Dacin Tigers point man Wang Chih-chun's triple double (19 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists) in last Sunday's contest against the Sina Lions claimed a spot in the record books as the first league player ever to accomplish this feat.
Wang's amazing triple-double performance, in addition to his 10-point, 12-rebound outing in the Tigers' loss against Taiwan Beer last Friday, made him the unanimous choice among the voters as this week's Super Basketball League (SBL) Player of the Week.
Despite his primary role as the set-up man for big guns such as Tien Lei and Lee Fong-yung in the Tigers offense, the 22-year-old graduate of Nan Shan Senior High School has taken a more aggressive approach in his perimeter game, as well as crashing the boards to up his point production and rebound total to 11.0 points per game (PPG) and 7.2 rebounds per game respectively.
His tremendous first step off the dribble has also made him a constant threat to penetrate the paint against opposing teams.
"I would like to thank my teammates for their help, without which I could never have accomplished this. The honor should go to the entire team," Wang, the "pride of Dacin" according to skipper Liu Jia-fa, said after learning of his selection to the weekly honor.
Wang and company will have their hands full this weekend with two tough battles against the league-leading Videoland Hunters (tomorrow) and the ETTV Antelopes (Sunday), with the Hunters looking to snap their two-game losing streak and the Antelopes trying to bounce back from their worst ever offensive output (50 points against Taiwan Beer last Sunday).
The matchup between the league's two top offenses (the Tigers with 84.7 PPG and the Hunters with 82.7 PPG) should be a treat to hoop fans in that there will not be much defense played at either end.
This means the club with fewer turnovers will probably have the upper hand after all is said and done.
The Hunters will undoubtedly challenge Lee Fong-yung of the Tigers from the get-go to see if the Dacin big man's recovery from an earlier injury is complete, by attacking the low post on offense and forcing the right-handed Lee to go with his left hand more often.
How well the Hunters can contain the Tiger' top scorer Tien Lei, will be another key indicator in the outcome of this game.
Tonight's contest between the Yulon Dinos and the Antelopes is an important game for the Dinos in that a win and an expected victory against the winless Lions tomorrow could potentially put the Dinos in a three-way tie for the lead, should the Hunters and the beermen falter in their games over the weekend.
The Antelopes could pull off a mild upset against the defending champs in this game if they can pound the ball inside with their twin towers Wu Dai-hao and Shang Wei-fan, to exploit the already thin Dinos frontcourt that mainly boasts Tseng Wen-ding.
Attacking the Dinos down low will not only give the Antelopes some easy buckets inside, but also free up the outside shots for sharp shooter Yang Yu-ming, who can fire with accuracy from anywhere within the 25ft range for the Antelopes.
Immediately following the Dinos-Antelopes game will be the Hunters versus the Bank of Taiwan in a must-win game for the bankers.
The bankers, losers of three straight games, must win the rebounding battle if they wish to have a chance against the Hunter offense.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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