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.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
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