Posts Tagged ‘National Basketball League of Canada’

First Round:

1 – Windsor Express – Robert Curtis – 6’10”/Centre

2 -Moncton Miracles – Anthony Johnson – 6’8/Forward

3 – Summerside Storm – Brandon Hassell – 6’11/Centre

4 – Oshawa Power – (Acquired by Summerside on draft night)  Chad Gillaspy – 6’7/Forward

5 – Saint John Mill Rats – Michael Helms – 6’2/Guard

6 – Laval Kebs – Adrian Moss – 5’10/Guard

7 – Summerside Storm (Acquired from Halifax Rainmen) – Avery Smith – 6’4/Guard

8 – Moncton Miracles (Acquired from London Lightning) – Kamar Burke – 6’5/Forward

Second Round:

9 – Windsor Express – Kevin Loiselle – 6’6”/Forward

10 – Moncton Miracles – Terance Licorish – 6’9”/Centre

11 – Summerside Storm – Reginald Robinson – 6’1/Guard

12 – Oshawa Power – Amani Daanish – 6’8/Forward

13 – Saint John Mill Rats – Darin Mency – 6’2/Guard

14 – Laval Kebs – Travis Cohn – 6’2/Guard

15 – Halifax Rainmen – Courtland Bluford – 6’2/Guard

16 – London Lightning – Jerome Richardson – 6’5/Forward

Third Round:

17 – Windsor Express – Wayne Portalatin – 6’9/Centre

18 – Moncton Miracles – Collin Whitely – 6’6/Forward

19 – Summerside Storm – Michael Norwood – 6’6/Forward

20 – Oshawa Power – Jamaal Smith – 5’11/Guard

21 – Saint John Mill Rats – Taneiko Robinson – 6’6/Forward

22 – Laval Kebs – Emmanuel Trinquieur – 6’4/Guard

23 – Summerside Storm (Acquired from Halifax Rainmen) – Brandon Bush – 6’6/Forward

24 – London Lightning – Obinna Agomo – 6’3/Guard

Acting commissionaire Andre Levingston announces the first two rounds at the NBL Draft in Toronto.

Draft Night Transactions

Saint John Mill Rats trades #5 pick (1st Round) and rights of Isaac Kuon to Windsor Express for #1 pick (1st Round).

Halifax Rainmen trades rights of Tyrone Levett and Christian Upshaw to Moncton Miracles for #2 pick (1st Round).

Summerside Storm trades rights of Louie McCroskey and cash considerations to Oshawa Power for #4 pick (1st Round).

Oshawa Power trades rights of Brandon Robinson to Halifax Rainmen for cash considerations and future 2013 draft pick.

London Lightning acquires Laval Kebs’ 1st Round pick and 2nd Round pick for cash considerations.

Left to Right. Storm owner Darren MacKay, Storm owner Duncan Shaw, assistant coach Mike Leslie, head coach Joe Saleno.

In what was an action packed draft to say the least the Storm held on to their five picks and acquired a high pick via trade.

About fifteen minutes into the draft, from the Rogers Centre in Toronto, the Storm were on the clock with the third overall selection.  With the pick they selected James Hassell a 6’10 shot blocker who was co-owner Duncan Shaw’s first choice.

In a major shake up the Storm traded away Louie McCroskey and cash considerations for the Oshawa Power’s fourth overall pick Chad Gillaspy.  Gillaspy is a 6’6 220 pound shooting guard.

With the seventh pick via the Troy Gottselig trade to Halifax the Storm selected 6’3 guard Avery Smith from Wisconsin.

On to the second round where the Storm went with a 6’2 point guard Reggie Robinson out of Northwestern University.

In the third round with the nineteenth overall selection the Storm selected 6’6 shooting forward Michael Norwood.

And finally with the twenty third overall pick via trade with Halifax the Storm selected 6’6 forward Brandon Bush.

Meanwhile back in Summerside some 75 fans gathered at the Credit Union Place to watch a live streaming of the draft.  Storm forward Doug McKinney was on hand for the event along with Al Stewart and Chris Cayole via Skype.  The video call with Al Stewart from his Chicago home may have caused the most excitement when he announced that he would be returning to the Storm for the 2012-2013 NBL season.

During the draft party in Summerside, drafted players called over speaker phone from Toronto to get their first chance to introduced themselves to the fans.  Of the five players that called in; four claimed that defence is their strong suit and they all claimed to be hard working athletes.  However the most common question asked by Paul Schurman was “are you familiar with PEI?”  and you guessed it, all five said no!

This was a great night for the Storm, trading away McCroskey (an amzing defender) who was unlikely to return was a great move by the management.  With 3 of the 8 first round selections I’ll be expecting big things from our rookies.  But it’s important to remember about a possible diamond in the rough, Chris Cayole the Storms lone All Star wasn’t a first round selection!

Here is four of the Storm’s six draft picks.

Third overall pick Brandon Hassell

Fourth overall selection Chad Gillaspy

7th overall selection Avery Smith

Second round pick Reggy Robinson

19th overall pick Michael Norwood

23rd overall selection Brandon Bush

Here is a link to the Summerside Storm and entire NBL schedule.  You may notice that each team is now playing 20 home games and 20 road games for a total of 40, opposed to 36 last season.  This change was decided at the owners meeting in Toronto last month.  I will work on publishing a copy of just Storm games in a schedule later this week.

http://nblcanada.pointstreaksites.com/files/uploaded_documents/867/NBL_Canada_2012-2013_Full_Regular_Season_Schedule_3.pdf

 

In front of 5,106 fans at home the London Lightning beat out the Halifax Rainmen 116-92 in Game 5 of an exciting finals showdown to become the first NBL Canada Champions.

“What a great finish to an outstanding Championship series, outstanding playoffs and an exciting regular season,” said John Kennedy, NBL Canada Commissioner. “I know I speak for the entire League, when I say we’re very pleased with the success we’ve had this year and look forward to even bigger accomplishments in the future!”

Mr. Kennedy was unfortunately out of town due to personal reasons, but he sends his regrets and congratulations to the entire Lightning organization. Chief Operating Officer Ian McCarthy stepped in to present the Lightning with the NBL Canada Championship Trophy.

“It was an amazing showcase for the League, it was exciting to go to a game and we’re looking forward to building on this for next season,” said Mr. McCarthy.

McCarthy also announced Gabe Freemen of the London Lightning as the playoff MVP and Head Coach Micheal Ray Richardson as Coach of the Year.

The Lightning held the number one spot all regular season, finishing with an impeccable 28-8 record.

“It was a great game with an incredible crowd, what we did was protect our home court and its an unbelievable feeling.” said Richardson.

Leading the Lightning to their championship win was DeAnthony Bowden with 28 points, followed by Gabe Freeman with 22 and Eddie Smith with 20. Shamari Spears and Rodney Buford had 18 points each while Tim Ellis had 14 rebounds for the Lightning.

The Rainmen were led by Chris Hagen with 21 points, followed by Tyrone Levett with 14 and Justin Johnson with 13.

“It was an unbelievable game, with two teams that fought their hearts out all season to come together in the championship and to game 5,” said Andre Levingston, President & CEO of the Halifax Rainmen. “London did an unbelievable job and deserved to win, but from a league standpoint this was incredible for the fans.”

NBL Canada’s successful first season will conclude with the League’s inaugural All-Star weekend in Halifax March 31-April 1, presented by Rogers Communications Inc. For more information visit nblallstar.ca.

Over the past week I’ve been shooting video with the intention to find how the Summerside Storm have impacted the community.

Interviews with Summerside Mayor Basil Stewart, Storm Co-Owner Duncan Shaw and footage of the final seconds of the Storm’s heartbreaking loss at home to the Oshawa Power.

Below is a link to the YouTube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miHmMMZecxQ