Former China national basketball team head coach Bob Donewald Jr.. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese Basketball Association squad Jilin Northeast Tigers on Saturday named Bob Donewald Jr. as their new head coach starting next season.
The 46-year-old American basketball coach was a former chief bench tactician of the Chinese men's national basketball team from 2010 to 2012.
He led China to both the 2010 Asian Games and the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship titles during his tenure, resigning from his post after the team succumbed to five consecutive losses during the 2012 London Olympics, as per Xinhuanet.
Before his national team stint, Donewald Jr. was hired by former NBA star Yao Ming to coach the Shanghai Sharks, a team the 7-foot-6 former Houston Rockets center owns, in 2009.
Upon assuming his post, the Sharks had made vast improvement and finished the 2009-2010 season at fourth overall, qualifying to the CBA Playoffs for the first time in three years. They lost to league leaders and eventual champions Guangdong Southern Tigers in the semifinals that season.
"I am very excited to be here," the former Charlotte Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach told his supporters who welcomed him at the Changchun airport on Saturday night. The fans reportedly carried red roses and boards saying "Welcome to Jilin, Laodeng!" Laodeng is said to be his nickname in Chinese, which means "old Donewald".
"You know last year I thought it was difficult for Jilin, we will improve it. But expectations are too early to talk about," said Donewald, via China Daily.
Meanwhile, Han Shulun, an avid Northeast Tigers supporter, was said to be hopeful about Donewald's hiring, saying that "Bob is good at training young players and center forwards" and that "we hope Jilin can reach the play-offs next season".
Former head coach Jiang Xuyong guided the team to a 17th place finish in the 2015-2016 season, which is fourth-from-the-last place in the 20-team league.
The Northeast Tigers had a win-loss record of 10-28 for a measly 0.263 winning percentile, something that had greatly disappointed the fans.
The team is currently bannered by its two imports, Puerto Rican Peter John Ramos and American-Nigerian Josh Akognon, although it is expected that Donewald would make the necessary roster changes before the new season starts this October.
