This week’s Super Basketball League (SBL) Player of the Week honor went to a very deserving Doug Creighton, who earned the nod from members of the Basketball Writers’ Association for his exceptional performance in leading Pure Youth Construction to a perfect 2-0 mark last week.
The former member of Taipei’s very own Taipei American School, who went on to play college ball at Madonna College in the US, proved that his unexpected win at the annual Three-point Shootout during the All-Star Weekend was no fluke — he converted 10 of 15 three-point attempts in the two games he played for a total of 37 points against worthy opponents the Yulon Luxgens and the Dacin Tigers.
“Winning [the Three-point Shootout] has definitely boosted my confidence a lot. I’d like to thank the coaches and my teammates for the floor time I had and creating the open shot opportunities for me,” Creighton was quoted as saying in the Chinese-language media earlier this week.
Photo: SBL
Coach Hsu Jin-tseh of the Builders could not be happier for his star shooter, who is well liked by his teammates for his tendency to pass the ball in search for a teammate with a better shot.
“[Creighton] is a very unselfish player, so [the coaching staff] often have to remind him of the fact that he could be a deadly outside threat if he takes more looks at the basket,” Hsu said of his young gun.
Creighton and the rest of the Builders crew have their work cut out for them as they take on a three-game stretch head-on this weekend, starting with a tough battle against a surging Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards squad tonight. This is scheduled to be followed by tomorrow’s contest against Kinmen Kaoliang and Sunday’s showdown against the defending champs from Taiwan Beer at the National Taiwan University of Physical Education and Sport Gymnasium in Taichung.
While the odds are in their favor in the games against the Leopards and the Distillers, the Builders must remind themselves not to look ahead to Sunday’s match against the second-placed Brew Crew too soon, as the Leopards have made a run of their own by winning three of their last four games, while Kinmen Kaoliang have flashed signs of brilliance in winning their last three to chalk up some serious talk about earning a postseason berth.
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