"I always look forward to meeting new fans and we will to try to take this win," said Chauncey Billups, point guard for the Nuggets yesterday.

This is the 6ft3in guard's second visit to Taiwan. Billups said his previous visit seven years ago was too brief for him to look around. He hopes to take this opportunity to visit some places in the city of Taipei during this trip.

Looking forward to the upcoming season, Billups said his team had a tremendous season last year and he hopes the Nuggets can start off another great season this year. The Nuggets made it to the Western Conference finals last season under the leadership of Billups, the 2004 NBA Finals MVP.

Another key for the team is two-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony. The talented, young 6-8 forward expressed his wish to meet Taiwan's fans. "I'm pretty sure the fans here are all as loud and crazy as fans in Denver," said Anthony.

Anthony added that he believes his team is older and wiser and has more experience this year compared with last season, and this will help the team to move upward.

"It's always fun to pass the game of basketball around the world, and hopefully we can entertain the fans here," said Denver's head coach George Karl. Karl added that his team had not done very well in its first two warm-up games, with a lot of turnovers. "We will start to work on it and see how we do in tomorrow's game."

Billups, Anthony and Karl made the comments before an open practice one day before their game in Taipei Arena.

Prior to the Nuggets practice, the other visiting team, the Indiana Pacers, also held a one-hour practice session in preparation for the upcoming game.

"We will also have practice tomorrow morning and we will study a lot of films (of Denver), to be ready for the Nuggets as best as we can," said Jim O'Brien, head coach of the Pacers.

He said his team is fortunate to play a preseason game with Denver, a great team last season, which will be a true test for his team and allow it a chance to grow.

O'Brien pointed out efforts by team President Larry Bird, an NBA legend, to upgrade the team and added that hopefully the team will make it to the playoffs this year.

Pacers NBA All-Star Danny Granger, winner of the NBA 2008-09 Most Improved Player award, said although he was still suffering from jet lag, he is looking forward to the game. With his improvement both defensively and offensively over the last season, he hopes to help lift the team to the playoffs.

After both teams' open practices, the NBA stars in Taiwan held a coaching session for 82 children sponsored by World Vision who were affected by Typhoon Morakot, a part of the NBA Care program.

NBA Commissioner David Stern will arrive in Taiwan today to hold a pre-game press conference with Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin at 3:00 before the game officially tips off at 7:30 in Taipei Arena.

The two teams arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday evening. In addition to playing in the game, both teams are also scheduled to visit Taipei's National Palace Museum and Taiwan's landmark Taipei 101 during their brief visit.

The two teams will leave Taiwan tomorrow and move on to China for another tune-up game in Beijing on Sunday.