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Little Jien Ming-fu gets recognition as a major giant killer

Playing with the heart of a giant, Bank of Taiwan reserve point-guard Jien Ming-fu (簡明富) outshined big men Huang Chuen-hsiung (黃春雄) of the Sina Lions and Dacin scoring machine Tien Lei (田壘) with a valiant effort in his team's upset win over the Jeoutai Elephants to win this week's "Mister Hustle" honor.

The award is based on votes by loval sports writers.

Standing at 163cm, the Super Basketball League's (SBL) shortest player grabbed six rebounds and had 11 points to lift the bankers past the heavily favored Elephants.

Only one player on the team had more rebounds than Jien for the game.

"He is a true inspiration for every little kid on the playgrounds all over town," Renowned basketball analyst and former member of the national team, Lee Yun-kuan (李雲光), said. "They all feel that if [Jien] can make it in the SBL, anyone willing to work hard will get a chance."

Since losing the one-shot, sudden-death three-point shootout contest to fellow teammate Wu Yung-ren (吳永仁) during All-Star weekend, Jien has seen limited action.

But that did not stop him from rising to the occasion when coach Wei Chen-ming (韋陳明) called upon him to fill in for injured starter Wu Yung-ren.

Jien directed the offense as well as anyone could and ran the fast break to near perfection in last week's contest against the Elephants.

The Final Week

Three of the four pieces of the puzzle for the postseason are set as far as which teams are in, but other than the Yulon Dinos that is locked in for the No.1 seed, the rest of the postseason matchups are still up in the air.

A win in their two remaining games this weekend will secure the No.2 seed for the team that seemed to have bottomed out and is on the rise again.

The Dacin Tigers could end up being be seeded as high as second or as low as fourth, depending on the results of this weekend's games.

If they beat the Dinos on Saturday night and the Lions lose both games, then the Tigers will grab the No.2 spot over the Lions for having scored more points in head-to-head competitions.

The Tigers will be seeded third if they beat the Dinos or if the Elephants lose to Taiwan Beer on Saturday afternoon.

A loss to the Dinos, coupled with an Elephants win will place the Tigers in the fourth spot and a date with the Dinos in the first round of the postseason.

In control of their own destiny, the BCC Mars can clinch a postseason berth with a win over the Lions on Sunday afternoon.

They could either be the third seed or the fourth seed depending on how the Tigers and the Elephants fare.

An Elephants victory and a Tigers loss will push the Mars into the third spot; otherwise the Mars will enter the postseason as the fourth seed.

Should the Mars lose, then they would have to hope the Elephants lose.

The outlook for the Elephants is bleaker in that they must win their game against the brewmasters and also hope for Mars' loss. This is the only scenario that would slip them into postseason action.

The Strategy

The Lions will most likely revert to their inside game against the bankers by feeding the ball to big men Huang Chuen-hsiung and Liu Yi-chuang (劉義傳) who will set up camp at the low post.

As much as Taiwan Beer would like to open it up against the Elephants, the Elephants will look to pull both guards back to take away any fast-break opportunities that the brewers may get.

While the Dinos will try to rest its starters as much as possible when playing the Tigers, they will also want to end the season on a high note with a win. In addition, these two clubs appear most likely to make it to the championship round, scheduled in two weeks, and so whoever wins could gain a psychological edge.
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