Tuesday, February 26, 2008

07-08 UBA: TPEC pushes win streak to 152 games


(NTNU's Su Yi-chieh, source: UBA)

Lin Tsun-ching scored 14 of his game-high 28 points in the 4th quarter as Taipei Physical Education College (TPEC) narrowly defeated Hsing Wu College 85-74 to push its winning streak to 152 games Monday, the opening day of 2007-08 University Basketball Alliance (UBA) quarterfinal round.

Yulon guard Lee Hsueh-lin, a senior, added 17 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for TPEC.

Eight men's teams and eight women's teams entered the quarterfial round which adopted a single round robin format. The quarterfinal finish will determine the playoff seeds.

Perennial power TPEC will try to claim its thirteenth consecutive UBA crown, but it will be a challegnge this year as it lost a number of players to graduation, including center Tsun Wen-din and guard Chen Shih-nian. Center Hong Ying-che and guard Chen Li-wei dropped out of school while Chang Yu-lin was sidelined due to injury.

That left TPEC with only five current SBL players on its roster, although that will probably be enough to defend its title.

TPEC's strongest rival is expected to be NTNU, which almost features an All-SBL roster. NTNU has Su Yi-chieh, Chen Tse-wei, Yue Ying-li and Lin Yi-hui from Dacin; Wu Dai-hao from Taiwan Beer and Chien Jia-hong from Pure Youth.

Fu Jen University and CCU were also capable of surprising TPEC, which will probably see its winning streak snapped in this quarterfinal round.

Participating Teams:

-- Men's Level One:
National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU)
Fu Jen University (FJU)
Chinese Culture University (CCU)
National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU)
Taiwan Sports University (TSU)
Taipei Physical Education College (TPEC)
Hsing Wu College (HWC)
National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA)

-- Women's Level One:
National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU)
Shih Hsin University (SHU)
Chinese Culture University (CCU)
National Taipei University (NTU)
Taiwan Sports University (TSU)
Taipei Physical Education College (TPEC)
National Taipei University of Education (NTUE)
National College of Physical Education and Sports (NCPES)

Monday, February 25, 2008

SBL All-Star Game: Red 101, White 94


Chen Hsin-an vs. J. Sanders


Jon Sanders in dunk contest


Chen Hsin-an


Wu Cheng-yu


Jon Sanders

Yulon forward Chen Hsin-an turned in a MVP performance of 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists to help Team Red beat Team White 101-94 in the annual SBL Sll-Star Game while dmedia's American import Jon Sanders won in the slam dunk contest Saturday.

Taiwan Mobile guard Wu Cheng-yu won his second three-point shootout champion.

Dacin guard Su Yi-chieh had 12 points, 5 boards and 5 assists for Team Red and BOT forward Hsu Chi-chan and Dacin guard Chang Chi-feng had 12 each.

Team White was led by Sanders' 22 points and 19 rebounds. TB forward Ho Sho-jen had 17 points and Lin Chih-jay added 11.

3-point shootout playoffs:
Chen Ching-wen, Dacin 20 points
Wang Nan-kuei, dmedia 16 points
Wu Cheng-yu, TM 22 points
Chen Jun-jay, PY 19 points

Dunk contest:
Jon Sanders, dmedia 96 points
Doug Creighton, PY 82 points
Lee Jun-wei, dmedia 81 points

(Photo source: ESPN Taiwan)

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Chien Ming-fu replaced in All-Star Game


(Source: UDN.com)

Bank of Taiwan guard Chien Ming-fu, who was named as a Team Red reserve in the 2008 SBL All-Star Game which will be played Saturday, was replaced by his teammate Chang Bo-sheng. Chang will also replace Chien in the Three-point Shootout.

Chien and former BOT head coach Wei Chen-ming were involved in a graft case and appeared in court Feb. 20. A number of BOT players were also involved in the case.

The graft case was the latest of a series of scandals and legal cases regarding SBL teams and players during the last two months, during which the image of this five-year-old league had taken a huge hit.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Sanders wins Week 10 BOW


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

No doubt about it. This season has been somewhat of a Jon Sanders season. The American forward/guard led dmedia to two huge victories over league-leading Yulon and Taiwan Beer last week, averaging 31 points, 24 rebounds and 6 assists in both games.

Sanders followed the January MVP honor with his third BOW award of the season.

Voting results (points):
J. Sanders (dmedia) 41
Chang Chi-feng (Dacin) 8
Hong Chih-shan (PY) 6
Chen Chih-chung (Yulon) 5
Also receiving votes: 5, Chen Hsin-an; 3, Chien Jia-hong, Ouyang Jin-hen, Wang Chih-chun; 1, James mao

2007-08 Baller of the Week:
Week 10: Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Week 9: Lin Chih-jay (TB)
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)

SBL stats thru. Feb. 19

Scoring
1 Chen Hsin-an(Yulon) 21.5
2 Jon Sanders(dmedia) 20.3
3 Ouyang Jin-hen(dmedia) 18.9
4 Chien Jia-hong (PY) 17.3
5 Ho Sho-jen(TB) 16.4

Rebounding
1 J. Sanders(dmedia) 17.3
2 Hsu Chi-chan(BOT) 9.2
3 Chen Hsin-an(Yulon) 8.9
4 Wu Dai-hao (TB) 7.8
5 Lin Chih-jay(TB) 6.9

Assists
1 J. Sanders(dmedia) 5.7
2 Lin Chih-jay(TB) 4.0
3 Wang Chih-chun (Dacin) 3.9
4 Chen Hsin-an(Yulon) 3.7
5 Wu Yong-jen(TM) 3.5

Blocks
1 Wu Dai-hao(TB) 3.0
2 Hsu Chi-chan(BOT) 1.4
3 J. Sanders(dmedia) 1.2
4 Chen Hsin-an(Yulon) 0.9
5 Hsu Wei-sheng (TM) 0.9

Steals
1 Wang Chih-chun (Dacin) 3.07
2 Wu Yong-jen(TM) 2.09
3 J. Sanders(dmedia) 2.00
4 Hsu Tse-shin(TM) 1.60
5 Hong Chi-chao(TM) 1.59

Monday, February 18, 2008

2008 SBL All-Star Game roster


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

-- Seven Taiwan Beer players on Team White roster.
-- Lee Chi-yi and Chien Jia-hong replaced injured Tien Lei and Tsun Wen-din.
-- All-Star debut: James Mao, Wu Jian-long, Hsu Chi-chan, Ouyang Jin-hen, Hsu Wei-sheng.

Team Red
Starters:
G Lee Hsueh-lin (Yulon)
G Su Yi-chieh (Dacin)
F Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)
F Lee Chi-yi (Yulon)
C Chien Jia-hong (PY)

Substitutes:
Yang Che-yi (Yulon)
Lee Fong-yong (Dacin)
Chang Chi-feng (Dacin)
James Mao (PY)
Wu Jian-long (PY)
Chien Ming-fu (BOT)
Hsu Chi-chan (BOT)

Team White
Starters:
Yen Shin-shu (TB)
Wu Yong-jen (TM)
Lin Chih-jay (TB)
Ho Sho-jen (TB)
Wu Dai-hao (TB)

Substitutes:
Lo Shin-liang (TB)
Chen Shih-nian (TB)
Hsu Hao-cheng (TB)
Jonathan Sanders (dmedia)
Ouyang Jin-hen (dmedia)
Cheng Jen-wei (dmedia)
Hsu Wei-sheng (TM)

SBL weekend summary

Feb. 17
dmedia 82-68 TB
* TB 5-game winning streak snapped, 1-3 vs. dmedia this season
dmedia: J. Sanders 33p+27rb+6a+4s, Ouyang Jin-hen 16p+7rb+6a, Hsiao Yuan-chan 12p, Lin Kwan-lun 12p+7rb
TB: Lin Chih-jay 19p+7rb, Ho Sho-jen 14p, Chen Shih-nian 14p

Yulon 87-77 BOT
* BOT 6-game losing streak
Yulon: Chen Chih-chung 37p, Chen Hsin-an 22p+11rb+4a
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 14p, Chang Jun-hsuan 14p, Lin Chun-feng 12p+8rb

Dacin 60-55 TM
Dacin: Wang Chih-chun 20p
TM: Deng An-cheng 11p

Feb.16
TM 60-50 BOT
* TM snapped 7-game losing streak
TM: Hong Chi-chao 22p
BOT: Lin Chun-feng 18p

dmedia 109-95 Yulon
dmedia: J. Sanders 29p+21rb+6a, Ouyang Jin-hen 25p+9rb, Lin Kwan-lun 18p, Hsiao Yuan-chan 12p, Cheng Jen-wei 11p
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 24p, Lee Hsueh-lin 20p, Chen Chih-chung 15p, Lu Cheng-ju 13p

Dacin 97-77 PY
Dacin: Chang Chi-feng 26p, Chen Tse-wei 15p, Lin Yi-huei 15p, Lee Fong-yong 15rb
PY: Chien Jia-hong 21p, James Mao 17p+10rb

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Pure Youth highlight



Highlight of Pure Youth's recent games. Look for James Mao's two game-winners and Hong Chih-shan's record-tying 11 threes in the film. For some reason, I failed to record the audio in this clip.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Mao did it again


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

James Mao once again took Pure Youth to an improbable win. With 5.6 seconds left in overtime, Mao's three-point play led Pure Youth to an 116-113 overtime victory over SBL-leading Yulon Friday. Pure Youth (10-12) cracked top four for the first time in team history, surpassing the 9-12 Dacin Tigers, which lost on the same night and will meet PY Saturday.

Mao made his second game-winning shot in two weeks. On Feb. 2, his left-handed layup at the buzzer and a career-high 31 points helped Pure Youth beat dmedia Numen 108-107.

Hong Chih-shan was the other hero of the night. The little point guard sank SBL-record tying 11 three-pointers in the game en route to a career-high 35 points.

TB 80-70 Dacin
TB: Ho Sho-jen 20p, Wu Dai-hao 19p+16rb+4a+3blk, Lin Chih-jay 18p+9rb+4a, Chen Shih-nian 10p
Dacin: Chen Tse-wei 16p, Lin Yi-huei 12p, Chang Chi-feng 12p

PY 116-113(OT) Yulon
PY: Hong Chih-shan 35p(11-17 3PT)+6rb, Chien Jia-hong 27p+8rb+5a, Chen Shi-jay 14p+5rb, James Mao 13p+5rb+5a
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 36p+12rb+5a, Chen Chih-chung 33p, Lee Hsueh-lin 13p+9rb+9a, Yang Che-yi 12p, Lee Chi-yi 13p+5rb

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Sanders named January Player of the Month


J. Sander (source: ESPN Taiwan)

Dmedia's American import Jonathan Sanders was named January Player of the Month, winning the honor for the third time in one and a half seasons.

Sanders averaged for 20.1 points, 17.4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.67 blocks and 2.67 steals in January, during which dmedia Numen solidify its position in the top four.

Dmedia head coach Wu Jian-kuo praised Sanders for his work ethic, saying that Sanders always arrived one hour before team practices to work on his game and that rubbed off on his young teammates.

Wu also hoped that the SBL will change its import rule, which only allows non-playoff teams to hire imports. If dmedia makes the four-team playoff this season, Sanders will have to find a new team to play next year.

The rule is strange, indeed, but Sanders has been familiar with it. The American all-around player helped Videoland Hunters, which is now known as Taiwan Mobile, to a runner-up finish in the regular season last year and was forced to leave the team later.

Voting results (points):
J. Sanders (dmedia) 61
Chien Jia-hong (PY) 32
Ouyang Jin-hen (dmedia) 16
Chen Hsin-an (Yulon) 10

2007-08 SBL Players of the Month:
January: J. Sanders (dmedia)
December: Chen Hsin-an (Yulon)

Dunk contest, long-distance shootout participants announced


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

Participants of the dunk contest and thee-point shootout in the 2008 SBL All-Star Game (Feb. 23) were announced:

Dunk contest:
Yuan Chen-chan (BOT)
J. Sanders (dmedia)
Lee Jun-wei (dmedia)
Fan Yong-shi (Yulon)
Lu Cheng-ju (Yulon)
Cheng Shi-han (Dacin)
Doug Creighton (PY)

Three-point shootout:
TB: Chen Shih-nian, Wang Shin-kai
BOT: Chien Ming-fu, Chang Bo-sheng
TM: Wu Yong-jen, Wu Cheng-yu
dmedia: Wang Nan-kuei, Ouyang Jin-hen
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an, Lee Hsueh-lin
Dacin: Yue Ying-li, Chen Ching-wen
PY: Chen Jun-jay, Hsu Shih-ching

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

SBL All-Star Game starters named


(Source: espnstar.com)

Starters of the 2008 SBL All-Star Game, which will be held in Taipei Arena on Feb. 23, have been decided by online fan voting Feb. 10. Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chih-jay led all votegetters with 60240 votes while his teammate Wu Dai-hao not far behind, receiving 59970 votes.

Top two votegetters at the forward and guard positions and the top votegetter at the center position will be the starting five for Team Red and Team White in the annual festivity. The remaining seven substitutes on each team will be named by Yulon head aoach Lee Yun-kwang, who will lead Team Red, and TB head coach Yen Jia-hua who will coach Team White.

According to the voting results, Team Red starters will be Chen Hsin-an and Tien Lei at forward, Tsun Wen-din at center, and Lee Hsueh-lin and Su Yi-chieh at guard. Tien could sit out the game due to injury. If Chou Shih-yuan is added to the starting lineup, that will be four Yulon players in five starters.

Anyway, that is not supposed to surprise anyone, huh?

As expected, defending champion Taiwan Beer also dominates the voting results with four players -- Lin Chih-jay, Ho Sho-jen, Wu Dai-hao and Yen Hsin-shu -- voted as starters.

And think about it. Chou Jun-san, who acted as an assistant all season although he was listed as a player as well, still garnered more than 6000 votes. Which tells you that this is a fan thing. It's too bad that dmedia's Jon Sanders and Ouyang Jin-hen have to be subs.

-- Team Red (Yulon, PY, Dacin, BOT)
Forward
Chen Hsin-an (Yulon) 50981
Tien Lei (Dacin) 30077
Chou Shih-yuan (Yulon) 11167
Yang Che-yi (Yulon) 5537
Chen Tse-wei (Dacin) 5123
James Mao (PY) 4917

Center
Tsun Wen-din (Yulon) 53423
Chien Jia-hong (PY) 31919
Lee Fong-yong (Dacin) 30645
Lee Chi-yi (Yulon) 14656

Guard
Lee Hsueh-lin (Yulon) 39335
Su Yi-chieh (Dacin) 31142
Wang Chih-chun (Dacin) 17801
Chen Chih-chung (Yulon) 15336

-- Team White (TB, TM, dmedia)
Forward
Lin Chih-jay (TB) 60240
Ho Sho-jen (TB) 20011
Ouyang Jin-hen (dmedia) 17308
Liu Shen-yao (TM) 9102
Cheng Jen-wei (dmedia) 8603
Yang Chin-min (TB) 8393

Center
Wu Dai-hao (TB) 59970
Jon Sanders (dmedia) 47266

Guard
Yen Hsin-shu (TB) 36934
Wu Yong-jen (TM) 28567
Chen Shih-nian (TB) 27687
Lo Shin-liang (TB) 10204
Chou Jun-san (TB) 6766

Monday, February 11, 2008

Report: Team USA to play in Taiwan before Beijing Olympics

United Daily News reported last week that the U.S. men's national team is scheduled to play one of its four warmup games in Taipei before the Beijing Olympics in August.

Team USA will meet 2007 Eurobasket champion Russian national team in Taipei Arena, the report said, adding that two exhibition games will be played in Macau and another one in Shanghai.

ESPN, which owns 5 percent of NBA China, is expected to broadcast all four games, the report also stated.

However, the story was not confirmed by NBA Asia.

Apple Daily features on two Taiwanese-Americans

Taiwanese tabloid Apple Daily on Sunday had a feature report on a pair of Taiwanese-American teammates -- Pure Youth's James Mao and Doug Creighton. Well, I could see it coming as a large portion of SBL fans are teenage girls and these guys, without a doubt, can play ball and are good-looking.

The popularity of Taiwanese-American players in Taiwan can date back to the old days of the now-defunct pro league CBA. Conant Chu, an UC-Davis graduate who played for Hong-kuo Elephants, was among one of the most popular TA players at the time.

I don't exactly know why but Taiwanese girls looooooove Taiwanese-Americans, probably because they love foreigners like crazy.

Anyway, Mao is enjoying a breakout season and Creighton has been coming along with his new team. Mao has been given multiple roles by PY head coach Hsu Chin-tse. He can handle the ball in the halfcourt setting and also play a lot of four and three. Creighton did not enjoy as much playing time as Mao did, mostly playing as a shooting guard.

It looks to me Mao, averaging 13.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 24 minutes per game, has adjusted himself well in his second season in the league, starting 17 of 21 games. He had a career-high 31 points and a buzzer-beater on the Feb. 2 win over dmedia. Creighton is averaging 8.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 22 minutes per game, mostly as a backup.

I believe Hsu Chin-tse has been having a difficult time to distribute playing time among these young players, and that has hurt both Mao and Creighton a little bit.

Finally, the summary of the feature and a couple of photos:

Mao:
-- Grew up in Houston, Texas. Attended Univ. of Texas.
-- Enjoys playing guitar.
-- His mom runs a Mongolian BBQ restaurant in the US.
-- A fan of Houston Rockets and Houston Texans.
-- Favorite Taiwan scenery: Taroko National Park, Hualien.

Creighton:
-- His Chinese name is Chien Hao.
-- Looks like Keanu Reeves. (??)
-- Born in Taiwan. Lived in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the U.S. His family resides in Tampa, Florida. Attended Madonna University (Div-III).
-- A fan of Dwyane Wade and Miami Heat and MLB's New York Yankees.
-- Favorite Taiwan scenery: 101 Building (tallest building in the world) and Shilin Nightmarket.


James Mao



Doug Creighton

(Photo source: Apple Daily)

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Week 9 BOW - Lin Chih-jay


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chih-jay was named Week 9 Baller of the Week after averaging 20.3 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for the week. For the season, Lin is averaging 14.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

Voting results (points):
Lin Chih-jay (TB) 30
J. Sanders (dmedia) 17
Wu Dai-hao (TB) 15
Chien Jia-hong (PY) 8
Chen Hsin-an (Yulon) 5
James Mao (PY) 5
Zuo Tsun-kai (PY) 4

2007-08 Baller of the Week:
Week 9: Lin Chih-jay (TB)
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)

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

CNA: Taiwan basketball league looks ahead to second half


(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) After a first half of the season full of good and not-so-good surprises, Taiwan’s domestic basketball league SBL (Super Basketball League) is looking forward to a prosperous second half on the eve of a two-week lunar new year break.

The semi-pro league, which is in the middle of its fifth season, consists of seven teams and adopts a 30-game regular season format. The regular season will be suspended briefly before resuming Feb. 15 after a two-week break for the new year.

Before the 2007-08 season opened last December, the league was expected to be top heavy as perennial power Yulon Dinos, defending champion Taiwan Beer and Dacin Tigers were all loaded with talented players while the remaining team were either inexperienced or under-budgeted to compete with the big boys.

The prediction is partially true as Yulon, which won three titles in the SBL's first four years, is currently leading the league at 16 wins and 4 losses. Taiwan Beer is not far behind at 15-6.

What surprised everyone was that Dacin is barely clinging on to its fourth place ranking with a sub-.500 record of nine wins and 11 losses. Dmedia Numen, which hires the only foreign player in the league, became a dark horse with a third-place 13-7 record.

Pure Youth Construction Corp., a bottom dweller during the previous four seasons, was another surprise at 9-12. The young team is making a strong push to the top four with the momentum of a five-game winning streak under the guidance of young head coach Hsu Chin-che.

Yulon forward Chen Hsin-an, the first Taiwanese player to play in the U.S. NBA team training camp in 2002, regained his top form and is leading the league in scoring with a 20.6 points per game to go with 8.8 rebounds. Dmedia import Jonathan Sanders has been dominating at both ends of the court, averaging 19.2 points, 16.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.

Sanders was not alone. Ouyang Ching-hen, a 28-year-old Dmedia guard, is enjoying a breakout season as the league's third best scorer with an 18.7 scoring average.

However, the image of the league has been taking hits from numerous incidents on and off the court. Two on-court brawls have led to a number of player suspensions. Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Chia-hua and the team manager Lin Chieh-ho are in the middle of a 10-game suspension as well. Both were reprimanded as Yen kicked a referee and Lin punched another after a controversial game.

Three Demdia players were released from the team after being involved in a stabbing incident outside a Taipei nightclub last month.

The SBL, the brainchild of the Sports Affairs Council and the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association, in hope of reviving local basketball, was established in 2003, four years after the professional league Chinese Basketball Alliance (CBA) folded.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Dmedia first to own baseball, basketball pro teams



It's not official yet, but Dmedia is set to become the first Taiwanese business to own both a professional basketball and a professional baseball team in history.

Local media reported that Dmedia -- a company that manufactures GPS devices -- has signed the agreement to purchase Makoto Cobras, one of six teams in Taiwan's domestic pro baseball league Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The purchase is pending as it requires approvals from the other five team owners.

The interesting part is why dmedia, a company with the captialization of NT$1.1 billion, wants to do this. Owning a pro baseball team is not a safe investment in Taiwan since there has been no profitable team, and the game-fixing rumor just won't go away.

Approximately the annual budget of a SBL team is around NT$10-15 million with Yulon, whose annual budget surpassed NT$30 million, the exception. Owning a baseball team is expected to cost dmedia ten times of that amount, which will be more than NT$100 million.

For any company, the expense on a SBL team could be easily seen as spending on advertisement. And it's an year-round ad at a cheap price of NT$15 million. The company name and logo will be mentioned or appear on television, radio, newspapers and magazines all year long.

That said, owning a SBL team makes sense for any local company with ambitious promotion plans.

But a baseball team? At a price tag of over NT$100 million? Plus the potential image damage of game-fixing? I'm not sure about that. Looks to me it's not worth it. There must be other reasons that dmedia wants to be actively involved in the sports business in the span of less than one year.

A reasonable guess is Taiwan's first ever sports lottery, which will be launched as soon as May. But I'll leave it at that for now and talk about it later, maybe after the lunar new year break.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

SBL to resume after two-week lunar new year break


Yulon forward Lu Cheng-ju made eight threes in the game.


Chien Jia-hong(right) wins his first BOW award. Zuo Tsun-kai is likely out of the season.
(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

A two-week break is probably too much for any basketball league, but that has become a norm for Taiwanese basketball every February. After the three games Sunday, the SBL will breifly suspend its regular season before resuming on Feb. 15.

Led by Jon Sanders' 20-20(23 points and 20 boards), dmedia beat Dacin to solidify its third place ranking with 13 wins and 7 losses, behind Yulon and Taiwan Beer. Meanwhile, Dacin has lost three straight and dropped to 9-11, a half game behind Pure Youth (10-11).

PY's five-game winning streak finally came to an end Sunday after an 82-71 loss to Taiwan Beer. Playing its third game in as many nights, PY's energy was nowhere to be found, trailing by 17 at the half and could never threaten the defending champ.

PY also likely lost Zuo Tsun-kai for the season. Zuo, the No.3 scorer on the team, broke his right wrist Friday and was scheduled for a surgery soon.

Yulon forward Lu Cheng-ju, who had 28 points, sank eight three-pointers and Chen Hsin-an added 26 points and 11 rebounds as Yulon beat Taiwan Mobile 89-80 and handed TM its seventh consecutive loss.

Yulon borke the ame open with an unanswered 17-0 run in the third quarter and led by as many as 25 in the final period. TM put up its last fight, cutting the deficit to three at one point before Chen had six points and a crucial block in the final minute to secure the victory.

Yulon 89-80 TM
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 26p+11rb, Lu Cheng-ju 28p, Chen Chih-chung 11p
TM: Hsu Wei-sheng 24p+8rb, Wu Yong-jen 15p, Liu Shen-yao 12p, Chen Huei 11p

dmedia 79-75 Dacin
dmedia: J. Sanders 23p+20rb, Lin Kwan-lun 15p, Hsiao Yuan-chan 10p
Dacin: Lin Yi-huei 24p, Chang Chi-feng 11p

TB 82-71 PY

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Mao pulls a daggar on dmedia


James Mao. (Source: ESPN Taiwan)

James Mao made a left-handed layup, the most important bucket of his career-high 31 points, at the buzzer as Pure Youth beat dmedia Numen 108-107 Saturday. PY snapped its three-game losing streak against dmedia and won its fifth straight game.

PY is now 9-10 and tied with Dacin at No. 4.

With 14.2 seconds left and the score tied at 106, Pure Youth head coach Hsu Chin-tse ordered his players to foul dmedia, sending Ouyang Jin-hen to the free-throw line. Hsu's decision proved successful as Ouyang made one of two free-throws and handed the final possession back to PY.

Going one on one against Jonathan Sanders, who had his second triple-double of the season, Mao pulled the final daggar on dmedia with a high-arching left-handed layup.

Dmedia shot itself in the foot by missing four of eight foul shots with the game on the line.

Defending champ Taiwan Beer showed its poise down the stretch by overcoming a 15-point halftime deficit with a 92-90 win over Bank of Taiwan.

Taiwan Beer, which trailed for 35 minutes, led by one, 91-90, after Ho Sho-jen's two free-throws with 8.3 seconds to go. BOT controlled the last possession but point guard Chien Ming-fu stepped out of bound as he was pushing the ball upcourt.

Feb. 2
PY 108-107 dmedia
PY: James Mao 31p, Chien Jia-hong 22p, D. Creighton 14p, Lin Jin-ban 12p
dmedia: J. Sanders 27p+14rb+11a, Ouyang Jin-hen 21p

Yulon 81-67 Dacin
Yulon: Chen Chih-chung 17p, Chen Hsin-an 13p+11rb+7a, Lee Hsueh-lin 12p, Lu Cheng-ju 11p
Dacin: Wang Chih-chun 20p, Chang Chi-feng 16p+13rb, Lee Fong-yong 11p, DNP: Tien Lei, Su Yi-chieh

TB 92-90 BOT
TB: Ho Sho-jen 26p, Lin Chih-jay 18p+8rb, Wu Dai-hao 12p, Yang Chin-min 10p
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 20p, Lin Chun-feng 17p

Feb. 1
TB 81-74 TM
TB: Lin Chih-jay 28p+6rb+4a, Yang Chin-min 20p, Lo Shin-liang 12p
TM: Wu Yong-jen 20p, Hsu Tse-shin 19p, Hsu Wei-sheng 18p+10rb

PY 113-73 BOT
* PY surpassed its win total last year with 8 wins in 18 games. The 40-point margin was the second highest winning margin in the SBL history.
PY: Hsu Shi-ching 16p, Tsai Wen-cheng 12p+11rb, Chien Jia-hong 11p
BOT: Lin Chun-feng 29p