BASKETBALL/Lioneers fire coach Greg Lin ahead of second half PLG season

Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) Not many people foresaw that the ejection of Greg Lin (林冠綸) during the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers' away game against the Taipei Fubon Braves on Feb. 4 would foreshadow his departure from the team on Valentine's Day.

The team announced its decision to part ways with its first-ever head coach on Wednesday, thanking Lin for his contributions to the franchise during his over three-year stint. The announcement also introduced Serbian assistant coach Milan Mitrovic as Lin's successor, as the team prepares for their first game after the Lunar New Year break against the New Taipei Kings on Friday.

In the same statement, Lioneers general manager Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) expressed admiration for Lin's consistent work ethic and for creating many memorable games while handling immense pressure with the team. Currently, the 7-9 Lioneers are tied with the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots for fourth place in the six-team league.

Chang said that Mitrovic, who joined the team during the last off-season, was primarily responsible for the team's defense and has been both approachable and strict on the court.

"I believe that the Lioneers can make a strong comeback this season under his leadership," Chang added.

The announcement means that all the original four teams except the Taipei Fubon Braves, which participated in the PLG inaugural season, have changed their head coaches. The Braves have secured championships in the league's first three seasons with Roger Hsu (許晉哲) taking the helm.

The first half of the 2023-24 season was a roller coaster ride for Hsinchu. After losing their first four games they appeared to revive their season by winning the next six, briefly holding the third place before sinking again with five losses in their last six games prior to the Lunar New Year break.

This inconsistency tested the patience of both the Lioneers' fans and the front office with Lin, who was nicknamed "Coach Chicken Soup" by netizens because he always appeared motivating his players in videos released by the Lioneers while rarely detailing strategies.

Elsewhere Lin explained that the team could not reveal their tactics to the public and other teams.

Over the past few years, whenever the Lioneers faced a slump, there were numerous comments below the franchise's social media posts calling for Lin's replacement, making him a more vulnerable target than the majority of the Lioneers' players in related discussions.

A former player in Taiwan's then top-tier quasi-professional Super Basketball League (SBL), Lin began coaching the Lioneers when the team was established in 2020, a "bet" that led him to quit his position as head coach of the girls' basketball team at Keelung Municipal Cheng-Bin Junior High School, according to Lin.

As of Wednesday, Lin had a 49-61 regular-season record with the Lioneers, including a league-best 20-10 record in the 2021-22 season, in which the Lioneers lost to the Taipei Fubon Braves 4-1 in the finals.

This success led the Lioneers to sign a three-year extension contract with Lin during the offseason, only to see the team receive the wooden spoon last season with a 13-27 record.

When asked to comment after being fired by the Lioneers, Lin said he had no plans yet and that instead of feeling sorry or regretful, he was "finally relieved of the burden that weighed on him for a long time," according to TSNA.

Lin also expressed pleasure at seeing several underdog players make progress. He mentioned being most impressed by the bond he shared with players like Chu Yun-hao (朱雲豪), Tien Hao (田浩) and Hsiao Shun-yi (蕭順議).

Although the Lioneers were eliminated from the playoffs and these players were injured, Lin said they asked to "play for him" in the last two regular-season games last season, hoping to show he was leading the team in the right direction.

"My job made me unhappy over the past year [because] no matter how many right things you did, no one from outside recognized you ... The record in the three-and-a-half years was indeed unsatisfactory, but there were too many factors beyond our control," Lin was quoted as saying by TSNA.

Lin's connection with his players was reflected in the Lioneers' game against the Braves on Feb. 4, the team's last game before the Lunar New Year break.

Lin received his second technical foul of the game in the fourth quarter with 9:32 left when arguing with a referee over Hsiao being pushed by Braves center Chris Johnson after making a slam dunk, which Lin interpreted as a lack of respect by a foreign player toward a local player.

This was the first time Lin had been ejected during his tenure with the Lioneers, who lost the game 109-103.

While Lin's tenure is relatively long compared to other coaches in the young league, it is still too early to view his departure as the end of an era, according to a league commentator who requested anonymity to speak freely.

"It will only be the end of an era if they turn this season around ... Otherwise, the 'end' will come when they name the full-time replacement in the offseason," the commentator told CNA.

However, the commentator admitted that the decision was surprising "because the Lioneers didn't make the change in the offseason when they should have," leaving others to think "they were going to stick with Greg."

Currently, only two of the six PLG teams are coached by Taiwanese coaches, with Chiou Dah-tzong (邱大宗) of the Kaohsiung 17LIVE Steelers being the other one aside from Hsu.

The second-longest tenure of an active PLG coach is the Kings' Ryan Marchand, who has coached the team since its establishment in the summer of 2021.