All-Star Game rosters announced, Lin replaced Chen as starter

The SBL announced the complete 24-man roster for the 2009 All-Star Game Wednesday. Red team also announced that TB forward Lin Chih-chieh will replace injured Yulon forward Chen Hsin-an in its starting lineup.

The replacement meant that Taiwan Beer will have four players start for the Red Team in the annual mid-season All-Star Game, which will be played in Jhubei City, Hsinchu County on February 28.

League-leading Dacin Tigers also placed three players -- including top votegetter Tien Lei, Chang Chih-fung and import Byron Allen -- in the White Team starting lineup.

Red Team (TB, Yulon, Pure Youth)
Starters
Lin Chih-chieh, TB
Ho Shou-cheng, TB
Wu Tai-hao, TB
Yen Shin-shu, TB
Lee Hsueh-lin, Yulon

Subs
Lee Chi-yi, Yulon
Chou Shih-yuan, Yulon
Chien Chia-hung, PY
James Mao, PY
Wu Chien-lung, PY
Chen Shih-chieh, PY
Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon
Chen Hsin-an, Yulon

White Team (Dacin, KKL, TM, BOT)
Starters
Tien Lei, Dacin
Hsu Chih-chan, BOT 
Byron Allen, Dacin
Wu Yong-jen, TM
Chang Chih-feng, Dacin

Subs
Su Yi-chieh, Dacin
Lin Yi-hui, Dacin
Cheng Jen-wei, KKL
Chen Ching-hwan, KKL
Lin Kwan-lun, KKL
Yen Cheng-hung, TM
Chen Shun-hsiang, BOT

Top 10 votegetters
1. Tien Lei, Dacin 22,676
2. Wu Tai-hao, Taiwan Beer  20,668
3. Byron Allen, Dacin  19,832
4. Wu Yong-jen, TM  19,574
5. Yen Shin-shu, TB  19,183
6. Lee Hsueh-lin, Yulon  18,641
7. Chen Hsin-an, Yulon  18,473
8. Ho Shou-cheng, TB  17,942
9. Chang Chih-feng, Dacin  15,956
10. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT  14,703

(Photo: SBL)

SBL video channel at Veoh.com

Watch TB-KKL-4th-1  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I created a SBL video channel at Veoh.com and managed to upload four video clips to the channel. It was the final quarter of the Taiwan Beer vs. KKL game last Sunday. Enjoy.

However, due to limited time I have now on the basketball stuff, there’s no guarantee when I will be available to record and upload some more. I will try to do my best.

Songshan HS leads HBL men's quarterfinal

Songshan High School, which has never won the HBL title despite coming into each season as one of the title contenders, finished the HBL men's quarterfinal round with a undefeated 7-0 record. Songshan HS also extended its winning streak this season to 13 games.

The quarterfinal round did not eliminate anyone in the eight-team field. Teams were seeded according to their placings in the single round robin competition.

Men's final eight placing:
1. Songshan HS 7-0
2. Chang-shu HS 5-2
3. Nen-jen HS 4-3
4. Nanshan HS 4-3
5. Taishan HS 4-3
6. Pingtung HS 3-4
7. Keelung Commercial and Industrial VOcational HS 1-6
8. Youth HS 0-7

Women's final eight placing:
1. Haishan HS 7-0
2. Pu Men HS 5-2
3. Tamsui Vocational HS 5-2
4. Hujiang HS 4-3
5. Yang-ming HS 3-4
6. Taipei First Girls' HS 3-4
7. Jinou HS 1-6
8. Miaoli Vocational HS 0-7

The final round will be played at National Taiwan University Arena starting March 20.

BOW: Tseng Wen-ting

(Photo: SBL)

Yulon starting center Tseng Wen-ting won the Baller of the Week award this week. Tseng obviously impressed the media with his 20-20 performance in the game vs. Pure Youth Sunday night.

Tseng, who averaged 19 points and 15 rebounds last week, received 19 points in the voting, three more than TB forward Yang Ching-min.

Yulon beat PY on Tseng's 20-20

Chen Shih-nian (Photo: SBL)

Yulon 81-71 PY
Yulon: Tseng Wen-ting 22p+22rb, Chou Shih-yuan 17p
PY: James Mao 25p+8rb, Hsu Shih-ching 18p

TM 84-66 BOT
Mario Boggan returned from suspension and played his best game of the season, chipping in 17 points and 10 rebounds. BOT dropped six straight.
TM: Liu Sheng-yao 23p+9rb, M. Boggan 17p+10rb, Hsu Wei-sheng 18p+6rb+7a
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 17p, Hsu Chih-chan 13p+7rb

TB 78-75 KKL
Chen Shih-nian made a pair of threes and ignited TB's winning run in the final quarter, when they outscored KKL 22-15 and erased a four-point deficit at the end of the third period. TB has won five straight and is now back to a comfortable record of 7-3.
TB: Chen Shih-nian 22p, Yang Ching-min 16+6rb
KKL: Chen Ching-hwan 20p, Cheng Jen-wei 18p+7rb

Standings:
1. Dacin 8-2
2. Yulon 7-2
3. TB 7-3
4. KKL 4-6
4. TM 4-6
6. PY 3-6
7. BOT 1-9

SBL games head back to Taipei

Local sports news agency TSNA reported that the SBL games will be heading back to Taipei City as the CTBA has reached agreement with Taipei Municipal Stadium to host the games there starting March.

It's been an open secret that the CTBA and SBL teams prefer to play in Taipei City to avoid travel and game management expenditures.

However, the TMS is a small stadium with a mere 1,900 capacity. Around 700 seats are expected to allocate to the press and seven teams, which means only 1,200 tickets will be available to the public every game.

KKL upset Yulon, Dacin on top again

Tien Lei (Source: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

KKL 94-88 Yulon
KKL snapped Yulon's five-game winning streak with a 94-88 upset win Saturday in Hsinchu.

Sixth-ranked KKL led 88-76 with 2:30 to go before Yulon made the last rally. Yulon's consecutive threes plus three missed free-throws from KKL made the game interesting again in the final minute. However, Yulon could not pull ahead.

Lin Kwan-lun led KKL with 20 while Chen Ching-hwan had 19 points and 8 boards. Cheng Jen-wei had 15 and 9.

Yulon, which was replaced by Dacin at the top of the standing after the loss, was led by Chou Shih-yuan's 25 points. Center Tseng Wen-ting had 16 and 8.

Dacin 89-80 PY
Tien Lei had 18 points and 10 rebounds, leading Dacin to its eighth win of the season with an 89-80 win over Pure Youth Saturday.

Dacin led 49-42 at the intermission with a 11-4 closing run and added a 16-2 run in the third quarter to lead by more than 20. PY cut the deficit down to single-digit in the final period but Dacin, led by Byron Allen, quickly put the game away.

Chang Chih-feng had 21 points and 6 steals. Byron Allen, who is leading the league in rebounding, turned in 13 points and 10 rebounds. Lin Tsun-ching led Pure Youth with 19 points and Chen Shih-chieh had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

TB 77-72 TM
Taiwan Beer and Taiwan Mobile met again Saturday after the scuffle which resulted in a unprecedented 9-man suspension last week. TB got a revenge this time with a 77-72 win, taking advantage of the absence of suspended TM import Mario Boggan and injured Ouyang Ching-heng.

With the score tied at 69 all with less than three minutes to go, TB closed out the game with a 8-3 run. The defending champ won on consecutive nights with poise and have won four straight. Last night, TB beat BOT on Hsu Hao-cheng's game-clinching three with 0.3 seconds left.

Hsu was still hot tonight, making four of five on threes en route to a 16-point outing. Yang Ching-min led TB with 19 while Lin Chih-chieh collected 17 point, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.

Wu Yong-jen led TM with 13 points. Rookie forward Yen Cheng-hung had 12 and 5.

Hsu Hao-cheng's game winning three sinks BOT

(Hsu Hao-cheng, left, source: UDN.com)

Point guard Hsu Hao-cheng made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds to go as Taiwan Beer edged BOT 94-92 Friday night in Hsinchu.

Yang Ching-min, who had 33 points, scored in the paint with 8.6 seconds to go as TB went ahead by two. BOT took the lead again on forward Chen Shun-hsiang's 3-point basket with 6 seconds left. After the timeout, Yang passed the ball out of a double-team to Hsu Hao-cheng, who took the winning shot.

"Coach Chou (Jun-san) wanted us to take the ball to the basket and go for a foul, and it was either Lin Chih-chieh or Yang Ching-min was supposed to take the last shot. I was probably the sixth offensive option, " Hsu said jokingly in the postgame interview.

TB head coach Yen Chia-hua returned to the court after serving a two-game suspension. Speaking to the media after the game, Yen said, "I will probably lock myself up again if we lose this one." He also gave credit to his opponents, saying that BOT played a great game and it was unfortunate TB had to spoil Chou Ben-tang's best game.

Chou Ben-tang, who was BOT's starting center but lost the position since, made all seven of his shot attempts and scored 19 points.

Dacin routed KKL 83-70 in the other game.

Asian Championship berth not guaranteed for Taiwan anymore

Central News Agency reported that Taiwan will have to compete for two seeds in the East Asian qualifiers to win one of the two seeds for the Asian Championship, according to a memo CTBA received from the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC).

It means Taiwan has to meet Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan in the East Asian qualifiers and finishes in the top two in order to play in the Asian Championship in Tianjin, China.

Most Asian countries are no strangers to the qualifying games. The ABC subzones in Gulf zone, SEABA, WABA and Central Asia all hold qualifiers before major Asian basketball competitions. Traditionally, the East Asian subzone does not hold such competition. As there are only five or six members in the subzone, China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan usually win automatic seeds for major Asian competitions because most of them finished in the top six in previous games.

For the Tianjin Asian Championship, home team China and top five finishers in the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup last year (Jordan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kuwait and India) will receive guaranteed seeds. The remaining 10 seeds will be decided according to the subzone qualifiers. Top two teams in each subzone qualifiers get to play in the 16-team Championship, CTBA Deputy Secretary-General Wang Chi-hsien said.

South Korea, who won bronze in the previous Asian Championship, Taiwan (No. 6) and Japan (No.7) will have to play in the qualifiers along with Hong Kong, Wang said.

Things do not look good for Taiwan because Japan will host the qualifying tournament, which is expected to be played in Nagoya, Japan in June. South Korea is obviously the title favorite which leaves the remaining seed up for grab between Taiwan and the host.

Yang Ching-min named BOW

Taiwan Beer forward Yang Ching-min won the first Baller of the Week award in his career Monday for leading TB to two victory last week. With the wins, TB shook off the slumping start and crawled back to above .500 with a 4-3 record.

Yang averaged 24.5 points and 4.5 rebounds last week and is currently the second leading scorer in the league at 22 points per game. The 190cm forward/guard said experience of last year's Jones Cup helped him mature a lot.

He received 19 points in the ballot and beat out Yulon center Tseng Wen-ting, who had 11 points.

TB beat Dacin in OT, Yulon back on top

Taiwan Beer beat Dacin 86-83 in overtime and Yulon routed Taiwan Mobile 77-55 Sunday as Yulon unseat the Tigers and become the new No. 1. Yulon, 6-1, led Dacin by a half game and TB climbed back to number three with 4-3.

Led by Lin Chih-chieh and Yang Ching-min, TB overcame a 35-point outburst from Dacin's Chang Chih-fung for the much-needed win as Lin and Yang each chipped in 20 points. Lin also pulled down 13 rebounds.

Byron Allen made a pair of free-throws and helped Dacin pulled ahead by one with 14.3 seconds left in regulation. Allen was whistled for a unsportsmanlike foul on the following possession. However, TB managed to convert only one point from two free-throws and a possession as the game went into over time.

Both side could not make a run to put the game away in the extra session. Seldom-used TB forward Hsu Cheng-wen became a unlikely hero, making three of four foul shots before Yang Ching-min iced the game with a fastbreak layup.

TB 86-83(OT) Dacin
TB: Lin Chih-chieh 20p+13rb, Yang Ching-min 20p, Ha Hsiao-yuan 16p, Chen Shih-nian 15p
Dacin: Chang Chih-fung 35p, Tien Lei 13p+10rb, Byron Allen 16p+17rb, Lin Yi-hui 12p

KKL 74-66 BOT
KKL: Cheng Jen-wei 23p+11rb
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 19p, Hsu Chih-chan 14p+9rb

Yulon 77-55 TM
Yulon: Tseng Wen-ting 19p, Chen Chih-chung 19p (6-7 3PT)
TM: Ouyang Ching-heng 21p+6rb, Wu Yong-jen 13p

Standings:
Yulon 6-1
Dacin 6-2
TB 4-3
KKL 3-4
PY 3-4
TM 3-5
BOT 1-7

(Photo source: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

TB routs KKL with eight

Yang Ching-min.

Yang Ching-min and Lin Chih-chieh combined for 47 points as Taiwan Beer beat KKL 83-60 with only eight players and took its record back to .500 (3-3). The defending champion was limited to eight players because six TB players was suspended for one or two games after the scuffle with Taiwan Mobile last week.

Yang Ching-min, who has replaced Lin Chih-chieh as TB's top gun, scored 29 points while Lin had 18 points, seven boards but committed eight turnovers. Yang averaged 22 points per game this season. Lin is averaging 16.6 points per game.

Tien Lei had 21 points and seven rebounds in Dacin's 80-66 win over Taiwan Mobile, which also lost Mario Boggan to suspension. Chang Chih-fung had 16 points for Dacin, who's leading the league 6-1. TM's Liu Sheng-yao and Wu Yong-jen scored 14 each.

Pure Youth snapped its four-game losing streak with the 102-88 win over Bank of Taiwan behind Lin Tsun-ching's season-high 24 points.

Standings:
Dacin 6-1
Yulon 5-1
TB 3-3
PY 3-4
TM 3-4
KKL 2-4
BOT 1-6

(Photo: SBL official website)

SBL official website and online broadcasts

I was not aware of the official SBL website was hosted by Hinet until yesterday. Anyway, here it is -- the official 2008-09 SBL website.

One good thing the site being hosted by Hinet is that, as the company the de facto state-run telecommunication operator which includes hard lines, mobile and internet services, SBL fans now can watch live game broadcast and game highlights online free of charge.

Visit the website you can find links on the top menu of the front page, shown below. For non-native speakers, feel free to click the live broadcast and game highlight links and go from there. I believe you can figure out those clips on your own.

(Click to view full picture)

Official SBL website -- http://sports.hinet.net/sbl/
Live broadcast -- http://hichannel.hinet.net/SBL/
Video on demand (highlights) -- http://hichannel.hinet.net/SBL/vod.html

Story on Jet Chang from Hawaii

Also found this mid-January article on Jet Chang in a Hawaiian publication Midweek.com. Taiwan Hoops was also mentioned in the story.

A High-flying Jet Lands In Laie

By Bob Hogue
Wednesday - January 14, 2009

Don’t look now, but there’s a jet stream flying through Laie these days.

“Awesome,” yells Qiao Xiajuan of Macao.

“What a flier,” hollers Hui Wei of Taiwan.

“Cute!” is the response from Wendy Zhu of Shanghai.

They’re all international students at BYU-Hawaii, and they’ve helped form the unofficial - and quite large - rooting section for the Seasiders’ freshman basketball sensation Tsung-Hsien “Jet” Chang of Yilan, Taiwan.

“I appreciate the cheering section. It’s nice,” Jet says humbly, lowering his head as if he’s slightly embarrassed by all the attention he’s been receiving on campus.

But the praise bestowed on the 6-foot-3-inch shooting guard doesn’t just come from the bleacher seats. Taiwan Hoops,a publication in his home country, calls Jet “one of the most physically gifted athletes” the island formerly known as Formosa has ever produced. It was the basketball fans of his homeland who gave him his nickname.

“With the way he jumps, they thought he soared like a jet,” reports BYU-Hawaii sports information director Scott Lowe. Veteran Seasider head coach Ken Wagner also glows when he talks about his freshman star.

“We knew Jet was a great player in the open court,” Wagner says. “What we didn’t realize was what a great defender he is. As we move along in the season, he’s going to be playing more and more.”

Jet currently has a reserve role for the nationally ranked Seasiders, but even off the bench he’s been sensational. He’s scored in double figures several times this season, including a game-high 19-point outburst on 6-of-7 shooting in a victory over Midwest powerhouse Drury.

It’s easy to see how Jet got his name. He literally explodes in the open court, as if propelled by some extra-special jet fuel. He elevates on his slashing drives to the basket, and he has what other players like to idolize - hang time.

“I went to the LeBron James Camp (in Ohio),” he says. He even wears LeBron’s No. 23. From watching Jet play, you can actually see similarities, despite the fact that he’s several inches shorter than the Cleveland Cavaliers’ all-star. Perhaps it’s unfair to compare a freshman reserve to an NBAmegastar, but anybody who has seen the Taiwanese sensation play can tell you he’s got that special something to his game that can practically take your breath away.

Jet’s biggest challenge was learning English. Several big-name colleges, including Cal-Berkeley, made recruiting queries, but Jet’s inability to speak the language initially kept others away. He learned about BYU-Hawaii from another Taiwanese player, Wu Tai-hao, who was an all-PacWest forward for the Seasiders a few years ago.

“He had to learn some English (before he could get into school),” Coach Wagner says, “and he did.”

“The language was a big problem when I first came here,” Jet says, his English slowly picking up, but still halting at times. “When I first came here, I couldn’t communicate, but I made big improvement.”

“He’s a hard worker. He studies a lot,” says his Taiwanese classmate Hui Wei.

Working with his BYU-Hawaii teachers and getting help from teammates and other students, Jet is doing his best with the language barriers. “I study with my teachers one-on-one,” he says. “My English is getting better.”

Meanwhile, his game is improving by leaps and bounds.

“It’s been exciting,” Jet says. “My teammates are very nice.”

So is the Jet Chang cheering section, growing in numbers each and every time the high-flying Seasider guard takes the court. Watch him fly!

The story wrote about Jet Chang, a Taiwanese player who currently plays for BYU-Hawaii Seasiders. Fans here hope Chang follows the footsteps of Wu Tai-hao and enjoy a good career at BYUH and maybe try to challenge the ultimate level -- the NBA.

Taiwan Beer-Taiwan Mobile scuffle clip

Found this in Youtube. Take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMKJlkMaAX4

 

ATT 199...Black Friday in Jhubei

Jhubei Stadium (Photo source: UDN.com)

 

It was even one short of 200. CTBA said the attendance record Friday at Jhubei, Hsinchu County was 199. That's right. Only 199 people were at the Friday games of SBL, which claims itself the most popular basketball league in Taiwan.

Couldn't argue with that. After all, the SBL is the only basketball league in town.

The attendance number failed to reach 100 until some point during the first game. The lowest attandance record for a SBL game is 76, which was set February 29 last year.

Two things to note though. Fridays games traditionally received less fanfare and lower TV rating. And students are back in school after the winter break for the new semester already.

Capacity of Jhubei Stadium is 8,000. The low attendance may further convinced the SBL people that the games should not be organized outside of Taipei area. However, I always think that the league should set up more games at mid-sized cities around the country instead of just staying in Taipei area. If my memory is correct, attendance records were always pretty good when the games were played in Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung or Tainan.

The true reason why teams and the league has been reluctant to go "down south" is the traveling fee. And when they do take the games out of Taipei, they either picked a wrong city or neglect the transportation factor for fans. Take Jhubei for example, it is not convenient for fans who don't drive to get to the arena.

Anyway, this is not the first time the attendance record was down to an alarming level. Many years ago when I covered a game of the defunct pro league CBA in Keelung, the game was so quiet that I could hear the typing sound on my laptop. I believe there were less than 100 fans at the game.

The only good news is the SBL games are back on air. ESPN Taiwan will start its broadcast today.

Wu Chih-wei does it again

Yulon backup center Wu Chih-wei followed up his performance last week with another brilliant outing Friday, scoring 23 points in 16 minutes on 11-of-11 shooting as Yulon beat Pure Youth 109-90 to tie Dacin at 5-1.

Wu made all five of his shots in 10 minutes and scored 13 points, including seven in the last 3:07, to help Yulon snapped Dacin's 4-game winning streak last week.

Pure Youth trailed by as many as 26 points and has lost four straight.

Taiwan Mobile, which lost Mario Boggan to suspension, went 25-of-35 from the foul line and beat Bank of Taiwan 75-66. TM scored 18 of its 30 points from free-throws in the last quarter.

TM 75-66 BOT
TM - Yen Cheng-hung 20p+6rb, Wu Yong-jen 12p+5rb+7a+7s
BOT - Hsu Chih-chan 16p+4blk, Chang Jung-hsuan 10p+11rb

Yulon 109-90 PY
Yulon - Wu Chih-wei 23p+5rb, Yang Che-yi 17p, Tseng Wen-ting 16p+9rb, Lee Chi-yi 12p+8rb
PY - Chen Shih-chieh 23p, Lin Ching-pang 12p

CTBA slaps penalty on nine

Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) handed down penalty Tuesday on nine players and team staff for the confrontation in the Taiwan Beer-Taiwan Mobile game Sunday night in Hsinchu.

CTBA's Disciplinary Committee announced in a press release that Mario Boggan, who plays for Taiwan Mobile, received a four-game suspension and a NT$50,000 fine for throwing his elbow.

Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Chia-hua was suspended for two games and fined for NT$20,000. Manager Lin Chieh-he was slapped with the harshest penalty -- a NT$100,000 fine and suspension for the remainder of the season.

TB forward Ho Shou-cheng received a two game suspension with a NT$20,000 fine. Five players, including Yen Hsin-shu, Hsu Cheng-wen, Pan Jen-te, Wu Tai-hao and Lee Hsiao-tse, were fined for NT$10,000 and an one-game suspension each.

Chen Chih-chung named BOW

Yulon guard Chen Chih-chung was named Baller of the Week for leading Luxgen to a 2-0 week. Chen averaged 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in two games.

Follow-up on the scuffle

A total of nine players and team members were ejected after the scuffle in the Taiwan Beer-Taiwan Mobile game Sunday night, including TB head coach Yen Chia-hua and manager Lin Chieh-he. Ensuing suspensions and fines are expected to be announced soon.

TM import Mario Boggan, who elbowed TB forward Wang Chien-wei and started the confrontation, was the only TM player being sent off. Boggan stressed that he was only trying to free himself from Wang and wasn't intended to throw his elbow out. Judging from the TV clip, I think Boggan was right.

The mass nine-man ejection set the SBL record, Apple Daily reported.

Taiwan Beer's Wu Tai-hao, Yen Hsin-shu, Pan Jen-te, Hsu Cheng-wen, He Shou-cheng, Lee Hsiao-tse and manager Lin Chieh-he were sent out for leaving bench while head coach Yen Chia-hua was out for two technicals.

In fact, that was not all. Plus team trainer and other staff, thirteen TB members were ejected.

However, no TB member went back to the locker room. Instead, all of them sat and watched the game from courtside. And no referee enforced the rule and asked them to leave the court. Enjoy the photos...

 

 

Yulon beat Bank of Taiwan 85-75 in the third and last game Sunday night. (Photo source: Liberty Times, Apple Daily, UDN.com)

(Photo source: Liberty Times, Apple Daily, UDN.com)

Six TB players ejected after scuffle

Yen Chia-hua, head coach of two-time SBL champion Taiwan Beer, went off again.

These players sure picked a good night for a fight, since there was no television broadcast. Six Taiwan Beer players were ejected in a confrontation of the Taiwan Beer-Taiwan Mobile game Sunday night in Hsinchu, UDN.com reported. TM beat TB 90-82.

TB head coach Yen Chia-hua was ejected for cursing the referees with less than nine minutes left. With 5:19 to go Taiwan Mobile import Mario Boggan decked TB forward Wang Chien-wei with his elbow and started the whole mess. Almost the entire TB subs left the bench area to join the scuffle and were ejected later by the refs.

That left TB with six players -- Lin Chih-chieh, Wang Chien-wei, Ha Hsiao-yuan, Yang Ching-min, Chen Shih-nian and Hsu Hao-cheng -- to finish the game. Even TB manager Lin Chieh-he was ejected.

Fights on hardwood happen. I'm not naive. However it is sad to see things like this happen every once in a while. When temper flies in the heat of the moment, I guess not too many players can keep their head in the game. But anyone who's been to the game knows that a bench-clearing brawl can be real frightening sometimes and you don't know what would happen.

It is even sadder to see people like Yen Chia-hua, who now can be dubbed as Taiwan-version Bob Knight, and Lin Chieh-he, who once tried to go after a referee after a loss. Yen is a head coach and Lin is TB's manager. You go figure.

In the first game, Lin Yi-hui had 24 points and Tien Lei had 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting as Dacin handed Pure Youth its third consecutive defeat with a 99-89 win.

Byron Allen had 12 points for Dacin, whose 4-game winning streak was snapped by Yulon Saturday. January SBL MVP Chang Chih-fung also chipped in 17 points.

Chien Chia-hung paced PY with 19 points and five boards and Chen Shih-chieh had 13 points and 7 assists. Zuo Tsun-kai came back from injury and scored 10 points.

Yulon-BOT game is ongoing.

Wu's perfect night snaps Dacin's 4-game win streak

Veteran backup center Wu Chih-wei made all five of his shots in 10 minutes and scored 13 points, including seven in the last 3:07, as Yulon snapped Dacin's 4-game winning streak with a 83-71 win.

Luxgen head coach Chang Hsueh-lei had no choice but went to Wu after starting center Tseng Wen-ting fouled out with less than five minutes left in the game. Wu had a three-point play with 1:06 to go to boost Yulon's lead to 11 points and ensured the victory.

Yulon was again without the service of top scorer Chen Hsin-an, who was out with a knee injury. Chen Chih-chung led the team with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and three steals.

Chang had nothing but sweet words for Wu after the game, saying that it was not easy for a sub to step in and make plays with the game on the line. Dacin import Byron Allen, who gave Tseng Wen-ting trouble all night long, was not able to contain Wu in the end.

Su Yi-chieh, SBL rookie of the year three year ago, finally returned to action Friday night after sitting out most of the last two season with injuries in his left elbow and right wrist. The talented point guard had eight points and three steals in 18 minutes.

In the other game, KKL edged Taiwan Mobile 95-94 for its second win of the season.

(Photo source: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Chang Chih-fung named January MVP

Dacin guard/forward Chang Chih-fung was named January Most Valuable Player Friday for his consistent performance which helped Dacin to open the season 4-0.

Chang, who averaged 21 points, 6.8 points and three assists in January, said that he felt like this year he was in the best condition in his career. Being injury-free has been a plus, he told the media.

Chang beat out teammate Tien Lei, Yulon center Tseng Wen-ting and Taiwan Beer guard Yang Ching-min for the award.

(Photo source: SBL)

ESPN Taiwan agrees to broadcast SBL games

In a bizarre twist of fate, ESPN Taiwan reached a verbal agreement with the SBL Committee Friday night to broadcast SBL games. The agreement came three weeks after Videoland abruptly terminated its cooperation with the league and left the league without a broadcast partner for the first time.

Videoland and Elta Technology signed a broadcast deal with the SBL on the eve of this season to carry SBL games on television and online. VL stopped its broadcast operation on Jan. 16, one week after the season opener, saying that the SBL had not actually signed any concrete deal or memo with the TV station.

Since then, no SBL games appeared on television. Elta Technology was not able to provide online broadcast as well. Fortunately, the season soon hit a two-week lunar New Year vacation and not many games were "blanked" during the span.

Details of the agreement were not disclosed. Central News Agency and the Liberty Times reported that ESPN Taiwan, which lost the bidding war to VL prior to the season, reached a tentative three-year verbal agreement with the SBL for approximately NT$60 million.

Media also reported that ESPN Taiwan offered an incentive plan which will award the league with a bonus if the rating surpasses 0.35.

The interesting thing was that both sides still did not sign anything concrete. Another verbal agreement after Videoland pulled out? It's unfathomable to me. However, it probably shows that broadcast partners don't trust the SBL Committee, which has a bad track record in terms of TV rights and marketing fee negotiations.