Shenzhen Aviators
Wikipedia - Shenzhen Leopards
The Shenzhen New Century Liebao Club, also known as Shenzhen Marco Polo or Shenzhen Leopards (previously Shenzhen Aviators) are a Chinese professional basketball team which plays in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). New Century is the club's corporate sponsor.
The team is based in Longgang District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, and plays its home games at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre (SUSC).
History
The club was founded in 2003 as Dongguan New Century Leopards and was initially located in Dongguan, Guangdong. After twelve seasons, the team relocated to nearby Shenzhen in 2015. Success came early in their existence for the Leopards, as they were the runners-up in the 2004 Chinese Basketball League (CBL) championship, and were promoted to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) for the 2005–06 season.
In its first season in the CBA in 2005–06, Dongguan finished in seventh and last place in the South Division, and was out of the playoffs. The team would soon battle its way to respectability, however, becoming somewhat regular participants in the CBA's postseason over the ensuing years.
In July 2011, NBA point guard Jeremy Lin played for the team at the ABA Club Championship, and was named the MVP of the tournament.
On December 26, 2013, Bobby Brown scored a franchise-record 74 points in a game against Sichuan Blue Whales.
Aviators mali od svojho založenia pozoruhodnú históriu. V sezóne 2018-19 sa klub dostal do semifinále CBA, čo bol jeho najlepší výsledok v histórii. Tím viedol americký strážca Dominique Jones, ktorý bol jedným z najlepších strelcov ligy.
Aktuálna súpiska Shenzhen Aviators obsahuje zmes skúsených veteránov a talentovaných mladíkov. Medzi kľúčových hráčov patrí čínsky center Zhou Qi, americký útočník Yi Jianlian a čínsky strážca Sun Minghui.
Aviators sú známi svojou rýchlou, útočne zameranou hrou. Tím často hrá so štyrmi hráčmi na perimetri a využíva svoje atletické schopnosti na vytváranie jednoduchých košov. Aviators majú tiež silnú obranu, ktorá sa zameriava na vytlačenie súpera z farby.
Shenzhen Aviators sú jedným z najsľubnejších mladých klubov v CBA. S talentovanou súpiskou a skúseným trénerským štábom majú Aviators všetky predpoklady na to, aby sa v nadchádzajúcich rokoch stali jedným z najlepších tímov v lige.