An evening well spent with the NBL Canada crew

Hey, London!

You do it right.

That was absolutely the essence of small-city sports at the John Labatt Centre on Friday night, excellent crowd of families, lots of kids, lots of fun and people cheering their heads off.

We’ll have a lot more later today here when they get around to posting the story I just filed for tomorrow’s paper but a few quick hits off the Doug Does The NBL Canada Night.

(Oh, and all you Chaucer’s people, thanks a lot for the tip, great spot; see you back for the final, I hope)

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So what’s the talent level like?

Well, there aren’t a lot of talented big men in the games I’ve seen and there weren’t any in London so there’s not a lot of play off the post but there’s also not a lot of isolation and the game does have a bit of a flow.

There are a lot of drive-and-kick moments, neither team really had a “break-down” guy they could put on the wing and let go so it could be a bit frenetic at times.

There were a lot of three-pointers, a bit of off-the-ball movement and there are guys who get at it defensively.

A couple of people – London coach Michael Ray Richardson and Gabe Freeman of the Lightning – equated it to a D League game and while I’ve only seen D League games on TV, I don’t doubt that the top NBL Canada teams could more than hold their own in a game.

But the game was competitive and went down to the final seconds – the Mill Rats had an open game-tying three go in and out with about four seconds left – and you can’t ask for much more than that.

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Best “entertainment” moment?

The Chicken does a front roll-tumble over three June Taylor Dancers who were lying face down on the court.

(That’s code but it was cool).

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Oh yeah, Raptors take note:

We’re sitting courtside just before the start of the half and the nice lady from the scoring table crew comes down with a box of homemade “playoff cookies” that were delicious.

A tradition that should begin at the Air Canada Centre, by the way.

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I’m watching the warm-ups and there’s one guy who looks really familiar, a rather chunky big man on London who has the look of one of those grind-it-out defenders and rebounders teams have for those moments when grit is called for.

I’m trying to figure out where I know him from and he takes off his shooting shirt, his uniform has “M. King” on the back and it hits me.

Mike King.

Played for Canada a long time ago, was with Jay on the ’04 team that went to Puerto Rico and failed to qualify for the Olympics. Hadn’t seen him or heard from him since.

But what’s it say about a guy that eight years later – and I don’t know what he’s been doing in the interim – he’s out there still making something of a living playing ball the same way.

There’s your “Where Are The Now” for the day.

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A digression of sorts:

I’m watching TV and polishing the NBLC story and doing this before the Smelly Ford Focus heads to Auburn Hills and there’s a quick hit on the big lacrosse game at the ACC on Friday.

And I tell you, if these aren’t the most gaudy (read “ugly”) jerseys in the recent history of sports, I don’t know what is.

Whatever happened to teams just having a couple of uniforms, one light and one dark; you work light at home and dark on the road and it was a special night when – back in the day – they switched up for one night.

Now you’ve got home jerseys and road jerseys and third jerseys and throwback jerseys and special occasion jerseys and – you know I can’t wait for these – camouflage jerseys and the head spins.

I know it’s all about marketing and sales and separating fans from a bit more of their hard-earned money but, really? It’s too much sometimes.

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Okay, almost time to drive, which means you’ve got a couple of hours to get the final mail stuff in; do it here and I’ll talk to you from Auburn Hills tonight around 7:30 for the IGBT, right?

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Comments

[D-Mac Ottawa]

For over the top gaudy/ugly, anything NASCAR should fill the bill. Oh, but you were talking sports... sorry.
Thank you for giving the NBL some coverage. May it live long and prosper! How many Irregulars found their way to Chaucer's, Doug?
Cheers. Go Raps! And a fitting tribute to The Marvelettes, one of MoTown's all-time great groups, by another pretty good group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqHp3tOj870&feature=related

[JT's Hoops Blog]

Question where and when will they show NBL Canada games?

Blogger's note: I think some local Rogers stations show them, check the league website but no national TV deal

[Peter G]

I'm glad you finally got to see a live NBL game. We were able to watch it live in Saint John on the Rogers channel. We are very proud of our Mill Rats for being competitive with the London juggernaut in both playoff games. For people living in "'small city Canada", far away from the NBA cities, it is an exciting thing to have our very own pro basketball team to cheer for. It is wonderful the way the teams and players in this league have got involved in the communities where they are based; and especially, with the school kids.
Now that our season is over, I can turn my attentions to the Raptors and March Madness. Is there any better time of the year to be a hoops fan?

[Brenda]

It was great to see you in town enjoying the game last night, and you were right about the festive atmosphere in the JLC; it's been like that all season. The Lightning and their NBL opponents have put a quality product on the floor night after night, and in return the London and area fans have really embraced this team, thrilled to have this level of basketball in their own backyard. Do come back to take in a finals game -- I promise to have more cookies ready.
Signed,
"The nice lady from the scoring table crew"
PS -- I'd bake for the whole bloody ACC if it would help the Raps at all!