Luke Nevill easily won the nods from members of the Basketball Writers’ Association with an outstanding weekend of play last week to land the league’s Player of the Week honor.
The Bank of Taiwan big man, who returned for his second tour of duty at the start of this season after spending his first one with the formerly Taiwan Mobile Leopards two years ago, showed why he is one of the premier centers in the league by netting 23.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per game against playoff-contending opponents to lead the Bankers to a pair of sound wins.
“[Nevill] has always shown a willingness to learn our system and work with our players since he first joined us and his continuing improvement is a big reason why we are doing much better now compared to before,” a very happy Bank of Taiwan head coach Hung Chun-che said of his hired gun from Australia earlier this week.
The match on Thursday last week between the Bankers and the Dacin Tigers was case in point as Nevill outfought his counterpart Bryan Davis of the US with a season-high 31 points and 16 rebounds to lift his team to a big win in overtime against the third-place Tigers who had won three of their past four heading into the contest.
“What makes [Nevill] so special for us is that his on-court presence makes our other guys like Chen Hsuan-hsiang, Chang Po-sheng and Lee Wei-che play that much better,” Hung added.
Nevill and the rest of the Banking Corp have a chance to extend their winning streak this week with three tough matches ahead, starting with tonight’s confrontation against Kinmen Kaoliang, followed by Saturday’s battle against the Fubon Braves, before Sunday’s showdown against top-ranked Pure Youth Construction.
With the end of the regular season just three weeks away and only a half-game separating the Bankers (fifth place) and the Braves (sixth place), this week promises to be crucial for the financial wizards who could clinch a playoff berth by winning all three games of the week.
Tonight’s Other Contest
Following the match between the Bankers and the Distillers at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Pure Youth are to take on the Braves in the second game where the Braves will feature the return of the league’s top scorer Earl Barron who missed all of last week to nurse a muscle strain.
The Braves will have to find at least one other player to share the scoring burden with Barron against the Builders’ renown pressure defense to have a chance at the win as the four-time defending champs will undoubtedly exploit their tendency to be a one-man team.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
RSS