[markbarbera]

As reported on CHML.COM:

Hamilton to get expansion basketball team
Nov, 07 2007 - 12:00 PM



HAMILTON (AM900 CHML) - A news conference is being held at Copps Coliseum Thursday to announce a second major tenant for the arena.
Word is Hamilton will be granted an expansion team in the National Development Basketball League.

It's a feeder league for NBA teams.

The team will reportedly be run by HECFI and the Hamilton Bulldogs.

[matt602]

Better than nothing I guess... *twirls finger*

[SteelTown]

Well that's interesting that the Bulldogs will run this basketball team, it makes it more stable for Hamilton. The owner will have the Bulldogs over the winter and have the basketball team over the spring and summer.

[SteelTown]

Whoa hold up! This is for National Development Basketball League? That's even better then ABA that the Spec was talking about. National Development Basketball League is really good! It's a top notch franchise, it's part of the NBA.

http://www.nba.com/dleague/

[SteelTown]

I wonder who we'll be affiliated with? The Raptors? We'll be the only Canadian city to have a National Development Basketball League.

[the dude]

i don't know of any other canadian nba development league teams. we might be the first. it would make sense to have us be the feeder team for the raptors.

[the dude]

here's the standings for the league last season:

Eastern Conference
Eastern W L PCT GB Home Road L 10 Streak
Dakota 33 17 0.660 0.0 19-6 14-11 8-2 Won 3
Sioux Falls 30 20 0.600 3.0 17-8 13-12 6-4 Lost 1
Fort Worth 29 21 0.580 4.0 18-7 11-14 5-5 Won 1
Tulsa 21 29 0.420 12.0 12-13 9-16 4-6 Lost 1
Austin 21 29 0.420 12.0 11-14 10-15 3-7 Lost 4
Arkansas 16 34 0.320 17.0 11-14 5-20 5-5 Lost 1

Western Conference
Western W L PCT GB Home Road L 10 Streak
Idaho 33 17 0.660 0.0 16-9 17-8 6-4 Won 3
Colorado 28 22 0.560 5.0 16-9 12-13 2-8 Lost 3
Albuquerque 24 26 0.480 9.0 14-11 10-15 5-5 Won 3
Anaheim 23 27 0.460 10.0 11-14 12-13 5-5 Lost 1
Los Angeles 23 27 0.460 10.0 13-12 10-15 4-6 Lost 1
Bakersfield 19 31 0.380 14.0 12-13 7-18 6-4 Won 1

the closest competition is very far away. if my geography is correct, our nearest rival will be...arkansas? weird.

[SteelTown]

I wonder what the team's name will be. I hope it isn't Ontario whatever, instead be Hamilton whatever. It should be interesting tomorrow. We'll probably be with the Eastern Conference, look at the cities haha so far away from us and mostly from jesusland.

[the dude]

i would guess that eastward expansion is very high on their list. let's hope so 'cause i don't think idaho and tulsa will be good draws here in the hammer...and vice versa of course. buffalo might be a good market and a good rival, too.

[matt602]

I would assume it will be affiliated with a Northeastern American team.


... uh... oh... wait.

[flar]

Hopefully they can find a fan base here, I personally don't follow basketball at all.

[raisethehammer]

me too

[SteelTown]

What the hell, it's an ABA league instead.

Hamilton gets ABA franchise
Nov, 08 2007 - 10:00 AM

HAMILTON (AM900 CHML) - Pro basketball is returning to Hamilton.

The city has been awarded an ABA franchise and will start playing in November 2008.

Other American Basketball Association teams are based in Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco.

Owner Brian Luckman says the Hamilton team will be much more affordable than a Raptors game and he expects to bring in a high level of talent.

Former Raptors player Chris Childs is the team's general manager.

The club is now looking for a head coach and players.

The team's nickname will be determined in a two week contest in the Hamilton Spectator.

[SteelTown]

Pro basketball returns to Hamilton

November 08, 2007
The Hamilton Spectator

Professional basketball is coming back to Hamilton

Fifteen years after the SkyHawks became extinct, an American Basketball Association team will be setting up shop at Copps Coliseum, the franchise’s new owner confirmed yesterday.

“I’m smiling,” said Richmond Hill businessman Brian Luckman. “I can’t contain myself. I’m so excited to be here.”

Beginning next fall, the team that doesn’t yet have a name will be playing in the massive ABA that already has 45 teams stretching from Montreal to Mexico with another 20 or 25 expansion teams starting up next season.

Building the team’s roster will be former New York Knick and Toronto Raptor Chris Childs.

[the dude]

any idea on a name? i guess it should be something alliterative like hawks or hurricanes or horneytoads or something.

[matt602]

Go Hamilton Horneytoads!

[SteelTown]

Hopeful hoops for the city
Entrepreneur Brian Luckman promises a strong ABA team to play at Copps

http://www.thespec.com/images/assets/381670_3.JPG
BASKETBALL HERITAGE. Brian Luckman, owner of Hamilton's new minor-pro basketball team, announces his plans for the ABA for the city, with play beginning in 2008. The ABA's signature remains the red, white and blue basketball.

Scott Radley
The Hamilton Spectator
(Nov 9, 2007)

The owner of Hamilton's new minor-pro basketball team was certainly saying all the right things yesterday.

At the official announcement that the Hamilton Yet-To-Be-Named will start play at Copps Coliseum a year from now as part of the American Basketball Association, 38-year-old entrepreneur Brian Luckman said he was attracted to this city because of its basketball heritage. He promised an exciting product with a strong team, and he introduced former Toronto Raptor Chris Childs as general manager, giving the franchise some immediate legitimacy.

The most important thing he said was about tickets, specifically, how much they will cost. "A lot, lot lower than what the Raptors are charging," the lifetime New York Knicks fan from Richmond Hill laughed.

Though it may sound like an obvious position to take -- this isn't the NBA after all, but rather a 37-team league with members from Montreal to Mexico and as many as 25 more expansion teams set to begin play next fall -- there's reason to believe price alone may make or break this operation.

Two months ago when The Spectator first reported this was coming, the league's commissioner said the league's $120,000 US salary cap and financial structure make it possible for a team to break even with just over 1,000 fans in the arena at $20 a pop or so. Yesterday, Luckman said he expects far more than that, which is why he chose to sign a three-year lease deal with Copps for the 18 home games a season rather than looking to a smaller facility like McMaster's gym. "We are going strictly over the top," he said.

If he does it right, he has a chance to win people over and, if everything goes perfectly, perhaps even match the 3,500 the Skyhawks used to attract when Hamilton last had a pro hoops team 15 years ago. It won't be easy. This is a circuit that's a step below the NBA Developmental League -- in hockey terms it'd be equivalent to the East Coast League -- and won't be filled with recognizable names.

Which is why it'd almost certainly be disastrous if he tries to squeeze a few extra dollars out of the fans early to make a little more money on the investment. Just look at the Toronto Marlies. Despite playing in a city with a rich heritage in their sport, they overpriced their tickets at the outset and despite lowering them in recent years, have never recovered.

Truth is, there are probably more than a few folks who think this team won't work under any circumstance, good price or not. Hamilton has a spotty history when it comes to supporting minor-league teams. And now that local basketball fans have seen the Toronto Raptors develop into a winner, there's going to be some comparisons. No matter what anyone says to the contrary, that may hurt.

Luckman isn't deterred. He believes he has a plan -- he didn't offer many details yesterday but promised it was in place -- to create a game-day atmosphere that'll keep people entertained and coming back for more. The biggest part of that, he says, is the understanding that this is not going to be a glorified beer-league squad.

"You will see on our team (top U.S. college) calibre players," Luckman says. "You will see a high level of play."

Childs goes further. After building a reputation during a 10-year career with the Knicks, Raptors, and New Jersey Nets, he says he wouldn't attach his name to something he didn't believe could be top-notch. The team he builds will be up-tempo and successful, he says. That means he'll be bringing in players who like to run. It also means that at 39 -- 40 in a few days -- he won't be among them.

"I don't anticipate that happening," he laughs.

But back to the tickets. The other teams in the division Hamilton will soon call home peddle seats to kids at an average of about $9 and sell adult tickets at an average of $15 to $29. At those prices, a decent team should be able to draw the required numbers to keep the franchise going.

If it takes off, there's already talk Luckman may buy the rights to start teams in Kitchener, Niagara and other nearby outposts, creating a hotbed of basketball for those who can't afford, or can't get tickets for, the big club down the QEW.

But that's the cart. This is the horse.

And nobody yet knows for sure that this nag's gonna like minor-league hoops.


Contest to name the team

* The team name will be chosen through a name-the-team contest in The Spectator and on thespec.com starting in a couple of weeks.

* One of the eye-catching differences between the ABA and NBA is the Super Foul Rule. If a team commits its 10th foul, the offended player can take two traditional free throws or choose a teammate to try one three-point shot.

* Childs played 541 NBA games, yet hilariously, the first thing listed under Career Highlights on his resume distributed yesterday was his inclusion on the 1998-99 NBA All-Interview Second Team.

* Hamilton appears set to play in a division with the Vermont Frost Heaves, Halifax Rainmen, Montreal Royal and Quebec Kebekwa.

* For those who remember the 1970s version of the league, the ABA's signature remains the red, white and blue basketball.

[SteelTown]

Reader Rewards: Name the Team Contest

Enter to win a pair of Premium COURTSIDE season’s tickets to Hamilton’s professional basketball team!

There is a new team in town and it’s looking for a name. Hamilton’s American Basketball Association professional basketball team will launch its season in November 2008, and here’s your chance to be a part of the action.

Starting Monday, November 12 and continuing to November 22, make your pick for the team name from the four choices…or add your own. Think energy, think excitement, think culture, think basketball.

The new ABA professional basketball should be named: *

Hamilton Hustle
Hamilton Vibe
Hamilton Rockstars
Hamilton Ballers :uhh:
Other, please specify

Naming contest --> http://www.metrolandwest.com/survey/TakeSurvey.aspx?PageNumber=1&SurveyID=82L06o2

[matt602]

I like Hustle, thats a good one.

[DC83]

hahaha I like Ballers, actually. Sorry Steeltown! ahahaha
But I think I'm gonna actually think about it and submit a name I came up with instead... now if only I were creative... hahaha

[raisethehammer]

oh yea! Ballers it is! sweet. i hate goofy stuff like the Vibe or Rockstars....ballers is very cool.

[DC83]

hahaha Or we could call them the "Hamilton Basketball Team" a-la "Toronto Football Club"! hahaha

[SteelTown]

Yay! Hamilton BALLERS! gawd

[the dude]

ya, ballers is pretty cool, though i prefer hoopsters. the hamilton hoopsters. rolls off the tongue.

[DC83]

How about Hamilton Knickerbockers?

[SteelTown]

The city of Hamilton is no longer listed on the ABA's list of 2008-09 teams.

[SteelTown]

With ABA out, HECFI hinting something will be announced in the fall, $1.6 million renovation coming to Copps and Basketball season starting in the fall maybe just maybe Hamilton will get a D-League?

[DC83]

^^ How about a couple pre-season Raps games or even a regular season one? I know I'D go!

EDIT: I 4got who owns the Raptors :( Nvmd...