Wu Dai-hao edged out fellow teammate Hsu Tseh-hsin by a point to claim this week's Super Basketball League (SBL) Player of the Week honor.
The second-year big man for the ETTV Antelopes was the main reason that his club went 2-0 for the week in last week's play with impressive wins over the Videoland Hunters and the Sina Lions.
In the nearly 33 minutes of action that Wu saw from each game, he averaged 19.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3 blocked-shots and 1.5 assists, giving the opposition more than they could handle. It was such consistent play inside the paint that also helped open up the perimeter game for the Antelopes in those two victories.
PHOTO: SBL
"Coach Lee has really taught me how to play smart basketball. Instead of wearing my heart on my sleeve and getting into foul troubles all the time, I have learned to control my temper on the floor by converting all that emotions into pump fakes, solid picks or crisp outlet passes," Wu said, crediting his recent success to skipper Lee Yun-shiang of the Antelopes.
Next up for Wu and company are two crucial matches against playoff contenders, Taiwan Beer and the Dacin Tigers, starting off with tonight's contest against the beermen.
This is an interesting game in that the Antelopes seem more than ready to attack the heart of the beer crew's defense with Wu's ability to tear up the middle at will, which should spell a big "W" for the Antelopes. But the brew masters are simply too good a club to fall five straight, which is what would happen should they falter tonight. Their sheer determination to break out of the slump should be enough to propel the beermen past the Antelopes in this game.
Taiwan Beer scoring threat Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh is expecting to become the league's first 1000-point man tonight, being 23 points short of the millennium plateau.
Scheduling is not particularly kind to the Antelopes this week as they get set for the Tigers in tomorrow night's match that will feature the showdown between Wu and the Tigers' big gun Tien Lei, two of the league's premier low-post men who can do it all on both ends of the court.
Tien may gain a slight edge in this matchup of the week in that he will be better rested compared to Wu, who expects to play over 30 minutes in tonight's game and may run out of gas by the second half in tomorrow's game.
Elsewhere in the league, the Hunters will pay a visit to the Lions' den to kick off the weekend tonight in what should be a walk in the park for the men with the riffles. The availability of the Lions' big man Liu Yi-shiang is important only in the sense that his Lions would lose by less than 15, instead of an ugly blowout that would have taken place.
Things could get uglier for the big cats tomorrow when they face the league-leading Yulon Dinos in what will be a lopsided slaughter.
Coach Lee Yun-kuan of the Dinos certainly will not make the same mistake of resting his starters too much again in this game, as his second-string troops fell behind the Bank of Taiwan during the first half of their game last week, and nearly gave Lee a scare before the starters returned and ensured the Dinos' victory.
Capping off the weekend will be the game of the week between the Tigers and Taiwan Beer on Sunday.
The league's top two scorers, Tien Lei (22.4 points per game) of the Tigers and Lin Chih-jeh (21.7 points per game) of Taiwan Beer will undoubtedly try to outdo each other in this game.
The Tigers, with their deeper bench, may have a tad of an advantage in this game, especially if it turns into a high-scoring affair.
Early foul troubles could also play a role in this game.
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