Jilin eyes CBA playoffs

CHANGCHUN - The Jilin Northeast Tigers are ready for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league to resume on June 20 after four months of closed-door training.

"Our goal has not changed, which is securing a position in the playoffs," said president of the club Sun Jun.

The CBA side started training in the Changchun city of Jilin on February 10. "We focused on improving our players' skills and stamina during these months," Jilin's head coach Wang Han told Xinhua. "I will adjust our training plan and get our players ready for the season to restart in the next few days."

Before the league was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Jilin pocketed 19 wins in 30 games, sitting seventh out of the 20 teams in the league.

Jilin's point guard, Cui Jinming said that he would treasure each second on the court and spare no effort to help his team achieve a positive result, especially given that it is still uncertain whether his two foreign teammates, Eli Holman and Dominique Jones, could return to China on time for the restart amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Qingdao, in East China's Shandong province, and Dongguan, in the southern Guangdong province, were selected as the hosts for the remainder of the CBA league, which will be contested behind closed doors and in a championship format.

In the new competition system, Jilin will finish the rest of regular season games in Dongguan, playing their first league match in four months against Sichuan Blue Whale on June 21.