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.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day
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