Tigers sweep SBL championship series - Mar 30, 2017
The Dacin Tigers captured their second championship with a team effort to overpower the Yulon Luxgen Dinos 98-77 at the Sinjhuang Gymnasium last night, closing out the season in impressive style with a four-game sweep of the Super Basketball League (SBL) finals. The roaring Tigers put on an outstanding performance with four of the starting five posting double-digit scores, led by the Taiwanese star duo of Yi-Hsiang Chou (190-G-91) with 26 and Yi-Chieh Su (182-PG-87) with 21. They pulled away from Yulon in the final two quarters after a relatively close halftime score of 46-40. Pivotal plays in the third quarter went a long way toward sealing the game, with Dacin center Sim Bhullar (226-C-92, college: N.Mexico St.) engaged in a tenacious battle under the post against Herve Lamizana (208-F/C-81, college: Rutgers) of the Ivory Coast as Yulon rallied with field goals to make it 47-49 early in the third quarter. Bhullar, a Canadian-Indian with NBA experience, used his 226cm, 160kg frame to outmuscle Lamizana as the two imports got into a push-and-shove tussle. 'The Great Wall of India' tipped in a rebound and moments later slammed in a basket with an alley-oop to charge up his Dacin teammates amid a 10-2 run. Dacin put the game away in that quarter, stretching their lead to 16 points, 76-60, at the end of third. Chou and Su also made key contributions in the third, sinking three-pointers and scoring field goals to be first and second for overall scoring. Dacin maintained their dominance in shooting and pulling down rebounds in the fourth quarter, while Bhullar and Lamizana were rested in the final 10 minutes with the outcome no longer in doubt. The Tigers cruised from there to a 21-point victory. Dacin manager Chou Ta-tsung savored the four-game sweep, surrounded by his players celebrating after the final whistle. Fans tossed blue ribbons, the team's colors, to mark their second SBL crown after Chou Ta-tsung's previous triumph with a younger team in 2009. The finals MVP was Su for his leadership and scoring. 'We had good team chemistry and all of the players trained together diligently throughout the season,' Su said. 'Credit for this title should go to my teammates, because they were great through these four matches.' 'We had a large turnout of fans, so we did not want Yulon to win this game, because we did not want to disappoint so many of our supporters,' he said. Yi-Hsiang Chou said he was overjoyed with the title, because it was his first championship in his third year with the team. 'My teammates all helped me over the past three years,' he said. 'I was still learning the game, but have grown up to become a better player. This championship title means a lot to me, it is a fantastic feeling.' Courtesy of: taipeitimes.com
Finals MVP: Sim Bhullar (226-C-92) of Dacin Tigers Player of the Year: Bryan Davis (206-F/C-86) of Taiwan Beer Guard of the Year: Yi-Xiang Zhou (191-G-91) of Dacin Tigers Forward of the Year: Bryan Davis (206-F/C-86) of Taiwan Beer Center of the Year: Sim Bhullar (226-C-92) of Dacin Tigers Import Player of the Year: Bryan Davis (206-F/C-86) of Taiwan Beer Domestic Player of the Year: Yi-Xiang Zhou (191-G-91) of Dacin Tigers Defensive Player of the Year: Herve Lamizana (208-F/C-81) of Yulon Luxgen
Honorable Mention Wei-Ju Chien (185-G/F-92) of KKL Liam McMorrow (218-C-87) of Taiwan Beer Luke Nevill (218-C-86) of Bank of Taiwan Po-Hsun Chou (197-PF-91) of Taiwan Beer Cheng-Ju Lu (194-F-86) of Yulon Luxgen Po-Chen Chou (196-SG-90) of Yulon Luxgen
Wei-Che Lee (179-G-91) of Bank of Taiwan
Tsai Wei takes dunk title, All-Star Game ends in tie - Jan 22, 2017
Fubon Braves forward Tsai Wen-Cheng (190-G/F-85), a last-minute replacement, yesterday beat out tough competition to win the Super Basketball League's (SBL) All-Star Game slam dunk contest at New Taipei City's Sinjhuang Gymnasium. Tsai Wen-Cheng thanked Fubon teammate Joseph Lin, younger brother of injury-plagued Jeremy Lin of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, for serving balls courtside during the competition. Winning on points from successful tries, including a high-flying one-handed dunk and a reverse jam, 1.9m Tsai Wen-Cheng defeated Pauian Archiland forward Wang Lu-chih in the event's final. Tsai Wen-Cheng collected NT$20,000 in award money and was crowned Slam Dunk Champion, which surprised even his coach and Fubon teammates. He did not plan on entering the contest, but was persuaded at the last minute to replace Taiwanese-American T.J. Burke, who was injured in training on Friday. In the first round of the competition, Tsai Wen-Cheng and Wang eliminated challengers Kuo Shao-chieh of Bank of Taiwan and Huang Tsung-han of Taiwan Beer respectively. 'Most people, myself included, thought Kuo Shao-chieh had the best chance to win it, because he has good skills,' Tsai Wen-Cheng said. 'I had been practicing some trick shots, so today I thought I would push my limits and tried for a couple of high-flying slam dunks. T.J. Burke helped me with ideas on shots for the win,' he said. 'I would also like to thank Joseph Lin for serving me up some good balls,' Tsai Wen-Cheng added. In the three-pointer competition, Taiwan Beer forward Yu Huan-Ya (183-G-93) defended his title from last year, coming out on top of a field of 12 marksmen. Yu's victory was only the second time in SBL history that one player has won consecutive titles for three-point shooting, following Lee Hsueh-lin in the third and fourth SBL seasons. Yu clinched the title by hitting the net for 18 points in the first round and 20 points in the second round, the best overall among all contestants. In the All-Star Game, US import Phelps Eugene (198-F-90, college: Long Beach St.) of Kinmen Kaoliang outshined all other scorers with 43 points and was voted the game's Most Valuable Player, as the Red and White teams battled to a 123-123 draw. Red Team captain Bhullar Sim (226-C-92, college: N.Mexico St.) of Canada thrilled the crowd with an alley-oop dunk and an outside shot for three points in the first quarter in his starting assignment as big center to direct the offense. It was the third time in league history the All-Star Game ended in a tie. Courtesy of: taipeitimes.com
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