Is Halifax ready for the D-League?

Some highlights from the Ridiculous Upside interview with Dan Reed, the president of the D-League:

D-League President Dan Reed: Well, if you go overseas you basically eliminate your chances of playing in the NBA that season, so if your goal is to make the NBA your odds are much better playing with us. I asked our folks to run these numbers for me, a - of the 107 players who have been called up to the NBA in a given season, 61% of them (65 players) received a guaranteed contract that season. I actually think these numbers are pretty compelling reasons to play in the NBA D-League, when you consider that: a) even one NBA 10-day contract is worth as much or more than a player can make in a month overseas, b) if you get one 10-day it’s highly likely you will double your money with at least one additional 10-day, and c) if you do get a 10-day there’s a 60% chance you’ll be with that team for the rest of the season, and d) you have a zero percent chance of being “called up” to the NBA if you play overseas.

…

DR: That’s why I think the best number to look at is the sheer number of NBA D-League alumni playing in the NBA, and by that metric, we clearly establish ourselves as the absolute best way to get to the NBA — we’ve produced five times more NBA players than any other professional basketball league in the world. We’re the most heavily scouted league in the world, and that is extremely valuable for our players. If you really want to look at odds, check out this stat: if you played in the NBA D-League last season you had a 1 in 4 chance of participating in an NBA team’s training camp the following season. I’d say those odds are pretty good. And even if after all that the NBA simply doesn’t work out for player, showing well in the NBA D-League allows you maximize your earning potential no matter where you decide to play.

…

RS: It seems to me that if each NBA team had their own D-League affiliate, and was able to call up, send down, and rehab players on their D-League teams, much like the farm system of Major League Baseball, that the NBA and the NBADL would both benefit tremendously. Are the leagues making any attempt toward moving in that direction?

DR: We took a major step towards that sort of system when we created the affiliation and assignment system back in 2005. Since then we’ve doubled the number of teams in the league, have seen 104 NBA players “sent down” and recalled to/from their NBA team, and have had 59 additional players called-up to the NBA. As a result we now have close to 80 former NBA D-League players on NBA rosters right now, which is getting close to 20% of the entire league!

…

D-League president Dan Reed’s checklist for prospective affiliates, from the RU interview:

- a great arena
- strong ownership
- a good market

- market size
- competition
- income levels
- size of corporate base
- basketball fan avidity


Can a PBL team move to the D-League? Looking at Dan Reed's checklist, I think Halifax qualifies.

- We play in a 10,000 seat arena, average about 2,800 fans this past season (1,800 in the first season in the ABA),
- population of 400,000 in the immediate area and draw from another 100,000+ within an hour of Halifax,
- we have 2 university teams in the city and another within 2 hours of Halifax that are usually nationally ranked so we are basketball fans,
- Halifax is a government town so income levels are good and steady,
- the only live pro sport competition is a major junior league hockey team that shares the arena with us.

As for the other current PBL teams, most of their markets are too small to support a D-League team, because of the $1,000,000 franchise fee, versus $10,000 or $20,000 for ABA, depending on your source. I don't know the cost of a franchise in the PBL, but I bet it is closer to $20,000 than a million.

Halifax is unique in that we are a good-size small city with a suitable arena to support a D-League team, rather than many PBL teams who play in much smaller venues. With Maine and Springfield in the NBADL, along with Erie, we could fit into a Northeast division quite easily, flying through Boston or Toronto.

Will Halifax Rainmen's AJ Milien Win MVP?

AJ Milien, a mid-season signing for the Rainmen, formerly of the August Groove, where he pretty much was the offence, must be in the running for Premier Basketball League MVP for the 2009 season. However, there is talk that he may not win it since he has not been the dominant power since joining the Rainmen. I say that being the MVP on a losing team does not mean you are better than a role player on a great team.

Here are the 10 most recent NBA MVP’s and their team records:
2007-08 Kobe Bryant L.A. Lakers - lost NBA finals
2006-07 Dirk Nowitzki Dallas Mavs - won division, top conf. record
2005-06 Steve Nash Phoenix Suns - West Conference runner-up
2004-05 Steve Nash Phoenix Suns - West Conference runner-up
2003-04 Kevin Garnett Minnesota T’Wolves - West Conference RU
2002-03 Tim Duncan San Antonio Spurs - NBA Champs
2001-02 Tim Duncan Spurs - won div.,2nd-best record in NBA
2000-01 Allen Iverson Philadelphia 76′ers - lost NBA Finals
1999-00 Shaquille O’Neal L.A. Lakers - NBA Champs
1998-99 Karl Malone Utah Jazz - tied for div., best league record

As you can see, players who win the MVP do it on strong teams that either win their division with the best conference or league win-loss record, or they go deep in the playoffs. Augusta would not have accomplished either of those feats. Even with AJ, they were 5-4. As of today, they are 9-9.

For the MVP, I think AJ is still in the running, depending on how much time he gets and how well he performs during the last 3 games in Halifax.

AJ leads the league in points per game - even with Halifax games included, he sinks over 60% of his 2-pointers (which is good for a scorer in this league), over 80% from the FT line, averages 10 rebounds a game, and is 4th in the league in blocks (and the only player with more than 20 ppg with over 1 block per game - BTW, Eric and Bailey are #5 & 6 on the blocks list.)

Cedric McGinnis of the Sea Dawgs has to be in the consideration for MVP and so does White Chocolate, although he is kind of the guard version of AJ - outstanding player who gets crazy minutes on a so-so team.

Rochester and Battle Creek might each have a guy, but they seem to have a bunch of Steady Eddies on those teams, with no super-dominant player, just a good bunch of starters who get the job done.

Rainmen join PBL but will we see any familiar faces?

The Rainmen have made some announcements lately regarding their league status as well as the whereabouts of some of the marquee players from last season.

As expected, we are now part of the Premier Basketball League (PBL). Unfortunately, none of the stars from last year will be returning.

Getting paid is a real issue with these guys. They really aren't paid a lot and they have bills just like the rest of us. Expecting someone to drop everything for a 3-month, 20-game season may prove difficult. At least with the 36-game season, there was a longer time frame to drop your life and move to Halifax.

I guess we should remember that minor leagues are stepping stones for athletes. Our team was in a league that is just like many other leagues around the world and I get the feeling that players tend to bounce around, depending on the schedules of the various leagues. They are just trying to make a living and have to go where the jobs are.

I would be surprised if we see anyone come back from last year's team and until we get into the D League (and maybe not even then), we probably won't have many returning players who aren't Maritimers.

Unfortunately, Lewis has proven that he cannot develop young players, so local talent may decide to go elsewhere rather than waste time sitting on the bench.

In my opinion, we need a local coach who has ties to the universities that will draw recent grads to our team. Once we get our version of "Coach K" who is a draw for athletes to play for him, then we might be able to count on having some consistency to the roster.

All-Star game and possible league merger

Here is a good article on the All-Star game. While Eric didn't get the MVP that he was hoping for, it sounds like he played very well. Good job Eric!

The end of the above article mentions a few possibilities for next year, including a PBL/CBA merger and the handful of Northeast teams who may join it, including Vermont, Manchester, Montreal and the Rainmen. I guess this is assuming the attempt to join the D-League doesn't work out for us right away. I am somewhat surprised that Quebec wasn't part of the list of teams that may go to the merged league. Maybe the author forgot about them.

Good luck to Eric and a potential Moncton rival team?

Congrats to Eric for still having the opportunity to show his stuff at the ABA All-Star game, even after the Rainmen have officially left the ABA. I am happy that he is going to see some of his family. They are really supportive of him, as evidenced by the fact that his extended family actually commented on the Herald website a few months ago when it had a story about Eric. I thought it was pretty cool that Eric's family keeps track of his career here in Halifax. Have fun Eric, I hope you get selected as the game MVP!

In other ABA News, Joe Newman is looking at the silver lining around the cloud of the Rainmen leaving the league.

In this news story, Newman is quoted as saying that this "opens the door for an ABA team in Moncton."

While I agree that Moncton is probably the right-size market for an ABA team, I shudder to think that another Maritime entrepreneur might get involved with the ABA. If our D-League hoop dreams don't work out, maybe a Moncton PBL franchise would work well for us, as a ready-made rival for Halifax. You heard it here first!

Short post about the Rainmen

I like Mr. Levingston’s plan to approach the D-League to see if we can join, with the fallback position of joining another league if it doesn’t work out with NBADL. In my previous post, I laid out a SWOT analysis of the Rainmen joining the D-league.

I read somewhere on OSC that PBL and CBA are merging and that the ABA team from Texas has already been playing as Dallas in the CBA, so it sounds like the scenario of the Rainmen joining another league other than the D-League is quite likely. However, I agree with the ambitious plan of talking with the D-League, because you don't get anything if you don't ask.

The NBADL will be impressed with Mr. Levingston and his organization, but if the league doesn't have plans to expand to the Northeast and if there are no other teams in the area that are ready and/or willing to join the D-League for next season, then we will probably join the new PBL/CBA merged league. The bottom line is the Rainmen need other teams in the Northeast to be part of whatever league we eventually join, to make it viable in the long-term.

The Rainmen need to look elsewhere

The ABA is no place for a good team. This is evident by how many former ABA teams have been leaving the league to join other groups.

The more I learn about the ABA and what I observe as this season progresses, I hope Mr. Levingston is able to take steps to join another league next year. He and the other viable teams in the Northeast and North divisions should approach the NBA Development League, the Premier Basketball League, or the Continental Basketball Association.

Of these, the NBA D-League is the most attractive choice, and not only for the obvious brand recognition reason. The D-League has no teams in the Northeast area of America or any Canadian Teams. If the 6 teams in the Northeast and North divisions of the ABA could form a new division for the D-League, it could benefit both groups. The D-League would have viable teams who would relish the opportunity to be linked to an NBA team (or two) and they would also expand into a new geographical area. The teams would benefit from increased popularity from association with such a widely recognized brand of basketball as well as the stability that comes along with the NBA. I think a natural NBA team that the Rainmen could be the farm team for would be the Raptors.

If the NBA is not receptive, then there are at least 2 other options: The PBL and the CBA.

The Premier Basketball League is a new group of 8 former ABA teams that started playing their first season last week. I think the jury is still out on whether this would be an improvement over the ABA, if only because of the PBL’s newness. I think their growing pains would have to be done before considering a move there. Having said that, if the ABA provides no support to its teams and its reputation is actually hurting financially viable teams (like Halifax, Vermont, etc.), then this might be the only way to survive.

The Continental Basketball Association is also made up of mostly former ABA teams. This league seems to be very spread out geographically, but again, they have no representation in New England/Atlantic Canada. This year, there was a team in upstate New York and one in Pittsburgh, so even if only some of the ABA teams in question decided to join the CBA, there would be some competitors fairly close by.

Other professional leagues of note are:
- the United States Basketball League, which just announced the suspension of its entire 2008 season, because of so many teams folding. So much for that as an option.

- The new National Professional Basketball League, which starts this spring. This league is apparently based in the northeast United States, with teams in New York state, New Jersey, Connecticut, MAryland, Delaware and Virginia. As a spring league, the schedule for games would probably not interfere so much with Mooseheads games, meaning we could possibly have more weekend games. As we have seen so far this season, the weekend is when people come to the game. The NPBL season is going to be from March 1 to early June. This looks like an interesting alternative.

P.S. The former ABA Corning Bulldogs — now called the Elmira Bulldogs — will be part of this league. By the way, Corning is a town of 10,000 in upstate New York. It was the smallest town with an ABA franchise. It would be like Truro having a franchise, to put things into perspective. No wonder they only drew 80 people to a home game.