Patrick O’Bryant was named last week’s SBL Player of the Week earlier this week for his outstanding play that lifted Taiwan Beer to four impressive wins as they remain unbeaten at 5-0.
The US national, who is playing his third season for the Brew Crew, registered a pair of 25-plus point games last week, including Sunday night’s 38-point outing against a feisty Dacin Tiger team to lead Taiwan Beer to victory. He averaged 21.3 points and 16.5 rebounds in the four contests.
“It is an honor to be selected [as Player of the Week], but what matters to me even more is the fact that we are winning,” O’Bryant said upon learning the news earlier this week.
He has improved from being a scorer to a more complete player as he becomes more familiar with other members of the Brew Crew.
“Liu Cheng and Lu Chi-min have also become integral members of our team,” O’Bryant added.
With his team jumping to a 5-0 start and opposing teams sure to tighten their defensive effort against him, O’Bryant is likely to face some double-team or even triple-team coverage inside the paint in games to come, which would pose a challenge to his ability to find the open man and create scoring opportunities for his teammates.
“[O’Bryant] has definitely developed into a formidable force in the league with his improved outside shooting in the last two seasons. There is no question that we have established mutual respect and trust between us,” Taiwan Beer captain Yen Chia-hua said of his go-to guy earlier in the week.
Yen and his unbeaten Brew Crew can increase their wining streak to 7-0 with two matches against weaker clubs this week, starting with tonight’s contest against the Yulon Luxgens, followed by Saturday’s showdown against a streaky Kinmen Kaoliang squad.
They are to be physical encounters for O’Bryant as Yulon’s hired gun James Tyler is likely to use his size advantage to keep O’Bryant from gaining good positions inside the paint, while Distillers newcomer Kyle Barone is likely to test O’Bryant’s defensive range by pulling up for jumpers to keep his defender honest. Taiwan Beer are favored to win both games as long as they maintain the right balance on offense and keep their turnovers down to less than 10 per game.
Prior to Taiwan Beer’s match against the Yulon Luxgens, the Dacin Tigers are to take on Bank of Taiwan in the evening’s early game, when both teams are to fight it out for a much-needed win.
With just one win apiece to their credit, the last-placed Tigers could climb out of the cellar and swap places with the Bankers with a big win.
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