Doug Creighton was named last week’s SBL Player of the Week earlier this week for his outstanding play that led Pure Youth Construction to a perfect three-win weekend.
The former standout from Taipei American School, who went to play for Madonna University in the US before returning to Taiwan in 2007, beat out Bank of Taiwan rookie Chou Bo-hsun by a 26-19 margin to take the weekly honor for the first time this season.
His nine-for-16 shooting from behind the three-point arc in the Builders’ three wins last week forced the opposing defenses to play him tough on the perimeters, taking them out of their strategy to sag inside the paint and defend against the low-post play of fellow center Quincy Davis, giving the Builders tremendous balance on the offense.
Even though his 16.3 points per game scoring average for the week was far short of some of the numbers that past winners have tallied, the members of the Basketball Writers’ Association felt strongly about his contribution to the defending champs and awarded him the weekly honor.
“I’d like to thank my coaches for believing in me and my teammates for their great plays on the floor to make it possible. Without their support, I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own,” a modest Creighton said after learning of his selection to the weekly honor.
He has finally found a home to showcase his skills and talents, after having played for Bank of Taiwan and Taiwan Beer in the past.
“Doug has really matured as a player this season with his consistent play on the perimeters, which has allowed me to be more flexible in playing more of our younger guys,” Pure Youth skipper Hsu Jin-tseh said earlier this week.
Hsu and his Construction Crew will have a chance to add to their team-record nine-game win streak with a pair of games against the Yulon Luxgens and Kinmen Kaoliang this weekend, starting with tomorrow’s match against the Automakers at the Kaohsiung Arena, followed by Sunday’s showdown against the Distillers. While the Luxgens will try to nip Pure Youth’s win streak to wipe their memory of being held to a season-low 53 points in their last game and remain in the hunt for the post-season, the Distillers, who have been eliminated from the post-season, would love to play spoilers by topping the league-leaders with an upset win.
Tonight’s Contests
The SBL road show will move again, from the National Taiwan University of Physical Education and Sport Gymnasium in Taichung, where it was held last weekend, to Greater Kaohsiung this weekend.
Three days of non-stop action at the Kaohsiung Arena starts with tonight’s confrontation between Bank of Taiwan and Taiwan Beer, followed by the match between the Luxgens and the Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards.
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