It seemed to me that Huang intentionally omitted Hu Lung-mao and Chen Ying-chun when he was asked to name notable players on the team, haha.
TPE - Huang: "Make friends here because bball is just a game"
VALMIERA (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Ahead of his team's opening game against hosts Latvia, Chinese-Taipei trainer Wan-Lung Huang - or Roman to friends - took some time out to chat with FIBA about his team's prospects in Latvia.
FIBA: You are one of the teams that we do not know very much about. Can you tell us a little bit about your team and how you got to be here?
Huang: This year it was very good for the Chinese Taipei team to make it into the World Championship because the last time we were here was 24 years ago. In the Asia Cup we played and worked hard. We had no big players so we had to work hard on our defense to beat Iran and qualify to be here. Again this year our size is too small but I think if we play as a team and work hard on defense we will do ok. For us it is not about winning or losing but just doing our best.
This tournament will be difficult for us. We have been together training for just two months as all the players go to different colleges and high schools.
FIBA: Looking at your group it is a very difficult one. Is there one game in particular that you are targeting to win?
Huang: Well I think our first game against Latvia but it will also be very tough. It is a home game for Latvia and also we do not know a lot about the Latvian team so we have to continue training the way we have been. It is too late to change anything now.
FIBA: Can you give us the names of two or three players who, as fans we should be watching?
Huang: Some of our inside players. Kuan-Chuan Chen (#15) and Kang-Chiao Hung (#13) have good skills. Also our point guard Chao-Yi Chien (#4) is also very good. As I said earlier, we have no size but our skills are good.
FIBA: How are your players enjoying the experience here?
It is very exciting for us to come here to Latvia…everything is new and fresh. I tell my guys let's make friends here because basketball is just a game so we need to enjoy ourselves and makes friends amongst the other players and coaches.