Week Four’s Super Basketball League (SBL) Player of the Week honor went to Pure Youth Construction’s Chen “Airman” Hsin-an who won nods from the members of the Basketball Writers’ Association for his exceptional efforts and tremendous leadership to help his club win all three of their games in a tough three-game weekend last week.
The former Yulon Luxgen great, who had spent the past two seasons playing for the Dongguan Leopards of China’s Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) before being signed by the Builders, finally came around after a slow start that led to a pair of losses in the opening weekend by averaging 15.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and five assists in an all-around effort last weekend to prove his worth to the team.
His recent surge is the main reason that the Builders have won four straight and are on the edge of knocking off the top-ranked Dacin Tigers heading into the annual Lunar New Year break.
“It’s a great honor to win [the Player of Week award]; we had a good week of practice and it showed in the games we played,” Chen said after learning of his selection to the weekly honor.
He easily beat Tigers great Tien Lei in this week’s voting by a 61-48 margin, earning nine out of 15 first-place votes in the process. He and the rest of the construction crew will get a well-deserved three-week break to fine-tune their game.
“[Chen] has no doubt been the focal point of our team this year, his leadership will be greatly counted on as we make a run for the title,” Pure Youth head coach Hsu Jin-tseh said earlier this week.
With the Airman in their lineup to lead a crew of young talent, the Builders were picked to win the title prior to the start of the season. Judging from the way they have been playing, they may very well land the coveted title trophy for the first time in team history.
LUNAR NEW YEAR BREAK
No games are scheduled over the Lunar New Year holiday as the teams go on a three-week break.
Play will resume at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City on Feb. 3.
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