Lu Cheng-ju easily won the nods from the Basketball Writers’ Association to land the Super Basketball League’s (SBL) Player of the Week honor with another outstanding weekend of play last week.
The Yulon Luxgens small forward, who became the first man in league history to record 600 career three-pointers with six in last Sunday’s showdown against Taiwan Beer, was a near-unanimous choice in the weekly voting as he wowed the opposition with 10 threes from downtown in the Automakers’ two wins over worthy playoff contenders last weekend.
Winning the Player of the Week honor “is quite a surprise for me because I didn’t really have any monstrous games last week,” Lu said upon learning of his selection to the weekly honor for the second time in in just five weeks.
However, there is definitely no denying that his on-court presence has lifted the rest of a Yulon squad who began the season with a 1-3 record before winning six of their next eight to fall within a game of second-placed Taiwan Beer in the standings.
“[Lu] has really matured as a player and a leader on our team this season. His shot selection has improved tremendously and his consistency on offense has also made him the cornerstone of our team,” Yulon skipper Wei Yung-tai said as he congratulated the Luxgens captain on his progress.
“This could be an MVP year for [Lu],” Wei added.
Next up for Wei’s troops over the New Year’s weekend will the Fubon Braves, in a highly anticipated clash between two teams that have gone in opposite directions — the Luxgens steadily climbing into the elite three and the Braves having dropped four in a row after starting off the season with a pair of big wins late last month.
The Braves will unquestionably put a man on Lu to keep his outside scoring to under a dozen while hired gun Earl Barron does what he is brought in to do — dominate the inside of the paint against a slower, but stronger James Tyler for the Automakers.
The outcome of the game will likely hinge on the success of Yulon swingman Hu Kai-hsiang, who has also quietly upped his game a notch since becoming a regular starter a few games into the season. The third-year sharpshooter has finally blossomed into a legitimate offensive threat after riding the Yulon bench in the two previous seasons by doubling his offensive production from less than seven points per game to nearly 14 points per game this season.
In tonight’s other’s contest, top-ranked Pure Youth Construction will have an excellent chance to extend their win streak to 11 with a date against Bank of Taiwan, whose 3-8 mark is also a half-game better than the last-placed Kinmen Kaoliang. Tipoff is scheduled for 6pm at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
Italian soccer is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation’s failure for the third successive time to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and compounded a leadership and structural crisis. The exits suffered by Bologna and ACF Fiorentina on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season. Italy’s last remaining UEFA Champions League contenders, Atalanta BC, went out in the round of 16 last month. It is the first time since the 1986-1987 campaign that Italian clubs
RSS