Cutting Moss among Island Storm moves
Salerno says camp is deep with talent
The Island Storm will have a new man running the point this season.
The team announced it had released last year’s starter Adrian Moss as well as forward Davon Haynes on Wednesday.
“It’s very clear what he’s done in this league and what he did for us last season,” head coach Joe Salerno said of Moss. “I think the role we may have been looking for him to play this year may have not been a great fit.”
Salerno said the goal is to win a championship after losing in the final the past two years. He also pointed to the depth of quality players in this year’s camp.
“There’s some talent we’ve brought in Myron Strong and Sammy Zeglinski that people haven’t seen in this league,” he said. “Unless you’ve seen all 10 of our practices, our intersquad game and our exhibition game, I think it’s hard for people to have a feel for that.”
The Storm also announced they traded forward Dwayne Smith to the Moncton Miracles for their first-round draft pick in the 2015 NBL Canada Draft.
“All three guys today, they understood, they didn’t necessarily like it, but I think they respected the situation,” Salerno said. “That’s the nature of professional sports some times.”
The Storm now has four first-round picks in the next draft. Salerno said the first round is normally where guys who stick in the league are drafted, making it a good bargaining piece to have, if it needs to make a trade during the season.
The team has 14 players remaining in camp fighting for one of the 11 or 12 positions. It has three Canadians in camp, but needs four before it needs to set its roster on Tuesday.
“We have a couple of guys in mind,” Salerno said. “We’re talking with a couple of different NBL teams as well as a couple of Canadian free agents right now.”
The Storm’s next action is Friday when they travel to Halifax to take on the Rainmen in a rare 10:30 a.m. game. Salerno said he is hoping to have the final roster decisions made on Saturday, but doesn’t need to finalize it until Tuesday.
The Storm opens the season Thursday, Nov. 6, at home against the Saint John Mill Rats.