SHANGHAI: "Cut through, cut through," yelled head coach Bob Donewald Jr and the players on the court moved to his commands.

As the first foreign head coach of Shanghai Sharks, Donewald, the son of renowned American college basketball coach Bob Donewald Sr, is cautious when asked about his goals for this coming season.

"It's still too early (to think of a championship), right now I have got to make these guys work the way I want them to work and to me that is more important than anything else," he told China Daily.

Donewald is known for developing players back in the US, as he was hired by NBA All-Star James as his personal coach, training him for the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece. Donewald has also developed other NBA stars including Carlos Boozer, Dejaun Wagner, Jamal Mashburn, Baron Davis, Nene and Lee Nailon.

"I will train you just the way I trained LeBron James," he told the Shanghai Sharks players.

Donewald assumed the post as head coach earlier this month, replacing Li Qiuping, who had led the team for 14 years but was recently hit by illness.

"I'm going to teach them a lot about defense and anti-defense and slowly build in our concepts and make sure they work," said Donewald when asked about his coaching strategy.

"I've watched quite a few of the Shanghai Sharks games from last year and I have my own account of not only the way they play but also of the personal information of the team," he said.