Week nine’s Super Basketball League (SBL) Player of the Week honor went to a very deserving Chen Hsuen-shiang, who won the nod from the members of the Basketball Writers’ Association for his outstanding efforts over a three-game stretch last weekend.
The soft-spoken forward for the last-placed Bank of Taiwan proved that the coveted weekly award does not always go to a player on a winning team, but rather to someone who brings the greatest impact to his club. His 29-point outing with five threes was the main reason that the bankers were able to pull off a 108-102 shocker in double overtime against heavily favored Taiwan Beer for only their third win of the season.
“When they first called me about it [winning the Player of the Week honor], I thought it was a prank call,” Chen said at the league’s weekly press conference.
“I would like to thank the coaches for leaving me in the game long enough to help the team win,” he said.
Chen and the rest of the Bank of Taiwan squad will try to add to their winning total with a victory against the red-hot Yulon Luxgens at 8pm this evening at the Taipei Municipal Gymnasium.
It will be an uphill battle for the Bankers all the way, since the Luxgens have won nine straight under the leadership of veteran point man Chen Chih-chung, last week’s Player of the Week, and are not about to let the Bankers spoil their bid to win 10 in a row.
Also worth exploring is the factor of how well the Bankers’ interior defense can contain Yulon big man Tseng Wen-ding, who can post up well against anyone inside the paint and hit the mid-range jumper if he needs to.
Today’s other game promises to be an interesting contest between the Taiwan Mobile Leopards and Kinmen Liquor at 6pm in which the Distillers, losers of five straight, will do whatever it takes to win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.
As for the Leopards, who have lost five of their last six and are in desperate need of a big win, another loss would seriously dent their postseason prospects.
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