Busy Tien Lei lands SBL honor

Tien Lei in action for the Dacin Tigers. PHOTO: SBL

Tien Lei's exceptional play on both ends of the floor in last week's action landed the second-year power forward of the Dacin Tigers this week's Super Basketball League (SBL) Player of the Week honor.

His 44-point night in the game against the Bank of Taiwan last Saturday not only set a new league mark in single-game scoring, it brought fire into the eyes the previously flat Tigers, which won both games for the week by a whopping average margin of 19 points.

The two SBL contests in which Tien transcended the rest of the league were just a part of his seven-game week that included five University Basketball Association (UBA) games in which he also participated as a member of the National Taiwan Normal University team. Taking his physical endurance to new limits would be an understatement for this Tiger as he excels in the game that he loves dearly.

"Playing this many games [seven] in such a short time [one week] actually got me in a groove and improved my game towards the end of the run," Tien said of his insanely scheduled week.

"Basketball is my favorite sport and I will always deeply treasure it," he said.

Tien and his feline mates will have more than their hands full this Sunday when they take on the Yulon Dinos in a crucial battle for both squads.

Fresh off their disheartening one-point loss to the Videoland Hunters a week ago, the Dinos will surely bring their "A" in town against a Tigers' lineup that could use some help with their interior defense.

All-star center Tseng Wen-ding should have a huge game in this one as the Dinos build their game plan around the premier big man in the league who can do it all, whether it is crashing the boards, showing off his low-post moves or patrolling the middle of the paint.

The Tigers' backcourt needs to have a good showing in terms of hitting the perimeter shots and pulling back quickly on defense for them to have a chance against the Dinos' sound "help defense" and deadly fast break.

Also worthy of a sold-out crowd will be tonight's contest between the Hunters and Taiwan Beer in a must-win game for the sliding brewmasters.

Since breaking the 100-point plateau in their win over the bankers on Feb. 18, the beermen have quietly lost three straight with an average total of 67.3 points per game, nearly ten points below their 76.9-point mark in their 14 previous games. Another loss at this juncture could put them out of the title hunt with tough matches down the road against the top caliber squads.

This should be a relatively high-scoring affair in that neither club plays much defense at all, allowing over 76 points per game thus far (76.5 and 78.8 points per game for Taiwan Beer and the Hunters, respectively).

All eyes may be on the main scoring threats for either club, namely Lin "The Beast" Chih-jeh of the beermen and Yang Tseh-yi of the Hunters, but the matchup between Taiwan Beer's Ha Hsiao-yuan and the Hunters' Lai Guo-hung or Lee Chi-yi inside the paint is where the outcome of the game will be decided. If Ha can effectively shut down the Hunters' inside game and force Lai and Lee to kick the ball outside, then the beermen would gain a slight edge for the game. Otherwise, the Hunters' frontcourt will have a field day in this game.

Immediately following the Taiwan Beer-Hunters game tonight, the league-leading Dinos will face the bankers in what should be an easy victory for the Dinos.

This will be a good opportunity for skipper Lee Yun-kuan to rest his starters if they can pull away early so that his troops can be mentally and physically ready for Sunday's showdown versus the Tigers.