Friday, February 26, 2010

Stribling shines in SBL debut

台啤得瑞克(左)台銀簡浩(右)

The SBL regular season games returned after a two-week lunar new year break. Derek Stribling had 25 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals in his debut in the SBL and helped Taiwan Beer to a 89-82 win over Bank of Taiwan.

Dacin 77-67 Yulon
Dacin: Lin Yi-hui 23p, Tien Lei 16p+11rb, Chang Chih-feng 12p+8rb
Yulon: Lu Cheng-ju 15p, Tseng Weh-ting 9p+10rb

TB 89-82 BOT
TB: D. Stribling 25p+6rb+4s, Yang Ching-min 18p, Yang Yu-ming 12p+8rb
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 23p, Jeff Jones 12p+22rb+7TO(4-15 FG), Chen Yu-chih 15p+9rb

台銀瓊斯(左)台啤楊敬敏(中)

Jones(L) and Yang Ching-min

達欣田壘(左)

Tien Lei

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Chiang Feng-chun's elegibility confirmed

CTBA

Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) announced Wednesday that its Discplinary Committee has ruled former Cathay Life forward Chiang Feng-chun eligible to play for Chunghwa Telecom in the 2010 WSBL (Women's Super Basketball League) season.

Chiang Feng-chun, one of the best players in Taiwan and widely seen as one of the best forwards in Asia, came out of retirement and joined Chunghwa Telecom. Her former employ Cathay Life, which has won 17 straight women's titles, announced Feb. 9 that it will pull out of the 2010 season over Chiang's controversy.

CTBA said that Chiang's contract with Cathay Life expired on Feb. 2, 2009 and has been a free agent since then. According to the player registration rule, she is free to transfer and sign with any team.

The association also urged Cathay Life to drop its previous decision and return to the 2010 season.

Chiang, a national team regular, returned to basketball one year after a surprising retirement in February 2009 at the age of 28. Her unexpected return sparked controversy and highlighted an "unwritten rule" that Taiwanese women players stay with a single team throughout their careers or face being boycotted by the other teams if they try to switch teams.

CTBA changed the rule in 2008 when lawyers said it violated the Constitution, which rules that people's right to work should be protected. All players -- men and women -- are now free agents and free to sign with any team after their contracts expire or they receive letters of clearance.

However, Cathay Life still opposed the transfer of Chiang, who retired after a falling out with the team's head coach, Hung Ling-yao.

Chiang was quoted by the media as saying she decided to leave Cathay Life because Hung kept rejecting her wish to play U.S. college basketball or elsewhere overseas.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Taiwan Beer testing Derek Stribling

Stribling_Derek

Taiwan Beer released Delvin Thomas over the Lunar New Year break and is testing Derek Stribling before the import signing deadline of Feb. 28, Apple Daily reported.

TB brought in Jeff McLean for testing but was not happy with his skill and height, the newspaper reported.

Derek Stribling

DOB: Nov.16, 1982
Height: 198cm

2004-2005: Tennessee Tech 11.8ppg, 4.2rpg, 2.1apg
2005-2006: Tennessee Tech 8.2ppg, 4.5rpg, 1.5apg
2006-2007: Norrkoping Dolphins, Sweden
2007-2008: AB Esplugues-Portes, Spain
2008-2009: A.D. Tarragona, Spain: 34 games: 12.2ppg, 5.6rpg, 2.4apg, FGP: 58.2%, 3PT: 36.6%, FT: 73.6%

(Photo source: Eurobasket.com)

2010 UBA quarterfinal round to tip off

126659735011011

Eight men's teams and eight women's teams will meet in the quarterfinal round of the 2010 University Basketball Association (UBA) season starting February 22 to vie for berths in the semifinal round.

Eight men's teams will play a single round robin schedule in the quarterfinal round from Feb. 22-March 3 with the top four teams advancing to the crossover semifinal, where the No. 1 seed meets the No. 4 and No. 2 seed meets the No. 3, and the remaining teams playing in the 5th-8th place classification games.

Eight women's teams will also play a single round robin round in the quarterfinal from Feb. 24-March 3. The competition format will be different from men though. After the single round robin competition, the top seed will meet No.8, No.2 meets No. 7, No. 3 meets No. 6 and No. 4 meets No. 5 for an additional game. Winners of these games advance to the semifinal while losers play in the 5th-8th place classification games.

The men's and women's semifinal round will be played in Chinese Culture University from March 7-9.

Men's First Round Standing:
(Top eight teams advanced to the quarterfinal round)

1. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) 9-2
2. Min Dao University (MDU) 9-2
3. Chinese Culture University (CCU) 8-3
4. National Taiwan University of Art (NTUA) 8-3
5. Hsing Wu College (HWC) 6-5
6. Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU) 6-5
7. National Taiwan College of Physical Education (NTCPE) 5-6
8. Diwan University (DWU) 4-7

-----
9. National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) 4-7
10. National Taiwan Sport University (NTSU) 3-8
11. National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU) 2-9
12. Taipei Physical Education College (TPEC) 2-9

Women's Final Eight:

Chinese Culture University (CCU)
Taipei Physical Education College (TPEC)
National Taiwan College of Physical Education (NTCPE)
National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU)
Fo Guang University (FGU)
Taipei Municiple University of Education (TMUE)
Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU)
National Taipei University (NTU)

(Photo: CTUSF)

Friday, February 12, 2010

January SBL MVP: Shawn Hawkins

第七季SBL超級籃球聯賽 一月份MVP 金酒 尚恩

金酒尚恩 有女萬事足

KKL forward Shawn Hawkins, who leads the league in scoring, was named MVP for the month of January Friday.

Hawkins averaged 25.6 points and 9 rebounds per game to lead KKL to its best start in team history, ranking second in the league with a 8-3 record.

The first-year import received 36 points in the media poll, beating out Dacin's Chang Chih-feng (17 points) and Tien Lei (16 points).

SBL Monthly MVP:

January: Shawn Hawkins, KKL

(Photos: ESPN Taiwan)

2010 HBL men's and women's final four set

SN02_001 SN02_002

Defending men's champion Song-shan High School is limping its way into the 2010 HBL men's final four, finishing fourth in the quarterfinal round, while the defending women's champion Pu Men High School cruised into the women's final four, tied with Ha-shan High School at 6-1 in the quarterfinal round.

The single-elimination final four will take place in the National Taiwan University Gymnasium from March 19-20.

Men's semifinal matchup:
#1 Nan-shan HS vs. #4 Song-shan HS
#2 Nen-jen HS vs. #3 Tai-shan HS

Women's semifinal matchup:
#1 Pu Men HS vs. #4 Hujiang HS
#2 Hai-shan HS vs. #3 Tamsui Vocational HS

Three of four men's semifinalists from last season -- Song-shan, Nan-shan and Nen-jen --  return to the final four this year.
Three women's final four teams -- Pu Men, Hai-shan and Hujiang -- also made the semifinal for the socond consecutive year. Tamsui Vocational HS, which finished sxith last year, return to the final four this season and is eyeing its 7th HBL women's title in school history.

Men's quarterfinal round standing:
1. Nan-shan HS 6-1
2. Nen-jen HS 5-2
3. Tai-shan HS 4-3
4. Song-shan HS 4-3
5. Kao-yuan HS 4-3
6. San-min HS 3-4
7. San-chung Commercial and Industrial Vocational HS 1-6
8. Chiang-shu HS 1-6

Women's quarterfinal round standing:
1. Pu Men HS 6-1
2. Hai-shan HS 6-1
3. Tamsui Vocational HS 5-2
4. Hujiang HS 4-3
5. Taipei First Girls' HS 3-4
6. Nan-hu HS 2-5
7. Yang-ming HS 2-5
8. Miaoli Vocational HS 0-7

(Photos: Apple Daily)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

CNA: Taiwan's top women's basketball team withdraws from season

Taiwan's top women's basketball team withdraws from season


Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) The Cathay Life women's basketball team, which has won 17 straight women's titles in Taiwan's domestic league, announced Tuesday that it will pull out of the 2010 season over a...

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) The Cathay Life women's basketball team, which has won 17 straight women's titles in Taiwan's domestic league, announced Tuesday that it will pull out of the 2010 season over a player registration controversy.

The team decided to miss the 2010 season of the Women's Super Basketball League (WSBL) over what it claims is a violation by the Chunghwa Telecom team in signing Chiang Feng-chun, a former Cathay Life star forward who came out of retirement and signed with Chunghwa Telecom, it said in a press release.

The WSBL consists of five teams and is Taiwan's top women's basketball league. The 2010 season is scheduled to begin in March.

Chiang, a national team regular, returned to basketball one year after a surprising retirement in February 2009 at the age of 28. Her unexpected return sparked controversy and highlighted an "unwritten rule" that Taiwanese women players stay with a single team throughout their careers or face being boycotted by the other teams if they try to switch teams.

The teams invest millions of dollars in every player and it is unfair for teams to lose players to other teams, according to Cathay Life assistant coach Chien Wei-chuan.

The Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) , Taiwan's highest basketball governing body, changed the rule in 2008 when lawyers said it violated the Constitution, which rules that people's right to work should be protected.

All players -- men and women -- are now free agents and free to sign with any team after their contracts expire or they receive letters of clearance.

However, Cathay Life still opposed the transfer of Chiang, who retired after a falling out with the team's head coach, Hung Ling-yao.

Chiang was quoted by the media as saying she decided to leave Cathay Life because Hung kept rejecting her wish to play U.S. college basketball or elsewhere overseas.

The case was submitted to the CTBA Disciplinary Committee for further review.

Cathay Life, which established its women's basketball team in 1969, has been one of the most successful basketball teams in Taiwan. More than half of the Taiwan national team players are from Cathay Life.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Week 5 MVP: Alexus Foyle

台灣大雲豹佛伊爾(左)

Alexus Foyle wasted no time to gain league-wide recognition, winning Week 5 SBL MVP Tuesday by leading Taiwan Mobile to a three-game winning streak last week, his first week in the league.

Foyle averaged 26.7 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists in three games last week. He had 37 points, including 17 in the final quarter, and 17 boards in the come-from-behind win over Pure Youth.

Foyle beat out KKL forward Cheng jen-wei, the SBL's No.3 scorer who's enjoying a breakout season, 46-43 in the media poll.

2010 SBL Weekly MVPs

Week 5: Alexus Foyle, TM
Week 4: Shawn Hawkins, KKL
Week 3: Chang Chih-feng, Dacin
Week 2: Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon
Week 1: Jonathan Sanders, PY

(Photo: ESPN Taiwan)

SBL stats leaders (Thru Feb. 7)

Scoring
1. Shawn Hawkins, KKL 26.7
1. Alexus Foyle, TM 26.7
3. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL 21.1
4. Jon Sanders, PY 20.4
5. Jeff Jones, BOT 18.8
6. Yang Ching-min, TB 18.0
7. Ouyang Ching-heng, TM 16.9
8. Chen Shun-hsiang, BOT 16.1
9. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 15.9
10. Chang Chih-feng, Dacin 15.4

Rebounding
1. Jon Sanders, PY 13.2
2. Jeff Jones, BOT 11.7
3. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 10.6
4. Shawn Hawkins, KKL 10.1
5. Alexus Foyle, TM 10.0

Assists
1. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 4.3
2. Su Yi-chieh, Dacin 4.2
3. Chen Shih-nian, TB 4.1
4. Wu Yung-jen, TM 4.0
5. Jon Sanders, PY 3.7

Steals
1. Cheng Chih-feng, Dacin 1.9
1. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 1.9
3. Shawn Hawkins, KKL 1.8
4. Jon Sanders, PY 1.7
4. Lee Hsueh-lin, Yulon 1.7

Blocks
1. Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon 3.7
2. Cheng Jen-wei, KKL 2.3
3. Byron Allen, Dacin 1.5
4. Wu Tai-hao, TB 1.3
5. Tien Lei, Dacin 1.3

Foyle made his impact immediately felt

台灣大弗伊爾(中) 台灣大佛伊爾(左)

Alexus Foyle, who replaced Antonio Grant in Taiwan Mobile, made his impact immediately felt by leading the team to a three-game winning streak, averaging 26.7 points and 10 rebounds in three games.

Foyle had 17 of his game-high 37 points in the 4th quarter Sunday to go with 17 rebounds, leading Taiwan Mobile to a 93-89 win over Pure Youth, who has lost three straight.

Yulon suffered the first 4-game losing streak last week. It still refused to hire an import, however.

Delvin Thomas exploded for 33 points and 14 rebounds in his last game with Taiwan Beer. Word is that Thomas planned to go back to the U.S. to be with his wife who's giving birth before he signed with TB.

The game also gave the SBL its first 2OT game this season. KKL's Chen Ching-huan made two threes in the last minute of the second overtime to secure the win.

The regular season schedule will be suspended for a two-week Lunar New Year break, Taiwan's biggest holiday of the year.

Feb. 5
TM 79-76 Yulon
TM: Liu Sheng-yao 21p, Ouyang Ching-heng 20p, A. Foyle 18p
Yulon: Yang Che-yi 25p, Lee hsueh-lin 16p+6rb, Tseng Wen-ting 15p+7rb+5a+4blk

KKL 95-85 BOT
KKL: Cheng Jen-wei 34p+12rb, S. Hawkins 29p+8rb, Chen Ching-huan 10p+7rb

Feb. 6
Yulon 78-73 PY

Yulon: Lu Cheng-ju 23p, Tseng Wen-ting 18p+8rb+4a+5s+6blk, Lee Hsueh-lin 16p
PY: J. Sanders 26p+22rb, Hung Chih-shan 13p, Chien Chia-hung 10p+6rb

Dacin 85-75 KKL
Dacin: Chang Chih-feng 21p, Su Yi-chieh 14p, Tien Lei 13p+6rb, Yueh Ying-li 12p
KKL: S. Hawkins 31p+15rb, Cheng Jen-wei 19p+9rb

TM 85-76 TB
TM: A. Foyle 25p+11rb, Wu Yung-jen 10p+10a, Liu Sheng-yao 18p
TB: Yang Ching-min 26p, Wu Tai-hao 18p, Delvin Thomas 10p+6rb

Feb. 7
Dacin 89-84 BOT

Dacin: B. Allen 25p+11rb, Chen Tze-wei 16p, Su Yi-chieh 17p+5a
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 22p, Chang Jung-hsuan 19p+6rb, J. Jones 16p+7rb

KKL 102-94(2OT) TB
KKL: S. Hawkins 29p+16rb+7a, Cheng Jen-wei 27p+10rb, Chen Ching-huan 13p+6rb
TB: D. Thomas 33p+14rb, Wu Tai-hao 19p+9rb, Yang Yu-ming 15p, Shang Wei-fan 12p+10rb

TM 93-89 PY
TM: A. Foyle 37p+17rb+4a, Ouyang Ching-heng 16p, Liu Sheng-yao 12p
PY: Huang Chi-feng 20p, James Mao 13p+7rb, J. Sanders 16p, Hung Chih-shan 16p

Standing:
1. Dacin 9-2
2. KKL 8-3
3. Yulon 5-5
3. TB 5-5
5. TM 5-6
6. PY 4-7
7. BOT 1-9

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Week 4 MVP: Shawn Hawkins

金酒尚恩(中) Hawkins

KKL forward Shawn Hawkins was named SBL Week 4 MVP Tuesday after averaging 34.5 points, 8 rebounds and 2.54 steals for the week.

Hawkins scored 38 points, including a record-tying 23 points in the fourth quarter, in a win over Yulon. He received 58 points in the media poll (Formula: 1st-2nd-3rd place for 5 points-3points-1 point). TB's Yang Ching-min was a distant second at 19 points.

2010 SBL Weekly MVPs

Week 4: Shawn Hawkins, KKL
Week 3: Chang Chih-feng, Dacin
Week 2: Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon
Week 1: Jonathan Sanders, Pure Youth

(Photo: ESPN Taiwan)

TM to replace Grant with Foyle

Foyle_Alexus Foyle

Local media reported that Taiwan Mobile will replace Antonio Grant with Alexus Foyle, who is already in Taiwan and ready to play as early as next week.

Alexus Foyle
DOB: September 17, 1978
198cm, 100 kg
Born in Canouan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines ... cousin, Adonal Foyle, plays for the Golden State Warriors

College:
1999-2001: Desert JC (CJCAA)
2001-2002: BYU-Hawaii (NCAA2,): 28 games: 20.4ppg, 6.9rpg, 1.4apg
2002-2003: BYU-Hawaii (NCAA2): NCAA2Score-2(26.7ppg), 5.7rpg, 1.4spg

Pro career: ABA, France, D-League, PBL

(Photo: Eurobasket.com)

Monday, February 01, 2010

Hawkins has 38; Grant and Thomas likely to be replaced

金酒尚恩 Hawkins

Shawn Hawkins couldn't be stopped, scoring 23 of his game-high 38 points in the final quarter as KKL routed Yulon 98-86 Sunday and boosted its record to 6-2, the best start in team history.

Hawkins' 23 in the fourth quarter tied SBL's all-time record of most points in a quarter. Yulon's Yang Che-yi, then playing for Videoland Hunters, set the previous record on March 6, 2005.

台啤陳世念(左)楊敬敏(右)璞園洪至善(中)Hawkins also tallied 21 points in the final quarter in the game vs. Taiwan Mobile on Jan. 17.

Hawkins' scoring outburst led KKL, which trailed 66-64 after the third period for the comeback win.

Yulon suffered its first three-game losing streak in the SBL-era.

In other games, Dacin kept the top spot in the standing after defeating Taiwan Mobile. TM head coach Cheng Chih-lung was quoted as saying the team will replace import Antonio Grant because he "didn't fit into the team offensive structure."

Grant has appeared in seven games and averages 11.7 points and 10.3 rebounds.

Taiwan Beer beat PY 84-76 for its 4th straight win. However, rumor said that TB is considering to replace its import Delvin Thomas.

Meanwhile, local media reported that Yulon owner Yen Kai-tai reiterated the team has no intention to add an import player before the import signing deadline will be Feb. 28 despite its mediocre performance in the past two weeks.

KKL 98-86 Yulon
KKL: S. Hawkins 38p, Cheng Jen-wei 24p, Chen Ching-huan 11p+9rb
Yulon: Lu Cheng-ju 28p, Tseng Wen-ting 12p+10rb+8a, Chou Shih-yuan 16p

TB 84-76 PY
TB: Yang Ching-min 22p, Ho Shou-cheng 16p, Yang Yu-min 12p
PY: Chang Yu-lin 21p, J. Sanders 14p+14rb

Dacin 88-76 TM
Dacin: B. Allen 17p+6rb, Chang Chih-feng 17p, Su Yi-chieh 14p, Tien Lei 13p+6rb
TM: Ouyang Ching-heng 21p, A. Grant 15p+11rb, Liu Sheng-yao 16p

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

達欣艾倫(左)台灣大葛蘭特(右)
Byron Allen(L) and Antonio Grant

達欣林宜輝(左)田壘(右)台灣大歐陽進恆(中)

Tien Lei blocked Ouyang Ching-heng

(Photos: ESPN Taiwan)