Niagara River Lions Preparing to Tip Off CEBL Season with May 9 Game in Saskatoon
The River Lions open the home portion of their schedule in a 7 p.m. tipoff Thursday, May 16, against Edmonton.
Pre-season, not post-season, basketball is topping the sports agenda in at least two places in Niagara.
With apologies to the Toronto Raptors and their Eastern Conference semifinal against the Philadelphia 76ers, the focus at Niagara College in Welland and Thorold Secondary School is fixed on the opening of the Canadian Elite Basketball League's inaugural season next week.
Three games are on tap, all of them in western Canada, including the Niagara River Lions at the Saskatchewan Rattlers Thursday, May 9, at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.
Since Monday, the main campus of the region's community college and the high school in Thorold have co-hosted the St. Catharines-based team's training camp.
Sixteen prospects are competing for 10 roster spots on a spring-summer league team, on which the premium will be developing Canadian talent. Seven players have to be Canadian, including one who is returning for another season at a Canadian university.
Victor Raso, who was promoted to general manager and head coach after serving as an assistant in the River Lions' final season in the National Basketball League of Canada, could make preliminary cuts after scrimmage later today against the Guelph Nighthawks.
He expects to set the final roster after a scrimmage against a free-agent team.
While the CEBL will have only six teams, including three in southern Ontario, the travel will be extensive when it comes to road games against the Fraser Valley Bandits in Abbotsford, B.C., the Edmonton Stingers and Saskatchewan.
Unlike their western counterparts, Guelph, Hamilton and Niagara have the luxury of playing most of their games in the same time zone. Raso points out 14 of the River Lions' 20 regular-season games will either be at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines or in Guelph or Hamilton.
The River Lions open the home portion of their schedule in a 7 p.m. tipoff Thursday, May 16, against Edmonton.
Niagara is using the Athletic Centre at the college's main campus in Welland as its official training camp gym.
"We're excited to have the Niagara River Lions on campus for their training camp. The inaugural season for the CEBL promises to be exciting, and we're happy to provide a supportive role," said Michele O'Keefe, associate director of athletics and recreation at the college.
Raso, team captain at Carleton when the Ravens won Canadian men's university championships in 2013 and 2014, intends to make the most of the 10-day training camp.
"It will be crucially important for us both to implement our principles and create the type of culture in training camp that will give us the opportunity to be successful throughout the season," the 28-year-old first-year head coach said.
"In this short period of time, our focus will be understanding our plan, determining our strengths and weaknesses and creating a base that allows us to take advantage of them."
Raso earned a third national championship at the university level as the lead assistant to Carleton head coach Dave Smart.
Joe Raso, Victor's father and his predecessor as River Lions head coach, is the director of basketball operations for the CEBL.
Bernd.Franke@niagaradailies.com
905-225-1624 | @TribSportsDesk
Bernd.Franke@niagaradailies.com
905-225-1624 | @TribSportsDesk