A Preview of the 19–20 CBA season and Power Rankings of all 20 franchises.

ChairmanBall
Nov 1 · 4 min read
Team China failed to make it out of the group stages.

After a disappointing FIBA World Cup campaign, where the realities of Chinese basketball was on display across the whole nation and the world. We look at the 19–20 CBA season starting right around the corner with a titan first game between the CBA-Champions Guangdong Southern Tigers and the Liaoning Flying Leopards.

Power start to the season. Most well known import and domestic player.

CBA is back and I will be ranking all 20 teams and slotting them into tiers. For today we will go through what these different tiers mean. Then over the next week I will go through a preview of the each team and which tier they are in.

Real-Contenders:

Yi a 9x CBA Champion

A title race that is more wide open than it’s been in years. It’s been awhile since the CBA has had 4 contending teams. All these 4 teams are capable of winning the championship and it will be hard to put a finger on exactly who has an edge.

At the Brink:

Beijing Ducks and Shenzhen.

This tier looks at the teams who are in the play-off race and those aspiring to make the playoffs. Not quite good enough yet to be legitimate title contenders but has enough quality to get into the playoffs.

Entertainment:

Lance make them dance

These teams are intriguing to watch for a variety of reasons. Whether it be an exciting player, scouting young talent, club drama. Watching these teams will guarantee your focus and attention.

Planting Seeds:

Young Star Guo Haowen

Franchises that have acknowledged that they need to rebuild. Whether it be rebuilding the front/back office, player development or even the entire franchise. These teams will be focusing on the future and to implement necessary change to build the right future.

Moving right along:

Qingdao vs Nanjing? I do not recognize anyone.

For all my love and hope for the CBA, there are still a few teams that really diminish the CBA league quality. Whether it be due to poor quality management that results in less than spectacular players or game plans that are focused on using import isolation scheme fors 4 quarters. These teams deserve none of your time, so please move along.

For each franchise, I’m offering up what I think will be the major talking player points, story line, or theme that will hover over the team for the next months of CBA basketball. Let’s get started.

For the opening round to kick off the season we have:

November 1st 2019

Clash of Titans

Guangdong Southern TIgers vs Liaoning Flying Leopards

A clash worthy of being the curtain raiser for the CBA. Champions vs Former Champions. Yi Jianlian vs Han Dejun. Guo Ailun vs Zhao Rui. Sonny Weems vs Lance Stephenson. This game will has it all with the biggest domestic stars and international talent matching up against each other. With both sides expected to be serious title contenders, is this preview to a 7 game playoff series.

November 2nd 2019

Jiangsu Dragons vs Zhejiang Golden Bulls

Wu Qian leads the Bulls against last year’s playoff participants Jiangsu.

Sichuan Blue Whales vs Xinjiang Flying Tigers

The return of Zhou Qi to the CBA. Will lead Xinjiang back to the finals and reclaim the championship?

Shandong Heros vs Baiyi Rockets

Lester Hudson and James May will be the clear two choice per game.

Lester Hudson transfers across to fellow northern chinese club Shandong. Zou Yuchen returns for the Rockets.

Beijing Royal Fighters vs Shenzhen Aviators

Stephen Marbury’s first game in charge of the newly rebranded Royal fighters, they take on the twin towers of Shenzhen Shen Zijie and Li Muhao.

Shanghai Sharks vs Nanjing Monkey Kings

Donatas Motiejunas makes his first start for the Shanghai Sharks and their new ownership. Up against Motiejunas will be the Monkey King’s lead by former LA laker Joe Young.

Qingdao Eagles vs Jilin East Tigers

Former star import Darius Adams debuts for the Qingdao Eagles as they take on Elijah Hoffman and Dominique Jones.

Zhejiang Guangsha Lions vs Fujian Sturgeons

Aaroan Jackson, Jalen Reynolds, Sun Minghui and Hu Minqu takes on an equally talented and playoff competitor in Wang Zhelin, Li Jian Chen, Ty Lawson, Erick Green and Amare Stoudimire.

November 3rd 2019

Tianjin Pioneers vs Beijing Ducks

Huge game that will have eyes all over the world on this match. Jeremy Lin makes his debut in the CBA.

Guangzhou Long Lions vs Shanxi Loong Dragons

Andrew Nicholson alongside Ray Chen takes on Jamal Franklin and Malcom Thomas.

ChairmanBall

Written by

Guangdong Southern Tigers (广东宏远华南虎) & CBA Writer and Analysts from the land of the long white cloud.

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