Lightning New Year’s resolution? Find a groove

Around the Perimeter: Up next … trip to Newfoundland; Unfamiliar growing pains for London (5-4); Parks behind the arc; Leadership needed; Columnist Jason Winders’ latest Lightning news & notes …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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WHAT HAPPENED.

London (3-2) 154 – Pontiac 152 2OT | Thursday, Dec. 19 in Pontiac

London (4-2) 111 – Glass City 100 | Saturday, Dec. 21 in London

London (5-2) 121 – Pontiac 107 | Friday, Dec. 27 in London

Sudbury 129 – London (5-3) 128 2OT | Saturday, Dec. 28 in London

Sudbury 108 – London (5-4) 91 | Monday, Dec. 30 in Sudbury

WHAT WE LEARNED.

We’re at the quarter post of the season – so, what do we know about this team? Let me offer this thesis: The Lightning are a talented team looking to push through early season growing pains in real time in a league that has gotten substantially more talented and competitive.

That’s understandable for regular people in any other industry, but it’s unfamiliar territory for everyone within this franchise.

Lightning fans (heck, London owners and management, coaches and staff, even players) are not used to the growing pains that come with a new coach, running a new system, playing in a new league. It has been a long time. We forget that this stuff doesn’t happen overnight, but the pains are apparent.

(Photo: Barry Field Photography).

London is straddling the past with holdover veterans and new blood, with GM Mark Frijia building a familiar squad with just two players (Corey Boyd and Tonzell Handy) handpicked by head coach Jerry Williams.

“We have the team to win a championship, but we have growing pains,” Williams said. “The players who were here last year are getting used to me. But there were things that happened last year that I’m not going to deal with this year. That’s hard for some of them to understand. There’s a new coach; it’s a new day; and a new system. Win, lose, or draw, I’m going to be me no matter what. If my players don’t appreciate that or don’t accept that, then it’s going to be a long year for them.”

There are green shoots. London remains the highest scoring team in the league, averaging 119.1 points per game (although Sudbury held them to their first sub-100-point game on Monday, Dec. 30). Despite a lack of an MVP candidate or league scoring leader, there have been standout individual performances, from veterans Chris Jones and Billy White, who lead the team in scoring, to newcomers Boyd and Handy, to Paul Parks and Marcus Ottey.

The BSL is going to be tight, with only the Pontiac Pharaohs and Glass City Wranglers sitting with below-.500 records. Heading into the New Year, London sits in fifth place with a 5-4 record (.556), behind the Sudbury Five at 6-2 (.750), Newfoundland Rogues at 4-2 (.667), KW Titans at 5-3 (.625) and Windsor Express at 3-2 (.600).

Fifth place may sound like the sky is falling, but given how few games some of the teams ahead of London have played, things could change quickly. For example, London travels to Newfoundland for back-to-back games on Jan. 3 and 4.

This remains, largely, an ‘anything can happen any night’ league – exciting for the fans but maddening for coaches and players. Even the weaker teams in the league can be trap games.

“There are going to be teams that go into Pontiac and lose games. I promise you. It’s hard to win in that place. We were very lucky to come out with a double-overtime victory. I give all the praise to my players for sticking to it,” Williams said.

“Everybody, every fan (in Pontiac) is in tune with each other. There were 60 people there at that game and all 60 were locked in and for their team. They cheer. They chant. That brings something to their players. I don’t think a lot of fans understand the fact that players need them to get going.”

In London, that spirit is re-emerging, Williams explained.

“The expectations are changing of what it means to win. The fans are starting to see that. Twenty games in, I think the fans are going to be like, ‘Yes, I am going to spend my money to go see them play.’ But right now, we have got to get rid of the bullshit. Clean up the technical fouls. Clean up the cursing the refs out. The F bombs. The N bombs. All of that. Nobody wants to see that. These fans are here to see a game.”

(Photo: Barry Field Photography).

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D’Andre Austin, a 6-foot-3 combo guard, signed with the Lightning, joining the team in Pontiac, where he went scoreless in six minutes of action. A Toronto native, Austin is no stranger to the Forest City. The Fanshawe alumnus played four years for the Falcons, averaging 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game during his career. In his professional experience, Austin, 27, played internationally with Tobarra CB in Spanish Tercera FEB. Although on the roster, he has played only nine total minutes in four games.

WHAT WAS AWESOME.

Paul Parks looks to be the weapon from three-point range that this team will need. Parks is shooting 27-78 (34.6%) from beyond the arc, leading the team in both makes and attempts by a two-to-one margin. Joel Kindred’s 40 attempts are second on the team, although his 13 makes place him last on the team in terms of shooting percentage from that range.

Averaging 32 minutes a game, Parks has increased his attempts over this important five-game stretch, although making a lower percentage – 17-52 (32.6%). His five threes in the loss to Sudbury on Monday equalled the makes from the rest of the team combined.

Maybe the ball needs to end in Parks’ hands more at crunch time. Chris Jones, for example, who usually has the ball in crunch time, has made three total threes in the last five games.

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Who ordered the double doubles? The Bolts played two double-OT games in nine days, a 154-152 win over Pontiac in Michigan on Dec. 19, and a 129-128 loss to Sudbury in London Dec. 28.

The most eye-popping numbers of the double-overtime thrillers against Pontiac didn’t appear on the scoreboard. The game’s starting five logged 236 combined minutes. Billy White (55) and Paul Parks (53) led the team, followed closely by Marcus Ottey (44), Joel Kindred (43) and Corey Boyd (41). The bench only contributed 51 total minutes — fewer than White or Parks posted individually.

Things leveled out a week later in Sudbury. The starters logged 173 minutes, led by Chris Jones (55) – who returned to action after missing a cross-border trip – and Corey Boyd (39), followed by Billy White (29), Marcus Ottey (26), and Joel Kindred (24). This time, the bench contributed 116 minutes among four guys (D’Andre Austin did not play).

For one of the league’s oldest rosters, these kinds of games need to be few and far between if the squad hopes to survive a regular season slog. I’d still argue this team needs a deeper bench to survive.

WHAT NEEDS WORK.

Leaders have to lead. So, when Chris Jones and Billy White skipped postgame handshakes and headed directly to the locker room after a tough loss to Sudbury on Dec. 28 in London, it didn’t look good. Fans noticed. Team announcers noticed. And this is not the first time it has happened in recent years. For a team looking for its identity, where is the leadership coming from when this is how your leaders – and highest-paid talent – act?

(Photo: Jade Sumpton).

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Speaking of Billy White … As constructed presently, this team needs Billy White to win, as shown by the 108-91 loss to Sudbury on Monday where White was out with an injury. Despite that, the veteran all-star seems to be having the most difficulty adjusting to the new structure in the Forest City.

For example, getting the starting nod against Glass City on Dec. 21, White took just two shots (making one) in 29 minutes of play. Total. He did, however, nab 16 rebounds – all on the defensive end. This didn’t look like a game where the winless Wranglers were focused on shutting down the veteran big man on the offensive end. Instead, this looked a lot like White making a point.

Williams noticed – and was not impressed. “Billy wants to play 48 minutes a game. That’s never going to happen for me. You’re never playing that — never.”

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Speaking of Chris Jones … Further to the challenges of surviving a double-overtime game in Pontiac was the fact that their floor general was absent from the road trip across the border. The team noted only that “The absence of star guard Chris Jones, who stayed behind, did not deter the Lightning from delivering their 3rd win of the season.” The BSL-TV broadcast the following game mentioned a knee injury as the reason for Jones not traveling with the team (he returned to the lineup for that home game).

Williams, who did not comment on Jones’ absence when asked, is fond of saying this is a “one-shot league” – where one shot can make a difference. Overall, Williams has praise for the performance of his veteran point guard.

“Chris Jones is misunderstood. I promise you that kid wants to win more than anything in the world; that’s all he wants to do is win. Yes, he’s going to get technical fouls. Yes, he’s going to talk shit to the refs. Yes, he’s going to talk shit to me. But he wants to win. That’s why this is his team. I’m going to do everything I can in my power to make sure we run everything the right way, but when Chris messes up, his ass is going to be on the bench like anyone else. I don’t think he and Billy (White) are used to that.”

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Attendance across the league continues to struggle. Rest assured, this isn’t just a London thing, but London is all Williams is concerned about. Part of the changes he hopes to usher in include a renewed focus on winning the right way.

“London has won, but when winning is not winning (with the fans) then something has to change. We have to change the narrative of what’s going on here. I’m the guy who can do that. London could be back to London. London could be the place when I first walked in there, that I fell in love with,” Williams continued.

“Fans need to see that real basketball is going on. We lost to KW [112-111 on Dec. 11], but I had fans tell me that was the best game they have seen in years.”

Just look at the head coach’s DMs after a game – they are filled. Following the one-point loss to KW, Williams opened his phone and was greeted by 100 messages even before he left the arena. What struck him most was the positive nature of each one.

“It was crazy. People were saying ‘keep pushing,’ ‘keep going hard’. Fans want good basketball. They want to see a team go out and give everything they have, play as hard as they can and leave everything on the floor. Fans need a sense of, ‘I paid my money, and these guys played as hard as they could – win or lose.’”

STORIES YOU MISSED.

Defending champs hit speed bump; Will roster regroup?

Boyd’s ‘bus trip or bust’ made all the difference

WHAT’S NEXT.

at Newfoundland | Friday, Jan. 3 | 5:30 p.m.

at Newfoundland | Saturday, Jan. 4 | 5:30 p.m.