London Lightning

London Lightning
2016–17 NBL Canada season
Division	Central Division
League	National Basketball League of Canada
Founded	2011
History	London Lightning 2011–present
Arena	Budweiser Gardens
Location	London, Ontario
Team colours	Yellow, black, white
Head coach	Kyle Julius
Ownership	Vito Frijia
Championships	2 (2011-12, 2012-13)
Website	LightningBasketball.ca

The London Lightning is a Canadian professional basketball team based in London, Ontario, Canada. The team was a charter member of the National Basketball League of Canada which began play with the 2011–12 season (of which they are the inaugural and two time champions). The Lightning plays its home games at the Budweiser Gardens.

History

Micheal Ray Richardson era

The Lightning name was announced on August 12, 2011. ^[1] On August 17, former Albany Patroons and Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry head coach Micheal Ray Richardson was announced as the Lightning's first head coach. ^[2] The Lightning would go on to win the 2012 NBL championship, defeating the Halifax Rainmen 116-92 on March 25, 2012 at the John Labatt Centre to take the best-of-five championship series three games to two.^[3]

Carlos Knox era

Carlos Knox was unveiled as the new Lightning head coach on July 17, 2014.^[4] He led the team to an 18–14 record.^[5] Knox was dismissed in August 2015 after hiding player Jonathan Mills' positive drug test results from Vito Frijia and the league. He was replaced by former Mississauga Power head coach Kyle Julius later in the month.^[6][7][8]

Home arenas

Budweiser Gardens (2011–present)

Originally opened in 2002, the Budweiser Gardens is a sports-entertainment centre, in London, Ontario, Canada. The arena has a capacity of 9,000. The Lightning shares the arena with London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.^[9]

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

London Lightning roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 44 Anderson, Ryan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 28 – 19 December 1987 F 11 Black, Taylor 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (100 kg) G 34 Capers, Marcus 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 26 – 21 December 1989 C 20 Evans, Nick 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (110 kg) 28 – 14 April 1988 F 14 Kibi, Eric 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 26 – 4 August 1990 F 21 Maxwell, Stephen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 23 – 29 April 1993 G 2 Okorie, Nick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 28 – 22 July 1988 G 22 Patterson, Tyshawn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 25 – 19 April 1991 G 10 Ward, Warren 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 27 – 16 November 1989 G 4 Weidner, Jordan  6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 187 lb (85 kg) G/F 15 Williamson, Garrett 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 28 – 15 June 1988 G/F 25 Wright, Akeem 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 32 – 1 November 1984	Head coach Kyle Julius Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster – Transactions Updated: March 26, 2016

Season-by-season record

Season	Coach	Regular Season				Post Season
		Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
2011–12	Micheal Ray Richardson	28	8	.778	1st	5	2	.714	League Champions
2012–13	Micheal Ray Richardson	33	7	.825	1st	6	2	.750	League Champions
2013–14	Micheal Ray Richardson	23	17	.575	4th	6	6	.500	Conference Semi-finals
2014–15	Carlos Knox	18	14	.563	3rd	2	3	.400	Conference Quarter-finals
2015–16	Kyle Julius	26	14	.650	1st	10	6	.500	League Runner-ups
Totals		128	60	.681	3 Regular Season Pennants	29	19	.604	2 League Championship

References

1. http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/08/12/18547261.html
2. http://www.lfpress.com/sports/basketball/2011/08/17/18565196.html
3. http://lightningbasketball.ca/view/londonlightning/home-page
4. "Coach Knox takes Lightning in new direction". londoncommunitynews.com. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
5. "2014-15 Standings". NBLCanada.com. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
6. "Lightning dismiss Knox". LightningBasketball.ca. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
7. "London Lightning coach Carlos Knox kept test secret". The London Free Press. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
8. "London Lightning set to name Kyle Julius head coach". The London Free Press. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
9. "Arena Info". BudweiserGardens.com. Retrieved February 18, 2014.

External links

• Official website