Another outstanding showing by Chen "Airman" Hsin-an during the second week of play in the Super Basketball League last week landed the Yulon Dinos forward the Player of the Week honor for the second straight week.
The versatile Dinos icon, who can play nearly every position on the floor, has been the main reason that the Dinos remain undefeated at 4-0 atop the league standings. It was his nerve-wracking three straight free throws with 0.8 second on the clock that forced the battle against Taiwan Beer into overtime and the eventual win to keep the Dinos perfect mark intact.
"It's an honor to win it [Player of the Week] for the second straight game given the number of players who had an outstanding week of play," Chen told the media after learning the good news.
"We are on a roll and we need to keep it going," he added.
Chen has picked up the scoring slack from Dinos center Tseng Wen-ding, who has been bothered by a knee injury he incurred before the start of the season, averaging 20.5 points, 10 rebounds and five assists per game in the two games the Dinos played last week.
The Airman and his Dinos mates will have a chance to extend their winning streak to seven in a row this week with three games scheduled at the National Taiwan College of Physical Education in Taichung, starting off with tonight's match versus the Bank of Taiwan before tomorrow's showdown against the Dacin Tigers and Sunday's weekend finale facing the Taiwan Mobile Leopards.
Keeping a fresh lineup on the court will be a top priority for Dinos head coach Lee Yun-kuan, whose crew runs at least nine deep with the offseason acquisitions of former Leopards starters Lee Chih-yi and Yang Tseh-yi, since two of the three teams the Dinos will play, the bankers and the Tigers, are known for their high-pace style of play.
While the game against the winless bankers will probably not present the Dinos much trouble tonight, they must make sure the starters get plenty of rest to save up for tomorrow's battle with the Tigers.
The Dinos backcourt will also have to be prepared to defend against the Tigers' vicious three-point attack, which converted 16 of 38 attempts from behind the three-point line to thrash a hapless Leopards defense by making it tough for the Tigers' Chang Chih-fong and Wang Chih-chuin to receive the ball.
Offensively for the Dinos, someone other than the Airman will have to have big games this weekend, since the opponents will most likely place double coverage on him the entire way to minimize the damage he can do.
Tonight's Games
In addition to the Dinos-Bank of Taiwan game at 8pm tonight, the Tigers will take on Pure Youth Construction at 6pm, in which the builders will look to score an upset win against the favored cats.
Foreign frontcourt tandem James Mao and Doug Creighton will need to have dynamite games tonight in order for Pure Youth to have a shot at winning, since the Tigers, fresh off a tough loss to dmedia that dealt them their first defeat of the season last Sunday, will look to vent some of the frustration with a big win.
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