Monday, December 15, 2008

Taiwanese basketball tidbit

-- This is a little bit late. In fact, much too late. Dacin Tigers signed American forward Byron Allen to a contract for an undisclosed amount. The 6-7, 280 pounder is mainly a physical post player and will be the only U.S. import in the 2008-09 SBL season.

Local newspapers reported that Dacin loves Allen's defensive mentality, which has been the teams' priority in its import search.

Allen, on paper, will be the sole import in the SBL next year although there will be a number of players comiing from overseas, including Taiwanese-Americans James Mao and Doug Creighton and Taiwanese-German Juefan Geiger (see below).

Byron Allen profile:
DOB: June 10, 1981
Career:
Leland, MS/ Leland HS
2002-2003: Northwestern St. (NCAA): 27 games: 10.2ppg, 4.7rpg, 24ast
2003-2004: Northwestern St. (NCAA): 27 games: 8.3ppg, 4.7rpg, 19ast
2004-2005: Northwestern St. (NCAA): 33 games: 7.3ppg, 3.8rpg, 26ast, FGP: 50%
2005-2006: Northwestern St. (NCAA): 34 games: 7.5ppg, 3.6rpg, FG: 57.1%, FT: 52.8%
2007-2008: East Kentucky Miners (CBA), left in Feb.'08: 28 games: 3.1ppg, 2.3rpg
2008: Elkhart Express (IBL): 22 games: 6.7ppg, 4.2rpg, 0.4apg
2008-2009: East Kentucky Miners (CBA)
(Source: Eurobasket.com)

-- Taiwanese-German Juefan Geiger is currently in training camp with his Taiwan Mobile teammates and getting used to a different style of play in Taiwan. Taiwanese teams emphasize speed over anything else while in Germany physicality is the priority, said Geiger.

Geiger, whose mother is a Taiwanese, goes with his Chinese name Huang Yu-fan in Taiwan. Possessing a Taiwanese passport, he is able to play as a local player in the SBL.

 

-- It makes you wonder that whether the SBL will be able to successfully launch its 6th season as the venue, the schedule, the TV contract and even the opening date are all still uncertain at this moment -- approximately one month before the scheduled opening day January 10, 2009.

-- Finally…Chen Hsin-an is enjoying his fatherhood. Chen’s daughter was born in August…

(Photos source: Apple Daily)