Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh's great all-around performances that played a large part in Taiwan Beer's perfect 2-0 start over the weekend earned him this week's Super Basketball League Player of the Week honor.
The fourth-year power forward averaged 27 points, seven rebounds, and 4.5 assists per contest, despite often receiving double or even triple-team coverage from opponents to help the beer crew rack up a pair of impressive wins against defending champs the Yulon Dinos and the Azio Tigers last weekend to claim the coveted weekly distinction.
Surprise
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
"I didn't think I was going to win it [Player of the Week] with the "so-so" game I had against the Eagles on Sunday, so I am a little surprised," the top scorer for Taiwan Beer over the past three seasons said after hearing the good news.
"There were many other players who also deserved the award," the Beast added.
Lin and his beer mates will have a chance to see how good they really are this weekend with back-to-back games against an experienced Videoland Hunters team that also won their season opener last Sunday and a speedy and explosive ETTV Antelope lineup that could run up the score in a hurry.
Tonight's games see the Dacin Tigers take on the Eagles at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium at 6:30pm where three-time season MVP winner Tien Lei of the Tigers will look to bounce back from a tough one-point loss to Bank of Taiwan last Sunday against the Eagles.
Keeping Tien well contained will be a priority for the Eagles' rookie skipper Hsu Jin-tseh as the Tigers will undoubtedly try to test the Eagles' interior defense by posting up Tein early and often.
Respect
Following the game between the Tigers and the Eagles will be the primetime matchup between the Dinos and the Hunters at 8:30pm where the defending champions will seek to regain some respect after blowing a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead to lose their season opener in overtime against Taiwan Beer last Saturday.
How well the Dinos frontcourt handle the Hunters'new boy Jonathan Sanders of the US will determine whether they will bounce back from a tough loss or start off the season with a 0-2 mark for the first time ever.
The versatile 198cm Sanders will try to prove his worth to the Hunters by outmaneuvering the Dinos' 202cm center Tseng Wen-ding, who is tad slower than the American, and outmuscling the Dinos' 192cm forward Chen "Airman" Hsin-an, who is slightly smaller than Sanders.
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