Thursday, April 30, 2009

Yulon to pay fine, resume play

Yulon Luxgen agreed to pay a NT$600,000 fine and resume play in the remainder of the SBL season after a walkout last week, eliminating any doubt that the league will fold after Year Six.

With 19.2 seconds left in the game vs. Dacin, Yulon head coach Zhang Xue-lei led the entire team out of court after a controversial call and refused to finish the game. According to the SBL regulation, Yulon would be slapped with a NT$600,000 fine for walking out and is in danger of losing its eligibility to play in the league for two years.

Yulon head coach Zhang Xue-lei told the media that "If they (Dacin) want it (the regular season title) that badly, it's OK, I'll just give it to them."

Bad officiating has been the biggest problem in the SBL and the league hasn't done anything to solve the problem, a Yulon official said. Yulon agreed to pay the fine and keep playing but also ask for a change from the CTBA side, including referee evaluation, to improve the situation.

This incident is interesting and scaring to me in a lot of ways. At first, I thought that Yulon might want to relocate the team to China's CBA, a move they have been contemplating for years since the company invested a lot in China. It's natural for Yulon to field a team there and try to increase its exposure and build connections.

The team called a press conference the following day after the walkout, reiterating the league's bad officiating, the same topic SBL teams have been complaining about for years. Most SBL teams assumed and accused that a lot of SBL refs were in favor of Dacin Tigers, whose owner is no other than Wang Jen-da, the CTBA President.

Should the president of the basketball federation own a team in the same league? Of course the answer is negative, but that's also what we have here since as long as I can remember.

Wang Jen-sheng, who works for the CTBA in charge of operation and evaluation of Taiwan's basketball referees, surprised many when he said that the CTBA president should not own a team, which he dared not speak in the past since he works under the president. It was quite obvious that Wang Jen-sheng was clearly aware of that the referees' reputation is on the line this time.

What's super interesting was that the Premier Liu Chao-shiuan -- yes, the Premier of Taiwan -- and the SAC Chairwoman Tai Hsia-ling were also involved in this mess. As the walkout news hit the newspaper bigtime, Liu said that he watched the game himself on TV and it's quite obvious that the referee made a bad call, suggesting that he was on Yulon's side. Tai was also critical of SBL's officiating, according to reports from media outlets.

Those comments did not sit well with Wang Jen-sheng, who in return told the media "The Premier is wrong. I really don't belive he watched that game."

However, the strangest thing among all is this: SBL lead referee Huang Chao-he and Wang Jen-sheng both said that the SBL teams had listed a number of "unwelcome, unfriendly or unpopular" referees and privately submitted the list to Huang and Wang. Well, if you think that's strange enough, the most shocking truth is that the SBL did answer the teams' "need."

That means the SBL teams get to "pick out" and get rid of the refs they don't like. This is simply ridiculous and beyond everyone's imagination. Wang and Huang should not have let this happen in the first place. But since the SBL is a loosely-organized league with a fragile management, I could understand why they made the compromise.

Anyway, Yulon is back in the game like nothing had happened. Will the SBL improve the officiating and the evaluation system? It's still anyone's guess.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

SBL: Yulon’s walkout could result in ban from SBL

A story from Taipei Times:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2009/04/28/2003442227

NO PAY, NO PLAY: SBL officials told the team that they had to cough up NT$600,000 by Friday or face being banned from competition for two years
By Paul Huang
CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
Tuesday, Apr 28, 2009, Page 20

Questionable calls by officials led the Yulon Luxgens to forfeit their game against the Dacin Tigers when the team walked out with only 19 seconds left on the clock, with Yulon’s coach hinting that they might sit out for the remainder of the season.

With the Luxgens trailing by three on Sunday, center Tseng Wen-ding’s follow-through on a shot attempt after he had been fouled by the Tigers’ Chang Chih-fong was ruled unsportsmanlike conduct by the baseline official.

The normally soft-spoken Luxgens skipper Chang Hsueh-lei stormed onto the court and eventually led his crew in the walk-out.

“If they [the Tigers] wanted it [title] so badly, we’ll let them have it,” Chang said after the game.

He also hinted at withdrawing his team for the rest of the season unless they receive an acceptable explanation from the league.

The Luxgens were also called for unsportsmanlike conduct earlier in the game when Chen Chih-chung was tagged for swinging his elbows at the Tigers’ Lin Yi-hui.

With the regular season title on the line and only a game separating the league-leading Tigers and the second-place Luxgens, the showdown between the squads was a dogfight from the tip-off, with neither team able to hold leads of more than eight points.

After the Luxgens fought back to within three, they had a chance to tie the game when Tseng was fouled while driving to the basket.

Instead, the premature departure by the Luxgens automatically resulted in a 20-0 loss and a fine of NT$600,000 (US$18,000).

At a press conference called by the league yesterday afternoon, officials said the Luxgens would have until noon on Friday to pay the fine or risk forfeiting their eligibility to compete in the SBL for two years.

The league also said it would use a foreign officiating crew assigned by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) for the upcoming playoffs so that the quality of officiating “would not be an issue” for any of the four postseason contenders.

Monday, April 27, 2009

April 26 SBL results

Dacin 20-0 Yulon

TM 68-63 BOT

TB 97-75 PY
TB: Hsu Hao-cheng 23p, Wu Tai-hao 14p+9rb, Lin Chih-chieh 13p+7rb
PY: James Mao 28p, Tsai Wen-cheng 19p+10rb

TV footage: Yulon's walkout


Watch Aftermath of the Yulon walkout in Sports  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

For other videos of the controversial game, please check http://www.veoh.com/group/sbl

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Breaking news: Yulon walks out of game after controversial call

Image_0426-1714(ESPN)

Picture: Yulon players left the arena.

This just in. The whole Yulon Luxgen team stormed out of the arena about 10 minutes ago after a controversial call. CTBA announced that the game result will be forfeited and ruled a 20-0 Dacin win.

With 19.6 seconds left and Dacin leading 74-71, Yulon center Tseng Wen-ting was whistled for an offensive foul while it was quite obvious should have been a Dacin foul. Yulon head coach Zhang Xue-lei was furious and led the team out of the building after his protest had failed.

The walkout could ignite many issues in the aftermath. Did the box score of this game count? Will Yulon lose its eligibility for the season and being replaced by KKL in the playoffs? What will happen to the SBL after that? I don’t know. It remains to be seen.

Things like this happened over and over again this season. Actually the protest toward SBL officiating has been going on for years. A number of teams decided to boycott the games in the past. Those incidents resulted in a CTBA directive ruling that teams walking out of games will be fined NT$ 600,000, if my memory is correct, and their records for the season will be forfeited.

PY, KKL battling No. 4 playoff seed

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As the regular season is approaching the final week, the battle of the number four seed is down to the wire with Pure Youth (13-14) leading one game and a half over Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor (KKL, 12-16).

PY's next three opponents will be Taiwan Beer, Taiwan Mobile and Yulon. KKL will face TB and TM in the remaining games. Looks like the No. 4 seed is PY's to lose, but anything can happen on the basketball court.

2838121691 There's no question throughout the whole season that Dacin (22-6), Yulon (20-6) and Taiwan Beer (17-10) will be the top three seeds. It's just the matter of ranking. As for now the defending champ is locked up at No.3 while Dacin leads Yulon by one game.

Yulon and Dacin will fight for the top seed because, obviously, no one wants to face Taiwan Beer in the first round. And a regular season title means something. It seems Dacin is on the driver's seat to take the first regular season crown in team history. It faces Yulon tonight before playing BOT next week to conclude the 30-game regular season.

Yulon's quest to the No. 1 seed will be much difficult. Tonight's game vs. Dacin is a must-win for them. And they have to play three games in three days next week.

Back to the action this week. Chang Yu-lin's layup with 1.7 seconds left helped PY to a 69-67 comeback win over BOT, which led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter. PY rallied in the final quarter 18-8.

Dacin routed PY 81-62 Saturday for a team-record 7-game winning streak. On the same day, Lin Chih-chieh committed a fatal turnover in the last possession as Taiwan Beer lost to TM, 87-83. Bank of Taiwan once again lost a 13-point lead, losing 90-83 to KKL in overtime after a 42-29 first half.

April 24
PY 69-67 BOT
PY: Tsai Wen-cheng 19p+13rb, Chang Yu-lin 16p, Chien Chia-hong 12p
BOT: Hsu Chih-chan 20p+14rb+2s+2blk, Lin Chun-feng 10p

Yulon 100-83 KKL
Yulon: Chou Shih-yuan 17p, Chen Chih-chung 17p, Wu Chih-wei 17p, Tseng Wen-ting 11p+14rb+9a
KKL: Chen Ching-hwan 14p, Lin Jui-kun 13p

April 25
TM 87-83 TB
TM: Ouyang Ching-heng 26p+7rb, Wu Yong-jen 15p+10rb
TB: Lin Chih-chieh 25p+10rb, Yang Yu-min 21p, Chen Shih-nian 12p

Dacin 81-62 PY
Dacin: Yao Jun-chieh 18p, Chen Tse-wei 15p+8rb, Byron Allen 12p+10rb
PY: Tsai Wen-cheng 19p+7rb, Chang Yu-lin 18p

KKL 90-83(OT) BOT
KKL: Shan Wei-fan 21p, Chen Ching-hwan 18p+9rb, Lin Kwan-lun 15p+8rb
BOT: Hsu Chih-chan 32p+14rb

(Photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports, SBL official website)

Pippen in Taipei

Scottie Pippen visited Songshan High School for a instructional game Saturday. He is in Taipei to endorse the 2009 Deaflympics.

(Photo: 2009 Deaflympics Organizing Committie)

Friday, April 24, 2009

SBL Stats thru April 19

Points Per Game
1. Yang Ching-min, TB    19.0
2. Chang Chih-feng, Dacin    18.0
3. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon    16.9
4. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT    16.2
5. Tien Lei, Dacin    15.8
6. Lin Chih-chieh, TB    15.5
7. Chen Ching-hwan    15.5
8. Ouyang Ching-heng, TM    15.1
9. Chien Chia-hong, PY    14.8
10. Chen Shun-hsiang, BOT    14.7
11. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL    14.1
12. Mario Boggan, TM    13.3
13. Ho Shou-cheng, TB    12.8
14. Wu Yong-jen, TM    12.5
15. James Mao, PY    12.5

Rebounds Per Game
1. Byron Allen, Dacin    10.0
2. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon    9.0
3. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT    8.1
4. Tien Lei, Dacin    7.1
5. Lin Chih-chieh, TB    6.9
6. Wu Tai-hao, TB    6.9
7. Chen Ching-hwan, KKL    6.7
8. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL    6.5
9. Mario Boggan, TM    6.2
10. Ho Shou-cheng, TB    6.0

Assists Per Game
1. Wu Yong-jen, TM        4.3
2. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon    4.1
3. Su Yi-chieh, Dacin    4.0
4. Chen Hsin-an, Yulon    4.0
5. Chen Shih-nian, TB    3.9

Steals Per Game
1. Lin Chih-long, BOT    2.0
2. Chang Chih-feng, Dacin    1.8
3. Wang Chih-chung, Dacin    1.8
4. Wu Yong-jen, TM        1.7
5. Chen Ching-hwan, KKL    1.7

Blocks Per Game
1. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon    2.1
2. Wu Tai-hao, TB    1.8
3. Tien Lei, Dacin    1.6
4. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT    1.5
5. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL    1.3

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Week 12 BOW: Tien Lei

The Week 12 Baller of the Week award went to Dacin forward Tien Lei, who became the third repeat winner of this weekly award after TB guard Yang Ching-min and Yulon center Tseng Wen-ting.

The 201cm forward had 20 points in the vote to beat out PY forward Chien Chia-hong and Dacin import Byron Allen. He averaged 16.5 points and 6.7 rebounds in three games last week.

Tien was surprised to win the award again, saying that he thought teammates Chang Chih-feng and Lin Yi-hui both played better last week.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Pippen to endorse 2009 Deaflympics for Taiwan

pippen

Former NBA star Scottie Pippen will visit Taiwan from April 24-27 as the Ambassador for the 2009 Deaflympics, which will take place in Taiwan in September, to enhance the international image of Taiwan and the Game, a Deaflympics spokesman said.

Pippen, 44, will arrive in Taiwan on April 24th for the 4-day visit during which he will also shoot a TV commercial for the Deaflympics, Emile Sheng said.

The former Chicago Bull star is scheduled to instruct Song-shan High School, this year's HBL champion, and Taiwan NT for the Deaflympics on April 25th. He will attend a SBL game in Hsinjhuang, Taipei County the following day and leave for the U.S. on 27th.

Monday, April 20, 2009

April 19 SBL results

PY 91-87 KKL

Dacin 90-89 TB

Yulon 92-73 TM

Sunday, April 19, 2009

SBL photos

Photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports, Apple Daily

SN04_001

TB’s Ho Shou-cheng dunks.

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Doug Creighton, BOT.

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Byron Allen, Dacin.

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Hsu Chih-chan, BOT.

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BOT’s Creighton and Hsu celebrate.

Chung targets Japan in East Asian qualifiers

SN06_008

Chung Kwang-suk (Photo: Apple Daily)

 

Korean coach Chung Kwang-suk has arrived in Taiwan and will lead Taiwan NT once again in the upcoming East Asian qualifiers. Observing SBL action courtside, Chung said Taiwan NT will make beating Japan the first priority.

For the first time, Taiwan NT has to play in the East Asian zone qualifying games and earn a berth in the Asian Championship by finishing in the top two. It is not an easy task as Japan and South Korea are among the participating teams and Taiwan NT has only 10 days to train before the qualifiers opens in Nagoya, Japan.

Chung has arrived in Taipei and was seen courtside this week at the SBL games, observing player performances before deciding on Taiwan NT roster.

Replying questions from the media, Chung said it will not be easy (for Taiwan) to beat the Koreans but it's possible to make a run with Japan.

The veteran coach does not speak Mandarin nor Taiwanese, but he is familiar with Taiwanese basketball. Personally, I think Chung is a good candidate to help Taiwanese basketball go thru the down time that has been going on for about seven or eight years although his substitution and strategy had been questioned by many.

The 64-year-old Korean reached the peak of his coaching career in 1997, when he led South Korea to the 1997 Asian Championship title (beating China 86-72 in the semifinal and Japan 78-76 in the title game) and a seed in the 1998 World Championship.

He coached Dacin Tigers briefly in the defunct pro league CBA in 1999 before being named as an assistant to head coach Chien Yi-fei for the 1999 Asian Championship in Fukuoka, Japan. With Chung's help, Taiwan upset host Japan for a spot in the semifinal. Ironically, Taiwan never went back to Asia's top four after that year.

Since then, Taiwan NT's finishes in the Asian Championship were 7th (2001), 11th (2003), 9th (2005) and 6th (2007). In 2007 Chung led Taiwan to the 6th place, the best finish in eight years.

Chung also coached Taiwan NT at the Junior level, leading Taiwan Junior NT to a 3rd place finish in 2000. That was Taiwan's best ranking in Asian Junior Men history.

Tien has 34 in Dacin's crucial win over Yulon

3303586093

Tien Lei (Photo: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

 

Tien Lei had 34 points to help Dacin defeat Yulon 99-91 Friday and increase the lead to one game with four games left in the regular season. Dacin had targeted regular season champion as its primary goal for the season and it's now one step closer toward that goal.

Also on Friday, Hsu Chih-chan and Coug Creighton combined for 38 points as BOT beat KKL 85-78 and snapped its season-high eight-game losing streak.

April 17
BOT 85-78 KKL
BOT: Hsu Chih-chan 24p+9rb, Doug Creighton 14p, Chen Shun-hsiang 13p
KKL: Lin Kwan-lun 15p, Shan Wei-fan 12p+7rb+5a

Dacin 99-91 Yulon
Dacin: Tien Lei 34p+10rb, Byron Allen 19p+13rb, Chang Chih-feng 17p
Yulon: Tseng Wen-ting 22p+8rb, Lu Cheng-ju 15p, Chen Chih-chung 10p+9rb

April 18
TB 90-84 PY
TB: Yang Yu-minh 25p, Lin Chih-chieh 21p, Wu Tai-hao 15p+9rb
PY: Tsai Wen-cheng 19p, Hong Chih-shan 18p, Chien Chia-hong 16p

KKL 89-83 TM
KKL: Lee Wei-min 18p, Lin Kwan-lun 18p, Shan Wei-fan 16p
TM: Ouyang Ching-heng 31p+6rb, Yen Cheng-hong 15p

Dacin 87-77 BOT
Dacin: Lin Yi-hui 17p, Su Yi-chieh 16p, Tien Lei 12p, Byron Allen 7p+12rb
BOT: Doug Creighton 18p+5s, Hsu Chih-chan 17p+9rb, Chang Po-sheng 15p

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Hong named women's NT head once again

M20090415124736

Hong Ling-yao(right) (Photo: Yam Sports)

Hong Ling-yao, who led Cathay Life to a unbelievable 17th straight women's title last week, was named Taiwan Women's NT head coach once again for the 2009 Asian Women's Championship on April 15th.

Taiwan basketball -- the CTBA -- has a bad reputation keeping stats and records. Anyway, I believe without a doubt that Hong is the winningest women's basketball head coach in Taiwanese basketball history.

Which means Hong is a natural choice to lead the women's NT every year. However, newspapers reported the following day that Hong was hesitant about taking the job as she wanted to focus on rebuilding Cathay Life's aging roster for the remainder of the year.

Check out Hong's record as NT head coach:

Asian Women's Championship
1990 (Singapore) 4th
1994 (Sendai, Japan)  4th
2001 (Bangkok, Thailand)  4th
2004 (Sendai, Japan)  4th
2005 (Qinghuangdao, China)  3rd
2007 (Inchon, Korea)  4th

Asian Games
1990 (Beijing) 3rd
1994 (Hiroshima, Japan)  4th
2002 (Busan, Korea)  3rd
2006 (Doha, Qatar) Runner-up

East Asian Games
1993 (Shanghai, China)  4th
2001 (Osaka, Japan)  4th
2005 (Macau, China)  Runner-up

World Championship
1994 (Australia)  14th
2002 (China)  14th
2006 (Brazil)  14th

The 2009 Asian Women's Championship will be the qualifier for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Top three teams in Asia are expected to earn places in the Worlds. It will not be easy for Taiwan to do that though, especially after Taiwan was stripped of the rights to host the Asian Championship earlier this month.

FIBA Asia has not announced the host country yet.

A circulating rumor said that FIBA Asia did not take away Taiwan's right to host the game. Instead, it was the CTBA who decided to give up the hosting rights, fearing that it would lose money by hosting the championship. CTBA denied the rumor.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Week 11 BOW: Chien Chia-hong

第六季SBL第11周最佳鬥士簡嘉宏

Chien Chia-hong (Photo: SBL)

PY forward/center Chien Chia-hong beat out teammate Hong Chih-shan for the Week 11 Baller of the Week award with the score of 18-15.

Chien averaged 16.6 points and 4.3 rebounds last week, scoring a career-high 34 points in a loss to Yulon. He is the first PY player to win the award this season.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Cathay Life wins 17th consecutive crown

Cathay Life beat Chunghwa Telecom 2-1 in the best-of-three WSBL Finals to win its 17th consecutive crown at Taiwanese top women's basketball level and completed a "four-peat" in WSBL.

Before the WSBL was established five years ago, the top Taiwanese women's basketball competition was called Women's A-League.

WSBL Finals Results:
Game 1: Cathay Life 61-55 Chunghwa Telecom
Game 2: Chunghwa Telecom 60-55 Cathay Life
Game 3: Cathay Life 72-55 Chunghwa Telecom

In Game 2, star guard Wen Chi scored 15 of her 20 points in the last six minutes to help Chunghwa Telecom rally past the defending champion.

Forward Liu Chung-yi had 20 points and 10 rebounds as Taiyuan Textile beat Taipower 80-74 to win the third-place.

Monday, April 13, 2009

April 10-12 SBL results

09041017sbl

Tien Lei (Photo: SBL)

April 12
PY 113-110 (OT) Yulon
PY: Chien Chia-hong 34p, Hong Chih-shan 25p+5s, Tsai Wen-cheng 18p, James Mao 16p
Yulon: Lu Cheng-ju 24p, Wu Chih-wei 20p+8rb, Tseng Wen-ting 14p+9rb+9a, Wei Yong-tai 17p+8rb

Dacin 75-55 TM
Allen 12p+11rb, Tien Lei 11p+9rb, Chen Tse-wei 11p
TM: Hsu Wei-sheng 14p, Chen Yao-ting 13p

TB 73-67 BOT
TB: Ho Shou-cheng 24p+9rb, Chen Shih-nian 13p+9rb+5a
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 27p, Chuang Hsiao-wen 15p+9rb, Hsu Chih-chan 10p+14rb

April 11
KKL 92-87 TB
KKL: Lin Kwan-lun 23p, Cheng Jen-wei 22p, Chen Ching-hwan 14p
TB: Wu Tai-hao 27p, Ho Shou-cheng 23p, Lin Chih-chieh 11p+10rb, Yang Ching-min 14p

Dacin 89-78 PY
Dacin: Chang Chih-feng 22p, Tien Lei 17p+14rb, Lin Yi-hui 16p, Byron Allen 13p
PY: Chien Chia-hong 14p, James Mao 14p

Yulon 97-85 BOT
Yulon: Lee Hsueh-lin 17p, Yang Che-yi 16p, Tseng Wen-ting 14p+9rb, Wu Chih-wei 13p
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 25p+8rb, Lin Chun-feng 23p

April 10
PY 113-89 KKL
PY: Tsai Wen-cheng 31p+9rb, Hong Chih-shan 25p+7rb+5a, James Mao 22p+9rb+5a
KKL: Cheng Ching-hwan 15p, Lee Wei-min 13p

Yulon 92-76 TM
Yulon: Wu Chih-wei 19p+8rb, Lu Cheng-ju 18p, Lee Hsueh-lin 15p+8rb+6a
TM: Ouyang Ching-heng 23p, Hsu Tse-hsin 13p+4s, Yen Cheng-hong 12p+7rb

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Week 10 BOW: Tseng Wen-ting

tseng

Yulon center Tseng Wen-ting won Week 10 Baller of the Week Tuesday. He is the second player, along with TB's Yang Ching-min, to win more than one BOW honor this season.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Byron Allen named March MVP

Byron_Allen 

Dacin import Byron Allen was named SBL March MVP Monday, edging out Yulon center Tseng Wen-ting 22-19 in the media voting, and became the first import to win the monthly award this season.

Allen, who is now leading the league in rebounding, averaged 14.8 points and 10.1 rebounds in 28.5 minutes per game. His consistent inside presence was a big reason why Dacin now ranks second in the league.

Tseng had 19 points while KKL forward Chen Ching-hwan, who is enjoying a breakout season, had 10 points.

(Photo: SBL)

SBL Stats Leaders thru April 5

Scoring
1. Yang Ching-min, TB 19.2
2. Chang Chih-feng, Dacin 18.8
3. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 17.6
4. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT 15.9
5. Chen Ching-hwan 15.7
6. Tien Lei, Dacin 15.1
7. Lin Chih-chieh, TB 14.9
8. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL 14.4
9. Ouyang Ching-heng, TM 14.3
10. Chien Chia-hong, PY 14.1
11. Chen Shun-hsiang, BOT 13.9
12. Wu Yong-jen, TM 12.9
13. James Mao, PY 12.4
13. Yang Che-yi, Yulon 12.4
15. Chen Shih-chieh, PY 12.0

Rebounding
1. Byron Allen, Dacin 9.6
2. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 9.5
3. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT 7.8
4. Chen Ching-hwan, KKL 6.9
5. Lin Chih-chieh, TB 6.8
5. Tien Lei, Dacin 6.8
7. Wu Tai-hao, TB 6.7
8. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL 6.6
9. Ho Shou-cheng, TB 5.9
10. Hsiao Yuan-chan, KKL 5.3

Assists
1. Wu Yong-jen, TM 4.5
2. Chen Shih-chieh, PY 4.2
3. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 3.8
4. Hsu Tse-hsin, TM 3.6
5. Chen Shih-nian, TB 3.6

Steals
1. Chen Ching-hwan, KKL 1.90
2. Lin Ching-pang, PY 1.86
3. Chang Chih-feng, Dacin 1.82
4. Chen Shih-chieh, PY 1.75
5. Wu Yong-jen, TM 1.74

Blocks
1. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 2.20
2. Tien Lei, Dacin 1.82
3. Hsu Chih-chan, BOT 1.76
4. Wu Tai-hao, TB 1.70
5. Hsu Wei-sheng, TM 1.14

April 5 SBL results

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(Photo: Liberty Times)

PY 93-92 BOT
PY: James Mao 29p+12rb, Tsai Wen-cheng 21p+12rb
BOT: Lin Chun-feng 23p, Hsu Chih-chan 19p+11rb

Dacin 98-69 TM
Dacin: Lin Yi-hui 23p, Chang Chih-feng 14p
TM: Liu Sheng-yao 13p, Chen Yao-ting 13p

Yulon 87-85 KKL
Yulon: Tseng Wen-ting 26p+12rb, Lee Chi-yi 14p+12rb, Yang Che-yi 12p+6a
KKL: Chen Ching-hwan 21p, Lin Kwan-lun 17p, Hsiao Yuan-chan 17p

Standing:
Yulon 16-4
Dacin 16-6
TB 15-7
PY 9-11
KKL 9-12
TM 6-16
BOT 3-18

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Short-handed Yulon beat TB in OT

09040429sbl

Lee Hsueh-lin (Photo: SBL)

Yulon Luxgen beat Taiwan Beer 87-76 in overtime despite only suiting up eight players Saturday to stay on the top of the SBL standing. It is now 15-4, one game and 1 1/2 game ahead of second-place Dacin (15-6) and third-place Taiwan Beer (15-7).

Yulon was without Chen Hsin-an, Chen Chih-chung, Chou Shih-yuan and Lu Cheng-ju, who were all sidelined due to injuries. Yulon had a 12-0 run in the extra session to silence the Beermen.

In other games, Ouyang Ching-heng's season-high 34 points helped Taiwan Mobile to a 16-point win over Bank of Taiwan. The KKL-Dacin game was sloppy with both team combined for 59 fouls and 32 turnovers, leaving coaches from both sides complaining for the officiating after the game. KKL upset Dacin 79-75.

April 4 results:
Yulon 87-76 TB
Yulon: Tseng Wen-ting 19p+8rb, Yang Che-yi 21p
TB: Ho Shou-cheng 19p+8rb, Yang Ching-min 12p+12rb, Lin Chih-chieh 15p+7TO

TM 92-76 BOT
TM: Ouyang Ching-heng 34p (6-8 3PT), Liu Sheng-yao 11p
BOT: Hsu Chih-chan 20p+7rb, Chen Shun-hsiang 13p

KKL 79-75 Dacin
KKL: Chen Ching-hwan 22p+11rb, Lin Kwan-lun 15p
Dacin: Chang Chih-feng 24p, Tien Lei 12p+6rb, Su Yi-chieh 11p+5rb+6a

April 3 results:

TB 92-84 BOT
TB: Ho Shou-cheng 25p+10rb, Lin Chih-chieh 14p+8a, Wu Tai-hao 13p
BOT: Lin Chun-feng 24p, Doug Creighton 15p, Chang Jun-hsuan 13p

PY 82-78 TM
PY: Lin Tsun-ching 22p, Chien Chia-hong 14p
TM: Ouyang Ching-heng 20p+8rb, Liu Sheng-yao 13p

Standing:
Yulon 15-4
Dacin 15-6
TB 15-7
KKL 9-11
PY 8-11
TM 6-15
BOT 3-17

Friday, April 03, 2009

Roundup: Lin, Chung and the lost Championship

第6季SBL第9周最佳鬥士-林志傑

Lin Chih-chieh (Photo: SBL)

BOW GOES TO LIN
Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chih-chieh was named Week 9 Baller of the Week after leading TB to a 3-0 week with an average of 21.6 points and 7.6 rebounds.

Lin garnered 30 points in the voting, 15 more than the closest vote-getter Dacin import Byron Allen who had 15 points.

CTBA EXTENDS CHUNG
CTBA Deputy Secretary-General Wang Chih-hsien said that the federation has re-signed Korean coach Chung Kwang-suk as the head basketball coach of Taiwan NT for the remainder of the year.

The South Korean's first test will be the East Asian Subzone qualification games, which will be held in Nagoya, Japan in June. How Taiwan NT fairs in the qualifiers will determine whether they will be able to play in Tianjin, the host city of the 2009 Asian Men's Championship, in August.

He will also take the team to Hong Kong in the end of the year for the 2009 East Asian Games.

Chung led Taiwan to a 6th-place finish in the 2007 Asian Men's Basketball Championship. He has served as head coaches for Taiwan junior and senior national teams in recent years.

FIBA STUNS CTBA
According to the CTBA, FIBA Asia has stripped Taiwan of the rights to host the 2009 Asian Women's Basketball Championship, citing the fear of a low attendance.

CTBA was expected to host the championship for the first time since 1972 from June 21-28 in Hsinjhuang Stadium, Taipei County.

FIBA Asia expressed its concern that the host wouldn't be able to fill in the stadium. CTBA proposed to move the venue to Taipei Municipal Stadium, a smaller arena, CTBA Secretary-General Kao Yuan-pu said. But FIBA Asia rejected the proposal and decided to move the tournament away.

The alternate host and game schedule is unknown at this moment.

From what I've seen, FIBA Asia's reason to move the game away is ridiculous and unbelievable. It's possible that China does not want Taiwan to host the tournament for political issues.