Apple Daily reported that Yulon Luxgen forward Chen Hsin-an is scheduled to go to China next Sunday and is expected to sign with Dongguan New Century.

Chen, who had surgeries on both knees in June, is working on his conditioning to prepare for the upcoming season in China, which will tip off on Dec. 19.

Once the biggest star in Taiwanese basketball, Chen has been plagued by injuries during the past three years and his skill deteriorated.

With or without Chen, Yulon has been and will always be competitive with the core of center Tseng Wen-ting and a group of aggressive and experienced guards. Which was why Yulon let go of Chen.

Sources told me that Yulon planned to send Chen to Shanxi but Chen opposed the move. Luxgen head coach Zhang Xue-lei, sources said, made up his mind that Yulon would stay competitive without Chen. At the same time he can be a valuable asset for his good friend Wu Qing-long, Shanxi’s head coach.

Feeling unwanted, Chen then made his move to contact Chinese teams although he’s still under contract. He figured that Yulon would let him do whatever he wanted again, just like what happened in 2002 when he tried out for Sacramento Kings and 2005, when he signed a lucrative contract with ETSN Antelopes before changing mind and re-joining Yulon.

Guess what? Chen was right. Not only Yulon approved his transfer to China but Yulon decided not to challenge Chen’s breach of contract.

On other news, Lin Chih-chieh, who’s currently in Zhejiang’s pre-season training camp, said that his goal for the new season is averaging 10-15 points and 5 assists.

But Lin will have to make a major adjustment in his game, which contains a lot of penetration. Zhejiang head coach Wang Fei, a former Chinese NT member, stresses a lot on set-up plays which require less penetration, more ball movement, cutting and screening.

(Photo: Apple Daily)

Did I say Taiwanese basketball never ceases to amaze me? Well, here’s the latest example. Liberty Times reported Saturday that five of seven SBL teams plan to set up a new committee to tackle on the marketing issue.

Dacin Tigers, which is owned by CTBA President Wang Jen-da, and Bank of Taiwan, a state-owned bank, were not invited to join the Super Basketball Developmental Committee, which will officially established on Nov. 17.

Taiwan Mobile general manager Wang Hong-shen said the committee looks to improve the marketing aspect of the SBL and will not be competing with the SBL Committee, comprised of team representatives and CTBA officials, for the leadership and organizational power.

"It is a division of labor, " Wang said.

CTBA deputy secretary-general Wang Jen-shen expressed his disappointment toward the move. "The move will destroy what the league has accomplished during the past six years if they want to take the matters in their own hands." Wang was referring to game operations, including venue and officiating.

"I doubt they will be able to set up all those things before the season opener in January, " he said.

The strange thing is:

1. The new committee excludes Dacin and BOT although it stresses that marketing will be its only goal. If that is true, why do they decide to left two teams out in the cold?

2. Although the new committee stresses that marketing will be its main goal, Wang Jen-shen still presumed that it’s trying to take charge of everything eventually.

Do you smell something?

Wang jen-shen is not stupid. And I bet he’s thinking what I’m thinking: these teams are trying to break away fro m the CTBA to set up their own league — again.

However I don’t think Wang and the CTBA are panicking any time soon. SBL teams have threatened to leave the league and set up a new one like…a million times, but they never actually did anything.

It will be interesting to see how this thing develops though.

Doug Creighton was selected by Bank of Taiwan Wednesday as the No. 1 pick in the 2009 SBL Local Draft.

Wait. You ask, "Hasn’t Creighton played in the SBL for two years?"

Yes, you’re right. He played for Pure Youth and Bank of Taiwan in the past two years.

But you’re also wrong, because he played as a foreigner during those years and this will be the first year he plays as a local after obtaining a Taiwanese I.D.

As crazy as it may seem, Doug Creighton was handed a BOT jersey from BOT head coach Lai Liang-chung, the man he played for last season, in the draft ceremony. Check the photo here.

In a relatively meaningless local draft, five of 12 applicants were selected by SBL teams. Pure Youth, Yulon and Dacin did not pick up anyone. Taiwan Mobile picked Taiwan Junior NT member Chen Po-wei at No. 2. At No.3 KKL selected 200cm center Lan Ching-chieh from NKNU. Taiwan Beer selected point guard Yang Nung.

KKL added point guard Hsu Bing-yen in the second round.

The draft is pretty much meaningless because most of the players picked up would not be able to play right away. According to the agreement between the SBL and the UBA (University Basketball Association), college players are not allowed to play in the SBL before their junior year.

Which means, if you select a high school graduate in the draft, he would not be playing for you in two years.

The SBL tried to pattern the draft after the NBA draft or most drafts you see elsewhere, but some teams never take the draft seriously. Yulon Luxgen, which has the largest budget among seven SBL teams, added promising prospect Lin Chieh-min to its roster prior to last season without going through the local draft.

Funny thing is that nobody said a word about it! And the SBL Committee never do anything about it. No fines and penalty. No condemnation. No statement. Everyone acted like it has never happened.

It’s not surprising to see that the draft which had a good intention at the first place has become a joke.

(Photo source: Apple Daily)

Chen Hsin-an.

Several local media reported that at least three players, including Yulon Luxgen star forward Chen Hsin-an, will sign with Chinese teams and play in China next season and a news wave of Taiwanese players exodus to China looked inevitable.

According to the reports, Taiwan Beer point guard Hsu Hao-cheng and former Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor (KKL) guard Lin Kwan-lun, who was released in the summer, will sign with Shanxi, one of 18 teams in Chinese pro league CBA (Chinese Basketball Association).

Hsu signed a one-year contract and will be paid US$15,000 and Lin signed a two-year contract of a monthly salary of US$8,000.

It was also reported that Chen Hsin-an, one of the best players in Taiwan, will sign with Guangdong for an annual salary of NT$11M (US$340,000) which is 7.6 times of his current salary with Yulon.

Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chih-chieh was the first Taiwanese player to sign with Chinese club this year, inking a one-year contract with Zhejiang in September which will earn him around US$15,000 per month plus incentives.

However, Central News Agency reported that Chen has not signed with any team although he expressed his wish to play in China for better salary.

Chen was quoted as saying that it was true that he has been in contact with three CBA teams, but stories about the NT$11M salary were incorrect.

The 29-years-old forward still has two years left in his contract with Yulon. The interesting thing was that Yulon’ general manager Chiang Yu-cheng told a press conference that the team will grant Chen his letter of clearance which allows him to transfer his registration to Chinese basketball authority.

These are not all. Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Chia-hwa was quoted by the media saying that TB center Wu Tai-hao has been courted by as many as six CBA teams with lucrative offers. Yen would not let of Wu, however, stressing that Wu is an irreplaceable piece in TB’s quest for the SBL title.

Rumor said Yulon lead guard Lee Hsueh-lin is entertaining the idea of playing in China for better pay, too.

All these rumors make you wonder what will the 2009-2010 SBL season look like when it tips off next January. Will half of Taiwan NT players play in the opposite side of the Taiwan Strait?

On the other hand, I guess we can’t blame the players for dumping the SBL for greener pasture when the league they try to leave behind is one which is still without a TV contract and not knowing whether it should allow foreign players or not with one month before its season opener.

A pair of Taiwan’s U-16 NTs will participate in the inaugural Asia U-16 Championships in the next two months looking for a seat in FIBA U-17 Championships next year.

A quick look at the inaugural tournament:

Taiwan men’s U-16 NT is among 17 teams in the championship which will be held in Johor Bahru, Malaysia from November 11-29. Placing in the same group with Iran, Thailand and Saudi Arabia, Taiwan will have to finish in the top two to advance to the quarterfinal round.

Taiwan women’s U-16 NT is heading for Pune, India for the competition to be held from November 20 to December 6. Twelve participating teams will be divided into two preliminary groups. Taiwan is bracketed in the same group with China, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong and India.

Iran drawn in Group D; China in Group A: FIBA Asia U16 Championship

JOHOR BAHRU (FIBA Asia U16 Championship): Seventeen teams drawn will battle it out in the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship to be played in this Malaysian city from Nov 19-27, 2009.

The draw for the preliminary round of Championship was concluded on Monday.

The top two teams from the Championship will qualify for the inaugural 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship to be played in Hamburg, Germany from July 2-11, 2010.

Iran, who are the current champions of the FIBA Asia Championship (for Senior men) as also the FIBA Asia U18 Championship, have been drawn along side Chinese Taipei, Saudi Arabia and Thailand in Group C.

Iran also recently bagged the gold medal at the WABA U16 Championship played in Lebanon, while qualifying for this Championship.

Traditional powerhouses China are drawn in Group A with challenge coming from Myanmar, India and Jordan.

Jordan recently finished second behind Iran in the WABA U16 Championship.

Myanmar make their debut in FIBA Asia competitions.

Group B brings in an interesting round of competition among East Asia’s Japan, SEABA’s Philippines and Middle Asia’s Kazakhstan along with Gulf sub-zone U16 champions Bahrain.

Group C has five teams, one additional team more than the other three groups.

Hosts Malaysia join fellow SEABA nation Singapore, East Asian giants Korea, WABA bronze medalists Syria and Gulf zone’s Kuwait in Group C.

The top two teams from the four groups will advance into the top half of the Quarterfinal round with the eight teams being drawn into two groups of four teams each in the following manner:
Group I: A1, B2, C1, D2
Group II: B1, A2, C2, D1.

The other teams in the four preliminary round groups will head off into the Quarterfinal round in a similar fashion, but playing for the 9-17 positions.

The top two teams from Groups I and II will qualify for the semifinals. The winners of the semifinals will play for the gold medal and the losers for the bronze.

The teams playing the gold medal game will represent FIBA Asia in the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship.

Groupings for Preliminary round:

Group A: China, India, Jordan, Myanmar.
Group B: Bahrain, Japan, Kazakhstan, Philippines.
Group C: Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Singapore, Syria.
Group D: Chinese Taipei, Iran, Thailand, Saudi Arabia.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

Twelve in fray for inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women

PUNE (FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women): Twelve teams drawn into two groups of six teams each will match wits in the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women to be played in this historic city near India’s financial capital Mumbai from Nov 30-Dec 6, 2009.

The draw for the Championship was conducted on Monday, along side the draw for the FIBA Asia U16 Championship (for Men) at Malaysian city Johor Bahru, which will host the men’s event.

“Since this was the inaugural Championship, we decided to conduct a draw for the preliminary round,” explained FIBA Asia Secretary General Dato’ Yeoh Choo Hock.

“From the next Championship, we will consider dividing the teams will be divided into Level I and II like how we do for the other women’s events,” he added.

The top two teams from the Championship will represent FIBA Asia in the inaugural FIBA U17 World Championship for Women to be played in France from July 16-25, 2010.

Ten of the teams figuring in the FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women played in the recently concluded 23rd FIBA Asia Women Championship.

Singapore and Hong Kong replace Lebanon and Uzbekistan from the fray that played at Chennai, but neither of them are new comers to FIBA Asia competitions especially among women.

Hosts India have been drawn in Group A, which also features China and Chinese Taipei. Both Singapore and Hong Kong have been drawn in Group A with Philippines completing the challenge.

Korea and Japan head the competition in Group B with challenge coming from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Kazakhstan.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals. The winners of the semifinals will play for the gold medal and the losers for the bronze.

The teams playing the gold medal game would have already qualified for the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

Groupings for Preliminary Round:

Group A: China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Singapore
Group B: Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

Taiwan men’s NT will try to defend its East Asian Games title when the quadrennial competition takes place in Hong Kong in December while Taiwan women’s NT looks to revenge its loss to China in the title game four years ago in Macau.

2009 EAG Primer

Taiwan Men’s NT
– 8 teams
– Preliminary: Two groups of four
Group A: Macau, Taiwan, Mongolia, China
Group B: Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Guam
– Top two in each group advance to the semifinal round
– Schedule:
Dec. 3 15:30 vs. Macau
Dec. 5 13:15 vs. Mongolia
Dec. 7 20:00 vs. China

Taiwan Women’s NT
– 6 teams
– Preliminary: Single round robin. Top four advance to the semifinal round
– Schedule:
Dec. 2 11:00 vs. China
Dec. 3 17:45 vs. Hong Kong
Dec. 4 13:15 vs. Japan
Dec. 6 11:00 vs. Guam
Dec. 7 11:00 vs. Korea

Lee Benson and Donta Smith dominated the tournament throughout as China’s Shanxi won the 2009 Guanhu Cup Invitational Tournament in the eastern Taiwan resort city of Hualien Sunday after routing Taiwan Beer 102-69 in the title game.

However, the annual tournament which was also known as Hualien Probation Basketball (HPB) tournament has been marred by none other than South Korea’s Kyunghee University. The KU team, one of South Korean college basketball powerhouses, boycotted the game on opening day before going for a bench-clearing brawl on the final day.

The most intriguing team is the US team, which consists of mostly Afghan players coming from the U.S. I haven’t had the chance to see them play since no TV station broadcast the tournament this year.

A good news for Yulon was the return of Chen Hsin-an, who had both of his knees operated in the U.S. this summer. Sitting out for almost the enitre year, Chen Hsin-an was still rusty in his first game back, scoring 6 points and pulling down 6 rebounds in 26 minutes.

Taiwan Beer signed a pair of veterans in Shan Wei-fan and Shin Jin-jan to fill the void of Lin Chih-chieh, who left taiwan to play for China’s Zhejiang this year.

Oct. 14
Shanxi 91-76 Yulon
US 99-45 Malaysia
KKL 84-76 Dacin
TB 62-60 Kyunghee Univ.

Oct .15
Kyunghee Univ. 84-81 KKL
Shanxi 91-52 Malaysia
Yulon 82-65 US
TB 78-75 Dacin

Oct. 16
US 75-71 Shanxi
TB 94-85 KKL
Yulon 94-64 Malaysia
Kyunghee 73-58 Dacin

Oct. 17
Shanxi 94-76 Kyunghee Univ.
TB 90-82 Yulon
US 79-66 Dacin

Oct. 18
3rd-place game: Yulon 83-73 Kyunghee Univ.
Title game: Shanxi 102-69 TB
Final Placing:
1. Shanxi
2. Taiwan Beer
3. Yulon
4. Kyunghee University

(Photos: Liberty Times, Apple Daily, UDN.com)

TAIPEI, Taiwan(AP) In the first NBA preseason game played in Taiwan, the Indiana Pacers defeated the Denver Nuggets 126-104 on Thursday.

Troy Murphy, Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert each scored 20 points for the Pacers, who led throughout the game in front of a sellout crowd of 13,599 at the Taipei Arena.

"We’re probably about 35 percent ready for the season,” Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said. "We executed tonight what we practiced.”

Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 17 points. J.R. Smith added 16 points and Chauncey Billips and Joey Graham each had 14.

"Right now, we’re not playing with a good rhythm,” Nuggets coach George Carl said. "We have to find answers by (the season opener on) Oct. 28.”

Indiana made 14 of 25 3-pointers, led by Rush, who was 6 for 12. Murphy was 4 for 4 from outside the arc, and A.J. Price was 4 for 6.

The Pacers led by eight points at the end of the first quarter and expanded it to 14 at the half. They led 98-74 heading into the fourth quarter.

(Photos: NBA.com)