Chen "Airman" Hsin-an's return to Super Basketball League action from a four-month-long break was a hit as the Yulon Dinos' handled Lin "The Beast" Chih-jeh and his Taiwan Beer mates with ease in a 79-64 final on Friday night at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium.
The former Dinos' best all-purpose player pursued a career in the National Basketball Association last November and subsequently landed a starting role on the Long Beach Jam of the American Basketball Association (ABA).
With the ABA season coming to an end earlier this month, Chen came back to rejoin the Dinos last Monday, looking to finish out the season strong with his former team.
Even though Chen did not make it into the starting lineup, the Dinos started with a 10-0 run in the first four minutes of the game.
They would extend a 20-12 first-quarter lead by five points before the halftime intermission on a long three-pointer by Chou Shih-yuan and keep the double-digit lead for most of the second half.
"Chen's presence really boosted our confidence tonight for some reason; all the guys on the team seemed to have brought their "A" game with them." Head coach Lee Yun-kuan of the Dinos said of the return of his super star. Chou led all scorers with 26 points
Antelopes 74, Bank of Taiwan 68
The ETTV Antelopes and the Bank of Taiwan, both 9-12 for the season, ended with a 74-68 Antelopes win.
Bank of Taiwan forward Yang Jing-ming finished with a team-high 18 points for the game, but foul trouble and several key missed shots in the second half sunk the bankers as the Antelopes reduced a nine-point halftime deficit (44-35) by five in the third quarter and went ahead for good in the final seven minutes.
All-star center Wu Dai-hao scored 20 points for the Antelopes -- mostly from close range. Wu's 13 rebounds and two blocked-shots made life even more miserable for the bankers.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was