Chou Po-hsun was named last week’s SBL Player of the Week for his outstanding play that helped Taiwan Beer to a valiant victory over a red-hot Dacin Tigers squad.
The fourth-year power forward out of Changhua’s Ming Dao University, whose list of accomplished alumni include fellow swingman Liu Cheng, and point guards Wu Min-hsien and Peng Chun-yen of Pure Youth Construction, became just the third Taiwanese player in league history to record a double-20 performance on Friday last week when he racked up 24 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Brew Crew past the Tigers in one of Taiwan Beer’s biggest wins of the season.
The other two Taiwanese to have accomplished the feat are Tseng Wen-ding of the Yulon Luxgens and Tien Lei of the Tigers, both of whom are currently playing in the Chinese Basketball Association after having spent 10 and 11 seasons in the SBL respectively.
“It is an honor to be selected [as the Player of the Week], given the number of great players we have playing in the league,” Chou said.
He has steadily worked his way from the Taiwan Beer bench into the starting lineup and contributed consistently to earn the plaudits of fellow teammates and coach Yen Chia-hua.
“Po-hsun’s ability to get into good rebounding positions inside the paint has been a big part to our recent success. He is playing at a level of intensity that I have not seen in a player in a long time,” Yen said.
With his team hanging onto a slim one-game lead over the third-placed Tigers and the opposing teams sure to focus their defensive efforts on him, Chou is likely to face some unprecedented double-team coverage in the Brew Crew’s five remaining games, posing a big challenge to his ability to find the open man and create scoring opportunities for his teammates.
“Chou has proven himself inside the paint for us, now we need to work on his perimeter game and his self-confidence so that he can become a more complete player,” Yen said.
Chou and the rest of the Brew Crew have a chance to secure a second-place finish in the regular season, and even challenge top-ranked Pure Youth Construction for the overall lead in the standings, with three matches scheduled for this week, starting with tomorrow evening’s meeting with the Fubon Braves, followed by Saturday’s battle against Kinmen Kaoliang before Sunday’s highly anticipated showdown against the Builders.
TONIGHT’S GAMES
The Tigers and the Braves are to begin this week’s action at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City this evening in what many consider to be a must-win game for the Braves, losers of two straight and five of their past six matches.
The game is to be followed by a battle between the Luxgens and Bank of Taiwan, in which Liam McMorrow is to have a chance to take on his former team in a Yulon uniform.
The Canadian native played for Bank of Taiwan for one season two years ago before skipping last season and signing with the Automakers midway through this season.
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