the game with a 27-17 rally in the 4th quarter to upset Iran 72-71 and avenged the loss to Iran in the bronze medal game of the Doha Asian Game last year. With the win, Jordan clinched its first ever Jones Cup title with a 7-1 record with one game to play.

Zaid Al Khas scored six of his nine points in the final minute, when he sank a three with 52 seconds to tie the score at 69 all and, after Iran's Hamed Hadadi made a pair of free-throws, dropped another go-ahead three with 17.6 seconds left to make the final score 72-71.

JOR: R. Wright 25p, O. Daghles 16p+7rb, Z. Al Khas 9p
IRN: M.S. Nikkah Bahrami 14p+6rb, H. Hadadi 13p

-- Taiwan 83-72 AIA

Surprisingly, Taiwan NT played its best game in the tournament without the service of bigmen Tien Lei and Tsun Wen-din. The home team made 14 treys and led from start to finish in the win over Athletes in Action 83-72 Monday night.

Taiwan led 21-14 after the first quarter. Lin Chih-jay was 4 for 4 from the three-point land in the second quarter and helped Taiwan increase the lead to 43-30 at the half.

Chen Hsin-an, who has been very quiet in the tournament, then single-handedly took over the third quarter when he made four consecutive threes to boost the score to 65-51.

Wu Dai-hao stepped up his game and filled up the void left by Tsun and Tien, scoring 22 points on 10 for 18 shooting to go with two blocks and 8 boards.

TWN: Wu Dai-hao 22p(10-17 FG)+8rb+4a+2blk, Chen Hsin-an 20p(5-9 3PT), Lin Chih-jay 19p(5-8 3PT)+8rb
AIA: C. Hammonds 14p, R. Rawlings 14p+9rb, B. Asbury 13p, A. Ruoff 12p

-- Philippines 88-80 Qatar

Chot Reyes became the first head coach to be ejected in the Jones Cup in the past 10 years but his boys didn't let him down. Philippines withheld Qatar's furious rally and secured a 88-80 win to boost its record to 5 wins and 3 losses.

Reyes received two technical fouls for his protest and was ejected with 30.4 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Qatar seized the moment for a 5-0 run to cut the deficit down 8 points, 62-54.

But Philippines didn't panic as it enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the final quarter before Qatar made the final push. With one minute left Qatar once again rallied and stayed close with 85-80. Kirby Raymundo and Kelly Williams then calmly made three of four free-throw to seal the victory.

PHI: M. Caguioa 14p, D. Hontiveros 13p, K. Williams 13p
QAT: Yasseen Ismail Musa 19p+7rb, E.A. Saeed 19p+12rb, O.A. Salem 14p+14rb

-- South Korea 81-78 Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan was ready to pull off one of the biggest upset in the tournament before Korean finally woke up and took advantage with their experience. South Korea ignited a 27-18 run in the final quarter to spoil the game for Kazakhstan. The final score was 81-78, South Korea.

However, the outcome was not decided before a controversial technical foul with less than a minute to play. Kazahstan head coach Vitaliy Strebkov was assessed a technical by Taiwanese referee Hsu Teh-jun for his protest with 38.9 seconds left and the score tied at 77 all.

South Korea received two free-throws plus a possession and scored three points to shake off the Kazakhs. Anton Ponomarev failed to covert his desperation three-pointer at the final buzzer.

Kazakhstan was also whistle for a technical with 2:42 left to play.

KOR: Ha Seung-jin 14p, Yang Hee-jong 14p, Kim Joo-sung 12p, Yang Dong-guen 12p, Kim Dong-woo 11p, Kim Min-soo 10p
KAZ: A. Ponomarev 23p+7rb, Korovnikov 23p+6rb, A. Tyutyunik 11p

-- Lebanon 82-74 Japan

Lebanon took advantage of its height and experience in the game and led by as many as 20 points for an easy win. Japan was outrebounded 55-26.

LIB: Fadi Khatib 25p+9rb+6a
JAP: Y. Okada 23p, S. Kikuchi 17p

-- Standing
Jordan 7-1
AIA 5-3
Lebanon 5-3
Philippines 5-3
Taiwan 5-3
Iran 4-4
South Korea 4-4
Qatar 3-5
Kazakhstan 1-7
Japan 1-7

California Asian Traveling Stars to visit Taiwan

California Asian Traveling Stars Cats will visit Taiwan and meet Taiwan's elite high school basketball teams in a three-day tournament, organized by Costco Wholesale Taiwan, from July 12 - 14.

Eight participating teams in the tournament include Nanshan High School, Chiangshu High School, Sanmin High School, Neng-ren High School, Zhongmin High School, Songshan High School and Fengshan Vocational High School, and the Cats.

Venue: National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
43, Sec.4, Keelung Rd., Taipei, Taiwan

California Asian Traveling Stars Cats roster:

# PLAYER HT. BIRTHDAY SCHOOL HOMETOWN
12 Michael Cassio 5'10 2/1990 Saugus High School Valencia, CA
33 Taylor Darby 6'8 10/1990 Mission Hills High San Marcos, CA
21 Luke Evans 6'7 03/1991 El Camino Oceanside, CA
1 Eric Friedmann 6'0 12/1988 Santa Fe Christian Carlsbad, CA
23 Andrew Heap 6'3 6/1989 La Jolla High School La Jolla, CA BYU
22 Shawn Lasalita 5'8 2/1989 Francis Parker San Marcos, CA East Coaed College
3 Cody Myers 5'11 3/1989 Mission Hills Escondido, CA
2 Darin Nakauchi 5'8 4/1989 South Pasadena High Pasadena, CA SF. State
11 David Stotelmyre 6'2 4/1991 The Bishops School Oceanside, CA

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Jones Cup Day 7 - Philippines routed Taiwan on solid guard play

Led by Mark Caguioa and Jimmy Alapag, Philippine backcourts turned the game into their playground and scored at will against Taiwan's defense time and again for a 82-64 victory Sunday.

Caguioa had 20 points, including 12 in the first quarter, Alapag had 15 while Anthony Helterbrand and Donaldo Hontiveros added 9 points each. Philippine backcourts dominated the game from the first minute and pretty much decided the outcome.

Taiwan could never contain Philippine attack with its man-to-man defense. The interesting thing was Taiwan head coach Chung Kwang Hee decided to stick with it instead of switching to zone defense.

Philippines kept attacking and increased the lead to 18 points at the end of the third quarter. Lin Chih-jay made three cosecutive threes and cut the deficit to 11 points with 7:18 to go, but that was as close as Taiwan could get.

PHI: Mark Caguioa 20p, Jimmy Alapag 15p, A. Helterbrand 9p, D. Hontiveros 9p
TWN: Lin Chih-jay 22p(6-12 3PT), Wu Dai-hao 13p+7rb+5blk, Lin Yi-huei 11p

-- AIA 108-83 Japan

AIA: Bradley Harris 25p(6-7 3PT), Reed Rawlings 16, Todd Hendley 14p+6rb, Brian Asbury 11p, Tyler Wilkerson 10p, Eric Pollitz 8p+10rb+7a
JAP: Shohei Kikuchi 20p, Yusuke Okada 15p, Shonaka Takeki 13p, Ryumo Ono 11p, Taiji Sakai 10p

-- Lebanon 73-69 South Korea

Lebanon turned the game around by a 22-11 foruth quarter run. Fadi Khatib sat out the game.

LIB: Joe Vogel 26p+7rb, J.A. El Nour 18p, Rony Fahed 14p+6a
KOR: Kim Min-soo 15p, Lee Dong-jun 14p+9rb

-- Iran 82-60 Kazakhstan

IRN: H.A. Eslamieh 23p+4s, Aidin Nikkah Bahrami 20p+4s, Amir Amini 11p
KAZ: A. Ponomarev 9p+12rb, D. Korovnikov 11p, Y. Issakov 10p+8rb

-- Jordan 91-85 Qatar

JOR: Osama Daghles 22p, Zaid Al Khas 14p+11rb, Wesam Al-Sous 15p, Jamaal Almaaytah 12p+6rb
QAT: E.A. Saeed 20p, D.M. Daoud 20p, B.A. Mohammed 14p, Yasseen Ismail Musa 13p, Khalid Suliman Abdi 12p

-- Standing
Jordan 6-1
AIA 5-2
Iran 4-3
Lebanon 4-3
Philippines 4-3
Taiwan 4-3
Qatar 3-4
South Korea 3-4
Japan 1-6
Kazakhstan 1-6

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Jones Cup Day 6 - Jordan on top of standing with 5-1 record

After six days, Jordan was on top of the 10-team field of the 2007 Jones Cup with a 5-1 record. It looked like a surprise, didn't it? Not until you actually see Jordan play.

Under Portugese head coach Mario Palma, who led Angola NT to 2000 and 2004 Olympics, Jordan has been playing with a well-organized offense. Jordanian forntlines Al Khas and Idais both can play inside and out, Islam Abbas is the enforcer on the team. And Jordanian guards have been showing consistency.

-- Taiwan 75-70 Qatar

SBL MVP Lin Chih-jay had one of his best international games Saturday, scoring 30 points and leading Taiwan NT to a 75-70 win over Qatar to boost Taiwan's record to 4-2 and tied with AIA in the second place.

Lin scored 7 points in a 9-0 run that increased Taiwan's lead to 14 points midway through the third quarter. He made 7 of 14 treys and was 5 for 5 from the charity stripe in the game.

Qatar cut the deficit to one point with less than 30 seconds to play. Tsun Wen-din had a three-point play with 20.1 seconds remaining to push the lead back to four points, grabbed an important defensive rebound and made one of two free-throws to make the score 73-68, Taiwan.

Taiwan lost to Qatar 103-96 in an epic double-overtime battle in the quarterfinal of last year's Doha Asian Games, but it has defeated Qatar three straight times in the Jones Cup during the last two years.


Taiwan beat Qatar to avenge its loss against Qatar in the Asian Games


Lin Chih-jay dropped 30 points

TWN: Lin Chih-jay 30p(7-14 3PT), Wu Dai-hao 12p+9rb, Tsun Wen-din 9p+6rb+3s+3blk, Chen Hsin-an 8p
QAT: E.A. Saeed 21p+6rb, Saad Abdulrahman Ali 15p+7rb+3s, Yasseen Ismail Musa 12p+8rb, D.A. Daoud 12p

-- Jordan 72-68 Lebanon

In this heated battle of two West Asia nations, Jordan rested its frontcourts Zaid Al Khas and both Ayman Idais and Islam Abbas played less than 20 minutes.

JOR: Mousa Bashir 20p+6rb, Rashiem Wright 19p, Osama Daghles 10p, Wesam Al-Sous 12p
LIB: Joe Vogel 19p+9rb, Fadi Khatib 18p

-- AIA 92-78 Kazakhstan

AIA: Reed Rawlings 25p, Alex Ruoff 18p+7rb, Zack Gibson 12p+9rb, Donald Sloan 12p, Brian Asbury 11p
KAZ: Anton Ponomarev 19p+10rb, Rustam Yargarliev 15p, M. Yevstigneyev 17p

-- Philippines 89-79 Iran

Philippines dropped 10 three-pointers in the game and opened up the game with a 32-22 second quarter.

PHI: James Yap 18p, Jimmy Alapag 14p+8a, Mark Caguioa 14p, Kelly Williams 12p
IRN: M.S. Nikkah Bahrami 22p, Hamed Hadadi 14p+14rb, Aidin Nikkah Bahrami 16p, Amir Amini 12p

-- South Korea 102-58 Japan

KOR: Yang Dong-guen 20p+5a, Kim Dong-woo 18p+7rb, Lee Dong-jun 18p+11rb, Cha Jae-young 12p, Yang Hee-jong 11p, Ha Seung-jin 10p+8rb
JAP: Yusuke Okada 12p, Takumi Ishizaki 10p

-- Standing
Jordan 5-1
AIA 4-2
Taiwan 4-2
Iran 3-3
Lebanon 3-3
Philippines 3-3
Qatar 3-3
South Korea 3-3
Japan 1-5
Kazakhstan 1-5

Friday, July 06, 2007

Jones Cup Day 5 - Taiwan knocks out Kazakhstan


Wu Dai-hao had a double-double in the victory.

-- Taiwan 72-64 Kazakhstan

Taiwan's "Twin Tower" got plenty of help tonight. Yang Che-yi led a 13-0 run in the third quarter and the Twin Tower Tsun Wen-din and Wu Dai-hao were still brilliant as Taiwan beat Kazakhstan 72-64 for its third win in the tournament.

The unanswered run sparked a 20-10 third quarter, when Taiwan played its best zone defense in the tourney so far, to open Taiwan's lead to 58-45 going into the final quarter. Kazakhstan couldn't drain their outside shots and never recovered.

TWN: Yang Che-yi 18p(7-12 FG), Lee Hsueh-lin 15p, Wu Dai-hao 13p+10rb, Tsun Wen-din 10p+6a+5blk, Lin Chih-jay 10p
KAZ: Anton Ponomarev 20p+12rb, Rustam Yargarliev 12p, Mikhail Yevstigneyev 12p+10rb

-- Iran 68-61 South Korea

IRN: M.S. Nikkah Bahrami 20p, Hamed Ehadadi 16p(7-16 FG, 2-3 FT)+15rb+4s+2blk
KOR: Ha Seung-jin 12p(4-8 FG, 4-12 FT)+10rb+4blk, Cha Jae-young 16p, Kim Dong-woo 12p

-- Standing:
Jordan 4-1
AIA 3-2
Iran 3-2
Lebanon 3-2
Qatar 3-2
Taiwan 3-2
Philippines 2-3
South Korea 2-3
Japan 1-4
Kazakhstan 1-4

Jones Cup Day 5

-- Jordan 74-70 Philippines

Jordan controlled the momentum for the entire game with its inside advantage while the Philippines could only counter with its backcourt as Mark Caguioa and Jimmy Alapag combined for 42 points.

JOR: Jamal Almaaytah 18p+5rb, Ayman Idais 15p+7rb, Islam Abbas 6p+12rb
PHI: Mark Caguioa 25p(11-23 FG)+7rb, Jimmy Alapag 17p

-- Qatar 86-68 Japan

QAT: E.A. Saeed 29p+18rb+3blk Ali Turki Ali 16p, M.S. Abdulla 14p+9rb
JAP: Shohei Kikuchi 21p

-- AIA 81-70 Lebanon

Lebanon's Fadi Khatib was scoreless in 19 minutes as Lebanon dropped two straight after a 3-0 start.

AIA: Reed Rawlings 17p, Todd Hendley 15p+7rb, Brian Asbury 14p, Donald Sloan 11p, Zack Gibson 10p
LIB: Joe Vogel 29p+8rb, Ali Mahmoud 12p

Jones Cup Day 4: Taiwan upset Lebanon in OT


Lin Chih-jay made a three at the buzzer to take the game into overtime.

Another day. Another banked-in three-pointer at the buzzer. There's definitely something weird with this year's Jones Cup tournament.

Lin Chih-jay banked in a game-tying three at the buzzer with two Lebanese defenders in his face to force overtime. And Tsun Wen-din scored underneath on an offensive rebound off a Chen Hsin-an miss with 0.3 second left in the extra session as Taiwan upset previously undefeated Lebanon 78-77.

There has been something magical in this year's tournament, especially when it came to three-pointers and the last shots.

Rony Fahed banked in a three at the buzzer to help Lebanon beat Philippines 65-62. Lin banked in a three to take the game into overtime tonight. South Korea's Kim Dong-woo also banked in a three to tie the game vs. Qatar one the opening day before Kim Min-soo tipped in a winner for a 70-69 win.

Also on Day 1, Jordan beat Kazakhstan 63-61 on Ayman Idais' backdoor layup with 2.5 seconds left. On Day 3, Yusuke Okada scored the winning fastbreak layup off a steal with one second left as Japan upset Philippines 86-84

Lebanon was ready to embrace its fourth straight win with 8.8 seconds left in regulation when Fadi Khatib stepped on the free-throw line. All he had to do was to score one more point to ensure the win. However, Khatib missed both and gave Taiwan a last chance.

Lee Hsueh-lin pushed the ball and dished to Lin, who popped out from a screen to the right wing and released the high-arching desperation although he was sandwiched by two Lebanese defenders.

Led by frontcourt tandem of Tsun Wen-din and Wu Dai-hao, Taiwan led by as many as 15 points in the game. Things changed after both players got into foul trouble in the final quarter. Relentless attack by Khatib and Joe Vogel helped Lebanon to pull ahead with two minutes remaining.

Both team had a hard time to score in the overtime due to fatigue. With 15 seconds left to play, Taiwan had one last chance to pull off a victory as Chen Hsin-an was designated for the last shot. Chen didn't take the ball to the basket, however, choosing to shoot a three instead. As defenders focused on Chen, Tsun Wen-din grabbed the offensive rebound and scored the winning layup with 0.3 second left.

TWN: Tsun Wen-din 19p(7-14 FG)+13rb+4a+2blk, Wu Dai-hao 14p(7-9 FG)+5rb+4a+3blk, Chen Hsin-an 13p, Yang Che-yi 11p, Lin Chih-jay 8p
LEB: Fadi Khatib 33p(11-24 FG, 8-12 FT), Joe Vogel 18p+14rb, Ali Mahmoud 9p+5a

-- Philippines 88-84 South Korea

Once again, the outcome of the game came down to the last minute for the Philippines. And they seized the opportunity this time.

Gabe Norwood, who came from George Mason University, had a game-clinching power dunk with 10.5 seconds left to give the Philippines a comforatble six point lead, and eventually a 88-84 victory over South Korea.

The Philippines ended its two game slide and is is back in the tournament as six teams tied with a 2-2 record after four days of action.

PHI: Mark Caguioa 19p, Donaldo Hontiveros 14p, Gabe Norwood 12p, Asi Taulava 7p+7rb
KOR: Kim Dong-woo 20p, Kang Byung-hyun 16p+5a, Kim Min-soo 14p+6rb, Kim Seung-hyun 9p+7a+4s

-- Jordan 69-66 AIA

Rashiem Wright, an American who obtained Jordanian citizenship, scored 8 points in the last 2:22 to lift Jordan to the top of the standing with three wins and one loss.

JOR: Rashiem Wright 20p+4rb+4a, Islam Abbas 13p+8rb, Osama Daghles 10p, Ayman Idais DNP
AIA: Brian Asbury 14p, Reed Rawings 12p, Donald Sloan 10p

-- Iran 86-59 Japan

Iran limited Japan to 2 for 23 in three-point land.

IRN: Afagh Eslamieh 22p+7rb, Aidin Nikkah Bahrami 12p, Javad Davan 10p+7a, Moosa Nablpoor 12p, Hamed Hadadi DNP
JAP: Shohei Kikuchi 20p, Yosuke Machida 10p

-- Qatar 80-70 Kazakhstan

Yasseen Ismail Musa scored a tournament-high 35 points.

QAT: Yasseen Ismail Musa 35p(12-18 FG, 11-14 FT), O.A. Salem 13p+10rb, Saad Abdulrahman Ali 6p+13rb
KAZ: Anton Ponomarev 23p+13rb, Rustam Yargaliyev 12p, Alexandr Tyutyunik 11p

-- Standing:
Jordan 3-1
Lebanon 3-1
AIA 2-2
Iran 2-2
Qatar 2-2
Philippines 2-2
South Korea 2-2
Taiwan 2-2
Japan 1-3
Kazakhstan 1-3

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Jones Cup Day 3: Taiwan lost to Jordan

-- Jordan 81-62 Taiwan

Taiwan, which led by as many as 11 in the first half, showed its inconsistency again and was outmuscled and outhustled by Jordanian. Jordan turned the game around in the second half, outscored the home team 45-23.

Taiwan simply collapsed in the final quarter, when it made only three baskets and scored 9 points. As a team, the home team only dished out 7 assists.

Point guard Lee Hsueh-lin led Taiwan with 17 points. Tsun Wen-din had 12 while Chen Hsin-an added 10.

-- AIA 79-65 South Korea

AIA took away what South Korea does best -- three-point shooting -- by limiting Koreans to 3 of 23 from the three-point land and cruised for an easy 79-65 victory, handing South Korea its first loss in the tournament.

AIA: Darris Nichols 13p+7a, Tyler Wilkerson 11p+8rb, Todd Hendley 10p
KOR: Ha Seung-jin 17p, Kim Min-soo 13p

Standings:
Lebanon 3-0
South Korea 2-1
AIA 2-1
Jordan 2-1
Taiwan 1-2
Philippines 1-2
Iran 1-2
Kazakhstan 1-2
Qatar 1-2
Japan 1-2

Jones Cup Day 3: Philippines lost on final-second heartbreaker again

-- Japan 86-84 Philippines

For the second consecutive day, the Philippines lost on the final possession. Yusuke Otada scored the winning fastbreak layup off a steal with one second left as Japan upset Philippines 86-84 with an unbelievable 26-13 final quarter rally.

With the score tied at 84, Donaldo Hontiveros' only turnover in the game came at an ill-fated time when his pass was intercepted by Japan in Philippine's last possession. Otada dashed upcourt and scored the winning shot as Japanese players stormed the court to celebrate.

Referees re-set the game clock back to one second amid Japan's celebration. However, Philippines failed to convert the last play.

Philippines, which led by as many as 12 points in the game, lost to Lebanon last night by three on a banked-in three-pointer at the buzzer.

JAP: Shohei Kikuchi 27p, Takanori Onishi 23p, Yusuke Otada 18p, Takumi Ishizaki 10a+5s
PHI: Florendo Ritualo Jr. 21p(7-10 3PT), D. Hontiveros 11p, Anthony Helterbrand 10p

-- Lebanon 90-77 Kazakhstan

LIB: Fadi Khatib 33p(11-19 FG, 8-11 FT)+7rb+6a, Joe Vogel 14p+12rb
KAZ: Anton Ponomarev 16p+8rb, R. Yargavliev 15p, Dmitriy Korovnikov 11p

-- Qatar 74-72 Iran

QAT: O.A. Salem 20p+7rb, Khalid Suliman 18p+8rb, Yasseen Ismail Musa 13p+7rb, Saad Abdulrahman Ali 14p
IRN: M.S. Nikkah Bahrami 16p, Aidin Nikkah Bahrami 13p+9rb, Iman Zandi Mashhadi 11p

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Jones Cup Day 2: Lebanon beat Philippines at buzzer

-- Lebanon 65-62 Philippines

With three seconds remaining and the score tied at 62 all, El Fadi Khatib led a last-possession fastbreak and dished out to Rony Fahed, who fired a desperation three-pointer from the right wing. The desperation shot banked in at the buzzer to give Lebanon a dramatic 65-62 come-from-behind victory over the Philippines, which led in the first 30 minutes but bowed out after a 21-10 final quarter.

LEB: El Cheikh Fadi El Khatib 26p(7-10 FG, 12-14 FT)+8rb, Joe Vogel 11p+8rb+4blk, Rony Fahed 8p
PHI: Donaldo Hontiveros 10p, Gabe Norwood 10p, Asi Taulava 7p+14rb

-- Iran 85-69 Taiwan

Iran shot the lights out in the final 20 minutes to break open a tight game with a 54-35 second half and beat host Taiwan 85-69. Iran made 12 threes in the game.

Taiwan struggled from the perimeter for the second consecutive game, only making 4 of 28 from the three-point line. After a 34-31 first half, Taiwan's zone defense failed to contain Iran's red hot outside shooting.

Wu Dai-hao did turn in one of his best performances in a Taiwan NT uniform, scoring 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting, including 15 points and 6 for 7 in the first half.

IRA: Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami 25p, M.S. Nikkhah Bahrami 25p, Iman Zandi Mashhadi 11p, Hamed Ehadadi 10p+10rb
TWN: Wu Dai-hao 21p+8rb+3s, Lin Chih-jay 16p, Tsun Wen-din 12p

-- AIA 106-68 Qatar

AIA: Brian Asbury 17p, Todd Hendly 15p, Alex Ruoff 11p+6rb, Cliff Hammonds 11p+8rb+5a, Reed Rawlings 10p, Tyler Wilkerson 10p
Qatar: Yasseen Ismail Musa 14p+7rb, Hashim Zaiden Zaiden 13p, Mohd Seleem Abdulla 11p

-- Kazakhstan 96-61 Japan

KAZ: Anton Panomarev 27p+14rb, Alexandr Tyutyunik 18p, Dmitriy Korovnikov 14p+8rb, Mikhail Yevstigneyev 11p+12rb
JAP: Yusuke Okada 15p, Takanori Onishi 12p, Takumi Ishizaki 11p

-- South Korea 71-65 Jordan

KOR: Ha Seung-jin 21p+8rb+3blk, Kim Dong-woo 17p, Yang Dong-guen 10p+8rb+6a
JOR: Ayman Idais 17p, Rashiem Wright 10p

-- Standings
South Korea 2-0
Lebanon 2-0
Taiwan 1-1
Kazakhstan 1-1
AIA 1-1
Jordan 1-1
Philippines 1-1
Iran 1-1
Qatar 0-2
Japan 0-2

2007 Jones Cup Women's group complete rosters

Japan World University Games NT

Head coach: Shimizu, Nobuyuki
Assistant: Sato, Toshinobu

4 Yoshida, Mai 1985.04.27 170 60
5 Ishikawa, Mai 1985.04.11 180 68
6 Sekine, Maiko 1985.11.21 168 61
7 Kaneko, Kiyomi 1985.06.20 173 73
8 Watanabe, Mayo 1986.04.15 170 54
9 Deki, Kanade 1986.04.11 168 57
10 Sato, Ayaka 1987.03.26 178 78
11 Yokoyama, Yui 1986.11.13 172 61
12 Ariake, Aoi 1986.05.21 165 57
13 Otaka, Saori 1987.10.05 170 58
14 Takemoto, Akane 1987.06.25 171 61
15 Mori, Mutya 1988.11.01 180 70


Athletes in Action (USA)

Head coach: Vic Schaefer
Assistant: Robert Edmisson

4 Briann January 1987.01.11 170 67
5 Heather Ezell 1987.02.15 175 75
6 Kendra Reed 1987.08.10 178 72
7 Jhasmine Player 1987.08.03 178 75
8 Sarah-Jo Lawrence 1986.08.28 178 75
9 Brittany Taylor-James 1986.05.17 180 76
10 Angie Nelp 1977.08.10 183 66
11 Rachel Allyson 1987.03.30 183 73
12 Leah Rush 1984.10.25 185 79
13 Jackie McFarland 1985.10.02 191 79
14 Kaite Vieth 1978.05.27 191 84
15 LaToya Micheaux 1987.08.31 191 91


New Zealand

Head coach: Mike Mchugh
Assistant: Leigh Gooding

Angela Marino 1986.02.03 166
Kate McMeekin-Ruscoe 1979.12.19 173
Noni Wharemate 1982.01.17 171
Antonia Edmondson 1987.05.10 180
Jessica McCormack 1989.09.08 194
Micaela Cocks 1986.05.02 174
Lisa Wallbutton 1986.01.14 183
Hailey Purcell 1987.12.10 180
Karlene Kingi 1985.10.31 188
Rebecca Dew 1990.05.22 188
Suzie Bates 1987.09.16 175


Australia

Head coach: Jan Stirling
Assistant: Peter Lonergan

4 Samantha Richards 1983.02.24 170 63
5 Alicia Poto 1978.03.28 166 64
6 Rohanee Cox 1980.04.23 183 83
7 Carly Wilson 1982.07.08 181 73
8 Michelle Brogan 1988.01.10 186 80
9 Hollie Grima 1983.12.16 190 84
10 Deanna Smith 1980.12.24 180 78
11 Laura Summerton 1983.12.13 189 78
12 Jenny Screen 1982.02.26 180 69
13 Emma Randall 1985.06.05 190 84
14 Natalie Porter 1980.12.16 185 84


South Korea

Head coach: Park Keun-Yeon
Assistant: Cho Hey-Jin

1 Lee Kyung-Eun 1987.07.13 176
3 Won Jin-Ah 1984.08.23 182
5 Kim Jin-Young 1984.03.14 165
6 Hong Bo-Ra 1985.08.27 170
7 Kim Eun-Kyoung 1983.04.08 173
8 Min Pum-Eun 1986.03.19 165
9 Jung Arum 1986.10.05 170
10 Kim Eun-Hye 1982.07.06 182
11 Kim Bo-Mi 1986.03.06 178
12 Jang Yea-Eun 1987.09.10 177
14 Kim Kwe-Ryong 1979.12.17 190
15 Hong Hyun-Hee 1982.01.24 191
21 Youm Yun-Ah 1987.09.13 178


Taiwan Blue Team

5 Chien Wei-Chuan 1971.03.08 171 60
11 Cheng Hui-Yun 1977.04.23 186 80
6 Chiang Feng-Chun 1981.10.25 184 80
10 Wen Chi 1984.10.15 168 59
15 Liu Chun-Yi 1981.01.23 180 78
12 Lin Hui-Mei 1981.12.11 177 76
9 Chu Yung-Hsuan 1981.01.08 177 69
14 Tsai Pei-Chen 1984.05.27 186 78
13 Lin Chi-Wen 1983.08.19 186 68
8 Ma Yi-Hung 1980.11.27 176 67
4 Lee Mei-Jung 1985.12.01 177 65
7 Liu Chia-Hsiu 1983.12.06 183 63


Taiwan White Team

4 Chen Yi-Feng 1984.11.13 171 63
14 Huang Fan-Shan 1987.09.29 174 60
10 Lee Wan-Ting 1986.12.23 180 69
6 Liu Yi-Chun 1986.03.12 180 78
11 Chen Yu-Chun 1987.03.07 175 68
5 Chang Shin-Chieh 1986.03.16 172 57
13 Wu Min-Fang 1987.06.21 174 60
7 Huang Yi-Ju 1983.10.26 177 68
9 Yao Chung-Chi 1987.03.21 175 67
12 Sun Yun-Chuan 1985.08.02 178 68
8 Wang Li-Yun 1985.10.17 177 80
15 Chung Yu-Ting 1987.09.26 178 70

Monday, July 02, 2007

Jones Cup Day 1


Opening ceremony


Lin Chih-jay

--Taiwan 90-77 Japan
Led by SBL regular season and finals MVP Lin Chih-jay, Taiwan shook off a first-half scoring drought and turned the game around in the second half for a 90-77 win over Japan's WUG NT.

Lin made six threes in the game, including five in the second half to open up the game after a first-half that saw the home team struggling with its offense. Taiwan shot a miserable 1-of-15 behind the 3-PT line in the first 20 minutes and trailed 39-33 at the half.

TWN: Lin Chih-jay 20p, Tsun Wen-din 17p+9rb, Wu Dai-hao 10p+12rb
JAP: Yusuke Okada 23p+7rb, Shohei Kikuchi 18p, Yosuke Machida 15p

-- Jordan 63-61 Kazakhstan
Jordan almost squandered a 12-poin lead but prevailed on a backdoor basket by Ayman Idais with 2.5 seconds to go and defeated Kazakhstan 63-61.

JOR: Rashiem Wright 25p, Zaid Abbaas 12p
KAZ: Mikhail Yevstigneyev 17p, Dmitriy Korovnikov 16p, Anton Ponomarev 8p

-- Lebanon 80-71 Iran
El Cheikh Fadi El Khatib scored 35 points on 10-of-17 shooting and single-handedly led Lebanon to the victory. Lebanese center Joseph Vogel sat out the game as he lost his luggage during a flight transfer. Vogel is expected to play tomorrow

LEB: El Cheikh Fadi El Khatib 35p, Omar El Turk 17p, Rony Fahed 11p
IRA: Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami 21p, Hamed Ehadadi 16p+10rb

-- South Korea 70-69 Qatar
South Korea took advantage of Ali Turki Ali's missed free-throw with less than 10 seconds left when Korea trailed 69-68. Kim Min-soo tipped in Yang Dong-guen's missed layup as the buzzer sounded to give South Korea the inspiring win.

South Korea twice trailed by 10 points in the second half. Star forward Kim Joo-sung is expected to sit out the entire tournament due to injury. Former NBA player Ha Seung-jin played only 16 minutes due to knee injury.

KOR: Kim Seung-hyun 15p, Lee Kyu-sup 15p, Kim Dong-woo 12p, Kim Min-soo 8p+10rb
QAT: Erfan Ali Saeed 25p, Mohammed Seleem Abdulla 14p

-- Philippines 72-67 AIA
Jimmy Alapag shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the field en route to 19 points and Mark Caguioa scored 9 consecutive points for the Philippines down the stretch as Philippines took advantage of its expereince and upset the defending champion Athletes in Action, which mostly consists of U.S. college players,72-67.

PHI: Jimmy Alapag 19p (5-5 FG, 6-7 FT), Mark Caguioa 14p, Michael Pennissi 11p, Donaldo Hontiveros 11p
AIA: Todd Hendly 11p, Zack Gibson 11p, Tyler Wilkerson 10p

Jones Cup links

Here are a couple useful links but they are all in Chinese. For non-Chinese speaker, I guess all you can do is trying to figure out what the boxscores mean...

Jones Cup online broadcast

This is for anyone who's interested to watch the games online. Try your luck with the following link, I think it's free. I'm not sure everyone will be able to watch them though.

http://hichannel.hinet.net/free_tv/index.jsp?id=604

This year's tourney will broadcast by ESPN in 13 Asian countries, according to a press release from ESPN. ESPN Philippines will carry the same schedule as ESPN Taiwan, which I believe will be the last three games every day. ESPN Korea will broadcast all Korean NT games.

Other countries that will be able to watch the games on ESPN include Singapore, Vietnam, Macau, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and Papua New Guinea.

Taiwan WUG NT roster announced


Chien Jia-hong

Led by 196cm forward Chien Jia-hong, eight of 12 players on Taiwan NT roster for the 2007 World University Games, which was announced June 30, came from SBL team.

Several unheralded players made the roster while a couple of notable SBL players were omitted, which included Lin Yi-huei (Dacin), Zuo Tsun-kai (Azio), Hsiao Yuan-chan (ETSN) and Wang Shin-kai (BOT).

The 2007 WUG will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, starting from August 7.

Roster:
Hong Chih-shan 174cm 1985.7.5 Azio
Chien Jia-hong 196cm 1987.1.6 Azio
Chen Shi-jay 173cm 1985.9.24 Azio
Chang Yi-wen 185cm 1984.4.13 Yulon
Liu Shen-yao 190cm 1983.11.24 Yulon
Chen Shun-hsiang 190cm 1985.5.25 BOT
Wang Jian-wei 190cm 1985.1.7 TB
Hsu Wei-shen 198cm 1985.3.23 Yulon
Chen Jun-jay 185cm
Sun Hwan-bo 180cm
Yang Chen-jung
Chang Chi-wei

Head coach: Lee Chin-chi

Sunday, July 01, 2007

2007 Jones Cup complete rosters

Kazakhstan NT

Head coach: Vitaliy Strebkov
Assistant: Alexey Yeropkin

Anton Ponomarev 1988.10.31 209 100
Rustam Yargavliev 1986.12.20 193 90
Ivan Nechayev 1982.12.09 183 80
Alexandr Tyutyunik 1990.07.05 195 95
Andrey Shpekht 1976.01.31 195 95
Yegor Biryulin 1986.11.17 185 93
Yevgeniy Issakov 1982.04.20 202 90
Maxim Voyeikov 1988.09.13 195 89
Mikhail Yevstigneyev 1984.07.05 203 108
Artyom Skornyakov 1990.08.28 209 108
Dmitriy Gavrilov 1986.11.27 203 92
Dmitriy Korovnikov 1976.05.25 200 100


Qatar NT

Head coach: Edward Allen Andrist
Assistants: Eric Darrel Shaw-Gardow, Christopher Adam Westlake

1 Saad Abdulrahman Ali 1985.02.05 189 101
3 Khalid Masoud Al Nasr 1980.10.09 178 78
7 Daoud Mosa Daoud 1982.02.02 193 94
9 Ali Turki Ali 1982.10.01 203 113
10 Yasseen Ismail Musa 1980.12.08 203 91
11 Osama Adel Moutalga 1985.07.01 180 80
15 Omer Abdgader Salem 1983.10.01 205 104
16 Malek Salem Abdulla 1985.05.13 193 85
21 Khalid Suliman Abdi 1987.07.02 198 91
22 Salman AbuFaisal 1979.06.04 178 78
23 Erfan Ali Saeed 1983.12.20 200 95
24 Hashim Zaidan Bsher 1980.08.13 208 112
30 Baker Ahmad Mohammed 1986.11.08 200 106
31 Hammam Omer Ismail 1983.09.15 200 80
33 Mohd Yousuf Mohmmed 1982.09.09 202 100
34 Mohammed Seleem Abdulla 1982.07.17 202 117


Athletes in Action (USA)

Head coach: Mike Jarvis
Assistants: Morris Michalski, Jason Beschta

Brian Asbury 1986.10.01 201 98
Cliff Hammonds 1986.01.01 191 89
Bradley Harris 1986.06.30 188 79
Darris Nichols 1986.05.20 191 91
Eric Pollitz 1986.01.20 198 97
Tim Pollitz 1986.01.20 198 97
Alex Ruoff 1986.08.29 198 95
Donald Sloan 1988.01.15 188 91
Reed Rawlings 1978.09.01 201 98
Tyler Wilkerson 1988.07.25 188 109
Zack Gibson 1987.09.07 208 102
Todd Hendley 1984.06.17 206 102


Philippines NT

Head coach: Vincent P. Reyes
Assistants: Salvador Antonio Castro, Raoul Ceasar Racela

4 Mark Anthony Caguioa 1979.11.19 183 77
5 James Carlos Yap 1982.02.15 191 86
6 Jimmy Alapag 1977.12.30 175 77
7 Donaldo Hontiveros 1977.06.01 189 82
8 Pauliasi Taulava 1973.03.02 206 125
9 Ranidel De Ocampo 1981.12.08 198 94
10 Gabriel Daniel Norwood 1985.02.09 196 86
11 Michael Pennisi 1975.03.03 210 114
12 Kerby Reymundo 1981.01.19 201 95
13 Anthony Helterbrand 1976.10.14 183 86
14 Florendo Ritualo Jr. 1979.06.14 183 83
15 Kelly Williams 1982.02.07 196 98


Jordan NT

Head coach: Mario Palma
Assistants: Mario Gomes, Zoran Dokic

4 Fadel Anajjar 1985.04.03 194 92
5 Rashiem Wright 1981.07.21 193 90
6 Zaid Abbaas 1983.11.21 203 96
7 Mousa Alawadi 1985.07.20 185 97
8 Issamorcos Beida Kamel 1983.01.01 195 89
9 Enver Soobzokov 1978.05.03 194 92
10 Mousa Bashir 1978.07.13 208 110
11 Wesam Al-Sous 1983.02.24 181 78
12 Jamal Almaaytah 1981.02.24 213 120
13 Zaid Alkhas 1976.03.07 204 115
14 Abbas Islam 1980.03.11 200 115
15 Ayman Idais 1978.06.28 205 96
Osama Daghles


South Korea NT

Head coach: Choi Bu-Yung
Assistants: Lee Min-Hyun, Kang Jung-Soo

4 Ha Seung-Jin 1985.08.04 223 130
5 Shin Ki-Sung 1985.04.30 180 80
6 Yang Dong-Geun 1981.09.14 180 81
7 Kang Byung-Hyun 1985.03.03 192 84
8 Kim Joo-Sung 1979.11.09 205 93
9 Lee Kyu-Sup 1977.11.13 197 97
10 Kim Dong-Woo 1980.02.03 200 95
11 Kim Seung-Hyun 1978.11.23 178 78
12 Yang Hee-Jong 1984.05.11 195 94
13 Cha Jae-Young 1984.08.05 196 83
14 Sandrin Daniel R. 1980.01.27 200 96
15 Kim Min-Soo 1982.01.16 200 93


Iran NT

Head coach: Rajko Toroman
Assistant: Hahran Hatami

4 Pooya Tadjik 1980.09.21 200 93
5 Amir Amini 1984.06.10 193 75
6 Javad Davan 1983.04.25 184 75
7 M.S. Nikkhah Bahrami 1983.05.11 199 88
8 Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami 1982.02.05 200 83
9 Iman Zandi Mashhadi 1981.09.19 189 78
10 Hamed Afagh Eslamieh 1983.02.01 188 73
11 Hamed Sourabnejad 1983.05.07 208 83
12 Oshin Sahakian1986.03.21 203 91
13 Ali Doraghi 1984.09.20 207 98
14 Moosa Nablpoor 1983.08.14 213 100
15 Hamed Ehadadi 1985.05.19 217 103


Japan World University Games NT

Head coach: Hasegawa, Kenji
Assistant: Won Byung-Sun

4 Machida, Yosuke 1983.04.04 197 92
5 Onishi, Takanori 1983.04.03 195 95
6 Oya, Shusaka 1983.08.29 193 91
7 Ishizaki, Takumi 1984.07.06 187 85
8 Kikuchi, Shohei 1984.08.27 190 85
9 Inoue, Akihito 1984.10.08 197 88
10 Sakai, Taiji 1984.08.28 187 87
11 Shonaka, Takeki 1984.09.15 180 76
12 Okada, Yusuke 1984.09.17 184 80
13 Kantake, Hayato 1986.08.01 194 80
14 Ono, Ryumo 1988.01.06 197 97


Lebanon NT

Head coach: Dragan Raca
Assistant: Kousay Khalaf

Mohamad Ibrahim 1983.04.10 198 102
Jean Abd El Nour 1983.11.29 196 95
Hussein Tawbe 1982.07.16 198 96
Ali Mahmoud 1983.05.28 186 82
Rony Fahed 1981.11.06 186 85
Omar El Turk 1981.09.30 192 88
Brian Feghali 1977.12.30 206 110
Roy Samaha 1984.09.12 205 112
Joseph Vogel 1973.09.15 211 115
Ali Fakhreddine 1983.04.03 204 102
Mazen Mneinmeh 1986.02.01 195 95
Bassem Balaa 1981.07.10 198 98
El Cheikh Fadi El Khatib 1979.01.01 197 106

Taiwan NT 15-man roster

Head coach: Chung Kwang Suk
Assistant: Liu Jia-fa

Lee Hsueh-lin (Yulon)
Hsu Hao-cheng (TB)
Chen Shih-nian (TB)
Wu Yong-jen (VL)
Lin Chih-jay (TB)
Chou Shih-yuan (Yulon)
Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Lu Cheng-ju (Yulon)
Yang Che-yi (VL)
Yang Chin-min (BOT)
Lin Yi-huei (Dacin)
Lee Chi-yi (VL)
Yua Ying-li (BOT)
Tsun Wen-din (Yulon)
Wu Dai-hao (ETSN)

* Will not play in the Jones Cup:
Injured: Tien Lei, Chang Chi-feng, Ho Sho-jen, Chen Tse-wei, Chen Chih-chun
World University Games NT: Chien Jia-hong

ESPN promotional ads for 2007 Jones Cup



(Source: jonescup.roodo.com)