Springfield, MA, To Host New D-League Team
by Scott Schroeder on Mar 11, 2009 7:13 PM EDT
Email
PrintThe D-League president has finally come back to the internet. Mr. Dan Reed posted his "Top Ten Happenings Since My Last Post", which pretty much covers 2009.
Among the highlights:
3) We're preparing for another very exciting team announcement in the Northeast by the end of March...isn't the suspense killing you!?!?
4) We formally announced our new and innovative playoff format, where our top playoff seeds choose their opponent from the bottom seeds. This just made too much sense not to do for our league, for a variety of reasons. By the way, the idea originated from a suggestion right here on this blog!
9) Coleman Collins of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants decided to join the rest of Fort Wayne's staff to participate in a "study buddy" program, where they help a child with their homework for one hour a week every Wednesday. Any Wednesday that Coleman is in town, he comes to the office to work with his own study buddy. I love this story, as it represents so many things - the commitment that our teams make to our community, and the mindset that our players have about helping others while improving themselves. It goes beyond "accessibility", which is a term that's easily thrown around. Our teams and players are a part of the community -- you see them at the grocery store, at the movies, and at the restaurants -- and they're committed to their community and while striving to reach the top of their profession, just like the rest of us. This kind of thing is happening in every NBA D-League city, where collectively we've done nearly 200 community programs so far this season...
Lots of good stuff in there. My thoughts?
The new team will be Springfield, Massachusetts. This isn't confirmed anywhere else (that I know of), but from what I'm hearing, that's where it's going. New York pulled out of the Harlem team, at least for now, and I'm not aware of any others that are looking to surface for next season. I know Phil Evans, former D-League president, is working to put something together in Virginia, but not soon enough for next season.
Dan is also reading the blogs, and got the playoff idea from a comment on one of his blogs. That's all I got on that one.
Also, great to see Coleman Collins active in the community. The D-League's great.
As a side note, you know what else is great? Nick Nurse, on Twitter.
[Note by Ridiculous Scott, 03/11/09 8:12 PM CDT ]
UPDATE 2: And we've got another confirmation, posted tonight after I posted this. Coincidence, or is RidiculousUpside taking over the world? Probably coincidence!
[Note by Ridiculous Scott, 03/11/09 7:26 PM CDT ]
UPDATE: And a second mention, courtesy of Marc Stein, waaay back during the Showcase. No idea how I missed/wasn't alerted to this!
There's a definite feeling among some insiders that next season's rumored expansion to 18 teams (with new franchise in Portland, Maine, andSpringfield, Mass.) is going to dilute the talent pool further. The league's counter there is that expansion actually makes the D-League more credible in the quest to attract the world's best players not on NBA rosters.
D-League Massachusetts, coming soon to a city near you. Bet on it.
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I am a little confused with everything going on with the Dleague… They just expanded to Portland, Maine. There staff was talking all about the Boston Celtics how some of there staff worked for the celtics and how they are wanting to be affiliates. Even Gabe Pruitt and some other guys congratulated the new team on joining the dleague… If this new team in in Massachusetts why would boston not have them as there affiliates?
It would be cool if the NBDL expanded to Canada…
by Dee-Jay on Mar 11, 2009 7:59 PM EDT reply actions
Hmm
Hopefully we can get Mr. Jennings to post here and clear things up with this.
Boston would be closer to Springfield, location wise, but with Jon’s and the rest of the ownership affiliation to the Celtics, I guess I’m not sure.
If Springfield is the team, and I’m pretty sure it is, I don’t know why they’d want to be in MA without joining up with the Celtics.
Guess we’ll see..
Ridiculous? I think Not.
Upside? Plenty.
RidiculousUpside
by Scott Schroeder on Mar 11, 2009 8:12 PM EDT up reply actions
It makes sense, why not get a team in Springfield. Its a good two hour drive if im not mistaken from Springfield to Boston and would give me a local d-league team to pull for
A quick question
If there is a team there, where would they play?
No ones going to build an arena just for a d-league team, so would they play in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Now that would be cool, but where else could they play?
Whoa Whoa Whoa!
Don’t say no one is going to build an arena for a D-League team.
While it’s too late to build an arena now, I’m not sure what the plan would be, as I’m not familiar with Springfield. Would definitely be cool if they played in the Basketball Hall of Fame, though! Guess we’ll find out in the next couple of weeks..
Ridiculous? I think Not.
Upside? Plenty.
RidiculousUpside
by Scott Schroeder on Mar 11, 2009 8:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Update
According to this, they’d play at the MassMutual Center. Familiar?
Ridiculous? I think Not.
Upside? Plenty.
RidiculousUpside
by Scott Schroeder on Mar 11, 2009 9:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Springfield [great location]
First this website is awesome. I come here everyday and there’s always news. I can see why people enjoy following semi-pro sports. There’s always a story here.
If you read that article, the investors in this team seem to really want to grow their reputation as a basketball city. They will obviously never have an NBA franchise so this is the next best thing.
Plus there is something people need to understand about the East Coast. Cities like Springfield, Hartford, Providence, Binghamton, Scranton, Reading, Allentown, Rochester, Secaucus and Westchester are not far from any of these NBA teams. If the NBA put teams a few of these places they could be the affiliate of the Sixers, Nets or Knicks.
I honestly don’t think not having a Celtics affiliation will matter because they will still receive assignments and get 25 games of semi-pro basketball a year. Dan Reed said over a year ago that they gauge the viability of the market first, not specifically if they are a specific teams fans.
I live in LA, but I am not a Lakers fan. I would go to a D-Fenders game though if I could. It’s all about finding cities that enjoy minor league sports.
Thanks
It’s fun following the minor league’s (not exactly semi-pro, as they do play basketball as their only source of income), but the news isn’t quite as accessible as if I was following an NBA team.
The Celtics affiliation won’t matter to the D-League team, as the Dakota Wizards are affiliated with Memphis and Washington and still draw well. I’m wondering from the Celtics point of view. A team within it’s own state, however only 20 miles closer, would seem to be more beneficial.
I wonder if you could just get into a D-Fenders game without buying the Lakers ticket. While I’m pretty sure we don’t have anybody from the D-Fender’s check this blog, I bet there’s a way.
Ridiculous? I think Not.
Upside? Plenty.
RidiculousUpside
by Scott Schroeder on Mar 11, 2009 9:42 PM EDT up reply actions
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