Getting ready
Island Storm plays first game of season on Boxing Day
The Island Storm will begin their National Basketball League of Canada season Thursday, mere days after coming together for the first time.
Owner Duncan Shaw said Thursday a news release explaining the training camp delay was coming, but it hadn’t arrived as of Sunday afternoon. The Storm was supposed to play exhibition games during the weekend, but the Tri-State Admirals were unable to make the trip.
Travel issues delayed some of Storm players from arriving during the weekend, but the team is expected to all be on the Island today.
“We understand this is not the ideal start, but . . . all through sports, great things have come from tough beginnings,” head coach Tim Kendrick said as some of his players got some shots up Sunday at Holland College. “We expect to make the playoffs and hopefully win a championship. I think if you’re thinking any other way, you’re in the wrong business.”
The Storm played better down the stretch last season, but it was not enough to overcome a poor start and they missed the post-season with a 12-28 record.
Only three players (guards Alex Campbell, Robbie Robinson and Johnathan Loyd) are back from last year’s squad. Campbell averaged 13 points while Robinson chipped in 12.2 and Loyd 11.7.
They will be relied on heavily, particularly early in the season as the team will start with a reduced playbook until players get comfortable with the team’s systems. Despite the challenges, Kendrick said he expects his team to be ready for tipoff Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Eastlink Centre against the defending league champion Moncton Magic.
“We’re going to come out, we’re going to work very hard and we’re going to try to do the best we can,” said Kendrick, who is in his third year as the franchise’s bench boss.
The Storm has 13 players coming to town. Teams can only dress 12 players and if they do, five have to be Canadians.
“We’re happy with the players we have,” Kendrick said. “We’re young, but we’re athletic.”
Some of the new players to watch for are former Harlem Globetrotter Nathaniel Wright,
Bowling Green guard Antwon Lillard, William Penn guard Abrian Edwards, St. Catharine guard Steven Mallory and Keith Shamburger, a four-year starting guard at Hawaii and Missouri in NCAA, plus Canadian Lewis Diankulu, who has a 6-foot-11 wingspan.
The Cape Breton Highlanders
and Saint John Riptide have each taken a one-year leave of absence, leaving the league with four teams in Atlantic Canada and four in Ontario.
The top two teams in each division will advance to the best-of-five semifinal with the winners meeting for a best-ofseven championship series.