TBL bests Plumb-led NBLC all-star squad

Amir Williams, Jermaine Haley Jr. represented the London Lightning at the inaugural NBLC-TBL All-Star Weekend in Syracuse, NY, along with coach Doug Plumb and assistant Michael Provenzano.

Amir Williams (17.0 ppg, 8.9 rpg) was among the London Lightning representatives at NBLC-TBL All-Star Weekend in Syracuse, NY, Friday and Saturday. (Photo: Dan Congdon).

* * *

The Basketball League’s best earned a 155-150 win over a squad of all-stars from the NBL of Canada Saturday evening, capping off a highly successful inaugural TBL-NBLC All-Star Weekend at Liverpool High School in Syracuse, NY.

The game, like the festivities that came before it, including the slam dunk and 3-point competitions Friday night, was a loose, celebratory affair, that showcased the top talent in both leagues. And the stars shone bright. The brightest Saturday? That was Chris Darrington, of the Toledo Glass City, who scored a game-high 35 points, along with four assists and three rebounds, in an effort that earned him the game’s MVP award.

But there were plenty more scorers for TBL’s all-star squad, coached by Will Brown of the Albany Patroons. Paul Parks (Shreveport Mavericks) and Vincent Boumann (Salem Capitals) tallied 19 and 15 points, respectively, off the bench, while Justin Moss (Detroit Hustle) had 14 and AJ Mosby (Albany Patroons) had 13. Mosby’s team-high 10 rebounds and 11 assists gave him a triple-double.

London Lightning head coach Doug Plumb had his share of talent on the court, too. Joel Kindred (KW Titans) scored a team-best 31 points, adding seven rebounds and three assists.

Similar to how his league-leading 15-3 Lightning squad has been spreading around the scoring lately, Plumb’s NBLC all-stars shared the offensive load Saturday. Zena Edosomwan and Jeremy Harris of the Sudbury Five tallied 19 points each, while Eric Ferguson (Titans) and Billy White (Windsor Express) scored 17 apiece.

Introducing this year’s NBLC all-stars:
- pic.twitter.com/NvPZqVzC2U

— National Basketball League of Canada (@NBLCanada) April 16, 2022

“It was cool to kind of get to know those guys in a different context, and I think it was a welcome break that we all needed,” said Plumb. “I told the guys, ‘Have fun. Don’t get hurt.’ For games like this, it’s more about the nod and getting the recognition.”

Plumb, probably smartly, took it easy on his own stars, Lightning forward Amir Williams and guard Jermaine Haley Jr. London’s coach included both Williams and Haley Jr. in the NBLC’s starting five, but he held their minutes in check. In just 15 minutes, Williams had 6 points (3-for-8 from the floor), 5 rebounds and a block. Haley Jr., who was originally slated to participate in the slam dunk competition Friday night but withdrew to give his body a break, was held scoreless in under 11 minutes.

(Chris Jones, the third Lightning player named to the NBLC’s all-star team last week, did not participate in All-Star Weekend after he was suspended — and released from the London Lightning — after an on-court outburst Thursday night in Sudbury).

“I thought everything was really professional this weekend. I think our guys had a really good time, for sure,” said Plumb. “The talent in the (48-team TBL) is really good. Top to bottom, our league is better, we have more depth on our rosters, but every one of those teams has guys that can really play.”

The Lightning’s Williams certainly earned his spot as an all-star representative. The former Ohio State Buckeye is averaging 17.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in 16 contests this season. But he’s picked it up even more in the last month as his conditioning and minutes have increased. In his last eight, the 29-year-old Williams has averaged 20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks. He had a 40-point, 10-rebound double-double in a win against the Lansing Pharaohs on April 9.

Haley Jr. has chipped in everywhere, averaging 13.2 points (61.3% shooting), 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 steals in 13 games for the Lightning this season. In his most recent game for London, Wednesday’s 118-110 loss to Sudbury, Haley Jr. poured in a career-high 37 points, going an impressive 14-for-18 from the floor, including 6-for-9 from beyond the arc. He added 8 rebounds and 2 steals.

Plumb, meanwhile, has led London to a wildly successful season so far, as the team sits at 15-3, five games up on both Sudbury and the KW Titans for top spot in the NBLC standings with six games remaining. Plumb was named Coach of the Month for March. He was joined in Syracuse by Lightning assistant Michael Provenzano.

This weekend, London’s coaches found themselves in the unique situation of teaming up with the NBLC’s top talent — for one game, anyway — before they’ll return to foes as the Lightning seeks to beat their counterparts and win a fifth league championship for the franchise.

“I told them we’d play nice until 8 a.m. Sunday,” Plumb said with a laugh.

The focus now turns back to league play, with the Lightning looking to round into form over the next few weeks heading into playoffs. It’s been a jam-packed NBLC season, and Plumb is looking forward to the schedule opening up a bit.

“It’s been pretty crazy. We had 15 games in like five weeks or something like that. So, our guys are a little bit banged up right now. But we’ll have essentially eight days between games, which will be good for us.

“It’s the first real time in probably three or four weeks that we can actually have a couple days of practice, which will be nice because we’ve essentially been running off film and shootarounds. I’m looking forward to it, I can finally coach some basketball now. It’ll be fun.”