With dust settled on down season, what’s next for Lightning?

After three straight championship seasons, the London Lightning played .500 basketball this year and got bounced in a postseason play-in game. Where does the franchise go from here? …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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Three weeks after an abrupt April Fools’ Day exit from the BSL Playoffs that was no joke, the London Lightning face an unfamiliar offseason full of reflections, questions and, perhaps most bizarrely for this championship franchise, a lot of free time for both.

“It was a unique season, for sure,” Lightning GM Mark Frijia said. “It definitely didn’t end the way we were used to, considering we have made playoff runs almost every season in our history. This season, it had its ups and downs. We made more changes than we’re used to during the season, but it felt like near the end, we started rounding into form and playing well. It was just too late.”

Before this season, London appeared in seven of the last eight BSL/NBLC Finals, with their only absence in 2018-19. They had won three straight championships across the two leagues. This offseason will prove strange for a franchise with such a pedigree, but there is plenty of work ahead for Frijia and Co. with one small-yet-disappointing advantage.

“Unfortunately, we have a little bit more time than we usually do because we’re usually playing for at least another month.”

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It’s strange to think about, but when you look back at the 2024-25 BSL season, the Lightning will be a footnote in how it is remembered.

A .500 regular season record. A one-and-done playoff appearance. An absence from The Finals. The Lightning were even shut out of the regular season player awards that included Latin Davis (Windsor), MVP; Demetrius Barnes (KW), Sixth Man of the Year; Charlie Marquardt (Sudbury), Newcomer of the Year.

Part of that invisibility involves a near-constant roster churn all season long.

London cycled through 20 players this season, including 14 who made at least one starting lineup. Only two players from the season-opening roster – guard Marcus Ottey and forward Billy White – finished the season with the team in Jamestown.

“This year, there was a lot of up-and-down,” Lightning head coach Jerry Williams said. “A lot of things happened that don’t normally happen in a season. When the league suspended our best player, Chris Jones, that totally transformed us into a different team without him on the court. Chris is one of those guys. There’s an attitude, but he’s a great player and it’s hard to replace him.”

In January, the BSL indefinitely suspended Jones following a series of incidents the league deemed “inconsistent” with its values. While the league outlined a series of personal and professional bars the star guard needed to meet to be reinstated, he never returned. In February, Jones signed with the Tauranga Whai of the New Zealand National Basketball League.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

While the loss of Jones’ attitude was a plus for the squad, the loss of his talent was hugely felt.

In the face of Jones’ dismissal, Williams applauded the transformation of Billy White, who the coach had his frustration with early on in the season. While a nagging injury forced White to play on one leg throughout the season, he took on the captain’s roll with gusto.

“If I had That Billy White, the Billy White of the last 10 games, from Day One, it would’ve been a whole different season for us for sure.”

After the exit of former head coach Doug Plumb following last season, Frijia faced the prospect of introducing a new coach, a new system, and a new roster. It was unfamiliar terrain, given that Plumb joined the team as an assistant in 2016-17 before taking over the clipboard in 2019-20.

Frijia was prepared to be a change agent this season – to a point.

“We knew it going to be a bit of a transition year. But at the same time, we always expect to compete for a title regardless of the situation. It was a lot of work this year. We had to remake the team a couple of times,” Frijia stressed.

Part of that remake was sparked by clinging somewhat to a familiar roster of older, veteran players to start the season. On opening night, the Lightning roster featured a wealth of experience, with an average age of 30.1 years — one of the oldest in the BSL.

“I felt we were definitely a little too old to start the season. We didn’t have a lot of guys who were hungry and wanted to play hard day-in and day-out,” Frijia said. “So, we had to make some moves, then we hit a few roadblocks along the way here and there. I finally felt we were right there at the end of the year. If we were together a little bit longer, it would’ve made a world a difference.”

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

The BSL is a smaller, faster league, and it’s only getting more so. It’s a prototypical, guard-centric North American game. You have got to have good point guards, scorers on the wings. Bigs are typically harder to get in a league like this, but you still need one or two good ones. But most teams play smaller, playing wings at the four or, with some of the TBL teams, wings at all five positions.

The Lightning evolved in that direction, adding players like playmakers Scottie Lewis, and dropping the overall average age of the team by two years.

“Defense was always a question with us at the beginning of the season,” Williams said. “For me, I like to press a lot. I couldn’t do it because of the age of the players. We physically weren’t able to do it because it was an older team.”

Frijia agreed: “We definitely started to play defense a lot better at the end of the year, which was one of the catalysts for us playing a lot better. At the beginning of the year, we were too focused and reliant on our offense just outscoring people. Even so, if you’re not putting up any resistance on the other end, it’s going to be tough.”

London finished the season as the league’s top offense, averaging 117.8 points per game, almost three full points more than second place (Sudbury, 114.9 PPG). But the team struggled because of a defense that gave up 113.2 PPG, good for next to last in the league and nearly 10 points more than the league’s best (Windsor, 104.6 PPG).

To the GM, the problem wasn’t coaching, it was an effort on the court that needed addressing.

“I have no problem doing a run-and-gun offensive style,” Frijia continued, “but at the same time, you need to be able to play defense. As the old saying goes, defense wins championships, and that’s something we’ve always kind of lived by here.” 

Williams continued, “When I finally got the team that I wanted at the end, we came up short. I didn’t have enough time with them. Those guys really played well together. If we had that group from the beginning, it would’ve been a totally different situation. It’s just that it came a day late.”

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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Wiliams knew one thing when he first walked in the door of Canada Life Place – London is different. He just might not have realized how much.

“London is 100% different,” Williams laughed. “These are prideful people. They like to win. It’s a great city, but you can’t come in and underachieve. That’s the problem I’m facing for next year. This city wants to win, and they want to win right now. No way around it. They don’t want to wait on it. They want to continue to win. They’ll win 20 championships in a row, and they will celebrate each like it’s their first.”

He continued, “I love London. But at the end of the day, this city expects perfection. That’s how it is and that’s something you’re going to have to be able to deal with or you’re not.”

Williams admitted that, early on in his Bolts’ tenure, he made the mistake of trying to be someone he wasn’t. Instead of trusting his instincts, he tiptoed around the job, listening too much to outside voices and getting caught up in politics, which he now regrets.

“I didn’t come in as myself,” he reflected. “I was trying to please too many people, and it backfired.”

Looking back, he knows he should’ve leaned into what he does best – coaching basketball.

“That’s what I was hired to do,” he said. “Not to walk on eggshells. Next time, if there is one, I won’t make that same mistake.”

What happens next falls to Frijia.

“We need to decide what direction we want to go for next year. It’s nothing that you can lock up too soon. Most of these guys are not thinking that far ahead. We’ll take some time to think about what we could do better, what we did wrong, what we did right. Then we evaluate it all. You think in broad strokes how we can make the team better next year.”

This season provided plenty to consider, including this franchise’s first year with a new coach in a long time.

“There are definitely things Jerry could improve on. There are definitely things I liked that Jerry did,” Frijia said. “Ultimately, it’s a success-driven league. You need to win games; you need to compete in the playoffs. Ultimately, we lost, so we need to be better.” 

The head coach will be the first decision made for the next season, usually a few months or so out from the beginning of the season. Then, Frijia explained, you build a team that’s going to be successful in the style the coach wants to play. 

As for Williams’ fate, Frijia was non-committal to his return, but did say there is a bigger picture to consider.

“Every situation is different. I don’t like to kind of carry over year over year, even when you have a returning coach. I think a new year gets its own identity. You evaluate where you’re at regardless of how things have gone in the past. Every year is its own thing.”

Williams doesn’t hide his feelings about a possible return.

“I love London. I wish I could be back. That’s the goal,” he said.

But if he does come back, he wants to do it on his terms – starting with the roster.

“I just want to be able to pick my team, if that makes sense,” he explained. “I want to be able to have a whole summer to recruit guys and bring the guys in that I know for sure will fit into my system (or, at least, try to fit into the system).”

After weathering a season with 20 roster changes, he’s looking for stability.

“That’s a lot for any coach,” he said.

He’s also looking for clarity. He made it clear he’s not interested in waiting around all summer without direction.

“At the end of the day, I want to be back for sure, but it’s out of my hands right now and up to them whatever they want to do. In a perfect world, I will tell you that I’m coming back to London to coach again and make this thing right,” he added. “But it’s not a perfect world, as you know. I have no idea.”