Taipei Fubon Braves

The Taipei Fubon Braves is a professional basketball team that played in the semi-professional Super Basketball League (SBL) in Taiwan from 2014 to 2019. They joined the professional ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) since the 2019–20 ABL season.

Taipei Fubon Braves
LeagueASEAN Basketball League
Founded1983 (1983)
History
ArenaTaipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium
Capacity7,000
LocationTaipei, Taiwan
Team colorsNavy Blue, White
         
Head coachHsu Chin-che
OwnershipFubon Group
Championships1 in the SBL
WebsiteFubonBraves.com

The franchise dates back to 1983 when it was founded as the Chien-hong Men's Basketball Team (建弘男子籃球隊). Owned subsequently by Hung Min-tai (洪敏泰), owner of Tera Electronics (新銳/泰瑞電子), the team went by the same name as the corporation for a number of years until it joined the professional Chinese Basketball Alliance (CBA) as Tera Mars (泰瑞戰神) in 1994.

As a professional club, the Mars was a powerful competitor to the dominant Yulon Dinos and Hung Kuo Elephants. In the 1998 finals, it posed the strongest challenge the "Hung Kuo dynasty" had ever met when pushing the defending champions to the brink of elimination with a 3:1 advantage in the best-of-seven series – although they eventually let this opportunity for championship slip away. Wang Libin (C), Yen Hsing-su (PG), and the American import Todd Rowe (SF) were the core players on this team; they were led by head coach Chung Chih-Mong (鍾枝萌), the so-called "iron-and-blood coach" due to his aggressive leadership style.

Before the close down of the CBA in 1999, the Mars led the league in wins by a considerable margin in its last regular season that was never finished. It remained a close contender for domestic championship around the turn of the century with a biggest frontcourt lineup Taiwan's amateur Division A conference (甲組聯賽) had ever seen. This roster included Wang Libin (6'8") and Song Tao (6'10").

The team's initial mascot, Mars, was derived from the Roman god of war and had remained in spite of several changes of ownership. It had not only carried the team through the flourish CBA era but also accompanied its members and fans in the midst of the financial turbulence of the late 1990s. Between the ownership by the Kaohsiung-based Hanshin Group (漢神集團) and that by the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC), head coach Chung had to seek corporate sponsors on his own while his players spontaneously work without getting paid in order to keep their beloved team alive.

The Mars eventually became history following the takeover by Videoland Television Network in June 2004 when the team was renamed as the Videoland Hunters (緯來獵人). Subsequently, the franchise was sold to Taiwan Mobile, a major mobile communication provider in Taiwan,and named after the company's as「Taiwan Mobile Basketball Team」. In 2014, the team was transferred to Taiwan Mobile's sister company in Fubon Group and renamed the Fubon Braves.[1]

On 17 October 2019, the Fubon Braves officially announced that they signed Mayo for the upcoming ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) season.[2] He becomes the most prominent player in the history of the Braves and ABL with his 8-year NBA experience during his professional career. The team once again renamed as Taipei Fubon Braves with agreement with Taipei City Government and moved the home arena to Taipei.[3]

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Fubon Braves roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
G 0 Lai Ting-en 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) 70 kg (154 lb) 24 – (1996-07-22)22 July 1996
G 1 Joseph Lin 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 69 kg (152 lb) 28 – (1992-06-21)21 June 1992
F 7 Chang Po-wei 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 30 – (1990-07-22)22 July 1990
C 8 Sim Bhullar (I) 2.26 m (7 ft 5 in) 163 kg (359 lb) 27 – (1992-12-02)2 December 1992
G 9 Kuo Shao-chieh 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 30 – (1990-04-09)9 April 1990
F 11 Hsiao Shun-yi 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 27 – (1992-10-23)23 October 1992
G/F 12 Lin Chih-chieh  1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 38 – (1982-06-11)11 June 1982
F 13 Lin Meng-hsueh 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 27 – (1992-10-14)14 October 1992
F 14 Tsai Wen-chen 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 35 – (1985-05-31)31 May 1985
C 15 Lin Chih-wei 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 28 – (1992-07-10)10 July 1992
C 16 Wu Hung-hsin 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 30 – (1989-10-21)21 October 1989
G 24 Hung Chih-shan 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 35 – (1985-07-05)5 July 1985
F 28 Yang Hsin-chih 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 26 – (1993-11-09)9 November 1993
F 30 Liu Wei-chen 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 31 – (1988-11-27)27 November 1988
PF 36 Charles García (I) 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 104 kg (229 lb) 31 – (1988-10-13)13 October 1988
F 76 Tseng Wen-ting 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 36 – (1984-07-06)6 July 1984
Head coach
  • Hsu Chin-che
Assistant coach(es)
  • Lin Wei-hao
  • Chiang Chih-chen
  • Wu Yung-jen
  • Wei Wei
Athletic trainer(s)
  • Lin Wu-chang
  • Lai Ying-liang
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (I) Import player
  • Injured

Notable members
  • Chung Chih-mong (鍾枝萌) – 6'5", centre, coach; Chinese Taipei squad head coach at 1998 Asian Games.
  • Chen Jih-hsing (陳日興) – 5'11", point guard; star player in Taiwan in the 1980s.
  • Li Chih-chiang (李志強) – 5'11", point guard, coach; star player in Taiwan in the 1980s.
  • Tseng Tseng-chiu (曾增球) – 6'3", small forward; star player in Taiwan in the 1980s.
  • Chou Hai-jung (周海容) – 6'3", shooting guard, coach; star player in Taiwan in the 1980s.
  • Wang Libin (王立彬) – 6'8", centre; CBA (Taiwan) star player, one of the only two Asian players to achieve triple-double in the game.
  • Todd Rowe – 6'7", small forward; CBA (Taiwan) regular season MVP, 4-time scoring champions, shot-block champion.
  • Yen Hsing-su (顏行書) – 6'0", point guard; CBA (Taiwan) assist champion. Head Coach from 2015.
  • Song Tao (宋濤) – 6'10", centre; former CBA (Taiwan) star player, tallest player in Taiwan's Division A conference when he played for the Mars.
  • Chen Hui (陳暉) – 6'0", point guard; SBL assist champion, All-SBL Team.
  • Cheng Chih-lung (鄭志龍) – 6'3", coach; former FIBA Asian All-Star, former CBA (Taiwan) finals MVP.
  • Blackie Chen (陳建州) - 6’3", Current Vice-team leader of operations of the team, former forward/centre and National Team Member with Yen Hsing-su
  • Joseph Lin, Jeremy Lin's younger brother
  • Earl Barron, NBA Finals Champion of 2006
  • Jet Chang, former NCAA Division II Final Four Most Outstanding Player
  • O. J. Mayo, former NBA player

SBL regular season records
  • 2003–2004 season: 4th place
  • 2004–2005 season: 2nd place
  • 2005–2006 season: 5th place
  • 2006–2007 season: 2nd place
  • 2007–2008 season: 6th place
  • 2008–2009 season: 6th place
  • 2009–2010 season: 5th place
  • 2010–2011 season: 6th place
  • 2011–2012 season: 2nd place
  • 2012–2013 season: 2nd place
  • 2013–2014 season: 2nd place
  • 2014–2015 season: 2nd place
  • 2015–2016 season: 5th place
  • 2016–2017 season: 4th place
  • 2017–2018 season: 5th place
  • 2018–2019 season: 1st place

Championships

2018–2019

  • Champions: Fubon Braves
  • Runners-up: Taiwan Beer

Notable coach
  • Zhong Zhi-meng 03–05
  • Zhou Hai-rong 05–06
  • Liu Zhi-wei 06–07
  • Cheng Chih-lung 07–11, 13–14
  • Jia Fan 11–13
  • Otis Hughley 14–15
  • Yen Hsing-su 15–17
  • Hsu Chin-che 17–
  
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See also

References
  1. "勇士的誕生". Taipei Fubon Braves (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. "Fubon Braves Sign NBA Veteran O.J. Mayo For ABL Season". ASEAN Basketball League. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  3. "ABL》和台北市冠名合作 富邦勇士新球季以和平籃球館為主場". Liberty Times (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 October 2019.
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