CREDIT: METRONEWS.CA
Gabe Freeman blows by a defender in 2011 – can he do it in 2013?

Freebird has landed. After joining the London Lightning during the team's first season two years ago, Gabe Freeman took the National Basketball League of Canada by storm, eventually winning the inaugural Most Valuable Player award. After going to the Philippines for a year, he's back with the Lightning. Has this rapidly changing league passed him by?

Arguments that the league has advanced a lot over the past year are certainly valid. When Freeman played in the inaugural season of the league, he was third in scoring at 18.1 points per game. No other players broke the 20 point per game (ppg) barrier that season. This season there were three: Moncton Miracle Devin Sweetney (24ppg), Saint John Mill Rat Anthony Anderson (21ppg) and Summerside Storm's Brandon Robinson (20ppg). Perhaps the top three shooters don't represent league scoring as a whole, but it does show there are some very talented players coming through as star players. Freeman's 2011/12 numbers wouldn't crack the top five this past year.

But what sets Freeman apart on his stat line is his variety. He averaged just over 12 rebounds per game (rpg) in 2011/12, along with 18 points per game. These sorts of double-double numbers are so rare that he was the only one in the NBLC to end the season with a double-double (two point per game values being over 10, so double digits).

Now, the small forward position was taken last year by players like Jermaine Blackburn and Jeremy Williams, two pieces Freeman may need to cover. Blackburn was dropped late last season due to behaviour problems, and Williams was simply not invited back to camp. Blackburn was one of the lesser pieces of the puzzle for the Lightning last year, rarely putting up big games. He was very effective on the free throw line, notching a percentage of .875 (not an important stat, but the only total he seemed to put decent numbers up in). Williams was a big guy, standing at 6 ft. 7 in., but was unable to ever influence the game on the boards, holding an average of 4 rpg through his time there. On paper, it seems as if Freeman will have no trouble replacing both Williams and Blackburn.

But in the end, it boils down to efficiency. The efficiency stat is a number-cruncher's best friend, because it shows how effective the player is in one simple number. It adds things like points, assists, rebounds and steals, but takes away values like turnovers and missed field goals. Imagine if Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill used a single number to evaluate players in the movie Moneyball. This is the stat of Hollywood. Freeman had an Efficiency number of 22.9 back in 2011/12 — the best in the NBLC by two percentage points. A 22 is a massive number in Eff, with very good games being graded in the high 20s. Freeman has shown he can contribute to several different parts of the game at a high level, and perhaps that all-around play will keep him on the court all season long.

Freeman is a favourite to make the team this year and hold on to a starter's spot. An old crowd favourite should return to glory, when his Lightning take the court at the Budweiser Gardens on November 2.

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.