Shawn Jones reinforced Cedevita Olimpija
Shawn Jones, the 203-centimeter tall American player, is the newest addition to the roster of Cedevita Olimpija. He finished last season with Israeli Hapoel Haifa, while in the 2021/22 season he wore the jersey of Split.
Shawn Jones (Photo: Split/Ivica Cavka)
In the power forward position, the Cedevita Olimpija squad is strengthened with the arrival of Shawn Jones. Born in the United States, Jones also holds a Kosovo passport since 2016, and played with the Kosovo national team in the 2019 World Cup qualifiers and pre-qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup.
"I'm very excited and honoured to have gotten a chance to play for such a prestigious club, that has very strong tradition of winning. The main goal for the new season is to keep the tradition going. I'm excited to see the coach and to meet my new teammates, and to play in front of the fans. I'm looking forward to every day in the forthcoming season, and I think we can have a good season for sure," Jones said upon joining Cedevita Olimpija.
After spending four seasons at Middle Tennessee College, Jones initially began his professional career in 2014 with the Los Angeles Clippers, for which he played in the NBA Summer League, and later played four preseason games with the Miami Heat. Before the start of the season, he moved to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, for which he played in the G League, a year later he played for the Washington Wizards in the Summer League, but then before the start of the season he moved to Europe, where he wore the jerseys of Andorra, Hapoel Jerusalem, Avellino, Dinamo Sassari, Hapoel Holon, Anwil Włocławek, Split, Spójnia Stargard and finally Hapoel Haifa. Last season, he first spent eight games in Poland, and last November he moved to Israel, where he stayed until the end of the season.
In his European career, Jones won two titles of the Polish Cup champion (2019, 2020), in 2020 he was also selected as the most valuable player of the Polish Cup competition, and one title of the Israeli Cup winner (2016).
He made a total of 26 appearances in the Basketball Champions League with Sassari, Hapoel Holon and Anwil, and recorded his best statistics in the 2019/20 season, when he averaged 10.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in ten games. In the 2022/23 season, he averaged 11.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists in seven games of the Fiba Europe Cup, while in the Israeli national championship he used to average 11.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in 14 games. In the AdmiralBet ABA League in the 2021/22 season, he appeared in eight games for Split, spent an average of 22.4 minutes on the court and has been averaging 10.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
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Shawn Jones je nova okrepitev Cedevita Olimpije
Člansko ekipo Cedevite Olimpije je na položaju krilnega centra okrepil 203 centimetre visoki ameriški košarkar s kosovskim potnim listom Shawn Jones.
Slednji je minulo sezono zaključil pri izraelskem Hapoelu Haifi, v sezoni 2021/22 pa je nosil dres Splita. Z ljubljanskim kolektivom je Jones podpisal enoletno pogodbo.
Na igralnem položaju centra oziroma krilnega centra je članska ekipa Cedevita Olimpije močnejša za Shawna Jonesa. Jones, rojen v Združenih državah Amerike, ima od leta 2016 tudi potni list Kosova, s kosovsko reprezentanco pa je nastopal v kvalifikacijah za svetovno prvenstvo leta 2019 in predkvalifikacijah za svetovno prvenstvo leta 2023.
"Navdušen in počaščen sem, da bom zaigral v dresu prestižnega kluba, ki ima dolgo tradicijo zmagovanja. V novi sezoni želimo nadaljevati s to tradicijo. Komaj čakam, da se z ekipo zberemo, da znova vidim trenerja, spoznam soigralce, in da se predstavimo navijačem. Veselim se vsakega dne v novi sezoni in prepričan sem, da je pred nami zelo lepo obdobje," je ob pridružitvi Cedeviti Olimpiji povedal Jones.
Po tem, ko je štiri sezone preživel na kolidžu Middle Tennessee, je Jones svojo kariero leta 2014 sprva začel pri Los Angeles Clippers, za katere je nastopal v poletni Ligi NBA, kasneje pa za Miami Heat odigral štiri tekme v predsezoni. Pred začetkom sezone se je preselil v Sioux Falls Skyforce, za katere je nastopal v razvojni ligi, leto kasneje za Washington Wizardse zaigral v poletni ligi, a se nato pred začetkom sezone preselil v Evropo, kjer je nosil drese ekip Andorra, Hapoel Jeruzalem, Avellino, Dinamo Sassari, Hapoel Holon, Anwil Włocławek, Split, Spójnia Stargard in nazadnje Hapoel Haifa. V minuli sezoni je na Poljskem najprej preživel osem tekem, novembra lani pa se je preselil v Izrael, kjer je ostal do konca sezone.
V svoji evropski karieri je Jones osvojil dva naslova poljskega pokalnega prvaka (2019, 2020), leta 2020 je bil izbran tudi za najkoristnejšega igralca poljskega pokalnega tekmovanja, ter en naslov izraelskega pokalnega zmagovalca (2016).
V košarkarski Ligi prvakov je v dresu Sassarija, Holona in Anwila skupno zbral 26 nastopov, najboljšo statistiko pa beležil v sezoni 2019/20, ko je na desetih tekmah v povprečju dosegal 10,7 točke in 7,5 skoke na tekmo. V sezoni 2022/23 je na sedmih tekmah Fibinega Evropskega pokala v povprečju beležil 11,1 točko, 6,7 skokov in 0,6 asistence, v izraelskem državnem prvenstvu pa na 14 tekmah dosegal 11,4 točke ter 5,9 skokov na tekmo. V Ligi ABA je v sezoni 2021/22 za Split zaigral na osmih tekmah, v povprečju na parketu preživel 22,4 minute ter dosegal 10,5 točke in 5,0 skokov na tekmo.
