Basketball fans all over Taiwan will have their wishes fulfilled tonight as the two most popular teams in the Super Basketball League -- the Yulon Dinos and Taiwan Beer -- face off for the first time at the Taipei Sports Education College Arena.
The league-leading Dinos will put their 5-0 mark on the line as they take on the "beer men" of Taiwan Beer in a key battle that features the Dinos' Chen Hsin-an (陳信安), arguably the best all-around player in the league, and Lin "the Monster" Chih-jeh (林志傑) of Taiwan Beer, who earned his nickname for bringing down the backboard following a "monstrous" dunk earlier in the season.
Both Chen and Lin are the heart and soul of their respective squads. Chen has won the respect of his teammates and coaches his finesse, while Lin wows those around him with his exceptional instinct for the ball and sheer explosiveness out in the open court.
"Compared to Lin's raw power, almost beastly style of play, Chen is viewed as the beauty with his smooth moves, which make him such a pleasure to watch."
The key to victory for the Dinos will be how well they keep Lin and his league-high 23.2 points per game in check. He has had two 30-point plus games and will look to add to that impressive total.
In the spirit of giving back to the community over the holiday season, several local charities have jointly reserved the entire upper level of the arena to treat over 350 children from World Vision Taiwan and the Taiwan Orphan's Welfare Association to this highly anticipated contest.
Tomorrow night's prime time matchup features the run-n-gun BCC Mars the Sina Lions, which prefer half-court ball.
Lions center Huang Chuen-hsiung (
Game 1 on Sunday places the hapless Jeoutai Elephants (1-5) against a physical Bank of Taiwan squad that can crash the boards with the best in the league. With the sting of a 23-point loss to the Lions on Dec 14 still fresh, Bank of Taiwan should come out firing in an effort to redeem themselves.
The recent two-week break should help the young Elephants with their flow on offense as the players used the time to refine their strategy. In addition to improving their offensive flow, the Elephants must put a body on Bank of Taiwan's Chu Yung-hung (朱永弘) on defense after every shot attempt, because the "Taiwanese Dennis Rodman" averages over four offensive rebounds per game for a team that logs nearly 16 offensive boards per contest.
To close out the weekend, Taiwan Beer will do battle against the Dacin Tigers on Sunday night in a game that features the league's top two scorers -- Lin "the Monster" Chih-jeh and Tiger poster boy Tien Lei (田壘).
Tiger head coach Liu Chia-fa should watch tonight's game tape (Dinos versus Taiwan Beer) closely as he learns more on how the "Monster" fares against the Dino "D" in formulating his own game plan for Sunday.
It will be an important game for both teams because it could determine who will remain in the "Elite Three" of the league and which team will sink further down in the standings.
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