The second stage of this season's CBA regular season is in full swing, and recently there has been a lot of buzz about the dark horse Shanghai men's basketball team achieving 13 consecutive victories. With traditional powerhouses such as the Guangdong team and Liaoning team gradually dropping out of the championship race due to foreign aid issues and injury problems, new teams such as Guangsha, Shanxi, and Shanghai have become the new favorites among fans. What stands out is that unlike teams like Shanghai, Shanxi, and Guangsha, which dominated the standings with phenomenal records in the first stage, Shanghai once fell to the bottom of the standings in the first stage of the regular season. Fortunately, with the strong addition of foreign aid Lofton and the return of core center Wang Zhelin, Shanghai has returned to the ranks of championship contenders.
After securing 13 consecutive wins, who will end Shanghai's winning streak has become the biggest point of focus at present. Recently, Lofton, the main foreign aid of the Shanghai team, announced an important decision in an interview, which is to help the Shanghai team win the championship and not consider returning to the NBA league for the time being. In other words, Lofton will not consider returning to the NBA league plan for the time being, and helping the Shanghai team win the championship has become the first goal. It should be noted that Lofton still possesses the personal ability to compete in the NBA league today, but he just needs a new opportunity to showcase his skills. If Lofton can take winning the championship for the Shanghai team as his goal, then he may be more inclined to lead the team to victory in subsequent games rather than just brushing up on statistics.
This could be very good news for the Shanghai team. Because once Lofton can settle down and play in the CBA league, he will undoubtedly be the best current foreign aid in the league. Although Lofton is a heavy-duty interior player, he possesses the skills of a guard and forward. Lofton can not only explode opponents on the offensive end with top-notch scoring methods without dead angles in the paint, but also his ball-handling ability and organizational skills are unparalleled. Even compared with the top foreign aid combination of Goodwin + Diawara from the Shanxi team in the current CBA league, as well as Samna from the Sichuan team and Brown from the Guangsha team, Lofton seems to have an advantage.
If Lofton decides to help the Shanghai team win the championship, then the latter can basically lie back and relax. Because Lofton has the ability to overturn any team by himself. Although the Shanghai team currently has a solid domestic lineup with players like Li Hongquan, Wang Zhelin, and Li Tianrong, the only player with an absolute advantage is Lofton. Of course, Lofton does have the personal ability to lead the Shanghai team to suppress many championship contenders, including Shanxi and Shanghai. Therefore, it is indeed a great deal for the Shanghai team to secure a foreign aid like Lofton who is willing to work hard for the team and not consider returning to the NBA league for the time being.
It must be said that the future Shanghai team is absolutely the team closest to the championship in the CBA league, and also an opponent that cannot be ignored by all championship contenders. Even though their record in the first stage of the regular season was only one win and quite dismal, the Shanghai team is still favored by fans to make a comeback in the subsequent regular season and challenge for the CBA league championship this season.