Chen "Airman" Hsin-an's record-setting, 52-point performance in last week's contest against the ETTV Antelopes made him the unanimous choice among the members of the press for this week's Super Basketball League's (SBL) Player of the Week award.
The Yulon Dinos' most versatile player was simply on fire for the night. In under just 32 minutes of play, Chen shattered the previous single-game scoring mark of 44, set by Dacin Tigers' Tien Lei in early March.
Chen also drained eleven of 16 three-point attempts to set a new high for most three-pointers in a game by an individual, one better than Taiwan Beer great Lin "The Beast" Chih-jeh's ten in a double-overtime thriller on March 22nd. Chen's 6-for-11 shooting from the two-point range gave him an incredible 63 percent shooting (17-for-27) before all was said and done.
PHOTO: SBL
"I would like to thank my coaches and teammates for giving me the opportunity to apply what I've learned over the years on a basketball floor, especially my teammates who kept feeding me the ball towards the end of the game," Chen said at the award's presentation on Tuesday.
Chen and his Dino gangs will have a full-load weekend when they take on the Sina Lions tomorrow night and the beermen on Sunday to close out the week. Having already qualified for the top-seed berth in the upcoming postseason, the Dinos should take advantage of the game versus the last-placed Lions (3-25 for the season) by playing the second stringers for most part of the game to give them some actual game experience.
Sunday's game against Taiwan Beer could very well be the preview of the first-round matchup in the postseason for the Dinos with the beermen holding a half-game edge over the Antelopes for the fourth and final playoff spot.
All eyes will be on the showdown between the "Airman" and "The Beast" as the league's top two offensive wizards go head-to-head in what promises to be an exciting display of individual speed, talent and explosiveness.
Also in action for the weekend are the Antelopes versus the Videoland Hunters in a must-win game for the Antelopes as they fight to keep their playoff hopes alive. In addition to the obvious postseason ramifications, the Antelopes will also be looking to pile on the points in an all-out attack to avenge what skipper Lee Yun-shiang had accused the Hunters last week for not playing the regular starters in a loss to the beermen.
While meaningless to the Hunters, who have already clinched the second-seed spot in the postseason, their loss to the beermen actually gave Taiwan Beer the sole possession of the fourth place spot in the standings heading into the final two weeks of regular season competition.
All-star center Wu Dai-hao should have a field day for the Antelopes against a slower and smaller Hunters' frontcourt consisted of Lai Guo-hung, Hsiung ren-cheng and Lee Chi-yi. Wu's big plays inside the paint should then free up the perimeter for shooting guard Yang Yu-ming as the Antelopes' dynamic duo let off their frustration against the Hunters in what should be a huge win for the Antelopes.
Last but not least, the Tigers will pay a visit to the bankers in what should be the most evenly matched game of the week. There will not much defense played in this high-scoring game because neither club has demonstrated the ability to stop anyone in the league.
The bankers have allowed a league-worst 84.9 points per game on defense, while the Tigers have yielded over 78 points per game, worst among the playoff contenders.
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