Veteran coach and former star player Chou Chun-san, 48, has agreed to take over as coach of the national basketball team, following months of speculation and negotiations between the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association and sports officials.
Chou said he was contacted on Tuesday after the governing body held a selection meeting and agreed to take the top job after a few days of consideration.
The post had been vacant since a judicial investigation into Yen Chia-hua, head coach of the Super Basketball League’s (SBL) Taiwan Beer team, began in February over allegations that he placed underground bets on games involving teams he coached, including the 2015 William Jones Cup.
The investigation continues, and Yen was questioned and released after posting bail of NT$50,000.
Chou had been an assistant coach for Taiwan Beer since 2006 and assumed the team’s top post for the rest of the season and the playoffs following Yen’s resignation in February.
“I spoke with Taiwan Beer executives, who gave me their support,” Chou said in a statement. “After self-reflection, I decided to take over the national team, as I have been in the game for a long time and was a member of the team.”
“It will be a whole new challenge for me, and I hope all the coaching staff and players will work together diligently to undertake this important responsibility,” he added.
“I have a good idea for player selection and those who will fill my coaching staff,” Chou said. “My plan is to promote and cultivate more young players, as well as those with a few years of experience. I want them to improve through actual game experience in international competitions.”
Chou’s main task will be to lead the team to qualify for this year’s FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20, which will require the national squad to finish in the top three at the East Asia Basketball Championship in Nagano, Japan, from June 3 to June 7.
His tenure is expected to continue through to the Asian Games in Jakarta in August next year, with an extension likely if the team performs well at the competitions.
Basketball executives reportedly considered at least five other candidates, including Yen Hsin-shu, Yang Tse-yi, Hsu Chin-che and American coach Charlie Parker, a former NBA assistant coach who is to lead the national team, composed mainly of college players, at the Universiade.
Chou, a well-known figure in the sport, has extensive experience, having played for the “Flying Camel” team in the nation’s amateur era in the 1980s and the Hung Kuo Elephants as a control guard, as well as in Taiwan’s former Chinese Basketball Alliance professional league from 1995 to 1998.
From 2001 to 2003, he played for the Sina Lions in China before returning to Taiwan to play different roles in the SBL.
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
RSS