BASKETBALL/Pilots' Lu Chun-hsiang tops PLG scoring list

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Reigning MVP Lu Chun-hsiang (盧峻翔) became the P.League+'s (PLG) all-time leading scorer Thursday in his Taoyuan Pauian Pilots' 114-77 win against the Kaohsiung Steelers, a shining moment in an otherwise difficult season for the league.

In front of a crowd of 2,273, Lu, who had been tied with two-time MVP Amigo Yang (楊敬敏) at 1,749 points prior to the game, wasted no time breaking the record by banking in a shot 15 seconds after the opening tipoff.

He secured the record in his 112th regular season game, two more games than Yang, who has not signed with any pro team after the New Taipei Kings decided not to bring him back following the 2023-24 season.

"Coach [Iurgi] Caminos told me to break it soon because there would be a short timeout to celebrate it. So I just did it at the beginning of the game to let the game resume as it should," Lu said when asked about his mindset.

Lu's record might seem insignificant given the relatively low number of points and the PLG's brief five-year history.

But it still mattered for a league that has many aging stars and suffered a setback in the 2024 offseason when it lost two franchises to a new rival league, leaving it with four teams, the same as in its inaugural season.

"People keep wondering whom the torch will be passed on to now that players from the Golden Generation are in the twilight of their careers," said PLG broadcaster Tsai Ching-ching (蔡晴景).

"Lu Chun-hsiang is telling us he may be HIM as he rises from the Sixth Man of the Year, to regular season MVP, to the all-time scoring leader," Tsai said.

The need for new stars grew more pressing at the beginning of the season when 42-year-old Lin "Beast" Chih-chieh (林志傑) of the Taipei Fubon Braves, widely hailed as Taiwan's greatest basketball player ever, said this year would likely be his last.

As of Thursday, Lu was the only active Taiwanese PLG player who has had double-digit points in every season he has played, at 14.9, 14.3, 16.8 and 18.9 points per game, in a league dominated by foreign players.

Consistent as his numbers seem, Lu ran into a brick wall in the second half of the 2022-23 season when his opponents adopted defensive strategies that made him lose confidence following a scorching hot first half.

In a game against the Braves in April 2023, Lin approached Lu after a foul and encouraged him to "focus on your own adjustments and ignore others' doubts."

That brief exchange has been viewed by many as a symbolic moment in the league.

Lu, who scored 22 points in a team-high 31 minutes on Thursday, said he did not dream of breaking the record when he joined the Pilots in 2021. Instead, he cherished the team's collective progress over individual achievements.

"I'm not the only one carrying this team forward. As you can see, [Li] Chia-kang has made huge strides, and so have [Pai Yao-cheng (白曜誠)] and [Kuan] Ta-you (關達祐). This is not just my team, it's our team, and that's what I love most about this organization," Lu said.

On Thursday, Li put up 24 point on six three-pointers, both career high. Though more known for his defense, Li is averaging 12.2 points this season, more than double his career average (5.9).

Thursday's romp saw the league-leading Pilots improve their record to 11-3, while the Steelers suffered their fourth straight loss to become the first PLG team with 10 losses this season.

The Pilots will visit the Tainan TSG GhostHawks on Saturday looking for their fourth consecutive win. They lead the league by three games over the second place GhostHawks, while the Braves are third, 4.5 games back.