Chen "Airman" Hsin-an's stellar display of versatility, with 43 points, 19 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in the two games he played last weekend earned him the Super Basketball League opening Player of the Week honor.
The premier power forward in the league, who has been the heart-and-soul of three-time champions the Yulon Dinos, accounted for nearly one-third of his club's total points (28 percent) over the two-game span last week as they won both contests to remain unbeaten so far.
"It's great to be able to start off the season with this honor, given the number of excellent players around the league," Chen said after leaning of his selection for the weekly award that is voted on by the nation's sports writers.
PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"I would also like to remember Coach Chien with this trophy for what he has done for this team," Chen said, referring to former coach Chien Yi-fei who passed away recently after a long battle with cancer.
The "Airman" and his teammates will have a chance to extend their winning streak to four straight this weekend, starting with tonight's contest against Pure Youth at the Taipei County Sports Complex in Sinjhuang before tomorrow's showdown against the defending champions, Taiwan Beer, who took a beating from the Dinos in preseason two weeks ago.
Yulon will clearly be the favorites in the game against Pure Youth because the Builders are still a very young team that have undergone three changes of ownership in as many seasons, not to mention their 0-2 record on the opening weekend.
As for the game against Taiwan Beer, the revenge factor for the Beer Crew could play a big role in the game as Taiwan Beer are known as a streaky team, and a couple of good 12-2 runs could be enough to win it for them against the more experienced Dinos.
The addition of forwards Wu Dai-hao (from Dmedia) and Yang Jing-min (Bank of Taiwan) to the Taiwan Beer lineup may create some mismatches against the slower Dinos frontcourt that often relies solely on the speed of Chen Hsin-an.
TONIGHT'S GAMES
Besides the Dinos-Pure Youth game at 8pm this evening, Bank of Taiwan will take on Taiwan Beer at 6pm in what should be a breeze for the Beer Crew as the talent-drained Bankers squad looks to keep it respectable.
A reluctance by Bank of Taiwan to commit more resources to its basketball operation has led to the departure of former skipper Wei Cheng-ming and big name players such as Yang, Wu Yong-ren (now with the Taiwan Mobile Leopards) and Yueh Ying-li (Dacin Tigers) who were the backbone of the Bank of Taiwan squad that made it into the postseason two years ago.
It will be a good opportunity for Taiwan Beer coach Yen Jia-hua to play his reserves in order to rest his starters for tomorrow's showdown against the Dinos.
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