Lightning Watch: A look ahead at the changes coming to the NBL this year
In the first three London
Lightning preview articles, I've
covered what's new with the
Lightning. In the final installment,
I will cover what is new around the
National Basketball League of
Canada.
First off, there are two new franchises in the league — the Ottawa Skyhawks and Brampton A's. Ottawa will play in the Canadian Tire Centre, the 18,000-seat arena that the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League play. Originally, they were going to be called the Tomahawks but the name was scrapped after controversy that really can go without mention. Ottawa drafted Alex “Superman” Johnson first overall in the NBL Draft this past season. He's played NCAA Division I basketball at Cal Bakersfield and North Carolina State. Plus, he's Canadian!
The other expansion team is the Brampton A's. Owned by a gym in Brampton called the Athletic Institute, they play in the Powerade Centre. The A's played one of their two exhibition games in London, with former NBLC players in Cavell Johnson and Kevin Francis bringing an instant quality. Canadian Evaldas Zabas has come in from Europe and proved he deserves a starting spot in the A's lineup.
Three teams have moved, or left altogether. The Oshawa Power was averaging 500 fans in the ‘Shaw, so they moved to Mississauga. Their black-and-white rebrand makes them look like the Brooklyn Nets, as their new PR campaign means they are drawing a more sustainable 1,500 people. The 2013 NBLC Finalist Summerside Storm moved to the Prince Edward Island capital in Charlottetown (because their arena has a videoboard). Summerside has only 14,000 people in it, so a move was inevitable. Their new name? The Island Storm.
The Montreal Jazz has taken a year away from the league. The league will try to find an owner for the franchise. Finally, the league has seen lots of changes structurally. With the nine teams, there will be a fiveteam Central Division (London, Windsor, Brampton, Mississauga and Ottawa) and a four-team Atlantic Division (Moncton, Saint John, Halifax and the Island Storm). A big change from last season is that every team will make the playoffs this year (with the fifth and fourth teams in the Central having a play-in), with the first round being five games long, while the conference finals and the NBL Finals will be best-of-seven. The regular season is still 40 games long, but at least every team can look forward to some extra playoff basketball.
Marty Thompson is the play-by-play voice of the London Lightning for their livestream, SportsLive24.net. This is just one of a four part set, previewing the upcoming season.
First off, there are two new franchises in the league — the Ottawa Skyhawks and Brampton A's. Ottawa will play in the Canadian Tire Centre, the 18,000-seat arena that the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League play. Originally, they were going to be called the Tomahawks but the name was scrapped after controversy that really can go without mention. Ottawa drafted Alex “Superman” Johnson first overall in the NBL Draft this past season. He's played NCAA Division I basketball at Cal Bakersfield and North Carolina State. Plus, he's Canadian!
The other expansion team is the Brampton A's. Owned by a gym in Brampton called the Athletic Institute, they play in the Powerade Centre. The A's played one of their two exhibition games in London, with former NBLC players in Cavell Johnson and Kevin Francis bringing an instant quality. Canadian Evaldas Zabas has come in from Europe and proved he deserves a starting spot in the A's lineup.
Three teams have moved, or left altogether. The Oshawa Power was averaging 500 fans in the ‘Shaw, so they moved to Mississauga. Their black-and-white rebrand makes them look like the Brooklyn Nets, as their new PR campaign means they are drawing a more sustainable 1,500 people. The 2013 NBLC Finalist Summerside Storm moved to the Prince Edward Island capital in Charlottetown (because their arena has a videoboard). Summerside has only 14,000 people in it, so a move was inevitable. Their new name? The Island Storm.
The Montreal Jazz has taken a year away from the league. The league will try to find an owner for the franchise. Finally, the league has seen lots of changes structurally. With the nine teams, there will be a fiveteam Central Division (London, Windsor, Brampton, Mississauga and Ottawa) and a four-team Atlantic Division (Moncton, Saint John, Halifax and the Island Storm). A big change from last season is that every team will make the playoffs this year (with the fifth and fourth teams in the Central having a play-in), with the first round being five games long, while the conference finals and the NBL Finals will be best-of-seven. The regular season is still 40 games long, but at least every team can look forward to some extra playoff basketball.
Marty Thompson is the play-by-play voice of the London Lightning for their livestream, SportsLive24.net. This is just one of a four part set, previewing the upcoming season.
