On August 14, according to @Jinan Times: After Qiu Biao took office, he has signed six new players, and Shandong Men’s Basketball Team is expected to introduce three foreign players for the new season.
The original text reads as follows:
After Qiu Biao took office, he has signed six new players, fans are looking forward to Shandong Highways Men’s Basketball introducing “heavyweight domestic aid” #ShandongHighwayMenBasketball#
On August 14, Shandong Highways Men’s Basketball announced the hiring of American coach Martin Cvetkovic as an assistant coach, and completed signings with four players: Sun Tonglin, Guo Kai, Xu Mengjun, and Lu Yiming. Previously, at the 2024 CBA Draft, Shandong Highways Basketball Club selected Xie Zhijie, a core point guard from Beijing Sport University, with the first pick in the first round, and Zheng Xiaoyao, from Shanghai Jiaotong University, with the 26th pick in the second round. Thus far, after the appointment of new head coach Qiu Biao, Shandong Men’s Basketball has officially signed six new players. Whether they can bring in “heavyweight domestic aid” and strong foreign players is something that many fans are eagerly anticipating.
In the official announcement, Shandong Highways Men’s Basketball introduced the five new members as follows:
Martin Cvetkovic, American nationality, has rich coaching experience, high professional ethics, advanced concepts, and training methods. He led the New Zealand Breakers to win the NBL championship in the 2014-2015 season, served as an assistant coach for the CBA Tianjin team in the 2019-2020 season, worked as an assistant coach for the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers in 2022, and served as the deputy coach of the Romanian Basketball Federation in 2024.
Sun Tonglin, 2.07 meters tall, 110 kilograms, plays as a power forward. He entered the CBA professional league in the 2010-2011 season, having played for Shenzhen, Xinjiang, and Beikong. He won the CBA championship with Xinjiang. Sun Tonglin is aggressive in competition, has outstanding ability to organize play and passing awareness, and has good outside shooting ability. It is believed that Sun Tonglin’s rich experience in major competitions will bring more help to the team.
Guo Kai, 2.05 meters tall, 112 kilograms, plays as a power forward. He joined Guangzhou Long Lions in 2016 as the top pick in the CBA draft and performed excellently during his eight seasons with the Long Lions. He is highly competitive, experienced, and willing to engage physically, with a good sense of rebounding and attacking the basket.
Xu Mengjun, 1.97 meters tall, 83 kilograms, plays as a small forward. In the 2023-2024 season, he played for Jiangsu Kedia Club. His technical characteristics are distinct, with prominent three-point shooting ability. Xu Mengjun’s addition makes up for the team’s weakness in outside shooting.
Lu Yiming, 1.90 meters tall, 74 kilograms, plays as a guard. He was promoted to the senior team from Zhejiang Chouzhou Jinzu Youth Team in 2020. In the 2023-2024 season, he joined the NBL team Hong Kong Golden Bulls. He has strong on-court organization ability, fast offensive and defensive speed, stable shooting, and excellent defensive and teamwork awareness.
For these four newcomers, fans generally hold a cautious attitude, as the first three have proven themselves in the CBA but have had poor recent performances. For example, Sun Tonglin, born on December 23, 1992, in Dongying, Shandong, only played one game for Beikong last season before being released. In the 2023-2024 season, he averaged only 2.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game with Beikong. The best season of his career was in 2014-2015 when he played for Dongguan Xinshiji, averaging 10.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. Guo Kai, now 32 years old, played for seven seasons with the Guangzhou team, averaging 12.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in the 2019-2020 season. However, due to injuries last season, Guo Kai averaged only 4.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Xu Mengjun’s situation is similar to Sun Tonglin and Guo Kai. In the 2018-2019 season playing for Beikong, he averaged 9.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, attempting 6.4 three-point shots per game with a 40.8% shooting rate. But last season, he only played nine games for Jiangsu, averaging only 4.4 points per game. Lu Yiming has only played one game in the CBA.
Since the appointment of new head coach Qiu Biao in July, Shandong Highways Men’s Basketball has embarked on rebuilding the team. They have already officially terminated contracts with at least nine players. Of the roster from last season, only a few players like Tao Hanlin, Gao Siyan, Chen Peidong, Liu Yi, and He Siyu remain with the team. Fans are very concerned about which new players the team will introduce. From the six new members announced so far, the top pick of the CBA draft Xie Zhijie is worth looking forward to. Whether veteran CBA players Sun Tonglin, Guo Kai, and Xu Mengjun can rejuvenate their careers with Shandong Men’s Basketball remains to be seen. Whether the team can bring in “heavyweight domestic aid” and strong foreign players may be the key to success or failure next season. From August 23 to 26, Shandong Men’s Basketball will participate in the CBA Summer League in Ju County, Shandong, facing opponents Jilin, Fujian, and Sichuan teams. This is an important warm-up opportunity before the start of the new CBA season.
In terms of foreign players, the two foreign players who played for Shandong Men’s Basketball last season have found new homes: Gillenwater joined the NBL team Anhui Wenyi, while Sayok, who performed well at the Paris Olympics, announced his move to Liaoning Team. Shandong Highways Men’s Basketball previously announced that they have basically confirmed the addition of two powerful American players. Due to the likely change in the CBA’s new season foreign player policy to four quarters and seven foreign player appearances (the bottom four teams can use eight), Shandong Highways Men’s Basketball is expected to introduce three foreign players for the 2024-2025 season. (Jinan Times·New Yellow River Client Journalist Li Fuje)