Chen Hsin-An: Chinese Taipei's high-flying trailblazer

TAIPEI (Chinese Taipei) - The 2000s were high times for the talents in Chinese Taipei basketball. It was a generation that boasted well-known names like Lin Chih-Chieh, Tien Lei, and Tseng Wen-Ting.

Another legend that donned the slick white-and-blue jerseys during that era was Chen Hsin-An… and he might have even been the best among all of them.

Flying High 

Chen Hsin-An or Sean Chen’s legend grew in the late 90s heading into the new millennium. At the time, he was already regarded as one of the best young prospects in Asia, right along with Yao Ming, Yuta Tabuse, Yasin Musa, and Yang Dong Geun.

It was his high-flying antics that first caught everyone’s attention, as he would attack the rim from such a high angle that wasn’t typically seen from players in the region. Even a quick and simple search of his name will result in impressive highlight reels of Chen’s aerial assaults, including a nasty two-handed throw down in the face of Yao himself.

Though he was known for his above-the-rim play, Chen was also a solid playmaker with an all-around scoring game. He’d even become the first player from Chinese Taipei to play in an NBA pre-season game in 2002, suiting up for the Sacramento Kings.

Taking Charge

It took a while, but Chen eventually made his FIBA Asia Cup debut in 2007. By that time, a knee injury had already slowed him down a bit, but he was still a highly exceptional player. With Tien and Tseng both nursing previous injuries, Chinese Taipei desperately needed Chen to step up in his first Asia Cup appearance.

Chen was exactly that force for Chinese Taipei, scoring in double digits in all 8 games played. His 18.1 points per game average was tied for third among all players behind only Fadi El Khatib and Michael Madanly. Aside from leading the team in scoring, Chen also led Chinese Taipei with 5.6 rebounds per contest.

 

He was particularly spectacular in the qualification game against hosts Japan, where he scored his personal tournament-high of 26 points and 9 boards. His efforts helped Chinese Taipei edge out an 85-80 win before settling with a final standing of 6^th place.

This ended up being Chinese Taipei’s best Asia Cup final standing in nearly 50 years at that time.

Big Brother

Four years later, Chen was back on the national team once again at Asia Cup 2011. He was no longer needed to shoulder the entire offensive responsibilities as Chang Tsung-Hsien, Lin, and Tseng were all back on board.

Chen was still effective at 8.6 points per game, but his value at that moment at 31-years-old was as a seasoned veteran to lead the squad.

"We had a lot of veterans on the team. We had Sean Chen [Chen Hsin-An] who is obviously a legend in Chinese Taipei. He was leading the team and you just had listened to everything that he said,” said Douglas Creighton who was part of the national team pool that year.

Highlighted by a hard earned 60-58 win over Lebanon with Chen’s 15 points leading the way, Chinese Taipei run at Asia Cup 2011 ended with an eighth place finish. 

Chen would not be on the team for the historic Asia Cup 2013 run and eventually retired from basketball in 2014. Nonetheless, his impact as a trail blazer in Chinese Taipei basketball and as an inspiration for the younger generation cannot be denied.

FIBA