Can Lightning regain top spot during home swing?

Around the Perimeter: London opens March tied for second in BSL standings; Defense looking better in last two games; First look at Newfoundland Rogues; Promising debut for Tisdale; Six straight at Bud Gardens …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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STARTING FIVE

1. Seeing (All) Stars. Are we midway through the year already? Saturday, March 9, the Basketball Super League will hold its inaugural All-Star Game. Hosted in Sudbury by the Five, all-star weekend will also feature a skills competition, including a three-point shooting contest and a slam dunk competition.

The Lightning will send Rashad Smith to compete in the three-point competition. Entering action Friday, the guard was shooting an even 40.0% (34-for-85) from three-point range on the season. Jachai Taylor, perhaps the player with the most pure athleticism on the Lightning, will compete in the dunk competition. London fans have seen Taylor throw down numerous dunks this season.

Those two players, plus Nick Garth, will represent the Lightning in the BSL’s all-star game Saturday. With a game the following day (Sunday, March 10), London is opting to hold back some older players, like Billy White and Jeremiah Mordi, so they can get some extra rest.

It’ll be Team Blue vs. Team Red in Sudbury. The former will be coached by Newfoundland Rogues bench boss Jerry Williams, while the Five’s Logan Stutz will coach the latter.

Team Blue Roster: Duane Notice (Sudbury), Latin Davis (Windsor), AJ Mosby (Sudbury), Paul Harrison (Windsor), Marquise Collins (Newfoundland), Mambi Dwiara (Montreal), Nick Garth (London), Shadell Millinghaus (Windsor), Jaylon Tate (KW), Jaquan Lightfoot (KW), Rashad Smith (London).

Team Red Roster: Armani Chaney (Newfoundland), Landan Kirkwood (Sudbury), Tyler Groce (Windsor), William Brown (Newfoundland), Dexter Williams (KW), Jachai Taylor (London), Phil Flory (Montreal), Evan Harris (Sudbury), Antoine Mason (Montreal), Curtis Hollis (KW).

2. London going Rogue. Last year, the Lightning were only two games into their season when they hopped on a plane and traveled east to play three games in four days against the Newfoundland Rogues, then members of The Basketball League (TBL).

This year, they had more games under their belt before they were supposed to make the trip to, again, play three contests in four days. Weather canceled flights and changed the schedule to three in three days, and then the snowstorms out east canceled the trip altogether. It has not been announced yet when those games on ‘The Rock’ will be made up. But the teams will finally meet, in London, on Friday (March 1).

This time, though, the Rogues are in the same league, of course, as first-year BSL competitors just like the Lightning. And they’re no pushovers. In fact, they enter the weekend with the top winning percentage in the league, having gone 8-4 in their first 12 games. Five of those wins have come against TBL opponents, but they have beaten the KW Titans twice this year. Those wins came on back-to-back nights, Jan. 27 & 28, in Newfoundland.

London went a perfect 4-0 against the Rogues last year, but they’d be wrong to approach Friday’s contest with any less intensity – or the expectation that Newfoundland is still a TBL-calibre team. Their best player, Armani Chaney, leads the league in scoring, averaging 29.0 points per game in his first 12 contests. He also leads the BSL (by far) with 11.3 assists per game, a full 4.7 ahead of second place.

And this year, Chaney is partnered up with a talented Marquis Collins, who is third in the league in scoring. He’s at 23.3 points – and 7.8 rebounds – per game. Omega Harris, who is tied with the Lightning’s Billy White for the best three-point shooting percentage (48.6%) in the league, is another scorer (13.5 ppg) the Lightning will need to watch out for – as well as William Brown (12.9 ppg), who is second on the Rogues in rebounds per game (6.2).

The Rogues are coming off three straight home wins against the TBL’s Reading Rebels. After London Friday, they’ll play a pair in Windsor Saturday and Wednesday, and then play KW on Thursday before heading back home. They’ll be back in the Forest City for a second matchup against London Apr. 1.

In his first two games back in a Lightning uniform, Chris Jones has averaged 18.5 points, 6 rebounds and 5.5 assists. (Photo: Barry Field Photography).

3. Windsor-London clash. There is perhaps no better rivalry in the inaugural BSL season than Windsor vs. London. It was enough that the Lightning recruited three former Express players – Billy White, Nick Garth and Jachai Taylor – during the offseason to play for them in 2023-24 (after London beat Windsor in last year’s NBLC Finals).

Tensions were already high. And then the teams made a surprising trade that saw the controversial guard Chris Jones brought back to London in exchange for Shadell Millinghaus, who had become a fan favourite in the Forest City. This was the backdrop heading into a home-and-home series between the two teams last week. And though it appears WIndsor coach Bill Jones has no interest in the postgame handshake line when playing London, there were fortunately no fireworks on the court. In fact, the two teams played two very close basketball games that both came down to the wire.

In Windsor last Sunday (Feb. 25), the Express came away the victors, 95-94, dealing the Lightning a second straight loss. The fourth quarter saw seven lead changes, and London did have a final shot opportunity to win it, but their play call went awry and they were unable to convert. Jeremiah Mordi had his best offensive game of the season in that contest,  scoring 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting.

In his first game back in a Lightning uniform, Jones scored 19 with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Millinghaus, in his first game with Windsor, had a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double in his Express debut, although he also had a game-high seven turnovers.

And then the two teams locked horns again on Tuesday (Feb. 27). This time? A one-point victory in favour of the Lightning, 91-90 at Bud Gardens. That improved London’s record to 11-6, putting them in second spot in the BSL standings behind Newfoundland. Neither team shot the ball well, and the Lightning were a woeful 22.9% (8-for-35) from three-point range, but this time they got the important buckets at the end. The winning point came on a free throw from Billy White, who finished with a game-high 31 points and nine rebounds.

“The game was ugly, but we just refused to lose,” said Lightning head coach Doug Plumb. “The three-point shooting was crazy. Honestly, I don’t know. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in. Half the time, there was no one within 15 feet of us, and we were just missing.”

The coach was pleased with the team’s defensive effort – in both Windsor games. And the addition of Jones, he believes, is a major factor.

“Our guards can really defend,” he said. “Every year that I’ve been here, we’ve been the best defensive team in the league, because we scout, we do our work. But you need to have guys who care about defense. All you need is one guy to mess up.

“We’re still not finishing plays well enough, in terms of rebounding, but we are defending better overall, for sure.”

Windsor and London will face each other again, back at Bud Gardens, on Sunday (March 3). They’ve split the first four games of the season series (they’ll play a sixth time in Windsor March 22).

4. Roster carousel continues. Last week, the Lightning signed a pair of players, JD Tisdale and Danny Ogele, and both saw action in Tuesday’s contest against Windsor. Tisdale, who began the year in Montreal playing for the Tundra, saw 24 minutes off the bench, tallying nine points and four rebounds. He also had four turnovers and four personal fouls, but Plumb was encouraged by his first look at the 30-year-old veteran.

“I was impressed. I thought he was solid. Considering the guy had an hour of practice, he was fantastic,” the coach said. “He’s very coachable, and he has great intensity defensively. He’s got good awareness and good defensive instincts.

“I think he had a lot of pressure on him (in Montreal) to kind of be the man, whereas here he’s coming off the bench, the seventh or eighth man. That’s a role he can handle.”

Tisdale, who played the majority of his collegiate ball at Bowling Green, has been a journeyman on the pro circuit. He played for the Saint John Riptide of the NBLC back in 2017-18. He’s had a couple of stints in the G League, and he had a very strong season in Germany two years ago.

Ogele, who only played six minutes Tuesday, is much younger and less experienced, but he should see 15 minutes a game, says Plumb, and he brings athleticism and energy. He played collegiately at Navy, and then Mercyhurst, and then Minnesota for his senior season in 2021-22.

Meanwhile, another new Lightning player, Baden Jaxen, unfortunately saw his season come to an end Tuesday when he suffered a torn achilles. He played just two games for London before the heartbreaking injury. At 33, an injury of that magnitude could spell the end of the road for the veteran.

“I feel terrible for him,” said Plumb, noting that Jaxen isn’t expected to undergo surgery.

Despite the injury, there is discussion about him sticking around with the club in some sort of coaching capacity, although details haven’t been worked out. Jaxen hails from North Carolina, where he played his collegiate basketball with the Tar Heels.

JD Tisdale defends against Latin Davis during his London Lightning debut Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (Photo: Barry Field Photography).

5. Beating up on the TBL. Start with a schedule where only two of six teams play the same number of games. Mix in an unbalanced allotment of inferior TBL teams. Then create a playoff format determined by winning percentage. 

In a league that seems to have an even distribution of talent, every little edge is going to matter – and facing TBL opponents is one heck of an edge.

While vital to the function of the six-team BSL, TBL opponents are far and away inferior to their BSL counterparts. Both BSL teams and players are getting fat off of their cross-border opponents.

On Feb. 21, Newfoundland forward Marquis Collins set the BSL scoring record for points in a game with 45 in a 144-126 victory over Reading. That game was the first of three victories the Rogues picked up against the Rebels in three straight games.

Thus far this season, the BSL is 15-0 against the TBL. Newfoundland accounts for five of those wins, followed by London (4), Sudbury (3), Montreal (2), and KW (1). Windsor has yet to play a TBL opponent.

When it comes to TBL opponents, Newfoundland has a huge advantage over the rest of the league.

The Rogues will play 13 games against the TBL this season – a whopping 38% of its 34-game schedule. 

Don’t think that matters? When they slid into first place on Feb. 25, Newfoundland had a 3-4 record against BSL opponents.

The Rogue’s percentage is hugely influenced by the fact that a three-game set between London and Newfoundland Feb. 16-18 in St. John’s was postponed due to weather. That will make a huge difference in the postseason run if not made up. The league has not set a date yet.

Nevertheless, no team gets close to that Newfoundland percentage.

London plays eight of its 29 games against the TBL (28%). (Again, that number is largely influenced by the loss of three games against the Rogues.) London is followed closely by Sudbury and KW (25%), and Montreal (20%).

Depending on how the league shakes out, the Express would have the biggest beef with the current setup, only getting two games against the TBL – a paltry 8% of their schedule. Will that cost them a playoff spot? We will see.

UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

7:00 p.m. Friday, March 1 vs. Newfoundland Rogues

2:00 p.m. Sunday, March 3 vs. Windsor Express

7:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 5 vs. Sudbury Five