Chen Hsin-an slowly finding his groove with LB Jam

Chen Hsin-an started for Long Beach Jam for the third straight game in the 132-126 loss to Las Vegas Rattlers. Chen was scoreless but gradually finding his groove back after sitting out most of the game after going to U.S. and switching teams from the defuncted Orange County Crush to the Long Beach Jam.

Chen's record in the ABA so far:

*Orange County Crush

Jan.9 OC Crush 127-114 LB Jam...4 min, 0 FG, 0 point

*Long Beach Jam (Started all three games he has played in so far)

Jan. 24 LB Jam 84-98 Ontario Warriors...13 min, 4-9 FG, 9p
Jan. 28 LB Jam 139-114 Tijuana Dragons...12 min, 4-8 FG, 12p+2rb+1a+1s
Jan. 29 LB Jam 126-132 Las Vegas Rattlers...11 min, 0-3 FG, 0p+1a

Hsu Chi-chao’s game-winner ends Yulon’s 7-game winning streak

Veteran Hsu Chi-chao made a game-winning jumper off his own miss with 1.9 seconds remaining, helping Dacin to a 71-69 win. Dacin snapped Yulon’s league-high seven-game winning streak.

Dacin has won two straight after a 5-5 start. Tien Lei, who had 29 points and 13 rebounds, and Hsu Chi-chao combined for Dacin’s last 16 points in the game. Hsu was 7 for 10 from the field in the game.

However things got worse for Sina, who lost 12 games straight and broke the SBL’s 11-game losing streak record previously held by Bank of Taiwan. Sina was no match for Videoland Hunters, the best team in the league right now. Videoland is the first team to reach 10 wins.

Dacin 71-69 Yulon
Dacin – Tien Lei 29p(10-15 FT)+13rb, Hsu Chi-chao 15p(7-10 FG)+6rb
Yulon – Chou Shih-yuan 15p, Wei Yong-tai 15p

Videoland 83-64 Sina
VL – Yang Che-yi 22p, Lin Shin-hwa 11p+12rb
Sina – Lu Cheng-ju 14p, Kao Li-min 12p+8rb, Lo Shin-liang 9p+3a

*Standings
Videoland 10-2, Yulon 8-3, Dacin 7-5, Taiwan Beer 6-5, bank of Taiwan 5-6, ETSN 4-7, Sina 0-12

Sina lost eleven straight, ties SBL record

Sina lost to ETSN 83-71 and tied the SBL’s longest losing streak with 11 straight defeats. Sina tied BOT’s record last season. Sina opened the season 0-11.

On the same night, Yulon routed Bank of Taiwan 106-64. The 42-point margin also set the largest margin in SBL history. Yulon won its seventh straight game and snapped BOT’s three-game winning streak.

Yulon 106-64 BOT
Yulon – Chou Shih-yuan 17p, Chou Hong-yu 15p, Hong Chi-chao 15p, Wei Yong-tai 15p
BOT – Wu Yong-jen 14p+6a, Yang Chin-min 13p, Cheng An-jay 8p+10rb

ETSN 83-71 Sina
ETSN – Yang Yu-min 20p, Wu Dai-hao 17p+6rb, Shan Wei-fan 13p+8rb, Wu Cheng-dao 12p
Sina – Wang Chuan-jian 20p, Liu Yi-hsiang 12p, Lo Shin-liang 10p

Lin Chi-jay had SBL-record 43 in losing effort

Reigning SBL scoring leader Lin Chi-jay had SBL-record 43 points in Taiwan Beer’s 91-89 loss to Dacin. Lin’s 43 broke the 41-points record set by Chen Hsin-an last season. Meanwhile, Bank of Taiwan routed ETSN 92-75 and is riding on a surprising three-game winning streak.

Dacin 91-89 Taiwan Beer
Dacin – Chang Chi-feng 34p, Hsu Chi-chao 20p, Tien Lei 18p+8rb
TB – Lin Chi-jay 43p, Ho Sho-jen 20p, Chen Shi-nian 11p

Bank of Taiwan 92-75 ETSN
BOT – Yang Chin-min 27p, Ju Yong-hong 24p+8rb, Cheng An-jay 12p+12rb, Lin Chun-feng 14p
ETSN – Yang Yu-min 24p, Wu Dai-hao 16p+6rb, Chou Jun-san 11p

Chen’s confidence rises in Long Beach debut

Chen Hsin-an, who officially signed with Long Beach on January 24th, had a surprising start and scored 9 points in 13 minutes in his Long Beach debut on January 25th. Long Beach lost 98-84 to the Ontario Warriors, but Chen obviously boosted his confidence after the turbulent first three months in the ABA. Chen didn’t know he was starting until tip-off. He shot 4 for 8 in the game.

Chen Hsin-an, aka Sean Chen, wears No.33 jersey for the Jam. He was scoreless in Orange County Crush’s loss to Utah Snowbears, his first game in the ABA, on January 9th. OC Crush folded after that while most of the team’s coaching staff and players joined Long Beach. OC Crush changed ownership and will operate in the new name of California Buzz.

SBL report Jan 21-23

Jan.21
Yulon 83-64 Taiwan Beer
Yulon - Chou Shih-yuan 17p, Tsun Wen-din 15p+9rb+7blk, Chen Chih-chun 15p
TB - Ha Hsiao-yuan 17p, Lin Chi-jay 15p, Chen Shi-nian 14p+6a

Bank of Taiwan 78-75 Sina
BOT - Yang Chin-min 21p, Lin Chun-fung 12p+10rb, Chen An-jay 11p
Sina - Lo Shin-liang 20p+8rb+5a, Yang Shi-hao 17p, Wang Chuan-jian 15p

Jan.22
Videoland 80-77(OT) ETSN
VL - Yang Che-yi 18p, Chen Huei 15p+6rb+6a, Lee Chi-yi 14p+9rb+3blk
ETSN - Yang Yu-min 22p, Liao Wei-chen 12p+14rb, Wu Cheng-dao 13p

Dacin 86-85 Sina
Dacin - Chang Chi-fung 25p, Tien Lei 19p, Wang Chih-chun 15p+7a, Lee Fong-yong 10p+11rb, Hsu Chi-chao 6p
Sina - Lo Shin-liang 11p, Liu Yi-hsiang 11p, Chen Shi-jay 11p

Jan.23
Videoland 93-87 Taiwan Beer
VL - Yang Che-yi 21p, Lai Kuo-hong 19p, Lin Jia-huang 14p, Huang Chun-hsiung 11p+9rb
TB - Lin Chi-jay 26p+8rb, Chen Shi-nian 23p+7a, Ho Sho-jen 16p

Bank of Taiwan 99-92(OT) Dacin
BOT - Ju Yong-hong 25p+13rb, Lin Chun-fung 13p, Yang Chin-min 12p, Cheng An-jay 11p+15rb
Dacin - Tien Lei 31p+11rb+3blk, Hsu Chi-chao 25p, Lee Fong-yong 10p

Aoshen 2-0 in Taiwan tour

Beijing Aoshen, which was suspended for one year in CBA, won its first two of seven exhibition games in Taiwan. The seven-game series will donate all the revenues to the tsunami refugees in South Asia.

Jan.17 Aoshen 107-59 Sina
Aoshen - Sun Yue 18p+9rb+14a, Jin Xin 19p+9rb, Huang Haibei 16p+17rb, Zhang Songtao 15p+4rb
Sina - Chen Shi-jay 14p

Jan. 18 Aoshen 97-83 Taiwan Beer(Half 60-34)
Aoshen - Huo Nan 30p, Jin Xin 14p+9rb, Huang Haibei 14p+6rb
TB - Lin Chi-jay 26p+6TO, Chen Shi-nian 17p+6rb+4a+4s

SBL action Jan 14-16

1/14
Yulon 80-66 ETSN
VL 89-68 BOT

1/15
Yulon 99-76 Sina
VL 88-79 Dacin

1/16
TB 76-63 Sina
Dacin 72-63 ETSN

Wang Chih-chun records SBL's first triple-double in blowout win

Dacin PG Wang Chih-chun (formerly in the name of Huang Chih-chun) had SBL's first ever triple-double -- 19 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists -- in the 102-89 win over Sina on January 9th and pushed Dacin to .500. Tien Lei scored his personal season-high 31 points in the game. Sina has lost six straight and remained the only winless team.

Wang Chih-chun was named Baller of the Week for Week 3.

Jan.9
Dacin 102-89 Sina
Dacin - Tien Lei 31p+10rb+3s, Wang Chih-chun 19p+11rb+13a, Chen Tse-wei 18p+6rb, Chang Chi-feng 12p+8a
Sina - Lo Shin-liang 25p+7rb+6a, Hsu Yong-yi 15p, Chen Shi-jay 12p, Kao Li-min 10p

Taiwan Beer 68-50 ETSN
TB - Lee Wei-min 13p, Lin Chi-jay 12p, Lin Kwan-lun 10p
ETSN - Shin Jin-jan 16p+11rb, Yang Yu-min 6p(1-17 FG), Wu Dai-hao 6p+7rb

Chen Hsin-an scoreless in ABA debut

Chen Hsin-an finally set his foot on the ABA court and got the taste of the real game. Chen went scoreless in 3:41 of playing time in Orange County Rush's January 10th 127-114 comeback victory over Long Beach Jam. Chen became the first Taiwanese player to play in a North American professional game.

Chen didn't take any shot and committed two fouls in the game, his first since going to Southern California more than two months ago. Chen admitted after the game he was a little bit nervous because he hasn't played in real games for a period of time.

Yuta Tabuse of Japan, another standout from Asia, had 17 points and 5 assists for the Jam.

Chen was in Sacramento Kings' pre-season training camp in 2002, Denver Nuggets' summer league tryout in 2003. In between he practiced with Mobile Revelers of NBDL. During the same time span, Yao Ming and Yuta Tabuse -- two players named with Chen as the most promising young Asian players by Asian Basketball Confederation in 1998 -- made it to the NBA.

However it's been a long and tough road for Chen, who wants to play in the NBA someday. Although he had a couple tryout chances, his team Yulon has been reluctant to let him go abroad. Finally Chen did sign with ABA's Orange County Crush in November last year, but Chen had to sit out the games before he received his working Visa.

He did received his Visa and cleared to play around Christamas. But the Crush was having financial problem, also having trouble to secure a home court. Players and coaches didn't get their pay for three weeks. Last week the Crush changed owners and finally looked stable for the time being. It changed its team name from Crush to Rush temporarily prior to the game versus Long Beach.

The Rush is now 9-1, good enough for the second place in ABA Red Division behind Utah Snowbears. Let's hope Chen find back his groove quickly and have a successful season in the ABA.