Thursday, January 31, 2008

Week 8 BOW: Chien Jia-hong


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

Pure Youth forward/center Chien Jia-hong, who averaged 34 points and 6.5 rebounds in the past week, was named Week 8 Baller of the Week. PY beat Dacin and Taiwan Beer during the week.

Chien is now averaging 16.8 points and 6.8 rebounds for the season.

Voting results (points):
Chien Jia-hong(PY) 38
Ouyang Jin-hen(dmedia) 27
Zuo Tsun-kai(PY) 4
J. Sanders(dmedia) 2
Wang Chih-chun(Dacin) 1

2007-08 Baller of the Week:
Week 8: Chien Jia-hong (PY)
Week 7: Chang Bo-sheng (BOT)
Week 6: Lin Chih-jay (TB)
Week 5: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 4: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 3: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 2: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 1: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)

Monday, January 28, 2008

SBL weekly observations

It's been a week full of surprises, upsets and high-scoring individual performances in the SBL. Let's take a look back at the week that was:

The emergence of Pure Youth




Believe it or not, Pure Youth has won five of its last six games. It is now 7-11 and challenging Dacin's No. 4 spot in the standings.

The primary reason for this unexpected emerge was Chien Jia-hong. The 196cm center had two 30-plus games during the week, scoring a career-high 35 points in the 107-100 win over Taiwan Beer and followed with a 33-point performance the next night, an 82-78 victory over Dacin.

It seemed that Chien, who was suspended for punching opponents earlier this season, has walked out of the shadow of the suspension and focused on his game. The surprise was Chien, who was primarily an inside player, slowly added a perimeter game to his arsenal and is now comfortable launching shots from the outside.

Chien's high school classmate Zuo Tsun-kai also bagged a career-high 33 points in the TB game. Zuo, who has been known for his offensive talent since junior high, has finally found his confidence and consistency.

Short-handed Dinos

Taiwan Beer beat Yulon again Sunday, but they wouldn't laugh if they were smart enough. Winning by only seven with four Dinos starters sitting out with injuries was definitely not something to happy about.

Yulon's starting center Tsun Wen-din has been nursing his knee injuries for weeks. Same goes to starting point guard Chen Chih-chun, the heart and soul of the team. Yang Che-yi (shoulder) and Lee Chi-yi (ankle) also sat out the game.

Oh, Ouyang!

One more explosive scorer in the last week – dmedia forward/guard Ouyang Jin-hen, who came out of nowhere to surprise everyone with his 19.2 point per game scoring average this season, which ranked him as the No. 2 scoring leader behind only Chen Hsin-an (20.8ppg).

Ouyang tallied a career-high 42 points Sunday in a 96-72 win over Bank of Taiwan, shooting 14-of-24 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

I wonder what dmedia head coach Wu Jian-kuo had done to motivate Ouyang this season. The 28-year-old was seen as the next big thing as a combo guard throughout his high school career but has been disappointing in the A-League and the SBL. Anyway, he has been a different player this year. And it's always good to see a story like that.

Yen is back

Yen Shin-shu was back with the SBL after spending four years in the entertainment business and a short stint in the Chinese CBA. Yen, who plays for Taiwan Beer, had two points and two assists in five minutes Saturday.

It was not too long ago that Yen led all players in assists in the Asian Championship. After four years in the show business, the fans still expect the 31-year-old guard to be as good as he was, evidenced by those screaming sound (of girls...) from the courtside.

Yen should be able to direct TB's halfcourt offense once he regains his fitness. However that gives TB a problem. Will Yen replace Chen Shih-nian as the starting point? Can backup PG Hsu hao-cheng fiind any playing time after Yen's arrival?

By the way, I always think that Hsu should be TB's starting point guard, not Chen.

Low attendence
SBL attendence hit a new low Saturday with only 102 tickets sold. Yes, 102 fans bothered to buy tickets for a triple-header! Didn't the league say it has established solid reputation with four years of hard work and is looking at a bright future?

In fact, the attedence record has not been doing well for a while ever since the league moved the main stadium from downtown Taipei to Sinjhuang, Taipei County as the TPEC Gym, the main arena SBL has been playing for the last four years, is still under construction.

People said Sinjhuang was too far away from Taipei City and it's not convenient for fans to get there. Maybe. However, when the regular season games were played in Taichung for two weeks earlier, the attendence number also dropped dramatically in the second week.

That probably tells you the SBL has a lot of issues for concerns other than its image problem.

(Photo source: ESPN Taiwan)

Pure Youth makes strong bid to top four

Jan. 27
dmedia 96-72 BOT
dmedia: Ouyang Jin-hen 42p(14-24 FG, 8-8 FT), J. Sanders 20p+21rb+7a+3blk
BOT: Chien Ming-fu 16p, Chang Jung-hsuan 15p, Hsu Chi-chan 13p+10rb

PY 82-78 Dacin
PY: Chien Jia-hong 33p(10-21 FG), Wu Jian-long 13p+8rb, Lin Jin-ban 13p, Zuo Tsun-kai 11p
Dacin: Chen Tse-wei 16p, Lin Yi-huei 16p, Su Yi-chieh 11p

TB 84-77 Yulon
TB: Yang Chin-min 20p+7rb, Ho SHo-jen 18p, Lin Chih-jay 2p+8rb+9a, Wu Dai-hao 12p+9rb
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 20p+12rb+8a, Lee Hsueh-lin 23p, Lu Cheng-ju 13p

Jan. 26
PY 107-100 TB
PY: Chien Jia-hong 35p(14-25 FG)+8rb, Zuo Tsun-kai 33p(10-17 FG), Chen Shi-jay 11p+6rb+8a+4s
TB: Ho Sho-jen 19p+8rb, Lin Chih-jay 17p, Wu Dai-hao 18p+8rb, Lo Shin-liang 16p

Yulon 86-79 dmedia
Yulon: Chou Shi-yuan 30p, Chen Hsin-an 21p+9rb, Lee Hsueh-lin 19p
dmedia: J. Sanders 28p+13rb+7a

Dacin 62-51 TM
Dacin: Wang Chih-chun 12p, Lin Yi-huei 12p, Su Yi-chieh 9p+7rb+7a
TM: Hsu Tse-shin 13p+7rb, Hsu Wei-shen 11p+7rb, Wu Yong-jen 11p

Jan. 25
Dacin 70-66 BOT
Dacin: Chen Tse-wei 13p+8rb, Lee Fong-yong 13p+8rb, Chang Chi-feng 13p
BOT: Hsu Chi-chan 15p+7rb, Chien Ming-fu 15p, Lin Chih-long 10P=8rb

dmedia 70-58 TM
dmedia: Ouyang Jin-hen 18p, J. Sanders 15p+18rb, Lin Kwan-lun 13p, Wu Jia-long 12p
TM: Wu Yong-jen 17p, Hsu Wei-shen 16p

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

SBL stats thru. Jan. 22

Scoring
1 Chen Hsin-an(Yulon) 20.8
2 Ouyang Jin-hen(dmedia) 18.5
3 Jon Sanders(dmedia) 18.1
4 Ho Sho-jen(TB) 16.1
5 Chang Chi-feng(Dacin) 15.6

Rebounding
1 J. Sanders(dmedia) 16.5
2 Hsu Chi-chan(BOT) 10.1
3 Chen Hsin-an(Yulon) 8.3
4 Lin Chih-jay(TB) 6.9
5 Tsun Wen-din(Yulon) 6.6

Assists
1 J. Sanders(dmedia) 5.4
2 Lin Chih-jay(TB) 3.9
3 Chen Shih-nian(TB) 3.8
4 Wu Yong-jen(TM) 3.7
5 Chen Hsin-an(Yulon) 3.5

Blocks
1 Wu Dai-hao(TB) 3.08
2 Tsun Wen-din(Yulon) 2.08
3 Hsu Chi-chan(BOT) 1.40
4 Chuan Hsiao-wen(BOT) 0.88
5 J. Sanders(dmedia) 0.87

Steals
1 Wu Yong-jen(TM) 2.2
2 J. Sanders(dmedia) 2.1
3 Hong Chi-chao(TM) 1.8
4 Chen Shi-jay(PY) 1.7
5 Hsu Hao-cheng(TB) 1.6

Unheralded Chang wins BOW award


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

Little-used BOT guard Chang Bo-sheng was voted for Week 7 Baller of the Week after coming out of nowhere and leading the bottom-dweller for a 2-1 week.

Chang, who had averaged less than 6 points in the first 13 games, exploded for 38 points in the win over Taiwan Mobile and followed that with a 21-point outing in a upset of league-leading Yulon, snapping BOT's 10-game losing streak to the Dinos.

The second-year guard, nicknamed "Trumpet" by his high school teammates for his outspoken nature, averaged 22.3 points and 3.3 rebounds for the week. He connected on 10-of-15 three-pointers in the game vs. TM.

Prior to this week, Chang was best remembered for his 30-point explosion in his last high school game. He led Tsaishin HS to the HBL championship. Chang also named Newcomer of the Year of the UBA in his freshman year in the university league.

Known for his scoring explosiveness, Chang said it was not till this week that he understood his role on the team after BOT coaching staff asked him to focus on scoring.

Voting results (points):
Chang Bo-sheng, BOT 38
Chien Jia-hong(PY) 10
Hsu Chi-chan(BOT) 9
Chen Hsin-an(Yulon) 5
Ho Sho-jen(TB) 5
Wang Nan-kuei(dmedia) 4
Wu Dai-hao(TB) 3
Wang Chih-chun(Dacin) 3
James Mao(PY) 1
J. Sanders(dmedia) 1

2007-08 Baller of the Week:
Week 7: Chang Bo-sheng (BOT)
Week 6: Lin Chih-jay (TB)
Week 5: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 4: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 3: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 2: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 1: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)

Monday, January 21, 2008

Weekly game summary

Jan. 20
BOT 102-90 Yulon
BOT: Chang Bo-shen 21p, Hsu Chi-chan 13p+12rb, Lin Chih-long 14p, Lin Tsun-ching 14p, Chou Ben-tang 10p+7rb
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 25p+11rb+5a, Lee Chi-yi 17p+11rb

PY 85-77 TM
PY: James Mao 23p+12rb, Chien Jia-hong 23p, Zuo Tsun-kai 21p
TM: Lai Kuo-hong 16p+14rb, Hsu Wei-shen 14p+7rb, Wu Yong-jen 15p, Hsu Tse-shin 12p

dmedia 82-62 TB
dmedia: Wang Nan-kuei 18p, Lin Kwan-lun 16p, J. Sanders 14p+16rb+6a+4s
TB: Ho Sho-jen 16p, Yang Chin-min 13p, Lin Chih-jay 11p, Wu Dai-hao 8p+4rb+6blk

Jan. 19
BOT 78-69 TM
BOT: Chang Bo-sheng 38p(10-15 3PT), Hsu Chi-chan 9p+11rb+4blk
TM: Wu Min-hsien 21p, Hsu Wei-shen 13p

Yulon 96-88 PY
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 23p+11rb+7a, Lee Chi-yi 23p, Chou Shih-yuan 20p
PY: Chien Jia-hong 27p+8rb, James Mao 13p, Chen Shi-jay 11p

TB 77-67 Dacin
TB: Lin Chih-jay 18p, Wu Dai-hao 16p, Yang Chin-min 13p, Ho Sho-jen 12p
Dacin: Lin Yi-huei 20p, Chang Chi-feng 13p, Yue Ying-li 13p, Wang Chih-chun 12p+6rb+4a+5s

Jan. 18
Dacin 93-83 dmedia
Dacin: Wang Chih-chun 25p+7rb, Chang Chi-feng 16p+5rb+6a, Lin Yi-huei 16p
dmedia: Ouyang Jin-hen 25p, J. Sanders 16p+14rb+7a+3s

PY 114-87 BOT
PY: Chien Jia-hong 16p+7rb, Lin Jin-ban 13p, James Mao 13p, Chen Shi-jay 12p+9rb+9a+6s, Chen Jun-jay 12p
BOT: Hsu Chi-chan 21p+11rb+7blk, Chien Ming-fu 20p, Hu Yu-wei 11p, Chang Jung-hsuan 11p

Standings:
1. Yulon 13-3
2. Taiwan Beer 11-5
3. dmedia 10-5
4. Dacin 7-8
5. Taiwan Mobile 6-10
6. Pure Youth 5-11
7. Bank of Taiwan 3-13

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Three dmedia players suspended over knifing incident


A good way to get yourself on TV.


Wang Chuan-chien


Chou Tzu-hua

Wang Chuan-chien, Chou Tzu-hua and Wu Jun-hsiung were suspended indefinitely without pay over their involvement in a knifing incident, Numen head coach Wu Chien-kuo said in a press conference Tuesday.

Wu said that the players, who allegedly involved in a knifing incident last Sunday, would be suspended indefinitely without pay and would not allowed to practice with the team until the ongoing investigation is completed.

Dmedia was hit by seperated disordered incidents on the same day. Forward Cheng Jen-wei was suspended for four games and received an NT$50,000 fine for throwing a punch at opponents in a game Sunday afternoon.

The players did not attend the press conference.

The final decision on the players' future with the team will be made after the investigation and legal process are completed, Wu said.

Chou, a 20-year-old guard, played in two games with the team this season while Wang, 22, and Wu, 23, practiced with the team but was not listed in the 18-men roster.

The three players were allegedly involved in solicitation to commit an assault early Sunday morning, when the players disputed with a group of youngsters over a girl outside a Taipei nightclub. Three men were stabbed by a number of unidentified men, who the victims claimed were friends of the players, upon leaving the nightclub by taxi.

Week 6 BOW: Lin Chih-jay


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chih-jay, last season's most valuable players in both the regular season and the Finals, won his first Baller of the Week this season Tuesday.

Lin averaged 13.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists and led TB to a 3-0 week which boosted its record to 10-4, currently second-place behind Yulon (12-2).

Voting results (points):
Lin Chih-jay (TB) 27
Wu Dai-hao (TB) 18
Ho Sho-jen (TB) 15
Wu Yong-jen (BOT) 13

2007-08 Baller of the Week:
Week 6: Lin Chih-jay (TB)
Week 5: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 4: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 3: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 2: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 1: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)

Disordered dmedia hit by cases on, off court



Dmedia's spokesperson has been the busiest man on the team in the past three days, during which the team was hit by a pair of cases on and off the court.

On Sunday, dmedia forward Cheng Jen-wei was ejected after throwing a punch at Bank of Taiwan center Cheng En-jay and started a near-brawl from both teams. Cheng was later handed a 4-game suspension and a NT$50,000 fine.

True, it's not fair that Cheng En-jay, who had hit Cheng Jen-wei in the throat with his elbow, was only whistled for an offensive foul. But Cheng Jen-wei did the wrong thing by throwing a punch. No doubt about it.

Early Sunday, dmedia players Wang Chuan-jian, Chou Tse-hua and Wu Jun-hsiung were accused of solicitation to commit a murder outside of a Taipei nightclub.

Here's a report from local English newspaper Taipei Times:

Police to question Numen players over bar incident

By Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Jan 14, 2008, Page 19
Two SBL players from the dmedia Numen were accused of aiding and abetting in a knifing incident early yesterday morning outside a Taipei bar, police said.

Police said they would be summoning players Wang Chuan-chien (王傳鑑) and Chou Tzu-hua (周資華) for questioning about the incident.

DRINKING

A man surnamed Chang said that Wang and Chou were drinking at the Juliana Junior bar in the early morning yesterday. Chang told police the two players were chatting with him, his girlfriend and eight other friends who were sitting next to the players' table.

DISPUTE

He said the apparently drunk Wang suddenly forcibly grabbed his girlfriend and that he and his friends had to hold Wang back. Chang told police there had been a dispute over the incident, but that things had seemed to have settled down by the time they left the bar.

He said as they were leaving the pub to catch taxis at around 4am, several men carrying knives pulled them out of the taxis and started slashing them.

Chang said three of his friends were injured in the incident.

Chang said he suspected the two players had abetted the men to commit the crime.

BLOOD STAINS

Police said they had interviewed the three victims who alleged they were attacked outside the bar, and confirmed that they had found blood stains outside the bar. Police said they did not know whether the two players had been involved in the attack.

Wang and Chou did not show up with their team for a game yesterday.

DISCIPLINE

A spokesman for the dmedia Numen, Kuo Teh-chih (郭德志), told reporters the team was surprised and that it would discipline the two if the allegations were found to be true.

Chou was banned from the High School Basketball League in 2004 for throwing a ball at a judge during a game.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Mao leads Pure Youth to third win




(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

Led by James Mao's career-high 27 points, Pure Youth beat Dacin 90-75 Sunday for its thrid win of the season. Dacin lost for the fifth time in its last six games.

Dmedia beat BOT 76-67 but the game was marred by another on-court confrontation. Dmedia forward Cheng Jen-wei threw a punch at BOT center Cheng En-jay with 8:12 to go and was ejected. Dmedia forward Hsiao Yuan-chan and BOT's Liin Chun-feng and Lin Tsun-ching were all ejected for leaving the bench.

Cheng was hit with a 4-game suspension and a NT$50,000 fine. The other three were suspended for one game and had to pay a NT$10,000 fine.

Dmedia 76-67 BOT
dmedia: J. Sanders 10p+22rb
BOT: Chuang Hsiao-wen 26p

Pure Youth 90-75 Dacin
PY: James Mao 27p+7r+4a, Chien Jia-hong 17p+10rb, Chen Shi-jay 12p, Doug Creighton 10p, Wu Jian-long 10p+9rb
Dacin: Lee Fong-yong 22p, Chen Tse-wei 15p, Chang Chi-feng 13p

Taiwan Beer 76-62 Taiwan Mobile
TB: Lin Chih-jay 27p+11rb, Ho SHo-jen 18p
TM: Hsu Tse-shin 14p, Hsu Wei-sheng 11p

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Taiwan Beer finally beat Yulon


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

Finally, Taiwan Beer beat Yulon in its third try after let the last two slip away. Wu Dai-hao scored 22 points and Ho Sho-jen had 21 points as Taiwan Beer beat Yulon 89-84 Saturday with its head coach Yen Jia-hua, who is in the middle of a 10-game suspension, in the stands.

Taiwan Beer was poised to take the previous two matchups, in which they had led by 12 and 15 points in the final quarter, before collapsing and losing. They didn’t let this one slip away.

Lin Chih-jay hit a mid-range jumper and an assist leading to a Wu Dai-hao slamdunk to help TB take a five-point lead in the last minute. Chen Hsin-an’s drive cut Yulon’s deficit to two but Lin added two free-throws with 34.2 seconds left to ice the game.

Yulon starting center Tsun Wen-din had only six points in 18 minutes due to knee injury.

Chien Jia-hong missed both free-throws with 4 seconds to go as Pure Youth missed out another opportunity for a win, losing 89-84 to dmedia. Dmedia has won three straight games and is now back to 8-4, a half game behind Taiwan Beer.

Pure Youth was hurt by its poor free-throw shooting. It made only 13-of-28 as a team and Chien was only 5-for-14.

Dacin(6-6) committed 23 turnovers in a 78-54 loss to Taiwan Mobile, which is now at 6-7. Dacin’s core players Tien Lei and Wang Chih-chun were still inactive due to injury.

Dmedia 89-84 Pure Youth
Dmedia: Jon Sanders 26p+18rb, Ouyang Jin-hen 16p, Lin Kwan-lun 14p, Cheng Jen-wei 14p
PY: Chien Jia-hong 20p+11rb+6a, James Mao 11p, Tsai Wen-cheng 15p

Taiwan Beer 85-77 Yulon
TB: Wu Dai-hao 22p+10rb, Ho Sho-jen 21p, Lin Chih-jay 12p+9rb+7a
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 19p, Lee Chi-yi 12p, Lee Hsueh-lin 12p

Taiwan Mobile 78-54 Dacin
TM: Wu Yong-jen 21p+5s, Hsu Tse-shin 14p
Dacin: Chen Tse-wei 23p, Chang Chi-feng 13p

Friday, January 11, 2008

No more undefeated team in SBL


Taiwan Mobile beat Yulon.


Hsu Wei-sheng.


Wu Dai-hao.

It was supposed to be Taiwan Beer, but Taiwan Mobile ended up as the team that knocked off Yulon from the undefeated. Taiwan Mobile, the victim when Bank of Taiwan ended its SBL-record 28-game losing streak last week, edged Yulon 79-77 Friday and snapped Yulon's 12-game winning streak.

Players are always motivated facing their former teams, which was the case tonight. Liu Sheng-yao, who had 12 points, scored the last 7 points of the game against his former team to wrap up the win. Hsu Wei-sheng, who came to TM along with Liu, had 13 points.

It was an impressive win for TM, which trailed by as many as 14 in the first half and is now 5-7.

Yulon made 17 three-pointers in the game but it was hurt by losing starting center Tsun Wen-din, who did not play due to injury. SBL leading scorer Chen Hsin-an had 24 points in the game but failed to get his three-point shot off before the final buzzer.

Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Jia-hua started serving his 10-game suspension Friday but TB had no problem beating BOT.

TM 79-77 Yulon
TM: Wu Yong-jen 14p, Hsu Wei-sheng 13p, Liu Sheng-yao 12p, Deng An-cheng 10p
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 24p, Lee Hsueh-lin 19p

TB 83-66 BOT
TB: Ho Sho-jen 19p, Lo Shin-liang 17p, Wu Dai-hao 16p+5blks
BOT: Lin CHun-feng 15p, Chang Jun-hsuan 11p

December Player of the Month: Chen Hsin-an


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

Chen Hsin-an was named Player of the Month for December Thursday, winning his first POM award since April, 2005.

Chen averaged for 19.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.78 steals in December and led Yulon Dinos to a 12-0 start.

The 27-year-old forward garnered 17 of 18 first-place votes and received 88 points in the media voting. Dmedia forward Jon Sanders had 26 points and Ouyang Jin-hen had 11 points.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

SBL stats thru Jan. 6

Scoring
1. Chen Hsin-an, Yulon 20.1
2. Ouyang Jin-hen, dmedia 18.7
3. Jon Sanders, dmedia 18.6
4. Chang Chi-feng, Dacin 16.4
5. Hsu Chi-chan, BOT 16.0

Rebounding
1. Jon Sanders, dmedia 16.1
2. Hsu Chi-chan, BOT 10.0
3. Chen Hsin-an, Yulon 8.4
4. Wu Dai-hao, TB 7.5
5. Tsun Wen-din, Yulon 7.0

Assists
1. Jon Sanders, dmedia 5.5
2. Chen Shih-nian, TB 4.4
3. Wu Yong-jen, TM 3.5
4. Lin CHih-jay, TB 3.5
5. Chen Hsin-an, Yulon 3.3

Steals
1. Wu Yong-jen, TM 2.27
2. Hong Chi-chao, TM 1.64
3. Hsu Hao-cheng, TB 1.55
4. Cheng Jen-wei, dmedia 1.50
5. Jon Sanders, dmedia 1.45

Blocks
1. Wu Dai-hao, TB 3.1
2. Tsun Wen-din, Yulon 2.2
3. Wu Jui-jin, dmedia 1.1
4. Jon Sanders, dmedia 0.9
5. Chen Hsin-an, Yulon 0.9

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

TB head coach suspended 10 games, fined

SN01_002

SN01_005

(source: Apple Daily)

Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Jia-hua has been handed a 10-game suspension and a NT$100,000 fine for kicking a referee after the Jan. 6 game vs. Yulon at Fengshan, Kaohsiung, the CTBA announced.

Taiwan Beer manager Lin Chieh-ho, who had punched the same referee, was suspended for 10 games and fined NT$20,000 as well.

Yen went wild after Chen Hsin-an's three-point play tied the game at 75-75 with 39.9 seconds to go and had to be contained by his staff. It appeared he would have gone to the referee. He was slapped with a technical foul immediately but wouldn't quit.

TB eventually lost the game 78-75 after Yen's outburst and giving up two free-throws and a possession.

Yen and Lin charged the referees in the hallway after the game. Yen tried to kick a referee but missed. Lin landed a punch on the shoulder of one of the refs. (Don't ask me why a man who landed a punch was fined for less than a man who kicked and missed. I had no idea...)

Yen offered apology to the referee in a press conference Monday but kept criticizing the officiating of SBL and CTBA referees, saying he wouldn't have to accept the suspension because the SBLwas not under the administration of the CTBA. (Actually, it was...)

The SBL Committee, the highest governing body of the league, is one of the committees under the CTBA.

Sanders again wins BOW

It looks like Jonathan Sanders and Chen Hsin-an is taking turns at winning the Baller of the Week awards this season. Sanders was named Week 5 BOW again Tuesday.

The American forward averaged for 26 points, 17.5 rebounds, 3.5 assiss, 2 steals and 2 blocks for the week, leading demdia Numen to bounce back from a three-game losing streak with two consecutive wins over Dacin and Pure Youth.

Voting results (points):
Jon Sanders 32
Chen Chih-chung 24
Chen Hsin-an 17

2007-08 Baller of the Week:
Week 5: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 4: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 3: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 2: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 1: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)

Monday, January 07, 2008

Yulon beat TB to tie SBL 12-game winning record


Jon Sanders led dmedia to an overtime victory.


Chen Hsin-an and his third BOW award of the season.


Chen Chih-chung carried Yulon on his back in the come-from-behind win.


Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Jia-hua went crazy, which did not surprise anybody.

Chen Chih-chung had 14 of his team-high 23 points in the final quarter as Yulon rallied from 15 points down for a 79-75 win over defending champ Taiwan Beer and tied the SBL's longest winning streak at 12 games.

Chen Hsin-an, who had trouble making his outside shots all game, made a baseline double-pump reverse layup and was fouled with 39.9 seconds to go. Chen completed the three-point play and Chen Chih-chung made one of two ensuing foul shots after TB head coach Yen Jia-hua was whistled for a technical for taunting the refs. Yulon took the lead 76-75 with 19 seconds to go.

Lin Chih-jay, who made eight threes in the game, rushed on a three-pointer with 11 seconds to go and missed. Yang Che-yi sank both foul shots to secure the victory.

Yulon tied the SBL-high 12-game winning streak, which was previously set by Sina (now known as Pure Youth) in 2003-04 season.

In other games, Jonathan Sanders had 19 points in the 4th period and overtime and lifted dmedia to a 91-86 win over Pure Youth. Sanders also had 34 points and 21 rebounds in the previous matchup of both teams.

Dacin beat Taiwan Mobile to snap its three-game losing streak.

Yulon 79-75 Taiwan Beer
Yulon: Chen Chih-chung 23p, Chen Hsin-an 19p+12rb, Lee Chi-yi 11p, Tsun Wen-din 10p+8rb+4a+3blk
TB: Lin Chih-jay 29p, Yang Chin-min 17p, Ho Sho-jen 12p, Wu Dai-hao 10p+7rb+5a

dmedia 91-86(OT) Pure Youth
dmedia: J. Sanders 31p+14rb, Ouyang Jin-hen 21p, Lin Kwan-lun 12p
PY: Chang Yu-lin 19p, D. Creighton 12p, Chen Jun-chieh 12p

Dacin 70-67 Taiwan Mobile
Dacin: Lin Yi-huei 20p, Chang Chi-feng 17p+6rb, Yue Ying-li 12p
TM: Lin Hsin-hua 12p

Sunday, January 06, 2008

BOT ends 28-game losing streak


The games were played in the southern city of Fengshan, Kaohsiung this week.


Finally, BOT got a W.


Chen Hsin-an had something to prove this season.


Wu Dai-hao has been playing well in limited playing times with TB.


Yang Chin-min led TB in scoring in both games this week.

Seldom-used reserves Lin Chih-long and Chou Ben-tang combined for 16 points in the final quarter as Bank of Taiwan held off Taiwan Mobile with a 67-60 victory and finally ended BOT's SBL-record 28-game losing streak Saturday.

If you want to know how embarrassing the losing streak is, think about it: each team plays a 30-game regular season. It was like BOT has lost EVERY game in a complete season.

Yulon had a hard-fought win over Pure Youth Saturday, nevertheless, it tied the team record with the eleventh consecutive win and will try to tie the SBL-record 12-game winning streak in its next game.

Dacin, which has been shorthanded lately due to injury, has dropped three straight and is now at 5-5. The absence of Tien Lei, its leading scorer and rebounder, and lead guard Wang Chih-chun hurt the team. Lee Fong-yong and Chang Chi-feng also did not play Saturday.

Jan. 5

Yulon 100-93 PY
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 25p+6rb+4a+7s, Lee Chi-yi 19p+10rb, Chou Shih-yuan 18p, Chen Chih-chung 10p+7rb
PY: Lin Jin-ban 14p, Chien Jia-hong 13p, James Mao 13p, Doug Creighton 12p, Chang Yu-lin 12p

BOT 67-60 TM
BOT: Cheng An-jay 14p+7rb+3blk, Hsu Chi-chan 12p+9rb, Chang Bo-sheng 10p
TM: Hong Chi-chao 15p, Lai Kuo-hong 13p

TB 92-64 Dacin
TB: Yang Chin-min 22p, Wu Dai-hao 16p+8rb+3blk, Lo Shin-liang 11p+5rb+4a
Dacin: Chen Tse-wei 16p

Jan. 4

TB 93-61 BOT
TB: Yang Chin-min 17p, Ho Sho-jen 16p, Wu Dai-hao 11p+2blk, Lo SHin-liang 10p+6a
BOT: Hsu CHi-chan 19p+11rb

dmedia 78-71 Dacin
dmedia: J. Sanders 21p+21rb+3blk, Wang Nan-kuei 15p, Lin Kwan-lun 13p, Ouyang Jin-hen 12p
Dacin: Lee Fong-yong 19p+7rb, Lin Yi-huei 13p+8rb, Chang Chi-feng 16p, Su Yi-chieh 10p

Standings:
1. Yulon 11-0
2. TB 7-3
3. dmedia 6-4
4. Dacin 5-5
5. TM 4-6
6. PY 2-8
7. BOT 1-10

(Photo source: ESPN Taiwan)

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Chen wins third BOW award in December

Yulon forward Chen Hsin-an was named Week 4 Baller of the Week Monday, his third BOW award in the month of December, after averaging 22.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2 assists for the week.

Dmedia import Jon Sanders was the only BOW winner other than Chen, who averages 19.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.1 blocks for the season and was the primary reason for Yulon's 10-game winning streak.

Chen had 40 points in the media voting. Taiwan Beer forward/center Wu Dai-hao, the closest vote-getter, received 15 points.

2007-08 Baller of the Week:
Week 4: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 3: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 2: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
Week 1: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)