Taipei, Jan. 23 (CNA) Taiwanese basketball star Chen Hsin-an will go to Japan from Jan. 30 - Feb. 5 for a tryout with a professional basketball team and is on course to become the first Taiwanese player to play professional basketball in Japan.
Chen will try out for Osaka-based Osaka Evessa of the Basketball Japan League (BJ League), which was the first professional basketball league established in Japan. BJ League launched its inaugural season November last year.
"Chen will participate in a tryout after practicing with the team for two or three days. The Osaka team officials will take a look at him and make a decision [on whether or not to sign him] afterwards, " said Shao Yu-ling, a professor at the Taipei Physical Education College (TPEC).
Shao plays the role of an intermediator between Chen --- who is her student at TPEC --- and Munehiko Harada, the vice president of the Osaka Evessa and a good friend of Shao's.
"I hope I can play well and make the team but I'm a little bit worried about my knee [injury], " said Chen, who twice injured the same knee last year both in a warmup tour in China with the Taiwan national team and in Game Three of the Super Basketball League (SBL)
Finals.
Chen decided to sit out the 2005-06 SBL season after the injury. Before that, Chen was engaged in a contract dispute with ETSN Antelopes after bolting his former team, Yulon Dinos, which is why he is a free agent player now who can be signed by any team.
Chen would become the first Taiwanese basketball player to play professionally in North America and Japan if he signs with the Japanese basketball club.
Chen was the first Taiwanese player to be invited to the NBA pre-season training camp in 2002, when he played for the Sacramento Kings but got cut before the NBA season started. He also played for Long Beach Jam in the American Basketball Association in early 2005.
"Chen will face a big challenge of making a quick adjustment in mid-season if he is signed by Osaka. He will be expected to bring in instant firepower for the team. It will be very different from being with the team from the start, " Shao said.
BJ League is a six-team professional league that sets no limit on the number of foreign players, which means every team can sign as many foreign players as they want as long as its team salary in under the team salary cap.
BJ League regular season runs from November 5, 2005 to April 30, 2006 with each team playing a 40-game schedule. Osaka is currently second on the standings at 14 wins and 3 losses, trailing only Niigata.