Niagara River Lions Training Camp Tips Off

It would be more accurate to describe Niagara River Lions training camp for their inaugural season in the spring-summer Canadian Elite Basketball League as transition camp.

With the 16 prospects for 10 roster spots all coming off fall-winter leagues, no time at daily sessions at Niagara College in Welland in the mornings — and Thorold Secondary School in the afternoons — will be wasted getting players into shape.

"A traditional training camp is you bring guys in for two-and-a-half weeks to get them in shape. I don't have to worry about getting these guys in shape," head coach Victor Raso said. "It's really practice. It's jelling right off the start. It's putting in our fundamentals offensively and defensively.

"We've done a lot of work on these guys. I know their strengths and weaknesses, and our systems are built around them."

Instead of worrying about getting players in shape, the River Lions are concerned about "keeping guys fresh."

"I know they've come off a season," Raso said. "Instead of getting guys in shape, I want to make sure they're learning but also still fresh."

A River Lions assistant in 2017-18, their final season as part of the National Basketball League of Canada, Raso was promoted to the top post in December. Since then, the 28-year-old has been figuring out how the pro team would approach the spring-summer league and what type of players it needed to compete for a championship.

"Going back and forth a million different times about how to structure the team, like 'OK, if we get this guy, we need this guy,'" he said. "A bunch of different situations.

"That was from mid-December until pretty much yesterday when we started camp."

Recruiting wasn't as easy as touching base with players capable of competing at the highest level of the Basketball Canada ladder. In addition to making sure everything fit under the salary cap, the six teams had to use seven of the 10 roster spots on Canadian players.

An added wrinkle: the end to a player's fall-winter season had to coincide with the opening of training camp.

"There was more than just making sure the guys you wanted came to play for you," Raso said. "You had to make sure they fit into the salary cap. You had to make sure if they don't come at the beginning of the camp, then I have to backfill them.

"There's just a million different scenarios."

Players had two options going into the inaugural CEBL draft. They could enter their names in a draft or commit to a particular team.

"Other teams would then know not to draft them. In most cases, you would recruit players, and they would say, 'Yes, I'll play for you,'" he said. "Then I would just draft them based on that.

"But there were players in the draft who were open to going anywhere."

Raso intends to give player practice plans every day "so they can prepare and learn how to compete in what we're doing."

CEBL training camps bring together prospects who have played in fall-winter leagues throughout the world, but the River Lions aren't worried about something getting lost in translation from one style of play to another.

"You just have to play in the moment and compete," Raso said. "Sometimes, they might be holding onto things, but as we start to progress, they will break those norms and form new ones."

Training camp is very structured, with shooting charts that track the best shooters.

"They get to compete at that every day," the coach said. "We have a practice plan that is based on games, and they know their scores at the end of the day.

"I want these guys to live in the moment. I recruited everybody based on development. They're here because they want to keep playing basketball through the summer. They want to get better, and they care about winning."

Raso said he was "very picky" about the type of players he recruited.

"I definitely want talented guys, because I know you need to be talented, you need to be athletic to win at this level," he said. "But you also need to have the right mindset, the mindset that I am looking for."

The River Lions will be running two training sessions a day until Thursday when they scrimmage the Guelph Nighthawks. Preliminary cuts will be made afterwards, "if there are any to make."

On Sunday morning, Niagara will scrimmage against a free-agent team. Final cuts should be made and the final 10 set that afternoon.

"At the end of the day, when we have 10 guys on our roster, seven of them are Canadian. For me the biggest thing was finding quality Canadians," Raso said. "I had to be very specific with the guys I was recruiting and build relations with them to get them to understand what I was trying to do.

"Get them to trust in the plan here and the program."

Raso, a firm believer that seeds to victory are sown in practice, said the goal in Year 1 is to win the CEBL championship.

"I want them to figure out beforehand how to win in practice. That is my approach, figure out how to win every single day you get reps at competing," he said. "At the end of the day, that's all basketball is: it's five-on-five competition.

"Your goal in practice is the same goal as in a game. We expect to go into every game giving ourselves the best chance to win."

"At the end of the day, that's all basketball is. Its five-on-five competition and you're goal in practice is the same goals as in a game, we expect to go into every game giving ourselves the best chance to win."

Some prospects vying for roster spots are older than Raso, but the first-year head coach doesn't expect to find himself wishing he were on the court.

"No, not all. I wasn't very athletic," he said with a chuckle. "I've always appreciated the mental side of the game a lot, and it fits who I am.

"You've got to know yourself, I'm not a great athlete."

He last competed in 2014-15 with the Carleton Ravens.

Practice sessions at River Lions training camp are closed to the public.

League play gets underway Thursday, May 9, in Saskatoon with a game against Saskatchewan. Niagara's first home game is Thursday, May 16, versus the Edmonton Stingers at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.

Bernd.Franke@niagaradailies.com

905-225-1624 | @TribSportsDesk

Bernd Franke | April 29, 2019 | The St. Catharines Standard