Pauian Archiland coaches and players vowed to defend their title for a second straight year as the Super Basketball League (SBL) season tips off in Taoyuan this weekend, with the seven teams bracing to play 155 games to reach the playoffs in April.
Archiland head coach Ben Metcalf said his team would face many challenges in the 2018-2019 campaign and would need to make adjustments, but would continue to rely on same core players who helped them win last season’s championship.
Among the tough challenges is a new rule that allows each team to have two foreign players, Metcalf said at yesterday’s launch event.
“We will have more combinations to play in the game, but it also poses more complications for integrating the lineup and how to fit it all together to play the style that is most suitable for our team,” he said.
SBL secretary-general Lee Yi-chung said the new rule should make the season the most exciting one in league history, adding that the news has brought many fans to watch warm-up games over the past few weeks, as many of the new faces played in the NBA.
Lee said the league is leveling the playing field by stipulating that each team’s foreign players have less than a combined height of 405cm and a salary cap of NT$928,025 per month.
Although both imports can be starters, they are limited to a total of six quarters, meaning that two quarters per game would only have one foreigner playing, including the pivotal fourth quarter, Lee added.
The biggest names coming to the SBL this year are the Dacin Tigers’ O.J. Mayo, who played in the NBA for eight seasons, the Bank of Taiwan’s Greg Smith, who played five seasons in the NBA, and the Fubon Braves’ Daniel Orton, who played three NBA seasons.
Mayo told reporters that looks forward to playing in the SBL.
“It will be very exciting season for me, playing for the first time in Taiwan,” Mayo said. “This is a new experience for me and I will have to learn new things, but I will pick up my game to help the team to win the title... I have played against Greg Smith and Daniel Orton in the NBA, so it will be great to face them and do battle here in the SBL.”
Mayo said that his goal this year is to remain healthy and not get injured, adding that it is crucial for him to get his team into the playoffs while showing his shooting, blocking and rebounding abilities.
Taiwan Beer has filled out their lineup with Edvinas Seskus of Lithuania and Ihor Zaytsev of Ukraine, while Yulon Luxgen have signed Terry Thomas of the US and Sani Sakaini, the first Palestinian player in the SBL.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
RSS