With Tien Lei, the league's most valuable player over the past two seasons in their in the Dacin Tigers' lineup and defensive specialist Chang Chih-fong always providing blanket-like coverage, the Tigers can give any team more than they bargain for on any given night.
The only problem that they face is the soft style of defense that the rest of the club plays.
The big cats won only six games last season in which they allowed 75 points or less.
PHOTO: SBL FILE PHOTO
They cannot simply rely on the offense to out-score the other teams by simply bombarding them with three-pointers (Tien led the league with 88 "threes" last season) if they want to become title contenders.
Videoland Hunters
An offseason coaching change may be the biggest factor in the Hunters' campaign this season as longtime assistant Chou Hai-rong takes the helm from his predecessor Chong Chih-mong.
While the Hunters lack the speed that Dacin, Yulon and the Bank of Taiwan have, the combined years of experience of their frontcourt trio, Lai Guo-hong, Lee Chi-yi and Lee Hsin-hua should be able to carry the Hunters into the postseason, as long as the backcourt (point guard Chen Hui and shooting guard Yang Tseh-yi) can keep the tempo of the game under control.
Newcomer Hong Chi-chao could bring the consistent perimeter game that the Hunters missed last season as the former Dinos outside threat looks to contribute more offensively with his new club.
ETTV Antelopes
The loss of All-Star center Wu Dai-hao to a US college and big man Shang Wei-fang's joining Taiwan Beer leave the with only two returning starters from last season.
The addition of former Yulon great Chen "Airman" Hsin-an would have given the Antelopes a big boost in the frontcourt to complement premier shooter Yang Yu-ming and veteran point man Chou Hung-san.
Chen's controversial contract signing, however, and his subsequent holdout for the entire season will make coach Lee Yun-shiang's job of placing a competitive squad on the court next to impossible.
Power forward Wu Jung-hsiung must find a way to fill in the big shoes of Wu Dai-hao and adjust to the playing habits of fellow frontcourt mates Liao "the refrigerator" Wei-cheng and Hsin Jin-chang.
Bank of Taiwan
The outlook for this squad may not be very bright given an ironically limited means of financial support that landed them no big-name players for the second straight season.
Team icon Yang Jing-ming managed to remain with his club despite rumors of a potential departure throughout the offseason.
Rebounding machine Chu Yong-hong's preseason injury (minor concussion) which lists him as day-to-day did the bankers no favor last week as they prepare to take on the Antelopes in the season opener last night in Taipei.
YMY
The former Sina Lions, which signed a pair of talented rookies in small forward Tso Tsong-kai and power forward Jien Jia-hong, will be mentored by veterans Luo "the Natural" Hsin-liang and Liu Yi-shiang.
YMY has nowhere to go but up following their 3-27 season.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS