Friday, May 29, 2009

Taiwan NT lost two core players, named replacements

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Tsai Wen-cheng(left) and Chen Ching-hwan (Photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chih-chieh and Dacin guard Chang Chih-feng, SBL Finals MVPs in consecutive years, have pulled out of Taiwan NT for the East Asian qualifier due to severe sprained ankles during the Finals.

Taiwan NT head coach Chung Kwang-suk has named KKL forward Chen Ching-hwan and Pure Youth forward Tsai Wen-cheng as replacements. Chen and Tsai will be making their NT debut.

The qualifying tournament will tip off in Nagoya, Japan on June 10. Taiwan, along with Mongolia, South Korea, China, Japan and Hong Kong, will fight for two seeds for the Asian Championship.

Taiwan is scheduled to meet host Japan on June 10 and Mongolia on June 12 in the preliminaries.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Dacin wins first SBL title

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Wang Chih-chun had 23 points, including four three-pointers, as Dacin routed Taiwan Beer 81-64 in Game 7 of the 2009 SBL Finals Tuesday night to win its first SBL title. Regular season MVP Chang Chih-feng was named Finals MVP despite scoring only two points in the final game.

09052710libIn the 2006-07 season, third-seeded Taiwan Beer beat 4th seed Dacin 4-2 to win its first SBL title. Two years later, Dacin won the rematch in the first 7-game series in SBL playoffs history and snapped TB's quest of three-peat.

Tien Lei was finally the normal himself, pulling down 8 rebounds and scoring 16 points, including two important follow-up putbacks in the final 5 minutes. Point guard Su Yi-chieh had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists while import Byron Allen had 11 points and 13 boards.

Taiwan Beer, who usually plays off of big crowds, could never find the rhythm in front of 7,500 fans although the game atmosphere was high throughout. Yang Yu-min had 19 points and Wu Tai-hao had 10 points. No other TB player scored in double-digit.

Lin Chih-chieh turned in only 9 points on 4-of-15 shooting and fouled out in the final quarter. The scene of the two-time Finals MVP wrapping his head in a towel and watching his team falling apart in the final minutes from the bench was enough to make TB fans teary-eyed.

 

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Wang Chih-chun.

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Tien Lei.

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Su Yi-chieh (right).

(Photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports, Liberty Times)

Monday, May 25, 2009

Taiwan NT for East Asian qualifier announced

CTBA on Sunday announced the 12-man roster for the upcoming East Asian Qualifying Championship, the qualifying tournament for the 2009 Asian Men's Championship.

Head coach Chung Kwang-suk, a South Korean, submitted the final roster which comprised of players from the top three teams -- Dacin, Yulon and Taiwan Beer -- in the regular season.

Since the team has only 10 days to prepare for the tournament, Chung said, he decided to pick players from only the top three teams who had international competition experience.

One glaring absentee is Yulon star forward Chen Hsin-an, who has been plagued by a knee injury all year which resulted in a mediocre season. It was reported that Chen has flown to the U.S. to seek treatment on his knee.

Local media also reported that Wu Tai-hao, Lin Chih-chieh and Chang Chih-feng could all possibly withdraw from the team due to injury.

The qualifying tournament will tip off in Nagoya, Japan on June 10. Taiwan, along with Mongolia, South Korea, China, Japan and Hong Kong, will fight for two seeds for the Asian Championship.

Taiwan is scheduled to meet host Japan on June 10 and Mongolia on June 12 in the preliminaries.

Taiwan NT roster

Po., Name, Ht., Age
G Lee Hsueh-lin, Yulon, 175cm, 25
G Su Yi-chieh, Dacin, 181cm, 22
G Chang Chih-feng, Dacin, 183cm, 28
G Chen Shih-nian, TB, 180cm, 25
G Yang Yu-min, TB, 176cm, 30
F Lin Chih-chieh, TB, 192cm, 27
F Ho Shou-cheng, TB, 196cm, 26
F Tien Lei, Dacin, 202cm, 26
F Lin Yi-hui, Dacin, 193cm, 23
F Yang Che-yi, Yulon, 193cm, 31
C Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon, 202cm, 25
C Wu Tai-hao, TB, 202cm, 24
Avg. Height: 189.6cm, Age: 26

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Yang's game winner saves TB

Yang Yu-min made a game-winning 19-footer with one second left as Taiwan Beer held off Dacin's furious 4th quarter rally and prevailed 87-85 in Game 6 to tie the series at 3-3. Game 7 is scheduled on next Tuesday.

Dacin pulled off a 21-10 run in the final 10 minutes and tied the game at 85-85 after consecutive baskets from regular season MVP Chang Chih-feng. Tien also had two follow-up putbacks in the run.

Dacin one win away from first SBL title

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Dacin Tigers is thiiiiiiis close to an improbable finish after winning three in a row to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 series lead in the SBL Finals. Dacin routed TB 81-63 Saturday and is on the verge of winning its first SBL title in team history if it wins again tonight.

The controversial team, which was owned by CTBA President Wang Jen-da and has been accused by opponents time and again receiving officiating favors, has a shot of being the first title team to win four straight following two losses and achieve the improbably comeback.

Guard Wang Chih-chun made four threes as Dacin ignited a 19-3 run in the third quarter and routed TB 81-63 for a 3-2 series lead Saturday night. After a sluggish start, Dacin took the lead at the half after a 11-0 run in the second quarter and took control in the second half.

601899733 TB's Lin Chih-chieh injured his left ankle in Game 4 but insisted on playing. Lin entered the game as a substitute and inspired his teammates and the crowd. However, it was just not enough to stop Dacin's three-point attack and maybe ended up hurting the team. Dacin made 10 threes in the game.

Wang Chih-chun paced Dacin with 16 points and 7 rebounds while Lin Yi-hui and Chen Tse-wei each had 14 points. Import Byron Allen collected 8 points and 12 rebounds.

Yang Ching-min led TB with 13 points. Chen Shih-nian had 12. Lin Chih-chieh had only 5 points on 2-of-8 shooting.

On Friday, Dacin rained 10 three-pointers on Taiwan Beer for a 89-75 victory to tie the series at 2-2. Lin Chih-chieh hurt his ankle less than 2 minutes into the game and never came back.

Regular season MVP Chang Chih-feng scored 26 points and had four steals. Chang, who received his MVP trophy before tipoff from Premier Liu Chao-hsiuan, and seldom-used sub Yen Chia-wei made four threes in the final quarter to open up the game.

Allen had another double-double of 14 points and 13 boards for Dacin.

Taiwan Beer was led by Yang Ching-min's 23 points. Ho Shou-cheng had 17 points and 7 rebounds and Yang Yu-min had 15.

Up until now, this has been a Finals of Threes as the team which makes more long-range bombs wins. Dacin made 10 threes in Game 3, 4 and 5 and won them all. Taiwan Beer shot 12-for-20 and 12-for-24 from downtown in Game 1 and 2 and quickly took a 2-0 lead.

392652704 Frankly speaking, I think Taiwanese basketball has been going in the wrong direction by shooting more and more threes. It's true that Taiwan always faces taller and physically stronger opponents in international competition, but you just don't live and die by three-pointers.

Take Dacin forward Tien Lei, who has been extremely quiet in the Finals, for example. Tien never learned how to play inside and expressed clearly that he didn't like to do so. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of the reasons why Tien has become less a threat. It's always easier to defend a 6-7 three-point shooter than a versatile inside-outside 6-7 wingman.

Tien still grabs more than a fair share of rebounds because of his height and jumping ability. But I think he can be two times better by developing his inside game.

(Photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Rumor: TB head coach threatens Dacin player

You know, one of the great things about observing the SBL is that, more than once in a while, some strange and weird things or things beyond your wildest imagination happen.

And this is one of those days.

Word came out that Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Chia-hua, who has been long known for his on-court temperament, threatened Dacin forward Lin Yi-hui during Game 3 of the SBL Finals.

A number of local newspapers reported that Yen was heard yelling at Lin, "If you keep throwing cheap shots (at TB star forward Lin Chih-chieh), I'll have someone to break your leg." Yen later shrugged off the rumor and insisted that the remark was rather an intimidation and joke than an actual threat.

Yen countered that "people threatened Lin Chih-chieh before" and his in-game remark to Dacin staff "was just a joke because people always said things like that on the basketball court."

However, he did retract his earlier comment, which he made after Game 3 alleging that three FIBA referees favoring Dacin in the game and did not rule out boycotting the remainder of the SBL Finals. The controversial coach was no stranger to chaotic scenes. He kicked a referee after a game around a year ago and threatened to boycott SBL games as well as pulling TB out of the league.

The most strange thing was that Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Company (TTL), TB's mother company, actually supported Yen's boycott threat.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Chang Chih-feng named regular season MVP

The SBL rolled out the regular season awards winners this past week as Dacin was the apparent big winner. Tigers guard Chang Chih-feng was named Most Valuable Player and head coach Chiu Da-tsun won the Coach of the Year award.

Yulon center Tseng Wen-ting won the Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in his SBL career.

SBL First Team:
Chang Chih-feng, Dacin
Chen Chih-chung, Yulon
Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon
Byron Allen, Dacin
Yang Ching-min, TB

第六季SBL年度總教練-達欣工程邱大宗 Chiu Da-tsun, Dacin

第六季SBL年度第一隊-達欣張智峰 Chang Chih-feng, Dacin

第六季SBL年度第一隊-達欣艾倫 Byron Allen, Dacin

第六季SBL年度第一隊-裕隆陳志忠 Chen Chih-chung, Yulon

第六季年度第一隊-台啤楊敬敏 Yang Ching-min, TB

第六季SBL年度第一隊-裕隆曾文鼎 Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon

(Photos: SBL)

Monday, May 18, 2009

Dacin stomps TB in Game 3

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Not wanting to fall into a 3-0 hole, Dacin routed Taiwan Beer 89-68 in Game 3 of the 2009 SBL Finals to make the series 2-1.

1174614502 However, TB was not happy with the officiating of three FIBA referees and claimed that the team was considering to boycott the remaining games if the officiating goes one-sided.

Dacin had a 17-4 deciding run in the third quarter and held Lin Chih-chieh, who had 18 points in the first half, scoreless in the final 20 minutes.

Chang Chih-feng led Dacin with 21 points and Lin Yi-hui had 18 points. Tien Lei and Byron Allen each had 13 points. Allen added 14 rebounds. Dacin controlled the boards with a 40-21 rebounding advantage.

Chen Shih-nian scored 13 and Yang Yu-min had 12 for TB.

(Photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Chen, Yen named SBL MIP, Rookie of Year

XL20090517008037_22191 Chen Ching-hwan

L20090517008037_22190 Yen Cheng-hong

KKL forward Chen Ching-hwan, who came out of nowhere and surprised everyone with a breakout year, was named SBL Most Improved Player. Taiwan Mobile forward Yen Cheng-hong was named Rookie of the Year on the same day.

Chen averaged 15.7 points, good enough to rank 7th in the league, 6.93 rebounds (6th) and 1.83 steals (2nd) in 30 minutes per game. Last season, he averaged 4.8 points and 2.83 rebounds.

Yen, a 23-year-old OLD rookie, averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 23 minutes per game. He was one of the few players in Taiwan who chose to finish his college education before playing in the SBL, which was why he was not in the league until this season.

Meanwhile, former Dacin head coach Liu Jia-fa, who's been out of coaching for a year, will coach in women's basketball. Liu was reported to be hired by Chunghwa Telecom.

(Photos: Yam Sports)

Lin leads TB to a quick 2-0 lead in SBL Finals

09051627sbl Lin Chih-chieh

Two-time SBL Finals MVP Lin Chih-chieh was at his full speed in the games that matter most. Lin scored 73 points in the first two games in the 2009 SBL Finals, leading Taiwan Beer to a quick 2-0 lead over Dacin Tigers.

Taiwan Beer, who's looking for a three-peat, defeated Dacin 95-76 in Game 1 and 88-81 in Game 2.

09051529sbl Lin, who was on and off during the regular season and did not even lead the team in scoring, took over the final series from the first minute, scoring TB's first seven points in Game 1. He had 13 of his game-high 29 points in the first quarter.

TB led 46-26 at the half. The 20 points lead was the largest margin in SBL Finals history.

Led by Tien Lei and import Byron Allen, Dacin cut the deficit to 11 in the third quarter. TB reverted to defense, holding Dacin scoreless in four and a half minutes and went on a 11-0 run during the span. The lead was back to 22 points with more than five minutes to go.

Lin made five of TB's 12 three-pointers and pulled down 10 rebounds. Yang Yu-min, who replaced Yang Ching-min's scoring role since the first round, was still hot and tallied 16 points.

Dacin was led by Allen's 20 points and 14 rebounds. Tien Lei and Chang Chih-feng both struggled. Tien had only nine points on 4-of-16 shooting. Chang was 2-for-7 and scored 4 points.

On Saturday, Lin was once again unstoppable, making 13 of 18 shots en route to his career SBL Finals high 34 points to go with 7 boards and 5 assists.

The 27-year-old forward-guard had 20 points in the first half, including 13 points in the first period when he made all six shot attempts.

972606411 Byron Allen had 13 points in the third quarter as Dacin stayed close behind, 68-64. Tension was high in the final quarter, when Chang Chih-feng took over the game by scoring 12 of Dacin's last 14 points.

Chang's effort was not enough. A layup by Lin Chih-chieh proved to be TB's final dagger. Dacin was never able to pull within five points.

TB was red-hot from the three-point land, making 12 trifectas. Center Wu Tai-hao had 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to negate the monster game of Byron Allen, who had 24 points and 20 rebounds.

Yang Yu-min and Ho Chou-cheng scored 15 and 14 points respectively for Taiwan Beer.

Chang Chih-feng led Dacin with 26 points and seven rebounds. Tien Lei was still nowhere to be seen, managing to score only 10 points.

Dacin had no answer on Lin Chih-chieh up to this moment, obviously. "Hopefully his luck runs out in the next game, " Dacin head coach Chiu Da-tsun said.

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Dacin fans.

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Lin Chih-chieh.

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Press conference before the Finals.

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TB head coach Yen Chia-hwa.

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Lin Chih-chieh.

(All photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Monday, May 11, 2009

Dacin, TB to meet in SBL Finals

2614880995 Yang Yu-min

Dacin and Taiwan Beer didn't waste too much time. Both teams swept their opponents, PY and Yulon, 3-0 in the first round playoffs Sunday and were scheduled to meet in the 2009 SBL Finals starting Friday.

352816909 Dacin beat PY 97-88 and Taiwan Beer defeated Yulon 89-79.

While Dacin's 3-0 sweep was no surprise for most people, it was beyond imagination that TB was able to keep Yulon in check throughout the series as most fans expected the series would have been a dog fight.

Yang Yu-min became the key man on consecutive nights, scoring 25 points to lead TB overcome a 13-point first half deficit for the comeback win. Yang, who averaged 19 points in the series, scored 15 points in the third quarter as TB closed out the game with a 13-0 run in the final period.

Tseng Wen-ting had 24 points, including 16 in the first half, and pulled down 9 boards. Yang Che-yi had 21 points.

Dacin survived yet another scare from relentless Pure Youth. In the end of the day, Dacin's balance attack was too much for PY as Tien led the team with 21 points. Import Byron Allen had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Chang Chih-feng and Su Yi-chieh scored 14 each.

Tsai Wen-cheng had 26 points, Wu Jian-long had 18 and 10 while Chien Chia-hong tallied 18 points and dished out 8 assists. James Mao scored 12.

Two sweeps later and here we are. Dacin will meet Taiwan Beer in the best-of-seven SBL Finals, their second showdown in the SBL Finals. In the 2006-07 season, third-seeded Taiwan Beer beat 4th seed Dacin 4-2 to win its first SBL title in team history.

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Yang Yu-min

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Tien Lei

(Photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

SBL MVP of the Month: Tseng Wen-ting

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One day after being eliminated from the postseason, Yulon center Tseng Wen-ting won a consolation prize. He was named MVP of the Month for April and May by beating out Dacin forward Tien Lei 17-15.

Tseng averaged 16.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists in nine games during the span. Such record from a big man should be more than enough to keep a coach happy. If not for some bad games, Tseng almost topped the league in assists in addition to leading the SBL in blocked shots (2.7 per game) once again.

Tien Lei finished just two points shy in the media voting while KKL forward Chen Ching-hwan was third with 12 points.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Dacin, TB one win away from SBL Finals

225383428 Yang Yu-min

Regular season champ Dacin Tigers and two-time defending champion Taiwan Beer were one step closer to facing each other in the 2009 SBL Finals after both taking 2-0 leads over their opponents. TB got past Yulon 87-82 in over time and Dacin escape with a 96-93 win over PY.

09050928sbl Thanks to Chang Chih-feng's timely steal with 18.7 seconds to go as the Tigers hanging on a mere two point lead, Dacin was able to stop a furious comeback bid from fourth-seeded Pure Youth. Dacin is now one win away from returning to the Finals for the first time since 2007.

Chang Chih-feng had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Tien Lei had 20 points, including four three-pointers. And import Byron Allen tallied 20 points and 9 rebounds.

Chang Yu-lin, who committed the deadly turnover, and Tsai Wen-cheng each scored 23 for Pure Youth.

Yang Yu-min scored 28 and led Taiwan Beer overcome the loss of Lin Chih-chieh and a 10-point deficit in the third quarter for a hard-fought 87-82 victory in overtime. TB takes a 2-0 lead in the series and is now in the driver's seat.

TB also had a little more luck. Point guard Hsu Hao-cheng banked in a three-pointer with 13.5 seconds to go in regulation to tie the score at 76 all and forced overtime.

3262977866 However, it seemed TB was going to lose this one in the third quarter, when it trailed by 10 points and its heart and soul Lin Chih-chieh fouled out of the game.

Yang Yu-min, who didn't join TB until late season after finishing his season in China's top pro league CBA, picked up the scoring gap. Ho Shou-cheng turned in a double-double in consecutive games with 11 and 15. Center Wu Tai-hao was also brilliant with his 14 points, 8 boards and 4 blocked shots.

Yulon center Tseng Wen-ting shook off a minor slump, contributing 27 points and 9 rebounds. Lu Cheng-ju had 17 points.

However, Chen Hsin-an was once again up inconsistent, failing to score in 22 minutes. With a player of Chen Hsin-an's caliber scoring zero points in 22 minutes, you know Yulon would be in trouble. The chance for Yulon to win was pretty slim.

(Photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Lin scores 30, TB cruises past Yulon

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Chang Chih-feng, Dacin.

Two-time SBL Finals MVP Lin Chih-chieh scored 30 points as third-seeded Taiwan Beer cruised past Yulon 78-68 in Game 1 of the SBL first-round playoffs Friday and took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Led by Chang Chih-feng's 20 points, regular season champ Dacin Tiger regained its focus in the second half and routed fourth-seeded Pure Youth 88-70 to take the opening win in the first round series.

12417951339257111 As Yulon was plagued by its subpar offensive game all night, TB used a pair of runs -- 12-2 in the second and 17-5 in the third -- to push the lead to 17 points at one point. Although Luxgen cut the deficit down to eight points with five minutes to go, TB went to work again with seven unanswered points to ice the game.

Lin Chih-chieh had 10 of his game-high 30 points in the second quarter. Ho Shou-cheng contributed 15 points. Center Wu Tai-hao was dominant in the paint, collecting 11 points and 9 rebounds. Wu's three consecutive blocks in the third quarter basically set the tone of this high-intensity game.

Chen Hsin-an was once again the only player Yulon could count on in the post season. He had a team-high 21 points. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon's top scorer in the regular season, only had 12 points and 8 rebounds.

"The better team won the game tonight, obviously, " said Yulon head coach Zhang Xue-lei. Zhang was not pleased with the team's offensive performance.

944354155 Dacin's head was not in the game until the second half, when it rode on a 50-30 rebounding advantage and increased the lead from four points in halftime to as many as 19 at one point. Give the credit to import physical specimen Byron Allen, who had 17 points and 9 boards in the game.

Chang Chih-feng led Dacin with 20 points while Tien Lei had an off night with eight points. Wu Chien-lung paced PY with 13 and 9.

 

(Photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Final SBL stats leaders

Scoring
1. Yang Ching-min, TB 19.0
2. Chang Chih-feng, Dacin 18.0
3. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT 17.3
4. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 16.7
5. Lin Chih-chieh, TB 16.3
6. Ouyang Ching-heng, TM 16.0
7. Chen Ching-hwan, KKL 15.7
8. Tien Lei, Dacin 15.4
9. Chien Chia-hong, PY 14.2
10. Chen Shun-hsiang, BOT 14.2
11. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL 14.1
12. Tsai Wen-cheng, PY 13.5
13. Mario Boggans, TM 13.3
14. Ho Shou-cheng, TB 13.1
15. Wu Yong-jen, TM 12.1

Rebounding
1. Byron Allen, Dacin 9.9
2. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 9.3
3. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT 8.4
4. Lin Chih-chieh, TB 7.1
5. Wu Tai-hao, TB 7.0
6. Chen Ching-hwan, KKL 6.9
7. Tien Lei, Dacin 6.9
8. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL 6.5
9. Mario Boggans, TM 6.2
10. Ho Shou-cheng, TB 6.0

Assists
1. Chen Chih-chung, Yulon 4.5
2. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 4.4
3. Wu Yong-jen, TM 4.1
4. Chen Shih-nian, TB 3.9
5. Su Yi-chieh, Dacin 3.8

Steals
1. Lin Chih-long, BOT 2.0
2. Chang Chih-feng, Dacin 1.8
3. Chen Ching-hwan, KKL 1.8
4. Wu Yong-jen, TM 1.6
5. Hsu Tse-shin, TM 1.5

Blocks
1. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 2.1
2. Wu Tai-hao, TB 2.0
3. Tien Lei, Dacin 1.6
4. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT 1.4
5. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL 1.3

Monday, May 04, 2009

SBL regular season concludes

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-- Chen Ching-hwan was named Baller of the Week for the last week of the regular season, the second time he

has won the award.

-- May 3 results:
KKL 83-61 TM
PY 118-97 Yulon

PY: Wu Chien-long 26p+10rb, Lin Ching-pang 22p, Tsai Wen-cheng 21p+10rb, Chang Yu-lin 20p
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 29p, Wu Chih-wei 27p

-- Final 2009 SBL standing
Dacin 23-7
Yulon 21-9
TB 20-10
PY 14-16
KKL 13-17
TM 9-21
BOT 5-25

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Taiwan in same group with Japan, Mongolia in East Asian zone qualifier

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(Photo: JABBA)

Taiwan was bracketed with Japan and Mongolia in Group B in the upcoming East Asian Zone Championship in June, host Japan Basketball Association (JABBA) announced.

logo_eaba The championship will take place in Aichi, Japan starting June 10 and serves as the qualifying game of the 2009 FIBA Asian Championship. Top two finishers of the event will secure the seeds in the Asian Championship.

China, South Korea and Hong Kong were placed in Group A. Top two teams of each group will advance to the semifinal round.

Taiwan is scheduled to meet host Japan in the opening game on June 10 before facing Mongolia on June 12. There should be no problem for Taiwan to advance to the semifinal. The most important thing will be what happens in the semi. If Taiwan fails to win in the semifinal, it won't be making a trip to China.

As China has been guaranteed an automatic seed in the Asian Championship as the host country, it will be Taiwan, Japan and South Korea fighting for two spots.

Taiwan NT head coach Chung Kwang-suk, a Korean veteran, said the team will make beating Japan its No. 1 priority. It will be the same for Japan, which hired former University of Alabama head coach David Hobbs as the head coach this year.

TB beat Yulon in 'playoffs warmup'

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(Lin Chih-chieh, photo: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Led by Lin Chih-chieh's 31 points and 9 rebounds, Taiwan Beer beat Yulon 90-85 Saturday in what could be seen as a warmup game before the teams matching up in the first round playoffs.

The first round playoff matchups have been set despite there are two games left in the regular season. Dacin (23-7) will meet Pure Youth while Yulon takes on defending champion Taiwan Beer in the best-of-five first round playoffs.

TB was able to pull off a win although the coaching staff decided to rest injured starters Wu Tai-hao and Yang Ching-min to better prepare them for the upcoming playoffs.

Tseng Wen-ting led Yulon with 19 points, 12 boards and 8 assists. Tseng is on his way of securing both the rebounding and assists titles for the regular season.

Lin Chih-chieh made 5-of-9 from three and was 12-of-21 in the game.

Ouyang Ching-heng scored 31 points to help Taiwan Mobile score a rare victory, an 101-94 win in overtime over Pure Youth. Ouyang was 6-of-12 from three.

In the last game of the day, regular season champ Dacin rested three starters -- Tien Lei, Lin Yi-hui and Chang Chih-feng -- in a 85-82 loss to Bank of Taiwan.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

PY got postseason seed as KKL lost

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Chen Hsin-an (Photo: SBL official website)

Pure Youth finally secured the long-awaited postseason seed as KKL lost 88-81 to Taiwan Beer Friday night. After the loss, KKL would not be able to move up to No. 4 even if they win the season finale, helping PY advance to the playoffs for the second time in team history.

May 1
Yulon 92-91 BOT
Yulon: Wu Chih-wei 22p, Chen Hsin-an 19p, Lu Cheng-ju 17p
BOT: Hsu Chih-chan 27p, Chang Jun-hsuan 16p, Chien Ming-fu 14p+7a

TB 88-81 KKL
TB: Ho Shou-cheng 27p, Lin Chih-chieh 15p+8rb
KKL: Chen Ching-hwan 20p+7rb, Lin Kwan-lun 14p