Saturday, August 28, 2010

Taiwan in FIBA Asia U18 Men’s Championship

Year, Ranking, Host city
2010 ?? Sanaa, Yemen
2008 9th Tehran, Iran
2006 4th Urumqi, China
2004 5th Bangalore, India
2002 6th Kuwait City
2000 3rd Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1998 4th Calcutta, India
1996 5th Johor Bahru, Malaysia
1995 5th Manila, Philippines
1992 5th Beijing, China
1990 7th Nagoya, Japan
1989 2nd Manila, Philippines
1986 3rd Manila, Philippines
1974 3rd Manila, Philippines
1972 2nd Manila, Philippines
1970 4th Seoul, Korea

Taiwan NT roster for FIBA Asia U18 Men’s Championship

Sana_Big

Taiwan NT’s preliminary roster for the FIBA Asia U18 Men’s Championship, which will be played in Sanaa, Yemen from Sept. 22-Oct. 1, is listed as follows.

Po., Name, DOB, Ht., Wt., School
G Chen Ying-chun 1993.06.09 181 72 Nen-jen High School
G Chien Chao-yi 1993.07.12 180 72 Song-shan High School
G Huang Po-wei 1992.10.04 177 76 Song-shan High School
G Ko Ming-hao 1992.12.27 182 72 Kao-yuan High School
G Yu Chun-an 1992.02.13 189 83 National Taiwan Normal University
G Chien Wei-ju 1992.01.20 188 80 National Taiwan Normal University
G Cheng Tieh 1982.08.22 187 81 National Taiwan University of Art
F Hu Lung-mao 1992.12.22 194 80 Song-shan High School
F Hung Kang-chiao 1992.04.22 191 87 National Taiwan Normal University
F Lee Chia-ching 1982.01.11 195 90 National Taiwan Normal University
F Shih Yen-tsung 1992.05.29 194 76 San-min High School
C Chen Kuan-chuan 1993.12.30 195 98 Nan-shan High School
C Chen Chao-hao 1992.06.12 200 90 National Kaohsiung Normal University
G Chen Shun 1992.10.20 184 78 Song-shan High School*

Head coach: Huang Wan-lung
Assistants: Lou Hsiao-min, Yen Hsing-shu

* -- reserve

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Taiwan's 16-man roster for Asian Games women's basketball announced

Tsai Pei-chen 1984.5.27 186 80
Chang Hsiao-yu 1984.3.1 183 72
Liu Yi-chun 1986.3.12 183 80
Yen Chia-hsuan 1988.3.30 185 75
Liu Chun-yi 1981.1.23 180 81
Lin Chi-wen 1983.8.19 186 72
Chiang Feng-chun 1981.10.25 184 80
Wen Chi 1984.10.15 170 62
Wu Shin-ying 1987.2.6 176 76
Huang Ping-jen 1989.11.6 177 71
Ma Yi-hung 1980.11.27 176 65
Hsu Chien-hui 1989.9.10 171 60
Chang Shih-chieh 1986.3.16 171 56
Peng Szu-chin 1991.11.9 163 55
Li Wan-ting 1986.12.23 181 68
Huang Fan-shan 1987.9.29 172 64

Head coach: Lin Chien-ping
Assistants: Chien Te-yin, Chou Hung-yu

Taiwan announced 16-man roster for Asian Games men's basketball

Guangzhou

CTBA announced its 16-man men's basketball roster for the Asian Games in Gaungzhou, China on Wednesday with injured core players Tseng Wen-ting, Tien Lei, Lin Chih-chieh and Wu Tai-hao all returning to the national team training camp.

Wu Feng-cheng replaced Jet Chang, who will go back to Hawaii to prepare for his junior season with BYU-Hawaii.

Taiwan men's NT did not perform well during the past Asian Games, finishing for 5th place in 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, 6th place in 1994 in Hiroshima, 5th place in 1998 in Bangkok, 7th place in 2002 in Pusan, Korea and 8th place in 2006, Doha, Qatar.

Wu Feng-cheng 1986.11.27 195 80 Yulon
Yang Chin-min 1984.1.22 188 85 Taiwan Beer
Lee Hsueh-lin 1984.1.31 176 75 Yulon
Chen Shih-nian 1984.4.8 180 76 Taiwan Beer
Chen Shun-hsiang 1985.5.25 190 90 Bank of Taiwan
Hung Chih-shan 1985.7.5 176 75 Pure Youth
Chien Chia-hung 1987.3.6 197 108 Pure Youth
Cheng Jen-wei 1987.4.6 194 90 KKL
Lu Cheng-ju 1986.4.13 194 88 Yulon
Mao Chia-en 1982.11.16 196 90 Pure Youth
Tien Lei 1983.6.1 202 100 Dacin
Wu Tai-hao 1985.2.7 202 100 Taiwan Beer
Tseng Wen-ting 1984.7.6 203 90 Yulon
Chang Chih-feng 1981.4.22 183 90 Dacin
Lin Chih-chieh 1982.6.11 192 95 Taiwan Beer
Chou Po-chen 1990.8.8 196 94 University

Head coach: Zhang Xuelei
Assistants: Chiu Chi-yi, Wei Yung-tai

Sunday, August 22, 2010

2010-11 SBL season to tip off on Christmas

The CTBA has set Dec. 25 as the opening date of the 2010-2011 SBL season after a preparatory meeting this past week. The annual SBL draft will be held on Sept. 1.

There were also a number of changes made in the meeting. Weekly game days will be increased from three days to four days to shorten the season, which will run from December 2010 to April 2011. The first round playoffs will be in best-of-seven format instead of best-of-five.

The shortened season will give Taiwan NT more time to train and get ready for the East Asian Championship, the qualifying tournament for the 2011 Asian Championship, the CTBA said.

Exhibition games will be held before the season but there will be no All-Star Game. Each team will meet opponents five times each in a 30-game season as the same as last year.

With respect to import hiring, each team is allowed to hire an import under 6-7 (200cm) with a maximum monthly salary of US$10,000. The "import deadline" will be on Feb. 12, 2011, which means before this date teams can replace imports whenever they want.

According to local media report, CTBA had planned to implement a great scale of "reform" on season format but the plan was nixed by team representative. The planned new season format would see teams playing every opponent four times each. That means we would be looking at a 24-game season rather than 30.

Under the plan, the playoff format would have been overhauled. Six of seven teams in the league would make the playoffs. No. 6 will meet No. 3 and No. 4 will meet No. 5 in the best-of-seven first-round playoff with winners advance to the best-of-seven second round, where they will take on No. 1 and No. 2, which receive a Bye in the first round, respectively. The second round winners then advance to the best-of-seven SBL Finals.

The plan was to extend the playoffs to raise fan interest because attendance records have been always poor during the past regular seasons. In the past, top teams often tanked the regular season after clinching the playoffs and the bottom-dwellers simply just gave up in the second half of the season.

The season opener is expected to be held in Taipei area, the CTBA said, adding that regular season games will also be played around the country in places like the central city of Taichung, the southern port city Kaohsiung -- Taiwan's second largest city -- and Yilan, which is located in eastern Taiwan.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Stankovic Cup - Taiwan finished disappointed 7th place

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Taiwan lost to Jordan 85-70 but managed to beat Kazakhstan 73-67 in its last game of the 2010 FIBA Asia Stankovic tournament, finishing with a disappointing 7th place in Zhang Xuelei's first international competition as Taiwan NT head coach.

Zhang took over Taiwan NT this year and led the team to finish 5th in a 7-team Jones Cup tournament in July in his debut.

To be fair, Zhang’s scorecard is incomplete because several key players, such as Wu Tai-hao, Tien Lei, Lin Chih-chieh, have been absent since Zhang took over to rest their injuries. Chen Hsin-an was not on the national team this year because he did not play in Taiwan at all this past season.

However, things are not looking good for Taiwan NT, which has been dominated by opponents in Beirut in the paint time and time again. Taiwan’s set play and defense has been questionable under Zhang.

Moreover, almost all of Taiwan’s major opponents in Asia, including Japan and the Philippines, are improving rapidly. Japan and the Philippines hire foreign coaches respectively. Iran and Lebanon have been consistent while China and South Korea are always dominant.

It’s unfortunate that Taiwan chose not to retain Korean coach Chung Kwon-suk, who led Taiwan to the 5th place in the latest Asian Championship. Chung’s stress on defense and his no-nonsense approach had helped the team grow a lot during his tenure. And Taiwanese young coaches has learned a lot from him as his assistants.

Barring player injuries, Zhang needs to quickly transform the team in a short time for the next Asian Championship.

===

Story from Eurobasket.com:

Taiwan clinched the 7th spot at the 3rd FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup. In their last game the team overcame Kazakhstan 73:67 as the latter finished 8th.

Kazakhstan started more confident and enjoyed 17:8 in the opening tip. They increased to 21:12 after the first 10 minutes but could not keep the lead for good. Kazakhstan continued their push and had 30:19 after 15 minutes. Taiwan reduced the gap at the halftime as the board showed 39:33. The third period was decisive as Taiwan took 44:42 after the first 5 minutes in the third quarter. They kept 49:47 at the end of thirty minutes. Kazakhstan made the last spurt in the first minutes of the last period and had 58:57, but lost the game. Taiwan however won the rest of the quarter and celebrated the last win in Lebanon.

HUNG Chih-shan top-scored for the winners with 17 points and LU Cheng-ju nailed 13. CHEN Shih-nien netted 11, while Lee Hsueh-Lin (176-G-84) scored 10. Dmitriy Gavrilov (205-F-86) poured in 18 points in the losing effort, while Timur Sultanov (176-G-81), KAZANTSEV Sergey and Ruslan Gilyazutdinov (203-C-84) added 8 each.

Kazakhstan made 54 rebounds and Taiwan had 38. Kazakhstan made more points in the paint outscoring the opponents 40/28.

Taiwan: HUNG Chih-shan 17, LU Cheng-ju 13, CHEN Shih-nien 11, Lee Hsueh-Lin 10
Kazakhstan: Dmitriy Gavrilov 18, Timur Sultanov 8, KAZANTSEV Sergey 8, Ruslan Gilyazutdinov 8 (by Eurobasket News)

Story from FIBA Asia:

TPE/KAZ - Taipei rally to down Kazakhstan for seventh place
BEIRUT, Lebanon (3rd FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup): Chinese Taipei outscored Kazakhstan 14-9 in the last five minutes of the first half, and capped their rally with a 73-67 win to take the seventh position on Sunday.

Lu Cheng-ju (white jersey in the picture above) scored nine of his 13 points for the game during the second quarter to lead the Taipei resurgence.

Hung Chih-shian accounted for eight of his team-high 17 in the second quarter.

In contrast, 14 of Dmitriy Gavrilov’s (blue jersey in the picture above) game-high 18 points came in the first half.

“It’s good to round off our campaign with a win,” said Taipei coach Zhang Xueli.

“The competition has been tough and deep. Therefore any win here is hard earned, especially for our team which is rebuilding,” he added.

Kazakshtan coach Vadim Burakov sounded almost similar: “Each game played has been a learning experience. I’ll take anything that comes.”

“I think we played a tough game, and kept ourselves in the race till the end. We can only grow from here,” he said.

(Photo: FIBA Asia)

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Stankovic Cup - Taiwan's semifinal quest denied

FNA201081381646

Taiwan's hope of making the semifinal in the 2010 FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup was eliminated after a 86-78 loss to Qatar in a quarterfinal game Friday.

21 years-old 6-6 forward Targuy Alban Ngombo, who was reportedly a naturalized Qatari from Congo, punished Taiwan's thin frontline with 33 points and 10 rebounds. Ngombo led Qatar to surge ahead after the opening period and led by as many as 13.

E.A. Saeed had 17 points for Qatar, a team of veterans and some new faces.

Taiwan, which was outrebounded 50-27, managed to lead by 24-22 at the end of the first period, but everything went downhill after that.

Yang Ching-min led Taiwan with 16 points. James Mao had 15 and Lu Cheng-ju added 13. Jet Chang scored 12 while center Tseng Wen-ting was limited to 5 points and 6 boards.

In other quarterfinal games, Japan beat Jordan 94-80, the Philippines upset Iran 79-67 and Lebanon routed Kazakhstan 101-50.

In the semifinal, Qatar will meet Japan and Lebanon hosts the Philippines.

Japan’s victory means it has secured one more seat for East Asian countries in the next Asian Championship. In the 5-8 placing games, Taiwan will meet Jordan and Iran will meet Kazakhstan before the winners play for the 5th place.

The 5th place finish is crucial since top five teams in the tournament will win seats for each subzone in the next Asian Championship. If Taiwan is able to squeeze in the top five, it is almost certain that Taiwan will qualify for the next Asian Championship because there will be four seeds in the East Asia subzone, including two that were already granted and two won by Japan and Taiwan.

Which means the East Asia Championship, the qualifying tournament for the Asian Championship, won’t be a live-and-die tourney for Taiwan. All major countries in the region -- China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan -- should be able to clinch seeds in the Asian Championship.

FIBA Asia report:

QAT/TPE - Second quarter surge sees Qatar through to last four

BEIRUT, Lebanon (3rd FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup): GCC champions Qatar took charge of the proceedings early in the second quarter and then powered on past Chinese Taipei for a 86-78 win on Friday to take their place in the semifinals.

Qatar, winners of the inaugural edition of the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup in 2004, now await the winners of the Jordan-Japan quarterfinal game.

Coach Ali Fakhroo thus avenged the 79-87 defeat Qatar had suffered at the hands of Taipei in the fifth place play-off at the 25th FIBA Asia Championship in Tianjin last year, the last time the two had met in an official competition.

“This is an entirely different team. We are on a rebuilding process. And the boys are determined to prove their worth in every game,” Fakhroo said.

Both played hide and seek with the scoreboard for the better part of the first 15 minutes, during which Qatari spearhead Targuy Ngombo was rather subdued.

The 21-yearold, undoubtedly the find of the tournament for FIBA Asia in terms of scoring prolificacy, scored only five points during his entire stay of 10 minutes in the first quarter, but came into his own early in the second.

A characteristic drive-in followed by the draw of foul from the perimeter and the subsequent success with all the three free-throws announced Ngombo’s find of his sublime touch and there was no further trouble for Qatar.

A conversion of an offensive rebound furthered his team’s cause and when he took the assist from Ali Ali to logical – and successful – conclusion, Qatar were truly in control.

The team had to maintain the form thereafter, which they did with consummate ease.

“We are playing but far from our best,” said Fakhroo.

“There are yet chinks to be ironed out in offense as well as defense. More in defense. But I think we are getting better,” he added.

Ngombo eventually finished with a game-high 33 points – 11 of them coming in the crucial second quarter. He also pulled down 10 rebounds.

Erfan Saeed with 17 points and Daoud Musa continued their longstanding service for the National team with another impressive showing – the former collecting nine rebounds to go with his 17 points and the latter adding value to his 14 points with six boards and a game-high four assists.

(Photo: FIBA Asia)

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Stankovic Cup - Preliminary standings

Group A
1. Japan 3-1
2. Iran 2-2
3. Taiwan 2-2
4. Kazakhstan 2-2
5. Iraq 1-3

Group B
1. Lebanon 4-0
2. Qatar 3-1
3. Philippines 2-2
4. Jordan 1-3
5. Syria 0-4

Quarterfinals:
Iran vs. Philippines
Qatar vs. Taiwan
Lebanon vs. Kazakhstan
Japan vs. Jordan

Stankovic Cup - Rebounding hurts Taiwan again

Taiwan lost to Iran 86-67 in its last preliminary game of the 2010 FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup, finishing with 2 wins and 2 losses and a third-place in Group A. It will meet Qatar in the quarterfinal.

Taiwan was outrebounded once again by a large margin, this time trailing 57-31. "Since it's always not easy to gain rebounding advantage against taller West Asian opponents, perimeter shooting holds the key to winning. Unfortunately, our shots didn't fall this time, " Taiwan head coach Zhang Xuelei was quoted by the United Daily News as saying.

Taiwan shot 10 for 29 from the three-point range and 7 for 16 at the free-throw line. It trailed by as many as 20 points in the game.

Jet Chang scored a team-high 13 points and Yang Ching-min scored 12. Lee Hsueh-lin had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Tseng Wen-ting had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Zhang was partially right. Taiwan has been having trouble with taller opponents, especially with so many injuries at this stage (Wu Tai-hao and Tien Lei did not play) but that still wasn't enough to explain why it was humiliated by their opponents on the glass.

Taiwan only had 13 defensive rebounds against Japan. Is Japan that much taller? My observation is that Zhang did not fully prepare and motivate his players for the tournament. And that's not good for a team which has already lost many core players to injuries.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Stankovic Cup - Taiwan rallies to beat Iraq

Taiwan rallied behind point guard Lee Hsueh-lin in the final quarter to beat Iraq 86-77 in its third preliminary game of the 2010 Stankovic Cup tournament held in Beiruit, Lebanon Monday to increase its won-lost records to 2-1.

Lee had 9 points in the final 10 minutes as Taiwan, which led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter before a five-minute drought almost spoiled the game, overcame a 12-point deficit thanks to a timely 10-0 rally in the final period against its unfamiliar opponents.

According to Liberty Times, this is Iraq's first apprearance in Asian basketball competition in 23 years. It last played in the 1987 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, Liberty Times reported.

With five players over 200cm, including two players standing at 209cm, Iraq enjoyed a height advantage against the smaller Taiwanese team, which could only counter Iraqi with their porimeter shooting.

Leading 45-34 at the half, Taiwan hit the wall after intermission. It failed to scored in five minutes during which Iraq answered with a 19-0 run and led by 12 in the end of the third period.

Chen Shun-hsiang had 16 points to pace Taiwan, which made 13 three-pointers in the game. Lee Hsueh-lin followed his brilliant performance in the last game against Kazakhstan with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals.

Yang Ching-min added 13 while Chien Chia-hung had 12. Tseng Wen-ting had 8 points and 10 rebounds.

Taiwan had a rest day on Tuesday and will meet Iran in its next and the final preliminary game. It has clinched a berth in the second round.

Monday, August 09, 2010

Stankovic Cup - Taiwan beat Kazakhstan for first win

FPG2010889141

Yang Ching-min scored 22 points and Chen Shun-hsiang added 16 as Taiwan bounced back from a disappointing loss to Japan and defeat Kazakhstan 80-64 Sunday in the 2010 Stankovic Cup, which is being held in Beiruit, Lebanon.

Taiwan fared much better on the glass, compared to its opening game performance against Japan (35-16), despite being outrebounded 48-35 again. It broke the game open with a 25-15 third quarter run for its first win in the tourney.

PG Lee Hseuh-lin, who is expected to sign with China's Beijing Ducks next season, had 11 points, 10 assists and 7 steals. Center Tseng Wen-ting also shook off his slump and chipped in 11 points to go with 8 rebounds.

Kazakhstan was led by Dmitriy Gavrilov's 14 points and Dmitriy Kilmov's 12 points.

Taiwan is scheduled to meet Iran tonight. According to the China Times, 7-2 center Hamed Haddadi and 6-6 swingman Nikkhah Bahrami is not with the Iranian team in Beiruit, which boosts Taiwan's chance of winning.

Standings:

Group A
Iran 1-0
Japan 1-1
Kazakhstan 1-1
Taiwan 1-1
Iraq 0-1

Group B
Qatar 2-0
Lebanon 1-0
Philippines 1-1
Jordan 0-1
Syria 0-2

(Photo: FIBA Asia)

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Stankovic Cup - Taiwan drops opener to Japan

StankovicCup_Beirut2010

Outrebounded 35-16, Taiwan lost to Japan 61-58 in its opener in the 2010 FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup Sunday.

Taiwan dug itself a big hole in the first three minutes, during which Japan opened the game with a 13-0 run, and all it could do was trying to catch up with the Japanese after that.

Chien Chia-hung led Taiwan with 17 points while Chen Shih-nian had 12. Center Tseng Wen-ting added 8 points and 4 rebounds.

Japan was paced by Takuya Kawamura, who had 15 points,  and Kenta Hirose, who scored all of his 10 points in the first quarter. Kosuke Takeuchi had 9 points and 8 boards.

Taiwan head coach Zhang Xuelei started Lee Hsueh-lin and Chen Shih-nian at guards, Tseng at center and James Mao and Chien at forwards. Tseng's addition was expected to solidify Taiwan's thin frontline but the results turned out to be the same as the Jones Cup, when Taiwan was outrebounded in almost every game.

Taiwan assistant coach Chiu Tsung-chih was quoted by media as saying that Taiwan's defense was actually not bad, but rebounding proved to be the key.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Lee Chi-wei in Adidas Nation tourney

6-3 shooting guard Lee Chi-wei is on Team Asia in this week's Adidas Nation tournament.

Adidas Nations brings together the top 18 and under basketball players to compete in an international exhibition under the guidance of highly esteemed NBA veterans, coaches and players.  Individually selected teams from the US, Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia will all compete in Chicago August 5th – 9th.

2010 Team Asia

# Player Pos. Height Country

1 Yang Jinmeng PG 6'2" China

2 Li Qingxiang PG 6'2" China

3 Zhou Qi C 7'0" China

4 Ge Zhaobao C 7'0" China

5 Xing Zhiqiang WF 6'6" China

6 Heng Yifeng WF 6'4" China

7 Wei Zhengxian SG 6'5 China

8 Si Yuheng SG 6'4" China

9 Hu Yihan SG 6'2" China

10 Liu Zhixuan WF 6'4" China

11 Steven Adams F 6'10" New Zealand

12 Lee Chi-Wei SG 6'3" Taiwan

Head Coach: Frank Johnson: 14 -year NBA veteran; Former Head Coach, Phoenix Suns
Assistant Coaches: Chris Rivers and Li Ren
NBA Mentor:  Robin Lopez (Phoenix Suns)

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Good luck to Bob

Happinets_press_conference

The post in intended to wish my old friend Robert Pierce all the best. Bob was just named the head coach of the Akita Northern Happinets, an expansion team in Japan's pro league BJ League. He was introduced in a press conference held Aug. 2 along with the new strength and conditioning coach Masa Kawamura and five new players.

For Bob's coaching career in Japan, please see below:

Pierce named Akita's first coach
The Japan Times

Bob Pierce, the first coach in Shiga Lakestars history, has been appointed the expansion Akita Northern Happinets' first coach, the bj-league team announced on Friday.

Pierce, who turns 50 on Sunday, guided the Lakestars to the team's first playoff berth last season. The team made a 10-win improvement in 2009-10, going 29-23 and finishing fourth in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

Pierce's well-rounded career has also include time as the sideline supervisor of the JBL's Hitachi Sunrockers and a stint as an assistant coach for the Japan men's national team. He has also served as an Asia-based scout for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pierce filled the final coaching vacancy in the rapidly changing bj-league, which begins its sixth season in October. All told, only five of the league's 16 teams now have head coaches who held the same position with their respective teams at the start of the 2009-10 season.

(Photo: Bob Pierce)

Monday, August 02, 2010

Nam Wah wins 2010 Strait Cup Basketball Invitational

Nam Wah basketball club from Hong Kong, China emerged as a surprising winner of the 2010 Straits Cup Basketball Invitational after a three-way tie in the four-team tourney.

The Hong Kong club tied with Fujian Xunxin SBS of China's Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and Taiwan Beer of Taiwan's Super Basketball League (SBL) at 2-1 after a round robin games. Macau Fukien basketball team was 0-3.

Fujian won three of four titles since the tourney started five years ago. This is the first time the tourney has been held in Taiwan.

In other news, it has been reported several months ago that Yulon PG Lee Hsueh-lin could sign with Beijing Shougang Ducks. TB PG Chen Shih-nian is also in talks with a Chinese basketball club.

TB head coach Yen Chia-hua was quoted by local media as saying that Hsu Hao-cheng could leave TB and join Dacin Tigers, and Dacin's Huang Bao-tse could sign with his old team Taiwan Beer again.