Tien Lei's game-winning alley-oop dunk against Qatar

Taiwan beat Qatar on Tien’s buzzer-beating dunk

Tien Lei made a tie-breaking alley-oop dunk with 1.4 seconds left as Taiwan beat Qatar 75-73 in its last preliminary game on Tuesday in the 2012 FIBA Asia Cup tournament in Tokyo, Japan.

With 1.4 seconds left, Taiwan NT came out of a timeout and executed a near perfect set play by head coach Hsu Chin-tse for the surprising win.

Tien came off a backdoor screen by point guard Chen Shih-chieh, who missed both free-throws earlier and missed an opportunity to take a two-point lead, took off toward the basket and took an inbound pass from Lin Chih-chieh for the game-winning alley-oop dunk.

CTBA names 2012 Taiwan national men’s teams

The top five star players, including Chen Hsin-an and Tien Lei, were included in the 30-man rosters of the 2012 Taiwan men’s national teams announced by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association on May 23.

Hsu Chin-tse, who led Pure Youth to its first ever SBL title last month, would be the head coach of Taiwan’s national team while Chiu Da-tsun, coach of Dacin Tigers, would be the head coach of the national second team, which is also known as Kwang Hua team.

Taiwan announces final roster for EABC

[No Tien Lei (middle) and Tseng Wen-ting (right) for Taiwan NT this year. Lee Hsueh-lin (left) returned from China to be back with the team.]

The Chinese Taipei Basketball Association on Friday announced the final roster for the upcoming East Asian Basketball Championship, the qualifying tournament for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship.

The 12-man lineup is led by three core players who played last season in China, including former Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chih-chieh and a pair of ex-Yulon Luxgen stars -- forward Chen Hsin-an and point guard Lee Hsueh-lin.

Taiwan NT having trouble with injury and…basketball

Chen Tse-wei became the latest casualty down with injury as the 200cm Dacin forward withdrew from the national team training camp for the 2011 EABC, according to head coach Chou Jun-san.
So far, Chen, Tien Lei and Chang Chih-feng -- coincidentally, all three came from Dacin, have decided to sit out the EABC.

Players report to Taiwan NT training camp

Players reported to Taiwan NT training camp for the East Asian Basketball Championship (EABC) Tuesday as Taiwan NT head coach Chou Jun-san nominated Liu Hua-lin as his second assistant.

Nineteen of 24 players on the preliminary rosters reported to the camp in Taipei for the preparation of the EABC which will be held in Nanjing, China from June 8 to June 15.

CTBA announces 24-man preliminary roster of Taiwan men's NT

The Chinese Taipei Basketball Association approved the 24-man preliminary roster of Taiwan men's NT for the East Asian Basketball Championship, a qualifier for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Men, submitted by Taiwan NT head coach Chou Jun-san Friday.
Six oversea players, including the trio playing in China -- Lin Chih-chieh, Chen Hsin-an and Lee Hsueh-lin, Tseng Wen-ting, who is playing for BJ League's Osaka Evessa in Japan, and the pair playing in the U.S. -- Jet Chang and Chou Yi-hsiang.

Asian Games: Taiwan out of quarterfinals

Taiwan men's NT lost to Iran and the Philippines to finish 1-4 in the preliminaries and was out of the Asian Games quarterfinal round.

Taiwan lost to the Philippines 82-73 in a battle for the quarterfinal berth on Monday. Lin Chih-chieh had a team-high 21 points while Wu Tai-hao added 20. Lee Hsueh-lin tallied 19 points and 9 rebounds.

Tien Lei, who was bothered by his sprained ankle did not score in 14 minutes.

On Sunday, Taiwan made 12 threes and forced Iran to 22 turnovers but was unable to stop Iranian center A. Kardoustpoustinsaraei, who tallied 22 points and 16 points, in a 73-72 loss.

Taiwan still had the chance to win. However, Tien Lei, Taiwan's go-to man for the second straight game, failed to knock down the potential winning shot. Tien, who also failed to make the final shot in the game vs. Qatar, said after the game that he was fouled in the last possession but didn't get the whistle.

Lin Chih-chieh led the team with 22 points. Wu Tai-hao had 12 and Lee Hsueh-lin had 10. Taiwan was outrebounded 34-16.

Men's Standing:
Group E
China 5-0
South Korea 4-1
Jordan 3-2
North Korea 2-3
Mongolia 1-4
Uzbekistan 0-5

Group F
Japan 4-1
Iran 4-1
Philippines 3-2
Qatar 3-2
Taiwan 1-4
India 0-5

Quarterfinals:
South Korea vs. Philippines
Japan vs. North Korea
Iran vs. Jordan
China vs. Qatar

Women's Standings:
Group A
China 3-0
South Korea 2-1
Thailand 1-2
India 0-3

Group B
Japan 2-0
Taiwan 1-1
Maldives 0-2

Semifinals:
Japan vs. South Korea
China vs. Taiwan

(Photos: Liberty times, UDN.com)

Taiwan 1-1 in Asian Games men's basketball

Taiwan had an easy 93-66 win over India after losing to Japan 63-57 in the opener to split its first two games of the 2010 Asian Games men's basketball competition in Guangzhou, China.

On Wednesday, Lin Chih-chieh had 23 points and Tien added 20 in the rout. Yang Ching-min scored 13 pooints and point guard Lee Hsueh-lin dished out 10 assists to go with five points.

India was led by Jagdeep Singh's 22 points.

Taiwan was not so fortunate the previous night, when it committed 15 turnovers against Japan, which took advantage of Taiwan's carelessness for 14 fastbreak points. Japan also dominated the paint, scoring 44 points in the restricted area against Taiwan's 24.

Taiwan managed to pull within 24-23 at the half after a dismal first quarter, during which it only scored seven points. However, the team could not match up against the more prepared Japanese inside, especially after losing starting center Tseng Wen-ting, who didn't go to Guangzhou with the team due to injury.

Ryota Sakurai scored nine of his 12 points in the crucial fourth quarter to lift Japan for the victory. Joji Takeuchi paced the team with 15 points and 13 rebounds while his twin brother Kosuke Takeuchi also had a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards.

Yuta Tabuse had 10 points for the winner.

Taiwan has to finish in the top four of the six-team Group F to advance to the knockout quarterfinal round. After the loss to Japan, it needs to beat at least one team among Qatar, Iran and the Philippines to ensure the knockout round berth.

Asian Games standings as of Nov. 17

Group E
South Korea 2-0
China 2-0
Jordan 1-1
Mongolia 101
North Korea 0-2
Uzbekistan 0-2

Group F
Japan 2-0
Qatar 1-1
Taiwan 1-1
Iran 1-1
Philippines 1-1
India 0-2

(Photos: Liberty Times)

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

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

Taiwan's 12-man roster for FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup set

Taiwan NT head coach Zhang Xuelei announced his 12-man roster for the upcoming FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup tournament with center Tseng Wen-ting back in the mix to boost up the thin frontline.

The tournament will be held in Lebanon from Aug. 7-15 as a qualification tourney for the 2011 Asian Championship, which incidentally will also take place in Lebanon.

It will be also important for Taiwan to participate in this tournament and finish in the top five, which will win seeds for five subzones under FIBA Asia. Since the East Asia zone is granted two seeds in the next Asian Championship, if Taiwan fails to finish in the top five, it will have to vie for the two East Asian seeds with China and Japan, who will not send their teams to Lebanon next month, in the next East Asian Basketball Championship that also serves as a qualifying tournament.

Zhang will welcome back Tseng Wen-ting, who has been in the U.S. for individual training, after Taiwan NT’s miserable 2-4 record and the 5th-place finish in the 2010 Jones Cup. Entering the Jones Cup without a true center, Taiwan NT was outmatched in the paint defensively and could only rely on their perimeter game.

The addition of Tseng may not be probably enough though as most of Taiwan’s core players are still under rehab of their injuries. Tien Lei, Wu Tai-hao and Lin Chih-chieh will once again skip the Stankovic Cup. The health of Chen Hsin-an, who is now playing for China’s Dongguan, is also unclear. Chen was not selected to the national team partially because he did not play in Taiwan at all last year.

Po., Name, Ht., Age
G Lee Hsueh-lin, Yulon, 175cm, 26
G Chen Shih-nian, Taiwan Beer, 180cm, 26
G Yang Ching-min, TB, 188cm, 25
G Hong Chih-shan, Pure Youth, 176cm, 24
G Chen Shun-hsiang, BOT, 190cm, 25
G Jet Chang, BYU Hawaii, 190cm, 21
F Chien Chia-hong, Pure Youth, 196cm, 22
F James Mao, Pure Youth, 196cm, 27
F Lu Cheng-ju, Yulon, 192cm, 23
F Cheng jen-wei, KKL, 194cm, 23
F Chen Tse-wei, Dacin, 200cm, 24
C Tseng Wen-ting, Yulon, 204cm, 26

Head Coach: Zhang Xuelei
Assistants: Chiu Tsun-chih, Chiu Chi-yi

Cross-Strait tournament
The fifth edition of a cross-Taiwan Strait tournament will be held in Taiwan in the end of the month with four teams participating, local media reported. The four teams are: Taiwan Beer, Fujian SBS Xunxin from Chinese League CBA, Hong Kong champion Nam Wah and Macau Fukien basketball team. The tourney will be played at Taipei Municiple Arena and National Yilan University Stadium.

SBL Finals: Dacin escapes elimination, now trailing 3-2

Tien Lei had 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter and Dacin received huge support from its backcourt as the Tigers won Game 5 89-76 Saturday in the 2010 SBL Finals and kept their title hopes alive, now trailing Yulon 3-2.

With its back against the wall, Dacin opened the game 11-3 and never looked back, leading 38-32 at the half. Byron Allen had to spend the entire third quarter on the bench due to foul troubles but that was not a problem for Dacin.

Tien had two three-pointers in the decisive third period as Dacin led by as many as 14. Yulon's comeback bid was put off by Huang Bao-tse's three and Allen's three-point play in the final quarter. he Luxgen was never able to pull within seven points.

Game 6 will be played Sunday night at Hsinjhuang Stadium, Taipei County.

Game 5: Dacin 89-76 Yulon

Dacin: Tien Lei 20p+10rb, Byron Allen 13p, Su Hsiang-yi 13p, Huang Bao-tse 13p, Lo Yu-chun 13p
Yulon: Tseng Wen-ting 21p+9rb+4a, Lu Cheng-ju 15p, Lee Hsueh-lin 12, Yang Che-yi 10p, Chen Chih-chung 10p

Lo Yu-chun (left) and Huang Bao-tse were the key in the Game 5 victory

Game 4: Yulon 87-81 Dacin

Chen Chih-chung scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the first half and led Yulon Luxgen to a commanding 3-1 series lead after a 87-81 win over the defending champ Dacin Tigers. Dacin had a 12-4 spurt to close the gap to 79-76 but was unable to make the final push.

Dacin was obviously hurt by the demise of Chang Chih-feng, who won the SBL MVPs in the regular season and in the Finals last year. Chang averaged only 7.3 points peer game in the first four games of the Finals, almost 50% off from his regular season average of 15.2 points. He averaged for 15.9 points per game in the 2009 SBL Finals.

Yulon: Chen Chih-chung 27p+8rb+5a, Lee Hsueh-lin 17p+4a, Wu Feng-cheng 16p, Tseng Wen-ting 16p+10rb
Dacin: B. Allen 20p+6rb, Tien Lei 18p, Su Yi-chieh 14p+5rb+4a, Chang Chih-feng 10p

(Photos: ESPN Taiwan)

SBL Finals: Yulon takes 2-1 lead after three games

 

Some observation:

-- Yulon, the only team that does not hire an import player and the team that said is to "make the playoffs" at the start of the season, is now looking at its 4th SBL titles in team history.

-- These teams had played 8 games in 10 days. What kind of stupid postseason schedule was that? You can only find this in Taiwan.

-- It appeared that very few people are paying attention to the SBL Finals, which is supposed to be the best basketball competition in Taiwan, with less than 1,000 fans at each game.

-- It appeared that the players and the management thought that the only thing they should do is playing ball when only one of four head coaches attended the pre-postseason press conference two weeks ago. They didn't even bother to talk to the media.

Game 3: Yulon 72-71 Dacin

Tien Lei missed one of two free-throws with 2.8 seconds left as Dacin missed an opportunity to tie the game and lost to Yulon 72-71 in Game 3 of the 2010 SBL Finals.

Lu Cheng-ju's left-handed layup with 14.9 seconds to go helped Yulon to take a two-point lead, 72-70. He had 17 points and 7 rebounds in the game.

Chen Chih-chung had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for Yulon while Yang Che-yi had 11.

Dacin was led by Byron Allen's 19 and 9. Tien Lei had 16 points and 8 boards while Lin Yi-hui added 11.

Game 2: Dacin 79-65 Yulon

Tien Lei exploded for 31 points and 9 rebounds and Byron Allen added 19 points and 11 boards as Dacin tied the 2010 SBL Finals at 1-1 after a 79-65 victory over Yulon.

Dacin point guard Su Yi-chieh also chipped in 14 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals.

Lu Cheng-ju led Yulon with 12 points and center Tseng Wen-ting had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Chou Shih-yuan and Wu Feng-cheng scored 10 each.

(Photos: ESPN Taiwan)

Hawkins exploded for 38 points

Shawn Hawkins exploded for 38 points, making 8 of 10 threes and 14 of 22 from the field, and led KKL to a 92-77 win over Taiwan Mobile on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Dacin forward Tien Lei registered SBL's second triple-double of local players in the 83-65 rout of Bank of Taiwan, the only winless team in the league after two weeks of action.

Tien had 18 points, 14 boards and 11 assists for his first career triple-double. Tien's teammate Wang Chih-chung became the first Taiwanese player to have a triple-double when he tallied 19 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists in a game vs. Sina Lions during the 2004-05 season.

Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Chia-hua said after the team lost to Pure Youth and dropped to 1-3 that TB could choose not to sign any import for the season if Delvin Thomas is not kept eventually.

Antonio Grant had 8 points and 8 rebounds for TM in 18 minutes. So far Grant has not received too much playing time, coming off the bench in both games.

Dacin 83-65 BOT
Dacin: Tien Lei 18p+14rb+11a, B. Allen 13p+7rb+3blk
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 19p, Sun Huan-po 15p, Hsu Chih-chang 15p

PY 89-81 TB
PY: Jon Sanders 27p+8rb+6a+3s, Tsai Wen-cheng 22p+8rb, Chien Chia-hung 13p, Zuo Tsun-kai 11p
TB: Yang Ching-min 20p+6rb, D. Thomas 16p+7rb, Wu Tai-hao 14p

KKL 92-77 TM
KKL: S. Hawkins 38p+10rb (14-22 FG, 8-10 3PT), Cheng Jen-wei 23p+10rb, Kao Tien-lin 11p+8a
TM: Liu Sheng-yao 16p, Chen Yao-ting 13p, Chen Huei 11p+5rb+4a, Wu Yung-jen 11p

Standing:
Yulon 3-1
PY 3-1
Dacin 3-1
KKL 2-1
TM 1-2
TB 1-3
BOT 0-4

(photo: ESPN Taiwan)

Hawkins, Sanders led the way

In a season widely seen as one which will be dominated by foreign players, Shawn Hawkins and Jon Sanders are starting to make the prediction come true.

Hawkins had 24 points and 9 rebounds in his debut and led KKL to a 80-77 win over Yulon Sunday while Jon Sanders tallied 30 points and 10 boards in Pure Youth's 96-79 rout of defending champ Dacin.

KKL coaching staff and players gave Hawkins a lot of credits, saying that Hawkins is a unselfish and all-around player who plays hard and does not care how many shots he took.

Meanwhile, Sanders showed his defensive skill when he limited Dacin top scorer Tien Lei to less than 10 points.

KKL 80-77 Yulon
KKL: Hawkins 24p+9rb, Cheng Jen-wei 24p, Lin Chih-lung 10p
Yulon: Tseng Wen-ting 20p+13rb, Lee Hsueh-lin 10p

PY 96-79 Dacin
PY: Sanders 30p+10rb, Hung Chih-shan 22p, James Mao 18p+5a
Daciin: Wang Chih-chun 22p, Chang Chih-feng 18p, Byron Allen 13p+8rb

TM 78-73 BOT
TM: Ouyang Ching-heng 31p, Wu Yung-jen 13p, Hsu Wei-sheng 11rb+5a
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 15p, Sun Huan-po 15p, Hsu Chih-chang 13p+12rb

Standing:
1. KKL 1-0
1. TM 1-0
3. Dacin 1-1
3. Yulon 1-1
3. PY 1-1
6. TB 0-1
6. BOT 0-1

(Photos: ESPN Taiwan, UDN, Apple Daily, Liberty Times)

Chinese teams target on Tien Lei

At least two teams in the Chinese league CBA have targeted Taiwan forward Tien Lei and reportedly offer a minimum monthly wage of US$20,000 (approximately NT$660,000), Liberty Times reported Friday.

It is the second time in this past month that Chinese team are targeting Taiwanese players following a recruiting offer for Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chih-chieh, who was offered to play in China for US$10,000 per month.

Tien Lei's father confirmed the offer, which Tien Lei said is too tempting to turn down. "I don't think anyone who's been approached (to play in China) would say no, " Tien was quoted by the Liberty Times as saying.

According to Liberty Times, a number of team representatives contacted Tien Lei during the Asian Championship in Tianjin, where Tien averaged 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds and helped Taiwan to a 5th place finish.

In addition to the monthly salary offer, Chinese representatives also promised to deal with Tien Lei's buyout clause with Dacin Tigers, one of seven teams in the Taiwanese league SBL.

However, Tien, Lin or anyone else will not be able to play overseas before the CTBA (Chinese Taipei Basketball Association) makes clear its policy.

Fearing that the potential exodus of top Taiwanese players will hollow out the domestic league, CTBA announced a "24-man protection list" last June after a circulating rumor saying that Chen Hsin-an would leave Taiwan and play in the CBA for a one-year contract that worth NT$6 million.

The list included 24 national team players and top Taiwanese players, including Tien, Lin, Chen Hsin-an, Tseng Wen-ting and Wu Tai-hao. Protected players were prohibited to play overseas within 12 months.

CTBA deputy secretary-general Wang Jen-sheng told the media the protection period has expired, which means it's possible for Taiwanese players to sign with Chinese teams in the second half of year 2009.

Dacin manager Wang Tsai-hsiang, son of Dacin owner and CTBA president Wang Jen-da, said that Xinjiang Flying Tigers expressed interests in signing the 6-7 lanky forward two years ago. Dacin and Tien eventually turned down the offer because Tien was rehabbing at the time.

"In fact Tien's salaries in China and Taiwan are about the same because Dacin players received a guaranteed 14-month annual salary plus the bonuses , while Chinese teams only pay their players during the 4-month season, " Wang explained, saying that Tien Lei is expected to earn around NT$ 2.58 million in Taiwan and NT$ 2.64 million in China.

Wang Jen-da has called a CTBA meeting on September 17 to make a final decision about the matter, LT reported. The LT reporter wrote that the exodus looks like imminent if CTBA fails to establish a plan which focuses on SBL's long-term development.

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

Dacin one win away from first SBL title

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.

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.

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)

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

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.

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.

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.

Dacin fans.

Lin Chih-chieh.

Press conference before the Finals.

TB head coach Yen Chia-hwa.

Lin Chih-chieh.

(All photos: Yahoo Taiwan Sports)

Tien has 34 in Dacin's crucial win over Yulon

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