Around the Perimeter: It’s playoff time

The Lightning open the playoffs Sunday against the Windsor Express in a best-of-five first-round series. What should fans expect? Columnist Jason Winders breaks it down …

(Photo: Luke Durda).

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STARTING FIVE

1. Locked in. Ready to go. The 2022 NBL Canada postseason officially starts Sunday, but for the London Lightning, the playoffs mindset started two weeks ago when a still banged-up squad came together after clinching the top seed. In that team meeting, head coach Doug Plumb set down the challenge ahead.

“I said, ‘Look, we got a lot of new guys and a lot of guys hurt. But we need to start to prepare now and get our minds into playoff mode and not wait until the day before the game, then decide we gotta play different. You need to build up to that. You can’t just turn on the switch. The switch doesn’t exist.’ My guys are chomping at the bit.”

Perhaps nobody is ready to go more so than Plumb, the fiery head coach who has been in playoff mode since the season tipped off.

“I’m optimistic about where we’re heading,” he said. “Our execution is coming together at the right time. We have a lot of guys who have been around for a long time. They understand that as you head into playoffs you have to click your play up to another level. The guys are doing that. I’m optimistic that we’re ready.”

Let me translate coach speak a bit: He likes his team. He loves where his team’s head is at.

That hasn’t been necessarily so for this entire season, where Plumb has occasionally questioned the team’s conditioning, commitment, and effort. Many of the guys who sparked those questions have moved on; others have recommitted themselves to the team. 

Maybe that is to be expected for a team that raced out to an early league lead and seemingly had the No. 1 seed secured halfway in. But the league just hit reset – everyone starts 0-0 now.

“The playoff mindset is all about your daily habits,” Plumb said. “Everything just becomes tighter. Guys show up earlier; they are getting their bodies right so that every single time we can get up and down we can compete, be crisp and focused. When they come into practice or shoot-arounds, the level of execution and understanding is high. Everybody has a heightened sense of awareness and coaching becomes a little easier.”

Coaching players locked into that mindset is actually easier, he stressed, as you don’t have to coach the emotion. You also see less focus on the individual and more on the team.

“At any other point in the year, everybody wants to win, but everybody also wants to play well themselves. At this time of the year, people just want to win. So, they’re willing to sacrifice me for we more than they would earlier on in the year.”

2. ‘Only way to go from here is up.’ As you know by now, All-Star point guard Chris Jones has been named to the Lightning playoff roster after serving his league suspension. Jones has not played a game since an on-court outburst in Sudbury cost him the remainder of his regular season on April 14.

On the eve of the playoffs, the London Lightning and guard Chris Jones released a statement:

“In light of the recent events that happened on April 14, 2022, in Sudbury, I respect and accept my suspension for the remainder of the regular season. I am fully aware that my actions have an impact not only on my team, but the NBLC as a whole.

I put my blood, sweat, and tears on and off the court as this is my safe haven. I am supposed to be a leader. The type of behaviour I displayed was not a good example of what I am trying to set for youth in this city and especially not for my son. As a father, I should know better.

I can only ask for forgiveness and a chance to rebuild my reputation. Most importantly, I want to play and make my mom proud.

To the league, the refs, Sudbury Five team and fans, and the London Lightning team, staff and fans, I am so sorry. The only way to go from here is up.”

3. Beauty of the beast. Listen to London Lightning guard Terry Thomas. “The playoffs are a different type of beast. I know and have played against these guys for years. We all know each other so well. It is gonna be difficult because we know their personnel and plays, they know our personnel and players. That means it’s gonna come down to talent, execution, and defense.”

Chris Jones, who returns following a suspension, could be the series X-Factor, with his defensive prowess and ability to run the point. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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4. Tale of the tape. On paper, this is not much of a matchup. The London Lightning (20-4) dominated Windsor (8-16) on the court, going 5-1 against the Express, winning by an average margin of 14.4 points.

In 2022, the Express averaged 102 points per game, shooting 45.4% from the floor, including 33.9 from 3. They also averaged 45.8 rebounds and 20.0 assists per game. The Lightning, meanwhile, averaged 109 points per game, shooting 48.9% from the floor, including 32.2% from 3. They also averaged 50.4 rebounds and 22.0 assists per game.

OK, Windsor has been locked into fourth place for a long time, which makes this first-round matchup look all the more lopsided in the minds of fans. However, six of those wins have come since the start of April, and the team has gone 5-3 in its final eight games. During that stretch they have been averaging 105 points per game.

That said, they were also 1-2 against the Lightning in that stretch.

“You know what you’re going to get with Windsor,” Plumb said. “(Express head coach) Bill Jones has a certain style. They’re very physical, so they’re going to execute their game plan. They’re going to be who they are; we need to make sure that we’re very methodical. It’s a matchup-based series. They have guys who, if you allow them to get to their spots and do what they want, they will kill you. But if you do what you need to do against these guys, and put them in situations defensively where they will struggle to execute, as well as situations offensively where maybe they struggle to guard us, we’ll be fine.”

5. Mark your calendar. Here’s your schedule for the London Lightning (1) vs. Windsor Express (4):

Game 1 | Windsor Express at London Lightning | 2 p.m. Sunday, May 15
Game 2 | Windsor Express at London Lightning | 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 17
Game 3 | London Lightning at Windsor Express | 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 20
Game 4 | London Lightning at Windsor Express | 2 p.m. Sunday, May 22*
Game 5 | Windsor Express at London Lightning | 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 24*

* If necessary

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LIGHTNING NOTES

Windsor Express forward Tanner Stuckman is the only player on either team to appear in all 24 regular-season games. … Know who appeared in the most regular season games for the Lightning? Bet you won’t get it. Abednego Lufile appeared in 22 (starting only 2). … Amir Williams (67%) finished the season leading the league in field goal percentage, along with Mareik Isom (96.4%) for free throw percentage, Jaylon Tate (104) for assists and (3.7) A/TO (assists-to-turnover ratio), and Cameron Forte (72) for offensive rebounds. … Cameron Forte ended the year with a double-double by leading the team in total points (402) and rebounds (214).

BEYOND MY BYLINE

When the Chatham Coloured All-Stars took to baseball diamonds across Ontario in the 1930s, slurs, spit, and rocks rained down on the team from white spectators. As 2022 recipients of Canada’s Order of Sport and inductees to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the historic team will now be showered with praise.

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