The London Lightning might have been missing a lot of pieces from last year?s championship team but they didn?t miss a beat.
The Lightning opened defence of their National Basketball League of Canada title with a 107-89 win over the Halifax Rainmen.
?It was good,? said returning player DeAnthony Bowden. ?It was nice seeing some nice faces out there and it well for the first game. We need to play better defence but it was good out there.
Bowden led the Lighting with 19 points followed by Morgan Lewis with 16, Tim Ellis with 15 and De?Andre Thomas with 13.
Darren Duncan had 18 for the Rainmen.
The Lightning handed out championship rings before the game, including one to Eddie Smith who is now a member of the Rainmen. They raised their championship banner and got quite a welcome back from the 3,456 in attendance.
It is beginning to feel like this team has been established for years and if they can continue to keep winning, the crowds will continue to grow.
There were nerves as expected for the Lightning. The crowd was curious and anticipating not knowing exactly what to expect.
?It was emotional getting the rings and raising a banner. It took us a while to get going,? Bowden said.
The Lightning took almost four and a half minutes to score their first points. They a slam by DeAnthony Bowden and a quick second one by Morgan Lewis settled them away and the Lightning looked like the Lightning of old.
?We were good but we can get better,? said coach Micheal Ray Richardson. ?We have to rebound a little better but we good.?
It might not have been Gabe Freeman doing the damage but the new guys were able to do plenty of damage on their own.
It was only the first game of the season but returnees Ellis, Bowden and Rod Buford remain key players on this team. And once the parts that have come to London to replace those that have left started to purr along, the machine looked in midseason form.
The Lightning wanted to get younger and quicker this year and early impressions are that?s exactly what they did.
?Look, I?m not worried about Morgan or Mims. They know how to play,? Richardson said. ?We?ll see how the younger players do. That?s what I want to see.?
It?s going to take some time for everyone to really get to know each other but they made a good start against a Rainmen team that lost its opener to expansion Windsor and did a lot of remodeling in the off-season.
The two players who made an immediate impression offensively were Lewis and point-guard Adrian Moss.
Lewis can do it all at both ends of the floor. Moss is going to take a great deal of pressure if Bowden so Bowden will be fresher later in the season.
Moss plays much bigger than five foot, nine inches. He goes inside and manages to find the open man and he?s like a hairshirt on whoever he?s guarding.
While other newcomers like Elvin Mims and Jeremy Williams didn?t have a great night offensively they are a big upgrade offensively.
Mims, a veteran pro player, is a shot-blocker and rebounder and has the knack for being around the ball. He?s recently come off knee surgery but when he?s completely healthy, he?s going to do a great deal for this team.
The longer Mims played in the game, the better his shooting eye.
The Lightning?s next game at home is Thursday against the Oshawa Power.
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Source: http://www.lfpress.com/2012/11/03/london-lightning-win-107-89-win-over-the-halifax-rainmen-in-opener
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