Oh, Canada? | The CBL

[Cope Digital]

Division 2 match-up thrills in final seconds
Von Wafer drops 28, Perez records double-double

Edmonton would just not go away. Winnipeg had them buried multiple times, and each time Von Wafer and crew would start the bail out. The final game of opening day was a highly anticipated match-up between two division two teams that ended up being a lot more even than thought coming in to the game.

Edmonton played well in the opening minutes matching Winnipeg shot for shot in the early going, but clock management and a clutch post move by Mo Perez in the closing seconds of the first gave Winnipeg a four point lead.

The second quarter saw Winnipeg pull away with Perez making a couple more shots, and Jud Buechler making a phenomenal pull up jumper off the glass in transition. Winnipeg's lead stretched to ten at 30-20, but a 10-0 run by Edmonton, spurred by shots from Wafer and a pair of free throws by Dominic McGuire tied it up with less than 20 seconds left in the half. Winnipeg was able to line up a shot for Charles Jenkins, and went to half leading 32-30.


In the third quarter Winnipeg would once again stretch their lead to double digits, leading by as much as 13 at times and holding Edmonton to 5-19 shooting in the quarter. Edmonton would be able to make some strides and pulled within nine going into the fourth quarter, 51-42.


The pace picked up considerably in the fourth, with Howard Eisley taking over at point for Winnipeg as they struggled with turnovers. Perez struggled to make shots, and at one point Winnipeg turned the ball over five straight times, allowing Edmonton to take the lead 53-52. Lazar Hayward would turn out to be the man to step up for Winnipeg nailing a three around the four minute mark to put Winnipeg back on top, and making several other plays, including the games only "official" block.


A string of plays gave Winnipeg a slim two point lead with 36 seconds on the clock, with possession in Edmonton's hands, but Willie Warren forced a back court violation on rookie Max Vantchev. Winnipeg would take advantage, as Lazar Hayward hit his second three point shot of the quarter to give Winnipeg the lead 67-62 with 31 seconds left.


Edmonton was of course, not done however. After a time out Max Vantchev would hit Von Wafer in the right corner off of a screen play, for a wide open three, which Wafer nailed, making it a 67-65 game with 27 seconds to go. Edmonton fouled Willie Warren, who missed both free throws, giving Edmonton a chance to win or tie with 21 seconds left. Out of the time out Edmonton made a questionable move by inserting center Mark Bullard, a three point shooter. Vantchev found Bullard in the same corner Wafer hit his three from, wide open, but Bullard missed the shot, and the game slipped away as time ticked and Charles Jenkins hit two more free throws for Winnipeg, sealing the game 69-65.

Winnipeg Mountaineers (0-0) at Edmonton Northerners (0-0)
Nov 1, 2012 1 2 3 4 Final Winnipeg 18 14 19 18 69 Edmonton 14 16 12 23 65 Top Performers Winnipeg Mountaineers Lazar Hayward- 17 pts, 1 block, 6-9 FG, 2-3 3PT, 3-6 FT Mosie Perez- 10 pts, 14 reb, 4-11 FG, 2-3 FT Edmonton Northerners Von Wafer- 28 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, 10-16 FG, 3-6 3PT, 5-5 FT Max Vantchev- 8 pts, 3 reb, 8 ast, 4 stl, 3-7 FG, 2-2 FT	Team Stats Comparison WPG EDM FG Made-Att 24-54 23-70 3PT Made-Att 4-16 3-12 FT Made-Att 17-24 16-23 Rebounds 41 36 Assists 12 17 Turnovers 16 5 Steals 3 15 Blocks 1 0
Winnipeg Mountaineers STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS
Edmonton Northerners STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS

Game Notes:

-Going into the potential game winning shot, Mark Bullard was 0-3 from three point range. Von Wafer was 3-6 from down town and had just hit a major shot. Wafer did not touch the ball on the final possession.

-Lazar Hayward had three very impressive fast break dunks.

What we heard:

"I don't think I'm out of shape and I don't think my weight or my physicality had anything to do with my second half performance, I missed some shots and got out rebounded. I'm six-seven, thats the sad fact of my career." -Winnipeg C, Mo Perez (6'7", 269 lbs) talking about his second half performance (2 pts, 5 reb, 0-6 FG)

"I think me and Willie both pushed the ball way to hard tonight, we made some bad passes, but Edmonton is also very active on defense and they know how to get the ball. They tipped about seven [passes] out of bounds." Winnipeg PG Howard Eisley talking about himself and starting SG Willie Warren combining for eight turnovers.

"Would I have liked to take that shot? Yeah. But coach knew that they were gunna be all over me, and we set up a play that we practice every day, and Mark got the shot. Sometimes thats the way it happens. That shot didn't lose us the game. The game lost us the game." -Edmonton SG, Von Wafer talking about Mark Bullard's missed game winning shot.

[Cope Digital]

remember folks, you can still head over to the CBA create a player thread and create a player to be on one of these teams.

[nuka]

can't wait to play!

[Cope Digital]

Opening day attendance meets projections says CBL
League reaches deal with TSN

The CBL came into their first official season with a lot of hopes, and some strong projections. "Early estimates and polls among the locale of the teams gave us an estimate that we could pull about 4,200 fans per game." Said Commissioner Alex Hansen.


The second of two opening act games on Tuesday night saw 4,362 fans file into the Edmonton Exposition Centre for a thrilling matchup between Winnipeg and and the hometown Edmonton team. "Fans seemed to be really into the game, I think they appreciated the opportunity to support a new local sports team, and they were really supportive of our team." Said Edmonton owner Mark Guehrschile. Edmonton ran a league approved "Opening Night Special" on ticket prices, selling tickets on a first come first serve basis at the gate for $14 (Canadian).


The league mandates that all general seating are priced at $18, and premium seating to be priced at $32. Teams have full control over pricing on court side and box seating. Edmonton sold court side tickets, advance order only for $47.


"With the way player salaries are set up, depending on the earnings of the teams, teams setting their own prices could be problematic, so we have installed a very democratic way of setting standard admission prices." Said Hansen.

The first game of the evening was played in Fargo at the Scheels Arena to a crowd of 2,870. Fargo ran standard league pricing. The difference in attendance marks the sharp contrast of the Canadian market to the CBL's only American market city.

"I think the whole basis of this league is trying to sell a largely American sport to a lot of Canadian hockey fans." said Hansen. "In the end it comes down to making people care more about the team than the sport. I think we saw Edmonton's appreciation of a new team, and in Fargo we saw a solid percentage of the metro area come out to watch the game. Edmonton is 5 times larger a city than the Fargo-Moorhead metro, so we look at both games as a success and we also see room to make improvements."

Fargo presents more than just an attendance problem for the league however. On the heels of a newly announced 20 game live broadcast contract with Canadian sports station TSN, we learned that no Fargo home games will be broadcast due to international broadcast issues. The contract with TSN will air one live game a week for the remaining 17 weeks of the season, and all three playoff games, and will air taped broadcasts of 12 additional games, as well as dedicate four half hour slots per week to the league for highlights and updates.

The deal however, shorts the CBL considerably. the CBL had hoped to work out a multi million dollar deal with TSN, but as agreements carried on into the first day of play, the CBL became desperate for the exposure that TSN will provide, and ultimately settled for a 2 year, $1.608 million contract.


TSN Broadcasts begin next week, airing a TBD game of the week and airing one taped game from this week.

[hoopla32]

Really interesting setup. Are you playing this on 2K13 or what?

[Cope Digital]

Quote: Originally Posted by hoopla32

Really interesting setup. Are you playing this on 2K13 or what?

yes sir. the setup is loosely based on blitz: the league, where you had to work your way up from the bottom to the top division. horrible game, interesting concept.

more updates coming on sunday. crazy work schedule has got me strapped.

[Cope Digital]

London-Brampton game follows suit
London uses explosive third quarter to pull away

London used stifling defense in the the third quarter to pull away, creating room for an eventual 67-61 victory over D3 Brampton. Brampton leaped out of the gates as London struggled to find scoring. London battled early and late turnover issues, allowing Brampton to shoot 19 more shots than London (70 to 51).

Brampton hopped out to an early 19-15 lead, and following poor shooting performances by both squads, led 32-24 at the half. London burst back with a sharp third quarter, allowing Brampton just eight points in the period, and turning an eight point deficit into a five point lead, heading into the fourth leading 45-40.

Early in the fourth it appeared that London would run away with the game. Flip Kersey had a sensational double block sequence turn into a fast break capped with a Jon McGlocklin Jr. pull up three that sprung the lead to 52-41, but Brampton battled back, creating scoring through defense, and using 7 offensive rebounds to mount a comeback.

Brampton however ended the game on 30 percent shooting, and despite shooting 19 free throws, could not create enough offense to eclipse the lead held by London. Luther Head was able to hit a three with 2.4 seconds left to shave the lead to two points, but a pair of Jon Sichting free throws would ice the game, and a sloppy inbounds pass lead to an emphatic Flip Kerseyexclamation point dunk as time expired.

London (0-0) at Brampton (0-0)
Nov 3, 2012 1 2 3 4 Final London 15 9 21 22 67 Brampton 19 13 8 21 61 Top Performers London Jon McGlocklin Jr.- 20 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 8-11 FG Flip Kersey- 18 pts, 4 reb, 2 blocks, 9-13 FG Brampton Kyle Weaver- 14 pts, 3 reb, 5-18 FG, 3-8 3PT Rod Higgins- 13 pts, 5 reb, 4-11 FG, 5-8 FT	Team Stats Comparison FG Made-Att 26-51 21-70 3PT Made-Att 4-13 6-17 FT Made-Att 11-13 13-19 Rebounds 40 33 Assists 14 14 Turnovers 14 4 Steals 4 7 Blocks 2 0
London STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS
Brampton STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS

Game Notes:

-Flip Kersey and Jon McGlocklin Jr. combined for 38 of London's 67 points, but more impressively combined for 17 of London's 26 made field goals.

-Luther Head lead all players with 5 assists

-London's starting PF Ed Nealy had 14 rebounds in the game.

-Brampton starting PG and former NBA player Anthony Carter ended the game with two points on 1 of 8 shooting.

What we heard:

"I felt very comfortable out there tonight, mid-range shots dropped all night, my team mates set me up well, and I felt like our whole defensive unit was very active and I think the box score will attest to that." -London SF, Flip Kersey.

"When your top three scorers of the night combine for thirteen of fourty-three shooting, you know thats just not acceptable. We took bad shots. We took good shots that didn't go in too, but we took a lot of bad shots." -Brampton assistant coach Troy Beachem.

[Cope Digital]

D1 match-up thrills to final seconds
Does Gillespie's game-tying three fall?

It was one of those games where here and there you would catch yourself, on the edge of your seat, fingernails chewed, wondering... how long has it been since I took my last breath. The D1 match up between the two (speculated) best teams in the league pulled no punches, as a crowd of 11,349 at the Bell Centre watched a back and forth battle.

Toronto came out fired up scoring the first basket and taking a 14-9 lead six minutes in. A time out later E'twuan Moore would score his eighth and ninth points of the first quarter, and as time expired in the first, Jon Leuer sank a 17 footer to give Montreal the lead 20-16.

Montreal opened the second quarter with a bang, as Andres Nocioni hit three consecutive three point shots, the large part of an effort that lead to a 31-21 lead for Montreal and a forced Toronto time out. Toronto responded well, and would score eight in a row off of the time out. Nocioni ended the half with 11 points and Montreal hit the break with a six point, 37-31 lead.

Toronto slowly chipped at Montreal in the third, fueled by 1 of 5 shooting by Montreal in the opening minutes. Tim Bennett would hit two shots from down town, and Toronto was able to close the lead to two heading to the final period.

Montreal would relinquish the lead less than a minute into the fourth, as Toronto took a 52-51 lead with a Brandon Gillespie jumpshot. Montreal however played consistent defense turning away Toronto on several possessions while Montreal themselves failed to score. Nocioni finally cracked through with back to back scores in the post, and Montreal would regain a lead as large as six.

Toronto took its second to last timeout at the 3:29 mark, trailing by five. Responding to the timeout, youngster Jacob Danovitch threw down a thunderous one-handed breakaway dunk, but was sharply responded with an attack by E'twuan Moore that led to a pair of Moore free throws. Trailing by five with 26.9 seconds to play, Toronto's Noah Jackson scored against Jon Leuer, on a nifty drive-pump fake sequence that left Leuer out of position.

With a chance to take a two possession lead late in the game, Andres Nocioni would send the inbound pass sailing out of bounds, giving Toronto the ball on the baseline with 26.9 still on the clock, trailing by three, 64-61. After a time-out, Gillespie, inbounding from nearly under the hoop, would find Tim Bennett wide open in the corner, but Bennett seemed to rush the shot, and it missed long of the iron. Luckily for Toronto forward Jacob Danovitch was there to corral the ball. Danovitch kicked out to Gillespie, once again wide open for a game tying three. Brandon Gillespie, age 18. Gillespie went up nearly immediately after getting the pass, and really seemed to rush the shot, which bounced high off of the iron, and nearly into the hands of Danovitch again, but rather into the hands of Dominique Jones.


The two rushed shots left Toronto plenty of time to save the game but after trying for a steal, a late foul put Dee Wilks on the line, who sank both tries, clinching the game for Montreal.

Toronto (0-0) at Montreal (0-0)
Nov 5, 2012 1 2 3 4 Final Toronto 16 15 17 13 61 Montreal 20 17 13 16 66 Top Performers Toronto Noah Jackson- 16 pts, 5 reb, 5-10 FG, 6-11 FT Bille Gillespie- 10 pts, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 3-8 FG, 4-4 FT Montreal Andres Nocioni- 21 pts, 5 reb, 8-12 FG, 4-8 3PT Etwuan Moore- 17 pts, 10 reb, 6-13 FG, 4-4 FT	Team Stats Comparison TOR MNT FG Made-Att 19-58 23-57 3PT Made-Att 3-16 6-17 FT Made-Att 20-30 14-16 Rebounds 30 47 Assists 12 17 Turnovers 5 16 Steals 12 3 Blocks 3 4
Toronto STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS
Montreal STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS

Game Notes:

-Jacob Danovitch had 8 points and 8 rebounds.

-Montreal was one point away from becoming the third team this week to by a score of 67-61.

-Dee Wilks scored 9 points, 5 rebounds and 11 assists.

What we heard:

"Its one of those situations where your two best shooters get open looks and your two best shooters miss open looks. We shot bad all night." -Toronto coach, Jaime Hammond.

"They had chances but we came up big time and time again tonight. I think this was a win we can be proud of, especially this early in the year." -Montreal coach, Ronald Bonner.


"They gave him way too many calls tonight. Ghost calls. I can't stop that. Only way I can stop that is not be on court." -Montreal SF, Vlade Kursov on his four foul calls against Danovitch.