The 2005 Super Basketball League (SBL) season closed out on a high note with the annual awards ceremony being held in Taipei on Wednesday night. Crowd favorite Tien Lei was by far the biggest winner on the night as he took home the season's Most Valuable Player (MVP) honor for the second year in a row, in addition to winning the rebounding crown (also for the second straight year) and being named to the All-SBL Team.
The second-year big man for the Dacin Tigers celebrated his 22nd birthday on the night with his parents, who came all the way from Kaohsiung. He received NT50,000 in prize money (NT30,000 for the MVP award, and NT10,000 each for the rebounding crown and being named to the All-SBL Team) for his outstanding achievements in the season. He became the first man in the league to reach the 1,000-point plateau, as well as the 500-rebound milestone, on top of being the only player to average a double-double (22.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game) for the season.
"I would like to thank my parents for their support through all these years, the coaches for their guidance, my teammates for their unselfish play, and most of all the fans for their unbelievable support," Tien said.
PHOTO: COURTESY SBL
Joining Tien as the other big winner of the night on the award stand was Yulon Dinos center Tseng Wen-ding for winning the Championship Series MVP, the blocked-shot title, and being named to the ALL-SBL Team.
The 20-year-old true center out of Tsai-hsin Senior High was the main reason that the Dinos were able to storm through the postseason in sweeping fashion, winning all five contests with ease to extend their postseason winning streak to ten straight.
Rounding out this season's ALL-SBL Team are scoring champ Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh of Taiwan Beer (averaging 22.8 points per game in the regular season), Videoland Hunters' point man Chen Hui, and Dinos shooting guard/small forward Chou Shih-yuan.
Chen Hui also walked away with the Top Assists' honor for averaging 5.4 assists per contest in the regular season while guiding the Hunters to a second-place finish.
Also winning multiple awards for the night was Chou Shih-yuan with his 2.7 steals-per-game mark that topped the league in the defensive category. Chou beat the next-best finisher by nearly a full steal per game (2.7 vs. 1.9), demonstrating his tremendous understanding of the opposing offensive scheme and remarkable instinct for the ball.
One cannot bring up the subject of great defense without mentioning the name Chang Chih-fong, the voting media's unanimous choice for this year's Defensive Player of the Year honor.
Playing an all-out style of defense, the Tigers' very own Chang was usually given the task of covering the top player on the opposing offense. And more often than not, the second-year defensive specialist out of Taipei Physical Education College answered the call by holding his assigned target doing minimal damage.
"He [Chang] is by far the best defender in the league when it comes to playing one-on-one defense," said Lin, the league's top scorer.
The night did not belong only to the big-namers, as the Sina Lions' budding star Lu Cheng-ru beat out heavy competition from the Tigers' Lin Yi-hui to win the Rookie of the Year distinction for his solid 9.3 points per game effort on a squad that was in an obvious rebuilding year.
ETTV Antelopes' field general Chou Jung-san's exemplary sportsmanship on the basketball floor throughout the season was also recognized by the league when the 14-year veteran was handed this year Best Sportsmanship award for his leadership on an otherwise young club and his uncompromising attitude toward the game.
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