The Formosa Dreamers showed their confidence in the opening game of the new Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) with a shot-blocking feast in Taichung on Saturday.
The former P.League+ (PLG) powerhouse routed the DEA 88-74 while blocking 10 DEA shots, with Aric Holman and Brandon Gilbeck, Taiwan’s latest naturalized player, combining for nine.
“Gilbeck used to be the only import who knew how to play help side defense, but now we have Holman. He’s playing smart and knows how to do it well,” point guard Lin Chun-chi said after the game.
Photo: CNA
In front of a sold-out crowd of 3,000, Lin scored a game-high 22 points, helped by a four-for-six showing from three-point range, and added six assists and three steals.
Now 26, the young phenom was considered to be a perennial most valuable player (MVP) contender when he was in the PLG, but he was noticeably absent from the top three preseason predictions for MVP released by the TPBL on Friday.
The survey showed that New Taipei Kings star Jeremy Lin was the MVP favorite in the opinions of players, media and fans. Taiwan Beer Leopards point guard Gao Jin-wei, the T1 League’s rookie of the year last season, received the most support from the league’s franchise staffers.
Asked about the result, Lin said it was not a big deal and that he cared more about the ultimate result instead.
“I think the real winner is the one who wins the championship,” he said.
The new league has been created with teams from the six-team PLG and five-team T1 League.
The TPBL was formed from three PLG teams — the Dreamers, the Kings, and the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers — and all of the five T1 League franchises except for the Tainan TSG GhostHawks — now TSG GhostHawks.
However, that did not eliminate the problem of having separate pro basketball leagues in such a small market.
The GhostHawks joined the three remaining teams in the PLG — the Taipei Fubon Braves, Taoyuan Pauian Pilots and the Kaohsiung Steelers — to continue as a four-team league.
While those who called for a merger of all pro basketball franchises referred to the establishment of the TPBL as “a great first step” for the game in Taiwan, many others believed that there were no winners in the movement.
Still, the new TPBL season represents the first time that a top-level basketball league in Taiwan has had as many as seven teams since the 2018-2019 season of the quasi-professional Super Basketball League.
Each team in the league is set to play 36 regular season games.
A total of 126 regular-season games would be played from this month to May 18 next year, after which the fifth-placed team would enter a best-of-three playoffs play-in series with the fourth-placed team. The fourth-placed team would be granted a one-win advantage in the series.
The remaining playoff series would be best-of-seven.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS