I’ve been a bit remiss in not mentioning this before now but it’s been a bit busy, it really doesn’t get going for a while and there’s lots of time for more in-depth stuff as the weeks and months unfold so there’s that in my defence.
But I did notice yesterday a rather big bit of news from the fledgling Canadian Elite Basketball League that caught my attention.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League, you say? What, pray tell, is that?
Well, it’s a six-team league that’s going to kick off in May (if you want to get in on the ground floor I’m sure there’s information here that’ll steer you in the right direction ) and I know it’s been in the planning stages for some time now so I would imagine all the wrinkles have been smoothed out and the business plan in solid.
I know there will be skepticism about another Canadian league – the National Basketball League of Canada still exists – and much of that skepticism will be warranted.
But I think correctly done and with a solid group of owners and officials in charge, there’s no reason it can’t be successful. I know a couple of the principles in John Lashway and Mike Morreale, who I know more by reputation, and I’m sure they’ve done more due diligence than you can imagine, which should stand the endeavour in good stead.
But, as I said, a closer examination is due in the next little while, the steps they’ve taken so far seem to be right ones.
The one yesterday that caught my eye was the league hiring my old buddy Joe Raso as the director of basketball operations.
That’s a familiar name to anyone involved in Canadian basketball, he coached McMaster forever, he’s coached with and scouted for Canada Basketball almost as long (we somehow survived a brutal trip to Greece and the world championships way back in ’98 yielded stories will still tell today) and Joe’s one of the more respected voices in the game.
I think it’s wise to get someone in that all-encompassing position who has deep and solid ties to Canada Basketball, U Sports and the game at almost every level in the country because I imagine – and I hope – there will be a significant Canadian content to the teams when things get started.
I’m not 100 per cent sure a summer basketball league is going to be wildly successful but I hope it is. I do know that a lot of work has gone into the preparation, there are still months before the inaugural season kicks off and I am fully confident that the men in charge will understand the enormity of the task at hand.
But so far, especially with yesterday’s news, they seem to have it heading in the right direction.