Shandong Heroes
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Wikipedia - Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin
Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin (Chinese: 山东高速麒麟俱乐部) is a Chinese professional basketball team based in Jinan, Shandong, which plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Some home games are held in the nearby city of Linyi.
The Hi-Speed Group is the club's corporate sponsor. The long-time previous corporate sponsor was Kingston.
History
In its early years, the team was known as the Shandong Flaming Bulls (山东火牛), but was renamed the Shandong Lions at the start of the 2003–04 CBA season. At the same time, the club moved its homecourt from Jinan to Yantai (six games) and Dongying (five games). For the 2004–05 CBA season, they relocated to Tai'an, but have been back in Jinan since the 2005–06 CBA season.
During the 2004–05 CBA season, the freshly-rebranded Shandong Gold Lions finished in sixth place in the CBA North Division, and out of the playoffs. In the 2005–06 season, the team finished fifth, yet again out of the playoffs.
The club's most successful campaign so far has been the 2012–13 CBA season, when it advanced to the CBA Finals, but got swept in the best-of-seven championship series in just four games by the Guangdong Southern Tigers.
Shandong Heroes har vunnit två CBA-mästerskap, 1994 och 2007. Laget har också vunnit en kinesisk basketpokaltitel 2002. Shandong Heroes har representerat Kina i flera internationella tävlingar, inklusive FIBA Asia Champions Cup och FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Några av de mest kända spelarna i Shandong Heroes historia inkluderar Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming och Yi Jianlian. Wang är en tidigare NBA-spelare som också spelade för det kinesiska landslaget. Yao är en Hall of Fame-spelare som anses vara en av de bästa kinesiska basketspelarna genom tiderna. Yi är en All-Star-spelare som för närvarande spelar för Guangdong Southern Tigers.
Shandong Heroes är ett av de mest populära basketlagen i Kina. Laget har en stark fanbas i Shandong-provinsen. Shandong Heroes är också kända för sin ungdomsakademi, som har producerat ett antal begåvade spelare under åren.