Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) The William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament, one of the most popular basketball events in Taiwan, will be "the best ever" when it tips-off this summer in Taipei, the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) said at a news conference Tuesday.
Ten men's teams and six women's teams, including host Taiwan men's and women's national teams, are expected to participate in the 28th Jones Cup Tournament, which will be held in Taipei one month before the FIBA (Federation International de Basketball) World Championship for Men in Japan.
"Taking place one month before the World Men's Basketball Championship, the Jones Cup Tournament has a good chance to have national teams that will play in the World Championship in the field. We want to make this the best tournament ever, " said CTBA Vice President Yu Wen-wei.
Wang Jen-shen, CTBA deputy secretary-general, said, "It's still six months away from the tournament, but we're targeting teams from Europe and South America, even Team USA -- the team of NBA players that everyone wants to see. We will try to find the best teams."
CTBA sold the one-year marketing rights of the Jones Cup to Bros Sports Interface (BSI) , which also plans on doing something big for the annual tournament. BSI CEO Mosy Hu said, "We will try to create an NBA atmosphere for the games and even collaborate with the NBA in some on-court and off-court events like the NBA Jam Session."
Hu said the game will be played at either the Taipei Arena, which has a capacity of 15,000, or the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium, which can seat 3,500.
The William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament was created in 1977 to honor Dr. Williams Jones, who was FIBA secretary-general at the time and had been supporting Taiwan in the international basketball community. Because of cross-straight deputes with China, Taiwan was barred from the international basketball competition before 1986.
The CTBA failed to host the tournament only twice during the past 30 years because of fire at the venue (1989) and SARS (2003) . Traditionally the tournament is held in July and August.