NBL: Ex-CBA all-star Ray Zhu Songwei excited for ‘intensity’ of new campaign after changes
- Hong Kong Bulls begin their second campaign in the Chinese second tier with major changes afoot in the National Basketball League
Hong Kong Bulls forward Ray Zhu Songwei said the new National Basketball League season would be more intense after changes that were made to the league format.
In the Bulls’ second season in the Chinese second tier, teams will be allowed to use more imported players, while the duration of each match has been shortened by eight minutes to 40, to align with the format adopted by Fiba, the sport’s world governing body.
“I believe the match intensity will be much greater,” said former Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) all-star Zhu. “It was 12 minutes per quarter [last season] and with more imported players on the court, I expect a surge in intensity.
“We need to be prepared for any difficulties and cannot expect to win a match with ease, but, personally, the impact is probably much less because I have been training with the national team before.”
Standing at 6ft 9 ins (2.06 metres), the versatile forward praised the impact of Hong Kong starting point guard Ricky Yang.
“I am sharing quite some time [on the court] with Yang,” the former Bay Area Dragons player said. “He is very hardworking on defence, offence and in terms of connecting with the other teammates.
