Taiwan Player Blog: Mitchell Kates

Image courtesy of Dawn Anderson

Our first day in Taiwan we had a 6:30AM wake up call, which would normally be brutally early, but since our time clocks were so messed up, everyone was wide awake. They had an amazing breakfast spread, including made to order omelets and some unrecognizable fruits. We then took a charter bus to the Kainan campus, a college established only 8 years ago, with impressively large buildings and nice facilities.Image courtesy of Dawn Anderson

With the other teams in the tournament, we watched an interactive puppet show, highlighted by an impressive Titanic skit from Noel, Paul, Ben, Zuk, Will, and Kevin Bryne, all of whom stood at least a foot and a half above the puppet show curtain. Following the presentation, we had lunch and opening ceremonies. The president of the university wished all the teams well, which was followed by a largely male dominated cheerleading crew performance.

We played our first game in the afternoon against the Hsuan Chang, a team from Taiwan. Our size and strength were too much, and we were able to pick up a comfortable win. At night, after another gourmet meal (most of which we couldn't identify or eat) and numerous pictures with Kainan students and fans, we had basketball night. Kainan's clubs on campus performed a wide array of impressive talents. Also, each team had an opportunity to perform. We choose to go with a Taylor Swift/Miley Cyrus sing and dance combo (don't judge, we tried to pick songs they would recognize). To cap the night, the hotel had my lost luggage, which had been left in San Fransisco. We play at 11AM against a team from Japan tomorrow.

-Mitch Kates

Taiwan Player Blog: Will Tashman

After flying to San Francisco on an especially long flight, my body thought that that was our end destination. Unfortunately, my mind knew that we still had a 13 hour flight to go. It went pretty smoothly, or as smoothly as a 13 hour flight can be for a 6-7 guy. When we landed in Taiwan we went straight to the hotel, which was just as amazing as it looked in the pictures. Kainan university clearly wanted us to have a comfortable stay.

As we arrived at the gym for our first practice, I noticed significant differences from Rockwell Cage. The floor and hoops were normal, but the ceilings were especially high and the stands had just been put in. It was a little like playing in a really small football stadium.

The most shocking part of the trip has been the reaction of the Taiwanese people to us. Traveling with half a dozen guys about 6-6 or taller catches a lot of stares. Coach Paul Grant often hears "ooo's" and "ahhs" (see picture above). And with the number of pictures we take with the citizens and other basketball players, you would think we were in the NBA or something.

It has been an exciting and exhausting first couple of days.

-Will Tashman

MIT Returns to Taiwan to Defend Tourney Crown

For the full release, visit the MIT Official Athletics Site.

After a successful 2009-2010 season, MIT returns to the hardcourts this week at the Kainan Invitational tournament in Taiwan. The Engineers will spend nine days on the northeast coast of Taiwan while competing in the eight-team tournament, which will be held from May 24-27. Tech first made the trip to Taiwan in 2006 as it captured the inaugural championship title.

Behind the stellar play of Jimmy Bartolotta '09 and Mike D'Auria '06, the Engineers won four straight games en route the 2006 Kainan Invitational crown. Tech defeated Taiwan's SBL pro team, Yo Ming, 80-68, in the championship game. Leading the way for MIT this time around will be All-America selection, Noel Hollingsworth, as well as D3Hoops Northeast Rookie of the Year, Mitchell Kates. Tech is hoping to build on the success of its record-setting 2009-10 campaign, in which the team eclipsed the program record for wins in a season (22), made it back to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, and rose to as high as #8 in the national D3hoops.com rankings.

For the 2010 tournament, the eight team field is divided into two groups for the preliminary rounds. The second-place teams in each group will face off in the Consolation Final on May 27 while the group winners will play for the Tournament Championship later on the same day.

Fans can follow MIT's progress in the tournament, including updates by some of the players, on MIT's official Twitter and Facebook pages. Follow along at http://twitter.com/MITengineers and http://www.facebook.com/MITengineers.

On Wednesday evening, the team will experience more special local hospitality from the MIT Club of Taiwan, who invited the team to a dinner in downtown Taipei. There are over 500 MIT alums in the Taiwan area. The MIT Club of Taiwan will also be welcoming MIT President Susan Hockfield on her upcoming Asian trip.