Month: July 2008

Roundup: Junior NT and TB’s HK visit

— Taiwan U-18 NT, which will compete in the Asian Men’s U-18 Championship in Iran from August 28 – September 5, started its training under Korean head coach Chung Kwang-suk this past week in Beitou, Taipei.

The team started its training camp earlier this month under assistants Hsieh Yu-chuan and Yang Yi-feng when Chung was coaching Taiwan NT in the Jones Cup.

Taiwan is slated in Group C with the Philippines, United Arab Emirates and Syria. The roster is down to 13 after losing two players to injury. With a height average of 188.5cm, this team has a long way to go in the tournament.

— This is an old news but I haven’t written about it. Yulon head coach Lee Yung-kwang resigned after the team failed to win the SBL champion in consecutive years. The Dinos won the first three SBL titles from 2004-2006.

Lee officially ended his 14-year career with Yulon as a player and a coach when he submitted his resignation in early June.

Zhang Xuelei, a former China NT member who came to Taiwan and played in the pro league CBA, will take over. Actually Zhang has been listed as the Head Coach since last season while Lee was listed as a "coach" but functioned as the real head coach.

— Taiwan Beer finished as third place with one win and two losses in the Strait Cup tournament in Hong Kong on July 27 after an 116-69 win over Macao.

Fans in Hong Kong and Taiwan were not happy with the two-time SBL champion. TB players took this tournament lightly and did not give their full effort, which disappointed HK fans. Back home, fans wondered why Lin Chih-chieh, Wu Tai-hao, Ho Shou-cheng and Chen Shih-nian, who all sat out the Jones Cup due to INJURY, were alive and kicking in Hong Kong just days after the Jones Cup. They did not look INJURED at all.

So much for "attitude, " TB’s team slogan which has become a hot marketing commodity which you can see printed on T-shirts, caps and many other TB merchandise.

Retired NBA stars to visit Taiwan

NBA Taiwan announced Friday that Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Glen Rice and B.J. Armstrong will visit Taiwan for NBA Madness, a NBA-sponsored event, from August 29-31.

The NBA veterans will participate in the NBA Madness in Taipei after a pair of Legends Games at Taipei Arena on August 29 and at Jhubei Stadium (Hsinchu County) on August 30.

The NBA Madness, now an annual event organized by the NBA, will be held at the following sites:

Aug. 16-17: Dream Mall, Kaohsiung City
Aug. 23-24: Shin Kong Matsukoshi Department Store, Taichung City
Aug. 30-31: Danshui MRT Station, Danshui, Taipei County

In the Legends Games, the NBA veterans will be paired with local players. According to the China Times, the roster will be:

Team A:
Clyde Drexler
Glen Rice
Wu Tai-hao (TB)
Ho Shou-cheng (TB)
Lin Chih-chieh (TB)
Chen Shih-nian (TB)
Hsu Hao-cheng (TB)
Yang Chin-min (TB)
Yen Hsin-shu (TB)
Chou Jun-san (TB assistant coach)
Rex Manu (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants)
Hsiung Jen-cheng (former player with Hung-fu Rams)

Team B:
Scottie Pippen
B.J. Armstrong
Hsu Chi-chan (BOT)
Doug Creighton (Pure Youth)
Cheng Jen-wei (dmedia)
Chang Yu-lin (Pure Youth)
Chen Shun-hsiang (BOT)
Ouyang Ching-heng (dmedia)
Chien Ming-fu (BOT)
Cheng Chih-lung (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants, current Taiwan Mobile head coach)
Huang Chun-hsiung (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants, current Taiwan Mobile assistant)
Liu Yi-hsiang (former CBA player with Hung-kuo Elephants)

One interesting thing though, the ticket price for the Legends Games will range between NT$ 4,000-8,000 (USD$131-263). I’m wondering will anyone actually buy the tickets to watch these guys play? I mean, these players were all great players, but the ticket prices are simply too high for kids and middle-class fans.

CTBA extends Korean head coach for two years

146 CTBA (Chinese Taipei Basketball Association) President Wang Jen-da said yesterday that the association has reached a decision to extend Korean head coach Chung Kwang-suk for another two years with Taiwan men’s national team until 2010 amid criticism over Chung’s performance.

Under Chung, Taiwan NT finished an all-time worst last place in the eight-team 2008 Jones Cup tournament. However, Chung led Taiwan NT to the sixth-place in the 2007 Asian Championship, Taiwan’s best finish in years.

Fans and media criticized Chung for his in-game substitutions, rotations and his communication with players since Chung doesn’t speak Mandarin and has to go through a translator to communicate with players.

Personally, I support CTBA’s decision. Taiwan NT was without almost all its core players — including Chen Hsin-an, Tien Lei, Lin Chih-chieh, Wu Tai-hao, Tseng Wen-ting and Ho Shou-cheng — in the Jones Cup. The Jones Cup team was quickly assembled and was at best a second national team.

For Chung’s six-man rotation in the Asian Championship last year, he said that he would only put those players who can play on the court. And I support that. On top of that, Chung knew he had to do well in the AC to convince the CTBA about his ability to lead.

Taiwan’s zone defense did improve under Chung. At least that’s my observation. But it’s important for him to be able to spend more time with the players and observe Taiwanese basketball. It will be difficult as the SBL season lasts six months and most players have to play for their college team in the university league.

Wang also said yesterday that Cheng Chih-lung, Chou Jun-san, Chiu Ta-tsun and Hsu Chin-tse will be young coaches the CTBA looked to develop in the future.

Taiwan will field two national teams in the Jones Cup next year, he said.

Chung led Korea NT to 1997 Asian Championship title, which remained to this day the only time Korea had defeated China in the Asian Championship in the last 40 years, and an appearance in 1998 World Championship, finishing 16th among 16 teams.

(Photo source: Liberty Times)

Video: Taiwan vs. Australia U-19 title game

I divided the game into eight parts and uploaded them to Veoh.com Jones Cup channel here. Once again, five of the eight parts were not validated. I don’t know why.

Anyway, you can view Part 1, 4 and 5 at this moment. Part 5 showed the first 10 minutes of the third quarter. I am very sorry about the failed parts. I’m not planning on uploading them again.

View the part 4 video below:

 

Finally, I have been pretty busy in the past few days and was not able to write more about the women’s games. And I was only able to record two games (both Taiwan vs. Australia).

Taiwan wins Jones Cup, MVP goes to Chiang

Taiwan 55-54 Australia U-19 NT

The win was not pretty. Taiwan’s senior women’s NT barely got past Australia U-19 NT 55-54 in the 2008 Jones Cup title game — after Australia lost 203cm center Elizabeth Cambage in the second quarter.

But a win is still a win. The thrilling victory gave Taiwan NT its sixth title in the Jones Cup and the first champion since 2005.

Australia, which trailed almost the entire second half, rallied behind Stephanie Cumming’s 12 points in the final quarter. Cumming scored seven straight points as Australia took the lead 54-53 with 20.7 seconds to go.

Taiwan showed its poise and experience down the stretch. Center Cheng Hui-yun hit Chu Yung-hsuan, who was left wide open at the baseline, and Chu knocked down her only field goal in the game with 6.1 seconds left to put Taiwan on top, 55-54.

Australia tried to let Cumming take the last shot but Taiwan forward Tsai Pei-chen fouled Cumming to stop the game clock. Australia had to hurry a desperation shot with time running out.

The result could’ve been different if Elizabeth Cambage did not sprain her ankle early in the second period. Cambage did not play again.

Forward Chiang Feng-chun, the tournament MVP, scored 10 straight as Taiwan surged past Australia 29-26 and maintain the advantage until the final two minutes.

Chaing had 19 points and 14 rebounds. Cheng Hui-yun and Tsai Pei-chen had 10 points each. Chu Yung-hsuan had three points, four steals and six rebounds. Taiwan’s defense held Australia to 31% shooting.

Australia was led by Cumming’s 17 points. Without Cambage, it was outrebounded by Taiwan 45-36.

Woori Bank 84-62 Malaysia NT

The joy of observing Korean basketball is their ability to shoot the lights out, which was the case Friday night when Woori Bank made 17 threes in a 22-point rout over the Malaysia NT in the third-place game of the 2008 Jones Cup women’s group.

Nobody expected Malaysia to win, actually, although everyone agreed that the Malaysia team has shown much improvement over the years.

Kim Eun-hye had 20 points, including six three-pointers, and 12 rebounds while Kim Sun-hye and Kim Eun-kyoung had 15 each for Woori Bank.

Thoh Chai-ling scored 16 points for Malaysia, the only winless team in the four-team tourney.

Taiwan edges Australia for 2008 Jones Cup crown

Chu Yung-hsuan made a go-ahead basket, her only field goal in the game, with 6.1 seconds to go as Taiwan beat Australia U-19 NT 55-54 in the 2008 Jones Cup women’s group final and won the title for the first time since 2005.

Trailing for almost the entire second half, Australia took a 54-53 lead with 40 seconds remaining after Stephanie Cumming scored five of her 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Chu, who had three points, 4 strals and 6 boards in the game, made the game-changing basket with 6.1 seonds left and Taiwan sure knew who Australia would go to. Tsai Pei-chen intentionally fouled Cumming in the ensuing possession as Australia struggled to get off the deperation shot in the final seconds.

Korea’s Woori Bank beat Malaysia 84-62 in the bronze medal game.

More summary to come later…

Final placing:
1. Taiwan
2. Australia
3. Woori Bank
4. Malaysia