Chou Yi-hsiang was named last week’s SBL Player of the Week for his outstanding display of grace under fire.
Members of the Basketball Writers’ Association were nearly unanimous on their decision in selecting the Dacin Tigers forward for the weekly honor for the second time in three weeks for his uncanny plays in crunch time to lead his team to a pair of back-to-back wins.
It was Chou’s long three-pointer with 48 seconds remaining in the game that gave the Tigers the lead for good against a ferocious Kinmen Kaoliang squad that nearly pulled off the upset on Thursday evening last week.
And to top that three on a 19-point effort, Chou treated the fans with an even closer play by saving himself for the game-winning tip-in with 1.4 second left on the clock against second-ranked Taiwan Beer the next evening to hand deliver the 64-63 victory.
“I’d like to thank my coaches and teammates for having the confidence in me; making the big shots is one way to repay them for having such confidence in me,” Chou said after learning of the honor.
He finished the two-game week with 43 points to help the Tigers improve to 11-7 for the season.
“The game is all about poise; whichever team has more poise under pressure will likely to end up with the win,” Chou added.
“[Chou] really has great basketball instinct, that’s why he has been our go-to guy so far,” Dacin skipper Chiu Da-tsung said after learning of Chou’s second selection for the honor.
“[Chou’s] ability to deliver with the game on the line is what makes him such a special player,” Chiu added.
Chou and the rest of the Tigers will have a chance to show what they are really made of on the final week of play before the Lunar New Year break with a tough battle against top-ranked Pure Youth Construction tomorrow evening, followed by Saturday’s showdown versus the streaky Fubon Braves, winners of their last three straight.
Dacin big man Bryan Davis will need to use every bit of his quickness to make up for his size advantage against his counterpart Earl Barron, who is listed at 213cm and 113 kg, compared with Davis’s 206 cm and 105 kg stature.
The latter will be expected to come out of paint more often to guard against the former’s perimeter game, which could be deadly if left unaddressed.
TONIGHT’S GAMES
Bank of Taiwan square off in a David and Goliath battle against Pure Youth this evening at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City.
That will be followed by the Yulon Luxgens’ showdown against a struggling Kinmen Kaoliang squad,who have lost three straight and are looking to regain some respect with a win over the Automakers.
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