The past, present, and future of Chinese Players in the NBL
August 4, 2022
Wang Tong
- Nationality: CHN
- Date of Birth: 33413
- Place of Birth: China
- Position: GRD
- Height (CM): 183
- Weight (KG): 89
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: None
- NBL DEBUT: 42692
- AGE AT DEBUT: 25
- LAST NBL GAME: 42741
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 25
- NBL History: Brisbane 2017
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: David Stockton was born in Spokane, Washington (USA) and attended Gonzaga Preparatory School. As a senior in 2008/09, he averaged 12.4 points in 20 games as he helped lead the Bullpups to a 24-6 record.
He led all scorers with 22 points as Gonzaga Prep defeated Inglemoor 72-64 in overtime to claim fourth place in the 2009 Washington State Class 4A Basketball Tournament.
He also quarterbacked Prep’s football team to a 8-2 record as senior.
After redshirting the 2009/10 season.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Wang Tong made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 25 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.
Following the Breakers’ 2016 grand final loss, chief executive Richard Clarke and coach Dean Vickerman parted ways with the organisation, with Paul Henare stepping up from assistant to take the reins as head coach, while Dillon Boucher took control of the front office as general manager.
Joining Dean Vickerman in departure was Cedric Jackson and Tai Wesley, both of whom moved across the Tasman and joined Melbourne United. While retaining Thomas Abercrombie, Corey Webster, Alex Pledger and Mika Vukona, the Breakers acquired the services of club legend Kirk Penney. With two vacant import spots, the Breakers signed Ben Woodside and Akil Mitchell. A strong New Zealand contingent also stepped up from development player roles this season, with Finn Delany, Shea Ili and Jordan Ngatai all being elevated onto the full-time roster.
An injury filled pre-season saw Shea Ili (back), Penney (calf) and Webster (hip and back) suffer injuries that would see them miss multiple games during the first half of the season. Even when Webster did return mid-season, he was never fully recovered and his production dropped from 19.6 ppg to 11.7 ppg as he battled to shake off a prolonged hip injury. After 20 games New Zealand had a total of eight wins and the ‘injury bug’ only got worse. Abercrombie (11.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) and Woodside (8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.3 steals) both spent time missed games due to injury and then in January, during a loss to Cairns (81-94), Mitchell (9.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists) suffered a poke to the eye from Taipans centre Nnanna Egwu which caused his left eyeball to come out of its socket. He was rushed to hospital and although his vision was restored that night, he returned to the US to seek further specialist advice.
Webster made a valiant second return to the court before the end of the season, but under medical advisement, it was felt his injuries were too serious and he was shut down for the remainder of the season. New Zealand added import forward Paul Carter (9.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) and shortly replaced a underperforming Woodside with David Stockton, the son of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton. Stockton (8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists) lasted only 10 games before he too succumbed to injury and was replaced by another import, Kevin Dillard.
The combo of Dillard (18.1 points, 4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.6 steals) and Penney (17.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists) helped salvage the remainder of the Breakers’ season. The duo propelled New Zealand to a four game winning streak and revived the Breakers playoff hopes, but after back-to-back losses in round 17, they dropped to fifth place (14–14) and their playoff hopes were shattered.
Despite winning their last two games of the season, they fell short of a playoff spot, finishing in fifth place (14–14).
Wang Tong played one season in the NBL.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 35 | Brisbane | 10-18 (8) | 3 | 4.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0 | Totals | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 35 | Brisbane | 10-18 (8) | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0 | Total | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.3333333333 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- China - Shanghai Sharks (2015–2022)
Tong joined Shanghai Sharks for the 2015–16 Chinese Basketball Association season and won the 2016 CBA Slam Dunk Contest.
He remained with Shanghai through the 2016–17 CBA season before joining Brisbane Bullets as a development player during the 2016–17 season and later returning to Shanghai in 2017.
Tong continued with Shanghai Sharks from 2017 through 2022 in the Chinese Basketball Association, recording a career-high 23 points against the Guangdong Southern Tigers in December 2019.
During the 2019–20 CBA season, he also recorded career bests of 12 rebounds against Shenzhen and four steals against Shandong.
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