Kicking off the new year for the Super Basketball League tonight will be a BCC Mars squad that looks to rebound from an embarrassing 76-50 defeat to the Sina Lions.
Mars faces the Dacin Tigers, who are fresh off an impressive victory against Taiwan Beer last week.
All eyes will be on the Mars offense, which took a rare night off in its lowest scoring output of the season (50 points), after having averaged over 86 points per game in its six previous contests.
Facing the Mars attack will be a Tien Lei-led (
On the defensive end for the Mars, guards Chen Hui (
It will be to the Tigers' advantage if they can refrain from getting into a shooting match against the high-powered Mars offense, which is capable of putting the game out of reach by half time.
Sina Lions versus
Jeoutai Elephants
Winner of their past three games, the Sina Lions should not have much trouble extending their winning streak to four as the face the last-place Jeoutai Elephants in Game 1 tomorrow.
Even though the young and inexperienced Elephants showed some signs of brilliance in their victory over Bank of Taiwan last week, it will take a bit more for them to conquer the Lions, which can beat opponents inside with center Huang Chuen-hsiung's (黃春雄) low-post moves, or outside with point guard Luo Hsin-liang's (羅興樑) perimeter game.
Huang earned the "Mister Hustle of the Week" honor for his dominance in the paint that led to the Lions' recent 3-0 run.
Bank of Taiwan
versus Taiwan Beer
Bank of Taiwan will host Taiwan Beer in Game 2 action tomorrow in what promises to be a physical match.
Muscleman Chu Yung-hung (
The Monster (Lin Chih-jeh) should have an easier time against the Bank of Taiwan on offense, because he will most likely win the matchup no matter who skipper Wei Chen-ming (
Yulon Dinos versus BCC Mars
The league's top two teams will do battle first thing on Sunday as the undefeated Yulon Dinos look to send the Mars back into orbit in their second meeting of the season.
There is no need for Mars' coach Chung Chih-mong (
Sina Lions versus Dacin Tigers
The weekend finale will showcase the red-hot Lions against a Tiger club that will have played against the No. 2 Mars by Sunday.
Tigers coach Liu Chia-fa (
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