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Offensive power earns Wang an MVP

Wang Chih-chuin's outstanding display of offensive power, scoring 26 points per contest over a three-game stretch last week, earned him this week's Super Basketball League Player of the Week award.

It is the second time that the Dacin Tigers point man has won the coveted weekly honor this year, beating his Yulon Dinos counterpart Lee Hsueh-lin by a wide margin (33-15) with his recently red-hot shooting.

The fourth-year Tigers signal caller has regained his all-star playing form after recovering from an eye injury that kept him off the floor for a part of this season with three fine outings in a row during which he shot more than 50 percent from behind the three-point line.

And it was his rediscovered shooting touch that has helped guide the Tigers to a 6-2 mark in their past eight contests to maintain a strong foothold for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Wang stressed the importance of good teamwork while downplaying his recent success.

"The award really should go to the entire team; I just happened to hit the shots that were created by the solid picks that my teammates set for me," he said.

Wang and his Tigers teammates will have a chance for two more wins this weekend with back-to-back matches against Bank of Taiwan and the Azio Eagles, starting with tomorrow's battle against a frustrated group of bankers in desperate need of a win and Sunday's weekend finale versus the 2-18 Eagles.

The Tigers are the clear favorites in both games this weekend, because the bankers are in the midst of a serious midseason slump with a 1-12 record in their past 13 games, while the Eagles have only won two games this season.

"We have been in this position before, where we underestimated our opponents and nearly lost games that we should have won by a ton, so I am not going to assume anything at this time," Dacin head coach Liu Jia-fa said in a recent interview.

Tonight's Games

On the menu for tonight in hoop action will be the game between Taiwan Beer and the Videoland Hunters at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium in a showdown between the second and third-ranked squads.

Anything other than a big "W" will be considered unacceptable for Taiwan Beer coach Yen Jia-hua since his troops have come up empty in all three of their games against the Hunters so far this season, losing the last meeting by five after a late-game collapse.

The encounter promises to be an extremely physical game as the Hunters look to control the glass on both ends of the floor with top rebounder Jonathan Sanders leading the league with nearly 16 boards per game.

Unless the beer crew finds a way to double-team the all-purpose US forward, he should have another big game tonight because he is too quick for Taiwan Beer's Ha Hsiao-yuan and Shang Wei-fang, and too strong for Wu Chih-yuan and Ho Sho-cheng to defend against.

Also scheduled for tonight is the game between the league-leading Dinos and the last-placed Azio Eagles, where the Dinos should have a relatively easy time in extending their winning streak to four straight while preparing for tomorrow's contest against the Hunters.

This will be an excellent opportunity for Dinos coach Lee Yun-kuan to play his reserves as the starters take some much needed rest for the big game against the Hunters.
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