Dreamers' Gilbeck and Lin named TPBL Players of the Week

Lin Chun-chi took the shot with 7.2 seconds left on Sunday, and it went in. The Formosa Dreamers, champions of the TPBL, beat the Kaohsiung Aquas 115-114 in Taichung for their first win of the season, and on Tuesday the league named Lin its local Player of the Week. His teammate Brandon Gilbeck was named import Player of the Week.

It was the Dreamers' second game in two days. On Saturday they lost the season opener 113-106 in overtime to the New Taipei Kings, the team they beat from 3-1 down in last season's final.

Lin's finish

The Dreamers trailed by 20 against Kaohsiung. The Aquas won the first quarter 37-23 and led 63-49 at halftime and 90-79 after three quarters. The Dreamers won the fourth 36-24.

With 1:29 left, Lin hit a three that put the Dreamers ahead 113-112. Kaohsiung went back in front. Then Lin made the mid-range jumper with 7.2 seconds to go, and the Dreamers held on.

Lin scored 23 against Kaohsiung and 14 in the opener, 18.5 points a game for the weekend, and made 53.8% of his twos.

Gilbeck inside

Gilbeck averaged 15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and two blocks over the two games. Against Kaohsiung he had 23 points and 15 rebounds. The Dreamers registered two imports for that game, and Gilbeck and Lin shared the team's scoring lead with 23 each.

Kaohsiung made 15 threes on 49 attempts and 23 of 29 free throws, and out-rebounded the Dreamers 61-58. The Dreamers made up for it inside and on defense: 33 twos to Kaohsiung's 23, 13 steals, and 20 Kaohsiung turnovers.

The opener

The Dreamers led the opener 27-22 after the first quarter and 55-47 at halftime. The Kings won the third quarter 30-25 and the fourth 22-19, and it was 99-99 at the end of regulation. The Kings won overtime 14-7, and they had 15 steals in the game. Neither side shot well: the Kings made 35 of 90 from the field and 8 of 28 threes, the Dreamers 34 of 82 and 11 of 36. They made 35 of 42 free throws, the Dreamers 27 of 40, and the Dreamers turned the ball over 22 times. The crowd was 3,000. On Sunday it was 2,889.

The opener was the rematch our season preview looked ahead to. In June, Ben Bentil scored 29 points with 13 rebounds in Game 7 of the final, and the Dreamers beat the Kings 90-78 for the franchise's first title. Lin scored 12 in that game. This time the Kings won the first meeting.

The table

After the first weekend, the Kings are 1-0, the Dreamers 1-1 and the Aquas 0-1. The other four clubs, the Taipei Taishin Mars, New Taipei CTBC DEA, Taoyuan Taiwan Beer Leopards and Hsinchu Lioneers, have not played yet.

What is next

Four games this weekend, all Taiwan time. On Saturday, October 24, the Dreamers play at Hsinchu at 2:30 p.m., and the Mars visit the CTBC DEA at 5 p.m. On Sunday, October 25, Kaohsiung play at Hsinchu at 2:30 p.m., and the Kings visit the CTBC DEA at 5 p.m. The Leopards open on Saturday, October 31, at the Kings.