Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Roundup: Junior NT and TB's HK visit

-- Taiwan U-18 NT, which will compete in the Asian Men's U-18 Championship in Iran from August 28 - September 5, started its training under Korean head coach Chung Kwang-suk this past week in Beitou, Taipei.

The team started its training camp earlier this month under assistants Hsieh Yu-chuan and Yang Yi-feng when Chung was coaching Taiwan NT in the Jones Cup.

Taiwan is slated in Group C with the Philippines, United Arab Emirates and Syria. The roster is down to 13 after losing two players to injury. With a height average of 188.5cm, this team has a long way to go in the tournament.

-- This is an old news but I haven't written about it. Yulon head coach Lee Yung-kwang resigned after the team failed to win the SBL champion in consecutive years. The Dinos won the first three SBL titles from 2004-2006.

Lee officially ended his 14-year career with Yulon as a player and a coach when he submitted his resignation in early June.

Zhang Xuelei, a former China NT member who came to Taiwan and played in the pro league CBA, will take over. Actually Zhang has been listed as the Head Coach since last season while Lee was listed as a "coach" but functioned as the real head coach.

-- Taiwan Beer finished as third place with one win and two losses in the Strait Cup tournament in Hong Kong on July 27 after an 116-69 win over Macao.

Fans in Hong Kong and Taiwan were not happy with the two-time SBL champion. TB players took this tournament lightly and did not give their full effort, which disappointed HK fans. Back home, fans wondered why Lin Chih-chieh, Wu Tai-hao, Ho Shou-cheng and Chen Shih-nian, who all sat out the Jones Cup due to INJURY, were alive and kicking in Hong Kong just days after the Jones Cup. They did not look INJURED at all.

So much for "attitude, " TB's team slogan which has become a hot marketing commodity which you can see printed on T-shirts, caps and many other TB merchandise.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Retired NBA stars to visit Taiwan

NBA Taiwan announced Friday that Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Glen Rice and B.J. Armstrong will visit Taiwan for NBA Madness, a NBA-sponsored event, from August 29-31.

The NBA veterans will participate in the NBA Madness in Taipei after a pair of Legends Games at Taipei Arena on August 29 and at Jhubei Stadium (Hsinchu County) on August 30.

The NBA Madness, now an annual event organized by the NBA, will be held at the following sites:

Aug. 16-17: Dream Mall, Kaohsiung City
Aug. 23-24: Shin Kong Matsukoshi Department Store, Taichung City
Aug. 30-31: Danshui MRT Station, Danshui, Taipei County

In the Legends Games, the NBA veterans will be paired with local players. According to the China Times, the roster will be:

Team A:
Clyde Drexler
Glen Rice
Wu Tai-hao (TB)
Ho Shou-cheng (TB)
Lin Chih-chieh (TB)
Chen Shih-nian (TB)
Hsu Hao-cheng (TB)
Yang Chin-min (TB)
Yen Hsin-shu (TB)
Chou Jun-san (TB assistant coach)
Rex Manu (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants)
Hsiung Jen-cheng (former player with Hung-fu Rams)

Team B:
Scottie Pippen
B.J. Armstrong
Hsu Chi-chan (BOT)
Doug Creighton (Pure Youth)
Cheng Jen-wei (dmedia)
Chang Yu-lin (Pure Youth)
Chen Shun-hsiang (BOT)
Ouyang Ching-heng (dmedia)
Chien Ming-fu (BOT)
Cheng Chih-lung (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants, current Taiwan Mobile head coach)
Huang Chun-hsiung (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants, current Taiwan Mobile assistant)
Liu Yi-hsiang (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants)

One interesting thing though, the ticket price for the Legends Games will range between NT$ 4,000-8,000 (USD$131-263). I'm wondering will anyone actually buy the tickets to watch these guys play? I mean, these players were all great players, but the ticket prices are simply too high for kids and middle-class fans.

CTBA extends Korean head coach for two years

146 CTBA (Chinese Taipei Basketball Association) President Wang Jen-da said yesterday that the association has reached a decision to extend Korean head coach Chung Kwang-suk for another two years with Taiwan men's national team until 2010 amid criticism over Chung's performance.

Under Chung, Taiwan NT finished an all-time worst last place in the eight-team 2008 Jones Cup tournament. However, Chung led Taiwan NT to the sixth-place in the 2007 Asian Championship, Taiwan's best finish in years.

Fans and media criticized Chung for his in-game substitutions, rotations and his communication with players since Chung doesn't speak Mandarin and has to go through a translator to communicate with players.

Personally, I support CTBA's decision. Taiwan NT was without almost all its core players -- including Chen Hsin-an, Tien Lei, Lin Chih-chieh, Wu Tai-hao, Tseng Wen-ting and Ho Shou-cheng -- in the Jones Cup. The Jones Cup team was quickly assembled and was at best a second national team.

For Chung's six-man rotation in the Asian Championship last year, he said that he would only put those players who can play on the court. And I support that. On top of that, Chung knew he had to do well in the AC to convince the CTBA about his ability to lead.

Taiwan's zone defense did improve under Chung. At least that's my observation. But it's important for him to be able to spend more time with the players and observe Taiwanese basketball. It will be difficult as the SBL season lasts six months and most players have to play for their college team in the university league.

Wang also said yesterday that Cheng Chih-lung, Chou Jun-san, Chiu Ta-tsun and Hsu Chin-tse will be young coaches the CTBA looked to develop in the future.

Taiwan will field two national teams in the Jones Cup next year, he said.

Chung led Korea NT to 1997 Asian Championship title, which remained to this day the only time Korea had defeated China in the Asian Championship in the last 40 years, and an appearance in 1998 World Championship, finishing 16th among 16 teams.

(Photo source: Liberty Times)

Friday, July 25, 2008

Video: Taiwan vs. Australia U-19 title game

I divided the game into eight parts and uploaded them to Veoh.com Jones Cup channel here. Once again, five of the eight parts were not validated. I don't know why.

Anyway, you can view Part 1, 4 and 5 at this moment. Part 5 showed the first 10 minutes of the third quarter. I am very sorry about the failed parts. I'm not planning on uploading them again.

View the part 4 video below:

 

Finally, I have been pretty busy in the past few days and was not able to write more about the women’s games. And I was only able to record two games (both Taiwan vs. Australia).

Taiwan wins Jones Cup, MVP goes to Chiang

Taiwan 55-54 Australia U-19 NT

The win was not pretty. Taiwan's senior women's NT barely got past Australia U-19 NT 55-54 in the 2008 Jones Cup title game -- after Australia lost 203cm center Elizabeth Cambage in the second quarter.

But a win is still a win. The thrilling victory gave Taiwan NT its sixth title in the Jones Cup and the first champion since 2005.

Australia, which trailed almost the entire second half, rallied behind Stephanie Cumming's 12 points in the final quarter. Cumming scored seven straight points as Australia took the lead 54-53 with 20.7 seconds to go.

Taiwan showed its poise and experience down the stretch. Center Cheng Hui-yun hit Chu Yung-hsuan, who was left wide open at the baseline, and Chu knocked down her only field goal in the game with 6.1 seconds left to put Taiwan on top, 55-54.

Australia tried to let Cumming take the last shot but Taiwan forward Tsai Pei-chen fouled Cumming to stop the game clock. Australia had to hurry a desperation shot with time running out.

The result could've been different if Elizabeth Cambage did not sprain her ankle early in the second period. Cambage did not play again.

Forward Chiang Feng-chun, the tournament MVP, scored 10 straight as Taiwan surged past Australia 29-26 and maintain the advantage until the final two minutes.

Chaing had 19 points and 14 rebounds. Cheng Hui-yun and Tsai Pei-chen had 10 points each. Chu Yung-hsuan had three points, four steals and six rebounds. Taiwan's defense held Australia to 31% shooting.

Australia was led by Cumming's 17 points. Without Cambage, it was outrebounded by Taiwan 45-36.

Woori Bank 84-62 Malaysia NT

The joy of observing Korean basketball is their ability to shoot the lights out, which was the case Friday night when Woori Bank made 17 threes in a 22-point rout over the Malaysia NT in the third-place game of the 2008 Jones Cup women's group.

Nobody expected Malaysia to win, actually, although everyone agreed that the Malaysia team has shown much improvement over the years.

Kim Eun-hye had 20 points, including six three-pointers, and 12 rebounds while Kim Sun-hye and Kim Eun-kyoung had 15 each for Woori Bank.

Thoh Chai-ling scored 16 points for Malaysia, the only winless team in the four-team tourney.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Women Jones Cup images

Image0722-1817(TV73)

Woori Bank vs. Malaysia.

Image0722-1817(TV73)(1)

A Malaysian player.

Image0722-1845(TV73)(1)

Kew Suik-may, Malaysia.

Image0722-1952(TV73)(2)

Cheng Hui-yun, Taiwan.

Image0722-2050(TV73)(1)

Chien Wei-chuan, Taiwan.

Image0722-2051(TV73)

Chien Wei-chuan, Taiwan.

Image0722-2051(TV73)(3)

Chien Wei-chuan, Taiwan.

Image0724-2034(TV73)

Chu Yung-hsuan, Taiwan.

Taiwan edges Australia for 2008 Jones Cup crown

Chu Yung-hsuan made a go-ahead basket, her only field goal in the game, with 6.1 seconds to go as Taiwan beat Australia U-19 NT 55-54 in the 2008 Jones Cup women's group final and won the title for the first time since 2005.

Trailing for almost the entire second half, Australia took a 54-53 lead with 40 seconds remaining after Stephanie Cumming scored five of her 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Chu, who had three points, 4 steals and 6 boards in the game, made the game-changing basket with 6.1 seonds left and Taiwan sure knew who Australia would go to. Tsai Pei-chen intentionally fouled Cumming in the ensuing possession as Australia struggled to get off the desperation shot in the final seconds.

Korea's Woori Bank beat Malaysia 84-62 in the bronze medal game.

More summary to come later...

Final placing:
1. Taiwan
2. Australia
3. Woori Bank
4. Malaysia

Women Jones Cup Day 3-4 results

July 22

Woori Bank 74-60 Malaysia
Taiwan 80-73 Australia

Final Preliminary standings:
1. Taiwan 3-0
2. Australia 2-1
3. Woori Bank 1-2
4. Malaysia 0-3

July 23: Semifinals

Taiwan 78-42 Malaysia

Australia 96-81 Woori Bank

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Women Jones Cup Day 2 images

1063159329

Chien Wei-chuan, Taiwan.

1670453237

Elizabeth Cambage, Australia.

2057990520

Kim Eun-hye (Woori Bank) vs. Cambage.

2249843056

Cambage.

2714637008

Chen Yu-chun, Taiwan.

3240752774

Kim Eun-hye, Woori Bank.

O20080722703331

Chiang Feng-chun, Taiwan.

(Photo credit: Yam Sports, Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Women Jones Cup Day 2: Taiwan beat Malaysia

Taiwan 95-42 Malaysia

Taiwan NT had no problem against Malaysia, beating the visitor 95-42 for its second straight win in the Jones Cup.

Taiwan opened the game in the first quarter 21-2 and closed the game with a 29-6 4th quarter. Chaing Feng-chun had 18 points while Wu Min-fang had 17 points including five three-pointers.

Ang Siew-teng led Malaysia with 10 points.

Taiwan NT has won the last seven matchups with Malaysia. In the Asian Championship in Incheon, Korea last year, Taiwan defeated Malaysia 107-54.

Taiwan assistant coach Wang Ling credited Malaysia for its improvement, saying that some of the threes Malaysia had taken in the game were actually "four-pointers." Malaysia is obviously trying to overcome its lack of height with better perimeter game, she said.

Australia 76-72 Woori Bank (44-32)

Australia U-19 NT players needed to learn a basic fact: Koreans -- men or women -- can shoot. And they were lucky to know that without losing.

203cm center Elizabeth Cambage scored eight points in the first four minutes of the game as Australia dominated with its height advantage and led 44-32 at halftime.

Koreans made a furious rally in the fourth. Kim Eun-hye made five three-pointers in the first six minutes of the final period to help Woori Bank cut the deficit down to four points with 2:30 to go. Unfortunately, that was as close as they could get.

Kim scored 19 of her game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter but that wasn't enough to stop Woori Bank from dropping its second straight game.

Cambage had 24 points for Australia, which will meet Taiwan for preliminary top seed tomorrow.

Standings:
1. Australia 2-0
1. Taiwan 2-0
3. Woori Bank 0-2
3. Malaysia 0-2

Monday, July 21, 2008

Jones Cup women’s Day 1 images

(Photo source: Apple Daily)

SN03_001

Chien Wei-chuan, Taiwan.

SN03_002

Chiang Feng-chun, Taiwan.

SN03_007

Wu Min-fang, Taiwan.

SN03_008

Elizabeth Cambage, Australia.

SN03_009

Caitlin Rowe, Australia.

2008 Jones Cup men's group results

Final placing:
1. Jordan NT
2. Athletes in Action
3. Australia U-19 NT
4. Qatar NT
5. Egypt NT
6. Kazakhstan NT
7. Korea University Select Team
8. Taiwan NT

Final Day
Final: Jordan 93-91(OT) AIA
3/4: Australia 91-88(OT) Qatar
5/6: Egypt 98-89(OT) Kazakhstan
7/8: Korea 83-74 Taiwan

Playoffs
Semi: AIA 97-90 QAT
Semi: Jordan 75-60 Australia
5-8: Kazakhstan 66-56 Taiwan
5-8: Egypt 85-81 Korea

Final Prelim Standings
1. Athletes in Action 6-1
2. Jordan NT 5-2
3. Australia U-19 NT 4-3
4. Qatar NT 4-3
5. Egypt NT 4-3
6. Kazakhstan NT 3-4
7. Taiwan NT 1-6
8. Korea University Select Team 1-6

About Jones Cup women’s group

Words for fans, readers and players' parents and friends:

-- As what it was for the men's competition, I will try to cover the women's group, record and maybe upload the game videos, but there's no guarantee because I'm busy preparing for going to Beijing.

-- The video will be uploaded to this Veoh.com channel.

-- You can download the game stats from the official web site here or the file-sharing web site I use here. Organizers will place them for download after the games. Make sure you check back often.

-- Live webcast, online stats and boxscores will not be available.

-- I know, the official web site and the English coverage sucks. But I guess that's why I'm here.. :)

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Women Jones Cup Day 1: Taiwan, Australia cruise

Taiwan 85-60 Woori Bank (35-29)

index44409OChiang Feng-chun scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the third quarter as Taiwan NT shook off Korea's Woori Bank in the second half en route to an 85-60 opening win. Chiang, a 27-year-old 184cm forward, also had 9 boards and 7 assists.

Donning their intriguing pink jerseys, Woori Bank led 13-10 in the end of the first quarter. But it didn't take long for the home team to turn the tide. Taiwan took the lead 26-22 after Wu Min-fang's consecutive threes and never trailed.

Taiwan controlled the boards by a 54-27 margin.

Woori Bank entered the tournament without some of its core players, who are playing for Beijing-bound Korea NT. Veteran Hong Hyun-hee paced the team with 16 points.

 

Australia U-19 NT 81-62 Malaysia NT

Australia U-19 NT towered over Malaysians with its height advantage for an easy win, leading in the rebounding department 58-26.

Australian head coach Dean Kinsman said that he was happy to know that Australia men's U-19 team played well last week here, finishing for third in the men's group, and hoped his team do well too.

Five players on Malaysia NT did not come to Taiwan with the team, said Malaysia head coach Yoong Sze-yuin, who is acutally an assistant coach. The head coach stayed in Malaysia because of an election of the Malaysian Basketball Federation, she said.

Standings:
1. Australia U-19 NT 1-0
1. Taiwan NT 1-0
3. Malaysia NT 0-1
3. Woori Bank 0-1

(In picture: Chiang Feng-chun, photo credit: Yam Sports)

Intro of Jones Cup women's group oversea teams

Attached below are the scanned introduction of three oversea teams – Woori Bank, Australia U-19 NT and Malaysia NT -- in the Jones Cup women’s group competition, which tips off today.




Australia U-19 NT


Malaysia NT


Woori Bank

Pippen, Drexler to visit Taiwan for NBA-sponsored event

act_scottie_pippen act_glen_rice

a_bjclyde-drexler-wide 

Apple Daily reported Sunday that Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Glen Rice and B.J. Armstrong will visit Taiwan for NBA Madness, a NBA-sponsored event, from August 29-31.

The newspaper reported that the group of NBA veterans will participate in the NBA Madness in Taipei after a pair of Legends Games at Taipei Arena on August 29 and at Jhubei Stadium (Hsinchu County) on August 30.

The NBA Madness, now an annual event organized by the NBA, will be held at the following sites:

Aug. 16-17: Dream Mall, Kaohsiung City
Aug. 23-24: Shin Kong Matsukoshi Department Store, Taichung City
Aug. 30-31: To ba announced, Taipei City

(Photo source: NBA.com, Basketball Hall of Fame, ESPN.com)

2008 Jones Cup women's group team rosters

Malaysia NT

4    吳明鳳 GOH, Beng-Fong    1982.10.05    164    53
5    依莎蕾 Nur Izzati Bt. Yaakob    1989.11.16    163    55
6    朱淑萍 CHOO, Sook-Ping    1988.10.14    173    54
7    洪秀婷 ANG, Siew-Teng    1987.03.31    174    65
8    涂愷凌 THOH, Chai-Ling    0982.04.16    172    68
9    彭燕燕 PEE, Yann-Yann    1985.04.04    173    65
10    陳慧晶 CHEN, Hui-Jing    1987.07.21    177    53
11    邱淑媚 KEW, Suik-May    1982.09.30    172    61
12    馬逑蓮 BEH, Siew-Lian    1982.04.11    177    67
13    楊欣敏 YONG, Shin-Min    1987.09.27    174    65
14    許淑英 HEE, Shook-Ying    1985.10.18    180    75
15    周凱倫 CHEW, Kai-Lunn    1989.11.05    174    64

Head Coach:翁薪云 YOONG, Sze-Yuin
Assistant Coach:朱雪雲 CHOO, Seck-Yun

Taiwan NT

4    黃凡珊 HUANG, Fan-Shan    1987.09.29    174    60
5    錢薇娟 CHIEN, Wei-Chuan    1971.03.08    171    60
6    姜鳳君 CHIANG, Feng-Chun    1981.10.25    184    80
7    李婉婷 LI, Wan-Ting    1986.12.23    180    69
8    林紀妏 LIN, Chi-Wen    1983.08.19    186    68
9    初詠萱 CHU, Yung-Hsu    1981.01.08    177    69
10    蔡佩真 TSAI, Pei-Chen    1984.05.27    186    78
11    鄭慧芸 CHENG, Hui-Yun    1977.04.23    186    80
12    林慧美 LIN, Hui-Mei    1981.12.11    177    76
13    柳伊純 LIU, Yi-Chun    1986.03.12    180    78
14    陳鈺君 CHEN, Yu-Chun    1987.03.07    175    68
15    吳旻芳 WU, Min-Fang    1987.06.21    174    60

Head Coach:洪玲瑤 HUNG, Ling-Yao
Coach:王泠 WANG, Ling
Coach:鄧碧雲 TENG, Pi-Yun

Australia U-19 NT

4    艾兒蘭  Kelsey IRELAND    1991.01.27    171    65
5    麥尼兒  Georgia MINEAR    1992.09.27    178    62
6    哈林頓  Kerryn HARRINGTON    1992.03.02    170    65
7    康  敏  Stephanie CUMMING    1990.07.26    178    72
8    法  莉  Bree FARLEY           
9    枚  根  Tess MADGEN    1990.08.12    180    72
10    奧利佛  Kate OLIVER    1991.01.23    193    82
11    蓋  茲  Kate GAZE        1990.02.18    173    80
12    喬  依  Michelle JOY    1990.12.19    183    73
13    坎碧姬  Elizabeth CAMBAGE    1991.08.18    203    114
14    摩  特  Rosie MOULT    1990.04.03    183    74
15    羅  威  Caitlin ROWE    1991.03.29    187    97

Head Coach:金斯曼 Dean KINSMAN
Assistant Coach:華特斯 Dale WATERS

Woori Bank (Korea)

0    景賢美 KYUNG, Hyun-Mi    1988.09.23    177   
1    高雅羅 GO, Ah-Ra        1988.09.23    174   
3    李恩惠 LEE, Eun-Hye    1989.07.07    171   
4    金永和 KIM, Young-Hwa    1981.11.02    164   
5    洪甫摞 HONG, Bo-Ra    1985.08.27    174   
6    金善惠 KIM, Sun-Hye    1984.05.16    176   
7    金恩鏡 KIM, Eun-Kyoung    1983.04.08    176   
9    韓藝瑟 HAM, Ye-Seul    1986.11.25    180   
10    金恩暳 KIM, Eun-Hye    1982.07.06    182   
11    李純兒 LEE, Soon-Ah    1986.07.11    181   
12    李秀利 LEE, Sul-Lee    1989.12.29    177   
13    鄭松姬 JEONG, Song-Hui    1988.09.27    179   
15    洪賢禧 HONG, Hyun-Hee    1982.01.24    191   
23    徐守真 SEO, Su-Jin        1989.04.06    183   

Head Coach:朴建淵 PARK, Keun-Yeon
Assistant Coach:趙惠真 CHO, Hey-Jin

Saturday, July 19, 2008

More on Jones Cup videos

I have to say that the huge interest from fans about the Jones Cup videos surprised me a little bit. And I learned today that, besides Malaysia, the Veoh.com site is being blocked in the Middle East as well. A couple of readers told me they couldn’t view the video clips.

On top of that, Veoh.com Jones Cup channel is not performing well. About one of every three videos I uploaded was not working for unknown reasons (maybe it’s the coding problem).

Fortunately Veoh.com offers a syndication service, which allows me to syndicate those videos to Google Video channel. Please go to this VIDEO and look for MORE FROM USER link in the top right of the page, you should be able to find all the Jones Cup videos (14) I uploaded.

If you have any problem viewing the videos, please let me know. Thanks a lot.

PS: I recorded about two thirds of the Jones Cup games but it takes too much time to split and upload. And I don’t really like to use the peer-to-peer video-sharing services such as Rapidshare. Please understand. Thanks.

2008 Jones Cup final day summaries

  SN05_022index44210O

(Sorry for late. I fell asleep again last night...)

 

Final: Jordan 93-91(OT) AIA (34-34, 81-81)

C9771920Experience and poise proved to be they key down the stretch as Jordan edged Athletes in Action 93-91 in overtime in the championship game of the 30th Jones Cup and successfully defended its title.

And Jordan deserved its second Jones Cup title, beating AIA twice in the tournament which every team played nine games in nine days. Zaid Alkhas was named tournament MVP.

After a see-saw first half, AIA led by as many as 18 in the third quarter before Jordan rallied to tie the score at 79 with 11.7 seconds to go in regulation. Zaid Alkhas was fouled on a three-point attempt and made two of three free-throws to put Jordan up 81-79.

Brett Winkelman was also fouled on a three-point shot but missed two of the foul shots. Ben Woodside was fouled when he went for a rebound on Winkelman's last miss and split the free-throws to tie the score at 81.

An amazing thing happened after the final buzzer. Jordan head coach Mario Palma, who have been complaining about the officiating all tournament, furiously went after Australian referee Scott Baker. Baker left the stadium under escort.

It was not the first time Palmer threw his tantrum in the Jones Cup. Maybe he needed some anger management.

 

3/4: Australia 91-88(OT) Qatar (41-34, 75-75)

This is going to be Cody Ellis' most unforgettable night. Ellis made a pair of free-throws to send the game into overtime and followed that with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to help Emus conquer a powerful Qatar team. Australia U-19 NT finished the tournament with a very impressive third-place.

It was Qatar's game to win in regulation before it committed three consecutive turnovers. Australia made five free-throws, including Ellis' game-tying freebies, to tie the game at 75.

Australia opened the extra session with a 7-0 run, but Qatar wouldn't give up. E.A. Saeed's putback with 2.1 seconds left help Qatar go ahead 90-88, setting up Ellis' game winner.

Jorden Page led Australia with 28 points. Ellis tallied 26 points. Saeed led Qatar with 32 points and 17 rebounds.

Australia head coach Martin Clarke said after the game that actually Ellis was not the first option in the last possession but he made the winner anyway.

 

5/6: Egypt 98-89(OT) Kazakhstan

There was no one on Kazakhstan who could stop Wael Badr and especially Mohammed El-Kerdany. Badr had 29 points and El-Kerdany bullied his way inside for 25 points as Egypt used a 7-0 run in the last 1:30 in overtime to beat Kazakhstan 98-89.

El-Kerdany made three consecutive buckets by going one-on-one in the last two minutes of the regulation but there was nothing Kazakhstan could do. El-Kerdany (195cm, 115kg) even swished a three-pointer with 12 seconds to go as Egypt took a 80-77 lead.

On an amazing day, Maxim Voyeikov made an amazing three-point shot as the time ran out and all Egyptian players stunned. The three sent the game into overtime with score 80 all.

In overtime it was all Egypt though.

Voyeikov led Kazkahstan with 25 points while Anton Ponomarev had 18 points. Yevgeniy Issakov had 14.

 

7/8: Korea 83-74 Taiwan (37-35)

C9771910

Can we say it's a tainted loss? Taiwan NT lost its eighth straight game in the Jones Cup to the Koreans and finished with an all-time worst last-place. In addition, Chen Tzu-wei punched Kim Hyeon-min with seconds to go before the end of the first half, breaking Kim's nose.

An unsportsmanlike foul was called but Chen was not ejected. Kim tried to charge to Taiwan NT bench area and go after Chen but was held back by teammates.

Korea used that as its inspiration in the second half by limiting Taiwan to five point in six minutes and led by as many as 18 points.

Taiwan made it a three-point gamee with 31 seconds to go and started fouling to freeze time. It worled a little bit but Taiwan failed to pull down rebounds following Korea's two misses and it cost them the game.

Byun Hyun-soo had 19 points for Korea University Select Team, which finished 7th-place in the tourney, while Heo Il-young had 17 points.

Taiwan receive 29 points from Lu Cheng-ju, who was 6 for 11 from threes. Hsu Chih-chan had 13 points.

(Photo sources: Apple Daily, UDN.com, Yam Sports)

Kevin Durant to visit Taiwan

GYI0050816173.jpg

(Source: nab.com)

NBA Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant is scheduled to visit Taiwan from July 26-28, NIKE Taiwan announced.

A 6-9 forward selected by Seattle Sonics in the 2007 NBA Draft, Durant averaged for 20.3 points and 4.4 rebounds in his rookie season.

Durant will attend a number of events during his short two-day stay. Arriving in Taiwan on July 26, the former Texas Longhorn will attend a press conference in the afternoon and work as an instructor in Taiwan Junior NT training camp at night.

He will participate in a NIKE-sponsored five-on-five basketball competition the next day and team with the championship team in a match with local professional players.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Jordan beat AIA to defend its Jones Cup title

How exciting the final day of the 30th Jones Cup tournament was? Three of four games went into overtime, that is.

Jordan handed Athletes in Action its second loss in the most important game of the tournament and defended its title by a thrilling 93-91 victory.

Cody Ellis made the most satisfying buzzer beater in his short basketball career and helped Australia upset Qatar 91-88 in overtime. Australia U-19 NT finished with a surprising but impressive third place.

Egypt also defeated Kazakhstan 98-89 in yet another overtime game and won fifth.

Taiwan lost to Korea 83-74 and finished last for the first time in 30-year history of the Jones Cup.

(More game summaries to come...)

Standings:
1. Jordan NT
2. Athletes in Action
3. Australia U-19 NT
4. Qatar NT
5. Egypt NT
6. Kazakhstan NT
7. Korea University Select Team
8. Taiwan NT

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Jones Cup images

index44068O

Brett Winkelman of AIA. (Yam Sports)

Since I was not able to go to the games and take photos myself, I grabbed some Jones Cup photos from the sports web sites. Please fell free to visit my Zooomer site here.

All photo credits go to Yahoo Taiwan Sports channel and Yam Sports.

AIA to meet defending champ Jordan for Jones Cup gold

Download game stats here

AIA 97-90 QAT

Actually, you can say it's North Dakota State beat Qatar 97-90. NDS Bison teammates Brett Winkelman and Ben Woodside combined for 57 points and helped AIA beat Qatar NT to advance to the championship game.

AIA has won seven straight following the opening loss to defending champ Jordan, AIA's opponent tomorrow in the championship game.

Winkelman scored 31 points and pulled down 8 rebounds while point guard Ben Woodside had 26 points and dishing out five assists. The NDS combo eliminated Qatar's upset bid in the final quarter.

Qatar trailed by as many as 18 but cut the deficit to three in the end of the third, 67-64.

AIA: B. Winkelman 31p+8rb, B. Woodside 26p+5a+2s
QAT: E.A. Saeed 31p+7rb, D. Mousa 29p

Kazakhstan 66-56 Taiwan

Taiwan NT was determined to end its six game losing streak, but Kazakhstan wouldn't agree. Kazakhstan used an 18-8 final quarter to knock out the home team.

Once again, Taiwan's poor rebounding proved to be one of the deciding factors. It was outrebounded 40-17.

KAZ: A. Ponomarev 20p+18rb, M. Voyeikov 16p
TW: Hsu Chih-chan 14p, Yang Chin-min 13p,

Egypt 85-81 Korea (42-52)

Korea University Select Team shared a same fate with Korea NT which is playing in the Olympic Qualifiers in Athens, Greece: they couldn't hold on to a double-digit lead.

Korea NT lost a heartbreaker that cost it a quarterfinal berth in the qualifiers, failing to defend a 10-point lead in the final two minutes against Canada. Korea was eliminated with two losses.

In Taiwan, Korea Univ. Select Team had squandered two games with double-digit advantage and they did it again today. Korean kids once again let a 10-point halftime lead slip away against Egypt, ending up losing by four.

Egypt outrebounded Korea by 28.

EGY: El-Saharty 22p, El-Kernady 15p
KOR: Heo Il-young 19p, Choi Yun-ho 19p, Byun Hyun-soo 14p+8a

Jordan 75-60 Australia (33-34)

Leading by one at the half, Australia U-19 NT lost its poise against the experienced Jordan NT. Emus team was outscored 21-8 in the game-changing third quarter of a physical game.

It also lost Mitchell Young to a wrist injury. Young hurt his wrist in a clash with a teammate on defense. His status was unclear.

From what I've seen, Jorden Page and Matthew Dellavedova dominated the ball too much and that hurt the whole team and eventually cost them the winnable game.

Don't get me wrong. Page and Dellavedova are both talented. But they failed to play within a team scheme in this game, playing too many one-on-ones and hurrying shots.

With the win, Jordan was ready to defend its Jones Cup title. It won the 10-team round-robin format 2007 Jones Cup last year.

JOR: A. Idais 23p+11rb, Z. Alkhas 13p+6rb, J.A. Shmala 12p
AUS: J. Page 15p, M. Dellavedova 14p, C. Ellis 12p

Friday schedule

1300 Korea-Taiwan (7/8)
1500 Kazakhstan-Egypt (5/6)
1700 Third-place game: Australia-Qatar
1900 Championship game: AIA-Jordan

Jones Cup women's group schedule

Teams: Taiwan NT, Australia U-19 NT, Malaysia NT, Woori Bank (WKBL, Korea)

July 20
1700 Taiwan vs. Korea
1900 Malaysia vs. Australia

July 21
1700 Australia vs. Korea
1900 Taiwan vs. Malaysia

July 22
1700 Malaysia vs. Korea
1900 Taiwan vs. Australia

July 23
1700 Semi: No. 1 vs. No. 4
1900 Semi: No. 2 vs. No. 3

July 24
1700 Third-place game
1900 Championship game

Jones Cup video update

Here’s a big sorry for fans and readers who’ve been waiting for Jones Cup videos. A reader emailed and told me that Veoh.com has been blocked in Malaysia, which I didn’t know. Also some of the uploads to Veoh.com did not go well. The site did not validate some of the uploaded videos. That’s why they are still “being processed.”

Maybe I should’ve chosen blip.tv or simply Google video in the first place? I don’t know. But Veoh.com allows unlimited filesize which makes it easier for me to upload.

Until now I have managed to upload the following games to the Veoh Jones Cup channel:

Australia vs. Taiwan 1st half
Egypt vs. Korea 1st quarter
AIA vs. Australia 1st half

The full game of AIA vs. Taiwan is still uploading at this moment. I hope everything turns out fine.

PS: Obviously I recorded more games than those on the channel, but uploading takes tons of time and I have a day job. Sorry again.

Jones Cup news clipping

Team Taiwan left licking wounds after another loss
By Paul Huang / Taipei Times
CONTRIBUTING REPORTER WITH STAFF WRITER
Thursday, Jul 17, 2008, Page 20

The Jones Cup basketball competition’s preliminary phase finished yesterday, with Taiwan licking deep wounds after a poor display in the tournament, winning the first game against South Korea before losing every other fixture.

The USA team, represented by evangelical group Athletes in Action, completed their fine run with a win over an improved Taiwan side 102-86 at the Taipei County Sinjhuang Gymnasium last night to take first place in the standings ahead of today’s semi-finals.

Joining the Americans will be Jordan, who played a solid game to beat Qatar to confirm entry into the semis yesterday; a loss would have seen Egypt qualify in their place. As the only team to beat the Americans, and after a heartstopping come-from-behind win against cellar dwellers South Korea on Tuesday, Jordan will be confident of springing an upset.

Australia, a young team that finished strongly with three consecutive wins before losing unexpectedly to South Korea yesterday, came third ahead of Qatar and Egypt on the head-to-head rule.

Egypt overcame misfiring Kazakhstan yesterday to give them a shot at the semis, but the result of the Jordan-Qatar game that followed saw them banished to fifth.

Taiwan has a chance to salvage pride with two more games in the playoffs for 5th to 8th place.

On Tuesday, Team Taiwan proved no match for Kazakhstan as they fell by a 84-69 margin to drop their fifth in a row.

Despite an outstanding start that saw the hosts open up a surprising 12-4 lead, Kazakhstan regrouped and went on a 20-7 run over the remainder of the first quarter to take a 24-19 lead.

The obvious size disadvantage quickly took its toll on Taiwan as the visitors from central Asia increased their advantage to 38-29 at the half.

The deficit doubled in the second half with Kazakhstan continuing to dominate inside the paint, even with Taiwan opting to implement a full-court press defense in the hope of forcing some turnovers.

Learning a thing or two from Egypt, who had a hard time handling Taiwan’s pressure defense the night before, Kazakhstan were able to break it with relative ease and to up their lead to as many as 24 points early in the fourth quarter.

The continued press defense by Taiwan eventually wore down Kazakhstan and helped the home side reduce the deficit to a more respectable 13 points late in the game.

Game one hero Yang Jing-min came off the Taiwan bench to score a team-high 17 points with shooting guard Lee Hsueh-lin scoring 15.

As for Kazakhstan, three different players scored in double-digits, led by Rustam Yargaliyev’s game-high 23 points.

Today’s Game

Taiwan take on Kazakhstan again at 3pm this afternoon in a consolation round battle between the sixth and seventh-placed finishers from the preliminary round.

Finding a way to minimize their size disadvantage against the Kazakhs by aggressively pursuing the ball is Taiwan’s only chance of pulling off an upset win.

Day 7 images

Image0716-1959(TV73)

Yang Chin-min.

Image0716-1959(TV73)(1)

Yang Chin-min.

Image0716-2057(TV73)

Ben Woodside shook hands with head coach Dave Bliss after the win over Taiwan.

Image0716-2057(TV73)(1)

Marcus Kitts.

Image0716-2058(TV73)

Hsu Hao-cheng talked about the game.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Day 7: Athletes in Action tops preliminary round

The preliminary round concluded tonight as Athletes in Action took the top seed in the semifinals with a 6-1 record and Jordan at No. 2 with 5-2.

Australia, Qatar and Egypt had a three-way tie at 4-3 but Australia and Qatar advanced to the semifinals by a better head-to-head record. Egypt, which returned to the Jones Cup after 14 years, finished as 5th-place in the prelim.

Korea and host Taiwan both finished 1-6 but Taiwan ranked 7th for defeating Korea in the head-to-head matchup.

The semifinals begin tomorrow with AIA takes on No.4 Qatar and No.2 Jordan meets No. 3 Australia. In the 5-8 classification games, Taiwan meets Kazakhstan and Egypt faces Korea.

AIA 102-86 Taiwan (52-44)

Taiwan managed to stay with AIA for 10 minutes before collapsing again. AIA turned the game into its own playground with many dunks and fastbreak layups to make the score out of reach.

AIA: Laval Lucas-Perry 22p, B. Winkelman 21p, B. Woodside 16p
TW: Yang Chin-min 29p, Lee Hsueh-lin 12p, Lin Ching-pang 11p, Chen Tzu-wei 9p

Egypt 74-66 Kazakhstan (35-35)

EGY: T. El-Gannam 17p+12rb, W. Badr 15p+6rb+4a+5s, R. Gunady 14p
KAZ: A. Ponomarev 13p+13rb

Korea 82-76 Australia (32-31)

Koreans got their precious first win in the tourney by defeating Australia with a brilliant shooting game, making 10 threes and shooting 25 for 40 from two-point range.

KOR: Choi Yun-ho 30p, Byun Hyun-soo 15p, Kim Myung-hoon 14p, Heo Il-young 13p
AUS: C. Ellis 18p, B. Motum 16p

Jordan 79-52 Qatar (42-28)

Jordan made 15 three-pointers, seven came from J.A. Shmala, in the game and buried Qatar early. With the win, Jordan climbed up to No.2 in the preliminary while Qatar dropped to fourth-place.

JOR: J.A. Shmala 23p, A. Idais 12p
QAT: S.A. Ali 18p, E.A. Saeed 15p

 

Final preliminary round standing:

1. Athletes in Action 6-1
2. Jordan NT 5-2
3. Australia U-19 NT 4-3
4. Qatar NT 4-3
5. Egypt NT 4-3
6. Kazakhstan NT 3-4
7. Taiwan NT 1-6
8. Korea University Select Team 1-6

Day 6: Korea, Taiwan both lost five straight

First off, sorry for the delay. I fell asleep last night in the middle of this story. And I have been busy these two days so I didn't record any game nor make screen captures. Nevertheless, please feel free to download the game stats with the link on the right.

After six days, AIA became the first team earning a semifinal place while Australia U-19 NT, Qatar and Jordan had a three-way tie at 4-2. They will clinch the remaining three semi seeds if there’s no upset on Day 7.

Kazakhstan got a much-needed win from the host Taiwan NT and is now 3-3, tied with Egypt. A loss on Wednesday means no semifinal for both teams. They will put up a fight.

Taiwan NT and Korea University Select Team both dropped fifth straight and are out of the semifinals.

AIA 93-76 Egypt (47-30)

AIA clinched a semifinal berth with a 93-76 win over Egypt. The Egyptians were no match against the U.S. team, which made 15 three-pointers in the game, including seven in the first half. Egypt fell to 3-3.

AIA: D. Brugamin 23p, B. Woodside 22p+6a, W. Smith 14p+6rb, M. Kitts 10p
EGY: M. Khorshed 12p, T. Mostafa 10p

Australia 75-54 Qatar (33-25)

The kids from Australia pulled off another upset and boosted its record to a very comfortable 4-2. The game actually was close before the final period, when the Australians made five threes en route to a 30-13 quarter theta made the score out of reach.

AUS: R. Broekhoff 14p, B. Motum 11p, C. Ellis 10p
QAT: S.A. Ali 18p+8rb, D. Mousa 14p, B.A. Mohammed 11p

Jordan 79-76 Korea (36-56)

Trailing by 20 at the half, Jordan showed everyone why it won the Jones Cup last year. Jordan had a 17-0 run in the third quarter and Islam Abaas had five points in the last two minutes as Jordan, which trailed by as many as 22 points, pulled off an improbable comeback win.

Korea, one of the most inconsistent teams in the tournament, let another one get away after squandering a 13-point halftime lead against Egypt on Day 3. After a 56-point first half, Koreans scored only seven points in the final quarter.

JOR: J.A. Shmala 22p, Z. Alkhas 15p+10rb, I. Abaas 10p+8rb, W. Al-Sous 11p+10a
KOR: Heo Il-young 25p, Byun Hyun-soo 19p+6a, Choi Yun-ho 12p, Kim Kang-sun 9p+7a

Kazakhstan 84-69 Taiwan (38-29)

Kazakhstan opened the game with a 12-4 run and never trailed. Taiwan once again experienced a scoring drought in the second quarter, going scoreless in four minutes, and trailed by as many as 24 points.

KAZ: R. Yargaliyev 23p+6rb, A. Ponomarev 15p+18rb, Y. Issakov 15p+10rb, S. Fadeikin 14p+9rb
TW: Yang Chin-min 17p, Lee Hsueh-lin 15p

Standings
1. Athletes in Action 5-1
2. Qatar NT 4-2
2. Jordan NT 4-2
2. Australia U-19 4-2
5. Egypt NT 3-3
5. Kazakhstan NT 3-3
7. Taiwan NT 1-5
8. Korea Univ. Selects 0-6

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Jones Cup news clipping July 15

Taiwan head toward door after loss
By Paul Huang / Taipei Times
CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008, Page 20

Held to three points in a gruesome third quarter performance, Team Taiwan dropped its third straight game in the Jones Cup Basketball Tournament with an 87-73 loss to Jordan in Sinjhuang on Sunday.

The hosts were held to no field goals in the quarter, missing all seven of the shots taken with all their points coming by means of free throws.

Before their woeful third quarter, Taiwan had put on a solid first half performance, hitting seven of 14 three-pointers to rally from 10 down (22-12) in the first quarter to within four at the half (41-37).

But what followed cruelly transpired into a 20-plus point Jordanian lead during the fatal third.

Even though Taiwan scored 33 points in the fourth quarter to cut the final deficit to 14, it did not make up for the fact that the defending champions had totally embarrassed the home squad with a lopsided 51-17 rebounding margin that made the two previous losses by Taiwan commendable triumphs in comparison.

Chen Tzu-wei’s game-high 19 points was the lone highlight for Taiwan as the dimunitive forward racked up 12 of Taiwan’s 25 points in the second quarter to keep the game close at that point.

The win proved costly for Jordan, who lost top scorer Fadel Anajjar for the remainder of the tournament with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

TONIGHT’S GAME

Next up for Taiwan is Kazakhstan.

The struggling home side face a tall order as their central Asian visitors, who have only won twice in the tournament so far, have six players taller than 200cm, headed by giant center Anton Ponomarev at 209cm.

Game time is scheduled for 7pm.

Day 5: Emus beat Jordan in OT

AIA 86-69 Kazakhstan (46-27)

Athletes in Action kept improving as the quickly-assembled team got familiar with each other and now working as a cohesive unit. On the opposite side, Kazakhstan gradually lost its steam with each passing day.

Combine these two factors together, you get a lopsided game like AIA's 86-69 win today. The U.S. representative improved to tournament-best 4-1.

The Americans used a 22-9 second quarter to make the game out of reach. Brett Winkelman of North Dakota State had another brilliant outing with 19 points to go with 10 boards while Jamel McLean (Xavier) also turned in a double-double with 19 and 10.

Kazakhstan, which suffered three straight losses after opening the tourney 2-0, was led by Seva Fadeikin's 18 points. Anton Ponomarev had 16 points and 8 rebounds.

Australia 84-78(OT) Jordan (32-38, 72-72)

Jorden Page had a game-high 23 points, including seven in overtime, as Australia youngster rallied in the final 15 minutes and beat the older and experienced Jordan NT 84-78 in overtime.

Trailing by 11 points in the first quarter, Australia never gave up. It cut the deficit to six at the half and trailed by only three after three quarters.

Australia had a 12-4 run in the last five minutes and took the lead 72-70. Al-Sous' jumper tied the score at 72 all with three seconds to go and sent the game into over time.

Page then took over, scoring five straight points on a three-pointer and two free-throws to open the extra session as Australia gained the momentum just in time and recorded their third win in the tournament.

Center Mitchell Young had two crucial blocks in the 4th quarter, providing the much-needed momentum for this youngest team in the eight-team tournament. Australia is now 3-2 and tied with Jordan.

Qatar 86-62 Korea

Korea managed to stay with Qatar for five minutes before hell freezed over. Qatar pounded the Koreans on the boards 48-26 and limited their fearsome three-point shooting to 25%, pushing the lead to 10 points after the first quarter and cruised to an easy win.

Led by Daoud Mousa who scored 20, five Qatari players reached double-digit scoring. Ali Turki Ali had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Choi Yun-ho had 23 points and Heo Il-young scored 13 for Korea university select team, which remained winless after five games.

Egypt 88-67 Taiwan

Not many expected Taiwan to win this game, after all, Egypt finished for fourth in the last African Championship and Taiwan NT was actually a national second team, but not many expected them to lose by 21 points either.

For 10 minutes spanning the first and second quarter, Taiwan failed to score. That gave Egypt a 25-0 run and the rest was history. Taiwan cut the deficit to 14 in the second half but that's the best they could do.

Rami Gunady had 18 points, shooting 6 for 11 from three. Mohammed El-Kerdany scored 16 points while Tarek El-Gannam pulled down 13 boards.

Taiwan was led by Yang Che-yi's 17 points. Ouyang Ching-heng had 16.

Standings:
1. Athletes in Action 4-1
1. Qatar NT 4-1
3. Jordan NT 3-2
3. Egypt NT 3-2
3. Australia U-19 3-2
6. Kazakhstan NT 2-3
7. Taiwan NT 1-4
8. Korea Univ. Selects 0-5

Monday, July 14, 2008

Jones Cup news clipping July 14

Taiwan’s perimeter game no match for Qatar at Jones Cup


By Paul Huang / Taipei Times
CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
Monday, Jul 14, 2008, Page 20

Taiwan proved no match for Qatar on Saturday night as they were on the wrong end of an 84-80 scoreline on the third day of the Jones Cup at the Taipei County Sinjhuang Gymnasium.

Failure to establish an inside presence because of the absence of a true center continued to haunt the hosts as they relied predominantly on an inconsistent perimeter game that has not delivered a winning formula.

Even though the resilient Taiwanese showed no sign of letting up in the game, with a fierce rally that brought them back from as many as 19 points down, the outcome of the contest was never in doubt.

“It was a moral victory for us, since it taught some of our younger guys about not quitting,” team captain Yang Tseh-yi (Yulon Dinos) said after the game.

Qatar wasted little time exploiting Taiwan’s weak interior defense by punching the ball inside the paint regularly, with Erfan Ali Saeed contributing a dozen points en route to a 28-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Then came a swarming three-point attack that converted nine-of-17 attempts to force Taiwan out of their “defend the middle” game plan, which then opened up the paint for the Saeed, who scored a game-high 21 points.

Four different players scored in double-digits for Taiwan, led by Yang’s 17 and Ou-Yang Jing-hen (dmedia Numen) in a close second with 16.

TONIGHT’S GAME

Taiwan take on Egypt at 7pm tonight in another uphill battle as the Egyptians look to feast off the shortest line-up (average height of 190cm) at this year’s competition with a towering team that averages more than 200cm.

Finding a way to sustain a high-pressure defense may be Taiwan’s only hope of pulling off an upset as the speedy guards could utilize their speed to create some turnovers such as they did in the final quarter against Qatar.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Jones Cup videos

A couple of quick videos from Day 3 and today (Day 4)…

Qatar head coach Kent Davison interview

 

Korea vs. Egypt highlight

 

Taiwan vs. Qatar highlight

Day 4 images

Image0713-1647(TV73)

Mitchell Young of Australia.

Image0713-1856(TV73)

Two girls enjoyed the game. I guess they’re girlfriends or wives of the Egyptian or Qatari NT.

Image0713-1858(TV73)

Qatar head coach Kent Davison.

Image0713-1858(TV73)(1)

Rustam Yargaliyev of Kazakhstan.

Image0713-1958(TV73)(1)

Chen Tzu-wei of Taiwan NT.

Image0713-2056(TV73)

A tough game to officiate for the ref…

Day 4: Three teams tied for first place at 3-1

AIA 103-65 Korea (53-32)

AIA didn't give Koreans a chance, pounding them on the boards 44-21 and pick their pockets 16 times in the game.

AIA: Brett Winkelman 20p+5rb+3a, Marcus Kitts 17p+8rb+3blks, Stephen McDowell 11p, Laval Lucas-Perry 10p, Jamel McLean 10p+8rb+4s, Da'Sean Butler 8p+7rb+4a+3s
KOR: Heo Il-young 18p, Kim Kang-sun 10p

Australia 75-68 Egypt (30-37)

AUS: Cody Ellis 18p+8rb, Shane Harris 10p, M. Dellavedova 10p, J. Page 12p, Brock Motun 8p+6rb
EGY: Rami Gunady 24p, Wael Badr 13p+7rb, T. El-Gannam 12p+8rb

Qatar 78-69 Kazakhstan

Qatar limited Kazakhstan to nine points in the 4th quarter in the come-from-behind win. Kazakhstan was not able to compete with Qatar inside. Rustam Yargaliyev had one of his best games in the Jones Cup with 26 points but Anton Ponomarev was disappointing so far in the tournament, mostly launching shots from the perimeter.

QAT: Saad Abdulrahman Ali 16p, Daoud Mousa 15p+6rb+9a, E.A. Saeed 13p+9rb, Hashim Zaidan 10p+8rb, Baker Ahmad Mohammed 13p+8rb
KAZ: Rustam Yargaliyev 26p+9rb, Seva Fadeikin 19p, Anton Ponomarev 10p+4rb

Jordan 87-73 Taiwan (41-37)

Taiwan NT made eight threes in the first half, including 7 for 14 in the second quarter, and trailed by only four at the half, 41-37. Things were looking good until Jordan opened the second half with 13 unanswered points and turned an exciting game into a rout.

Taiwan scored only THREE points, all on free throws, in the third quarter. Think about that. All of a sudden Jordan led by more than 20 points and the rest of the game was garbage time.

JOR: Jamal Abu Shmala 18p, Wesam Al-Sous 13p, Islam Abbas 12p+10rb, Zaid Abbaas 8p+9rb+4a
TW: Chen Tzu-wei 19p, Yang Che-yi 10p

Standings:
1. Athletes in Action 3-1
1. Jordan NT 3-1
1. Qatar NT 3-1
4. Kazakhstan NT 2-2
4. Egypt NT 2-2
4. Australia U-19 2-2
7. Taiwan NT 1-3
8. Korea Univ. Selects 0-4

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Day 3: videos and images


Brett Winkelman in the post game interview.


Tarek Al-Gannan led Egypt in a come-from-behind win over Korea Univ. Select Team.

A number of short videos:

AIA-Jordan highlight


Egypt-Jordan highlight


Dave Bliss interview


Bliss talked about the game vs. Australia U-19 NT and his 30th wedding anniversary.

Day 3: Egypt rallies to beat Korea in second half

Jordan 61-39 Kazakhstan (31-25)

Jordan had another subpar shooting night but fortunately there was always defense to fall back on. The defending champ limited Kazakhstan to four points in the final quarter en route to a 22-point lopsided win.

Kazakhstan suffered the first loss after going 2-0. After scoring 25 in the firt half, Kazakhstan managed to score only 14 points in the final 20 minutes.

Jordan: J.A. Shmala 9p, Zaid Alkhas 9p
Kazakhstan: Seva Fadeikin 10p

Egypt 99-96 Korea (44-57)

The most exciting game on a day full of routs. Korea, the only winless team in the eight team field, came out with fire in their eyes, making nine three-pointers in the first quarter alone.

Korea shot the lights out in the first half, leading by 13 at intermission after 14 three-pointers made.

Tarek El-Gannam, who was kept on the bench for the entire first half, came to the rescue in the final 20 minutes. El-Gannam, who had 14 points in 15 minutes last night, once again changed the momentum of the game with his inside presence.

Jordan made it a one-point game in the end of the third, trailing 70-69, and briefly took the first lead in the game early in the 4th quarter. With 40 seconds left and Korea trailing by three (95-92), Kim Myeon-hoon's traveling violation ruined Korea's chance to tie the game.

Both team engaged in a series of intentional fouls in the final 30 seconds with Egypt trying to prevent Koreans from making another three and Koreans trying to freeze the time and close the gap. But Wael Badr did not miss any free-throws and Korea failed to make the desperation three-pointer.

Korea shot 20 for 31 as a team from the three-point territory.

Egypt: Wael Badr 21p (11-11 FT), Tarek El-Gannan 16p+9rb, M. El-Kerdany 18p, M. Khorshed 14p, Ram Gunardy 10p
Korea: Choi Yun-ho 20p, Heo Il-young 18p, Park Rae-hun 17p, Kim Hyeonmin 17p

AIA 98-67 Australia (48-40)

For a while, everyone thought the high schoolers from Down Under might humiliate a collection of U.S. college players. That did not happen. AIA used a 26-7 third quarter to turn a close game into a rout, closing out the game with a 31-point win.

It was a pretty nice present for AIA coach Dave Bliss on the day of his 30th wedding anniversary.

Australia led 24-18 in the end of the first period. Bliss decided to go small and it paid dividends. Australia failed to keep up with the AIA and could only watch the Americans pull the game away.

AIA: Brett Winkelman 16p, Dane Brumagin 14p, Wellington Smith 14p
Australia: M. Dellavedova 15p, Bradley Simpson 11p

Qatar 84-80 Taiwan

E.A. Saeed scored 12 of his game-high 21 points as Qatar jumped to a 12-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Taiwan trailed by as many as 19 before closing the gap in garbage time.

Qatar: E.A. Saeed 21p
Taiwan: Yang Che-yi 17p, Ouyang Ching-heng 16p, Lu Cheng-ju 12p, Yang Chin-min 11p

Standings:
1. Kazakhstan NT 2-1
1. Jordan NT 2-1
1. Egypt NT 2-1
1. Qatar NT 2-1
1. Athletes in Action 2-1
6. Australia U-19 1-2
6. Taiwan NT 1-2
8. Korea Univ. Selects 0-3

Jones Cup news clipping

Two stories from local English newspapers. Please note that China Post' report that there will be no women's competition this year is incorrect.

30th Jones Cup basketball tourney kicks off today
The China Post news staff
Thursday, July 10, 2008

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The 30th Audi William Jones Cup Basketball Tournament will open today at the Xinzhuang Stadium in Taipei County with basketball players from eight men's teams, including host Taiwan, participating in the event running through July 18.

The participating men's teams are from Australia, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Qatar, the U.S., and host Chinese-Taipei (Taiwan team).

There will be no contest for the women's division this year.

Players from the national teams of Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and Qatar will fight it off in the nine-day tournament.

Qatar takes part in the tournament for the fifth consecutive year and its national team has six players more than 200 centimeters tall.

Egypt rejoins games for the third time. Its team last came to Taiwan in 1994.

Korea sends a team formed by star players in its collegiate basketball league because its national team is still engaged in qualifications rounds for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games set for next month.

Australia is represented by its team that has attended the world youth basketball championships.

The United States sends star players from top varsity basketball teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

The Taiwan team is composed mainly of the younger generation of players led by head coach Cheng Kwang-suk and coaches Cheng Chih-lung and Chou Chun-san.

Australia and Kazakhstan will start the first game at 1 p.m., followed by the Egypt-Qatar game at 3 p.m. and Jordan will take on the U.S. at 5 p.m.

Taiwan will face Korea at 7:30 p.m. following a formal opening ceremony at 7 p.m.

Wang Jen-tar, president of the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association, welcomed all delegates and players to the sporting gathering.

He also thanked the Taipei County government for providing the event with an arena with modern facilities.

Wang said that over the past 30 years, more than 500 teams and close to 100,000 players and sports officials from around the world have participated in the countless games of the tournament.

The association led by Wang will also honor 12 outstanding basketball players of Taiwan selected by journalists, leaders in the basketball community, and basketball fans.

The tournament was created in 1977 to honor Dr. Williams Jones (1906-1981), the British basketball promoter and one of the founders of the amateur basketball federation FIBA.

When serving as FIBA secretary-general, Jones had been supporting Taiwan in the international basketball community.

Because of cross-straight disputes with China, Taiwan was barred from the international basketball competition until 1986.


Taiwan loses to Australia at Jones Cup
CNA
Saturday, July 12, 2008

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan suffered its first defeat of the 30th William Jones Cup International Baske

tball Tournament yesterday, losing 80-67 to Australia's under-19 team in a relatively sloppy affair at Hsinchuang Gymnasium in Taipei County.

With many of its top players sidelined by injury, Taiwan's relatively young and inexperienced team had trouble overcoming the Australians' tight defense, scoring only 12 points in the second quarter to trail 42-32 at halftime.

The home team rarely threatened its bigger opponents in the second half. Turning the ball over with regularity and making only a third of its shots from behind the three-point arch, Taiwan could find little momentum to mount a comeback.

In an earlier game Friday, the United States' Athletes in Action team defeated Qatar 81-67 to even its record at 1-1 in the eight team tournament.

The U.S., which lost to defending champion Jordan 67-63 Thursday, maintained a lead throughout the game against Qatar, opening a 42-33 advantage at halftime and maintaining a 10-point edge through much of the second half.

This year marks the third consecutive year Athletes in Action is representing the U.S. in the tournament. The team, which won the title two years ago but finished fifth last year, is seen as one of the favorites to win this year's tourney.

About Jones Cup videos

(Update) 2008 Jones Cup videos at Veoh.com channel
Permanent URL http://www.veoh.com/channels/2008jonescup

==
Some people requested it so I tried to come up with a solution to accommodate fans' need and at the same time save my time.

Since Youtube no longer allow users to upload any video longer than 10 minutes or larger than 1024MB, so I turn to Veoh.com which allows unlimited file size. That way, I don't need to cut the videos of one single game into 10 parts before uploading and fans get to view the videos online.

However, on Veoh.com, you can only view videos for 20 minutes on the web. Here's Veoh.com's explanation on this issue:

Users will be able to view videos shorter than 20 minutes on Veoh.com in their entirety. Videos longer than 20 minutes will require VeohTV/Veoh Player to watch in full-length. PC users can simply click "Watch on VeohTV" and the playback will immediately begin, or download the video to VeohTV. On the Mac, videos longer than 20 minutes will require the users to download the videos and watch later.

I'm in the process of uploading the first video -- first half of Taiwan NT vs. Australia U-19 -- as a test. Hopefully everything will be OK. If it doesn't work well, I will have to look for another free -- and good -- service.

(update: computer crashed during uploading...need to do it all over again...)

Friday, July 11, 2008

Day 2 images and updates

I didn't have much time today, so this is the best I can do.

Download: AIA vs. Qatar game stats

TV captures:


Australia coach Marty Clark with assistant.


ESPN Taiwan broadcast the 2008 Jones Cup.


One of the Egyptian players in post game interview.


Jordanian NT was shocked by Egypt.


Mohamed El-Kerdany of Egypt interviewed.


Australian assistant instructed a player on the bench.