Lightning move forward, welcome new scoring

Around the Perimeter: With departure of Chris Jones, will Billy White be focal point on offense?; Or … will it be newcomer James Towns?; London also adds big; Ottey promoted to starting PG; Filling Jones’ production …

In his first 10 games this season, Billy White has averaged 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest. (Photo: Barry Field Photography).

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WHAT HAPPENED.

No games.

WHAT WE LEARNED.

The London Lightning went bold, trading for 5-foot-10 point guard James Towns, the BSL’s leading scorer, in a deal that sends future considerations to the Pontiac Pharaohs, team officials announced Wednesday.

A Detroit native, Towns has been nothing short of electric this season, leading the league in scoring at 26.9 points per game. His audition tape includes a Dec. 19 performance when he dropped a season-high 42 points on London.

Additionally, Towns is averaging 4.6 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.

“Adding a guy of this calibre at this point in the season is always exciting,” Lightning GM Mark Frijia said. “He’s hungry. He’s excited to be here. We’re excited to have him.”

Lightning head coach Jerry Williams agreed. “He really wanted to play for London. That says a lot about the organization. It says a lot about what we have going on here, even though things are not perfect right now. James wanted to come. We just improved our team.”

At 26, Towns is a dynamic talent known for his shooting prowess and, specifically, his deadly midrange game. The Niagara University grad isn’t a frequent three-point shooter, with just 45 of his 189 attempts coming from beyond the arc. However, when he does take the shot, he’s been lethal, hitting 46.7% – the fourth-best mark in the league.

As a bonus, Towns is shooting 87.5% from the free throw line (good for sixth in the league).

“The game is a lot of threes, layups or dunks. A lot of people don’t do the midrange thing. But that’s just part of James’ game,” Williams continued. “That’s what he likes to do. That’s what he practices a lot. He’s going to help us coming off screens to where teams are going to have to double him.

“For me, I am excited to pick his brain and see what he really likes to do as a player.”

Just as Towns had other offers on the table, London could have gone any number of directions in looking to bolster the team after point guard Chris Jones’ indefinite suspension by the league. The Towns connection, however, seems to be a perfect fit – a gym rat shooter who loves talking about the game almost as much as he does playing it.

James Towns in action with the Pontiac Pharaohs. (Photo courtesy Pontiac Pharaohs).

“We like the way he plays. No matter what we threw at him, he was always able to create a shot for himself or create a shot for his teammates. He plays hard. He knows basketball. He’s a young, exciting player, for sure,” Frijia said.

In London, Towns has an opportunity to grow his game.

“He takes the opportunity to score because he can, because he’s very, very good at it. But for him, he wants to get 10-15 assists a game. When he told me that, it made me feel like we made the right choice here,” Williams said. “There were other guys on the table we could have brought in, but we made the right choice with James because he’s not a guy who’s just going to come out and gun for 30. He could get 30 any given night, but he wants his teammates to do well as well.”

As an additional bonus, London doesn’t have to watch Towns light them up from the opposing bench anymore.

“I hated playing against him,” Williams laughed. “I’m glad he’s on my team now.”

Towns will make his Lightning debut Thursday night against the KW Titans.

With the departure of Chris Jones, due to suspension, Marcus Ottey will take over starting point guard duties for the Lightning. (Photo: Barry Field Photography).

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London also got bigger (while giving their primary big a breather) during the break, signing 6-foot-9 centre Calvin Godfrey.

The 34-year-old Godfrey played four NCAA seasons (Iowa State, Howard College, Southern, and Memphis), with his most successful run coming with Southern where he won the 2014 SWAC Newcomer of the Year award and was named First Team All-Conference.

His professional career has included stints in Bahrain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mexico, Qatar, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, and the U.S. He represented Palestine in the FIBA Europe Cup, FIBA Asia Cup, and European Champions League.

Previously, Lightning forward Joel Kindred and guard Paul Parks played with Godfrey in Iraq.

“We only had one true big on the roster, and that is always a need we are looking to fill. Bigs are difficult to find because they are in demand all over. You can’t teach height, so quality big guys are hard to come by,” Frijia said. “We’re fortunate to connect with Calvin. He’s a veteran presence that will solidify us at centre both offensively and defensively.”

Lightning centre Corey Boyd has been racking up the minutes and mileage. Averaging 30.3 minutes/game on the season, that number has been creeping up into the mid-to-upper-30s in recent weeks. Godfrey adds another big weapon into the mix.

“I’m playing Boyd too much,” Williams said. “I can’t play Boyd 40 minutes a game. I’m overplaying him, and his body is not built for that. We needed a big to split minutes.”

WHAT WAS AWESOME.

With apologies to Billy Beane (or Brad Pitt as Billy Beane):

Quit trying to replace Chris Jones. You can’t do it. You cannot find a single guy to replace him – he is a unique talent. Now, what you might be able to do is re-create him. Re-create him in the aggregate (minus the technical fouls).

Jones ends his season averaging 19.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 3.6 steals per game. That’s what the team needs to find – a group of current or incoming players who can combine to offer 19.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 3.6 steals per game.

That’s not an impossible task. In fact, we have some sample data thanks to Jones missing two games already this year due to his ongoing problems: a 154-152 win in Pontiac on Dec. 19 and a 100-90 win in Newfoundland on Jan. 4. In those Jones-less games, the team was led by:

• Points – Paul Parks with 26.5/game (+8.4 on season average)

• Rebounds – Billy White with 10.0/game (+2.4 on season average)

• Assists – Marcus Ottey 6.0 /game (+4 on season average)

• Steals – Jachai Taylor with 2.5/game (+1.9 on season average)

Small sample size, yes. Just counting stats, yes. No accounting for energy and leadership, yes. But in those wins, the team worked toward re-creating Jones in the aggregate on the stat page because everyone elevated their game.

Now, picture what adding Towns into the mix can do.

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Corey Boyd has logged heavy minutes so far this season. He’s averaging 16.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in roughly 30 minutes per game over 11 contests. (Photo: Jade Sumpton).

Add Towns. Add Godfrey. Subtract Jones. The Lightning roster now sits at 11. While Frijia is done making moves in the short term, this is a franchise always looking to improve.

“Three games in four days will give us a good look at this team, see how the new guys fit in, how the team gels, what we have, what we’re needing, and then go from there,” the GM said. “We need time to evaluate. We don’t want any wholesale changes. We had a couple of needs; we hopefully filled them; let’s see what we have before we consider any further changes.”

WHAT NEEDS WORK.

You don’t lose a player like Chris Jones and not feel it. No matter who gets elevated or added, this is going to be a different team going forward when you lose your floor general.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing; it’s just a different thing.

(Photo: Jade Sumpton).

“Chris was my quarterback. That’s the best way I can put it. When you lose your starting quarterback, it is hard,” Williams said.

He continued, “The team has to adjust. One thing about this team that I’ve learned is that they know how to adjust. They have a next-man up mentality. We had practice today (Jan. 10) and they were in there working. Everybody is upset about the situation, but everybody understands we have got to keep going. The show doesn’t stop.” 

Williams noted that Marcus Ottey – his “backup quarterback” – has the skills to smoothly slide into the point role.

“His confidence is through the roof right now. He’s playing really well this year; he’s enjoying basketball again. I’m excited for Marcus because now he gets to be the starting point guard for the team, which is something he has always wanted to do. Everything happens for a reason and now I have got to go to my backup quarterback – that’s Marcus, and I think he’s going to flourish in the role.” 

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It has been a league emphasis, an officiating emphasis, and even a team emphasis, but allow me to offer a personal note from a middle aged, white guy, dad who likes to take his kids to games: Maybe this is the moment where everyone can refocus on on-court behaviour and, in turn, fan experience.

I loved watching Chris Jones play basketball; I will miss that. But know what I won’t miss? Chris’ constant stream of, and I abbreviate here, “F*** you,” “Shut the f*** up, N*****!” and “S*** my C***!“

Chris isn’t alone in this type of interaction, but he was a grand master in painting a rich tapestry of vulgarity.

I love trash talk, especially bragging up your own game. Nothing better than a trash talking shooter on a hot streak. That’s fun. That’s part of the game. But for Jones, this wasn’t trash talk most of the time; this was vulgar disrespect to not only his fellow players, but to paying fans.

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I am not sure where this belongs, or what it means, but I felt you should see it.

STORIES YOU MISSED.

Veteran Jones suspended indefinitely by league

Rejuvenated Ottey free to be himself

Lightning keep pace, focuses on team hoops

WHAT’S NEXT.

KW | Thursday, Jan. 16 | 7 p.m.

Tri State Admirals | Saturday, Jan. 18 | 7 p.m.

at KW | Sunday, Jan. 19 | 2 p.m.