Sudbury Five target late-December return to action
![Braylon Rayson of the Sudbury Five handles the ball while Mo Bolden of the London Lightning defends during first-half National Basketball League of Canada action at Sudbury Community Arena in Sudbury, Ontario on Sunday, March 24, 2019.](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/nexus/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Five4.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&h=216&sig=y3gIgaY0DFW6sObFzWagCA)
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If all goes according to plan, the Sudbury Five will tip off their third season in the National Basketball League of Canada right on time.
In a brief release issued on Tuesday, the NBLC announced it was targeting a return to play in late December, much as it did in 2019-20.
The league had to suspend play in mid-March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually cancelled the rest of the season.
“The National Basketball League of Canada is excited to return for its 10th season and proud to contribute to the rebuild of our communities through the game of basketball,” Audley Stephenson, deputy commissioner of the NBLC, said in a release. “We will continue to follow the direction of government and public health agencies to ensure the safety of our fans, players, teams and league personnel associated with our game.”
Further details are to be announced at a later date.
Bob Johnston, vice-president of basketball operations for the Five, had eagerly anticipated Tuesday’s announcement.
“We’re excited to start a new season,” Johnston told The Sudbury Star. “There has been so much uncertainty with the pandemic, but we anticipate, with our numbers dropping and the way we seem to be recovering, as the economy opens up, we’re hoping to meet that targeted date of late December, and quite frankly, it actually lines up pretty similarly to when we started last year.”
One of the league’s higher-drawing clubs, with an average of 2,387 fans attending home games this past season, the Five were hit hard when play was suspended on March 12, just as they were about to embark on a seven-game homestand.
It’s no surprise, then, that off-season priorities for Johnston and his staff have included a close look at the team’s business model.
“We have been doing a lot of sensitivity analysis, a lot of crystal ball-type work,” Johnston said. “The one thing that you absolutely need, and most leagues in North America need, is fans in the building. It’s not sustainable without fans in the building. We’re hoping that social-distancing measures and protocols that have been put in place by the health unit, come late fall or early winter, will allow for fans to return to the arena and see the product on the court. That will make us financially viable and it should be almost business as usual. It might be a little bit of an abbreviated schedule and some leagues are looking at that now, but other than that, we’re planning on moving ahead based on a similar league to last year.”
As the summer progresses, Johnston and Logan Stutz, Sudbury’s head coach and general manager, will begin to discuss potential players for the 2020-21 squad, including many who helped the Five post a record of 12-10, good for second in the NBLC Central Division, during their COVID-shortened campaign.
“We haven’t really got that far, because we only finalized our league resolution in the last week, and Logan is back home in Kansas City right now, because he was able to get permission to go home and visit family for a couple of weeks,” Johnston said. “When he gets back, we’ll look at player personnel and some of the options. Obviously, we liked the squad we had this year, so if some of the players we had return, that will be great and it will give us an identity, and I know Logan is in touch with a lot of those players on a continual basis.
“I would think it’s going to be tough on all the athletes, not knowing what’s going to transpire and what leagues are going to open up, it probably makes difficult for them to plan, as well, but I think our approach will be let’s keep in touch with our players, let’s see if there’s some interest there, and if contracts work out and the league opens up as anticipated, then it’s probably sit and wait and see what other leagues open up and how that impacts some of the players we’d like to recruit.”
Many unknowns remain, but after so many weeks of relative uncertainty, Johnston and his colleagues are glad to have a clear goal.
“We’re excited to be able to say the league is alive and well. We’re anxious to be able to pick up where we left off and start with a great 2020-21 season. We hope our fans and the public will be safe and healthy until we get started next year.”
Twitter: @ben_leeson
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