Newell to be First Former NBA Coach to Coach in Chinese League
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 4th, 2007
Former NBA Assistant Tom Newell announces that he is leaving this week to assume the position of Head Coach of the Jilin Northeast Tigers professional basketball team, a member of the Chinese Basketball Association.
"The new 'frontier' for Asian basketball players today, is China: they have the most participants, coaches and programs to facilitate the ongoing development and disciplines to produce a large number of future NBA players," said Coach Newell. "I am really excited about the prospects of visiting another Asian country and sharing basketball knowledge with this country and its coaches and players. The League is very competitive and Jilin is an up and coming team."
Newell will write a blog, release podcasts, and hold live chats about his experiences on his web site, FamilySportsLifeToday.com. "I am thankful and honored for this opportunity and look forward to sharing my adventures on my FamilySportslifeToday.com network," declared Newell. "I will be blogging from time to time to fill in my experiences with the culture and the players who are on our team..."
The Tigers feature Chinese National Team player Wang Bo, a 6'7" Guard/Forward who led the league in assists last year and is considered one of the better athletes in the League. Newell will have 2 American players that were recently drafted by the CBA: first round pick DeJuan Tate, 6'4" 2G/SF from Cleveland State and Steve Castleberry, 6'11" Post player from Rider college in New Jersey.
Coach Newell will be the first NBA coach to ever be a Head Coach of a Chinese Basketball Association team. Previously, Newell was an Assistant Coach for the Seattle Supersonics, Director of Player Personnel for the Indiana Pacers, and Scout for the Golden State Warriors. He also was an Assistant Coach for the WNBA's Portland Fire.
There are 16 teams in the Chinese League, which has partnered with the NBA to do the marketing and public relations.
FamilySportsLifeToday.com provides resources for coaches, parents, and athletes participating in kids sports. FamilySportsLifeToday organized the first televised basketball game with 11-foot hoops in June of this year, kicking off a national discussion on the state of professional basketball.
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For more information:
Contact Tom Newell
familysportslifetoday@gmail.com
About FamilySportsLifeToday.com
FamilySportsLifeToday was founded in 2006 by former NBA Coach Tom Newell, high school Coach Guy Perry, and technologist Jay Arnold. FamilySportsLifeToday.com is dedicated to assisting volunteer coaches, parents and participants develop better teaching models and motivational methods, bringing families to improve the dynamic of the youth sports experience. FSLT provides Internet radio podcasts, news articles, documents and resources for youth coaches, parents and players at http://www.FamilySportsLifeToday.com/
FamilySportsLifeToday.com organized the first televised basketball game with 11-foot hoops in June of this year, kicking off a national discussion on the state of professional basketball. See http://www.FamilySportsLifeToday.com/ForLoveOfGame