Around the Perimeter: Lightning strike first, but adjustments needed

The Lightning will take a 1-0 series lead into Sunday’s Game 2 against the K-W Titans in the NBLC Finals. But it was far from an easy win Friday, and they’ll need to make adjustments as the series continues.

Chris Jones, who’s been coming off the Lightning bench since re-joining the team, went off for 39 points in Friday’s Game 1 win against K-W. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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STARTING FIVE

1. Emotional rescue. London Lightning head coach Doug Plumb knows it’s not his halftime speeches that are putting the team over the top in the second half recently, but he really doesn’t care. He’ll take the results either way. In Game 1 of the NBL Canada Finals, London defeated the KW Titans 116-91 Friday night at Budweiser Gardens. London leads the best-of-five series 1-0 heading into Sunday’s Game 2.

Despite the final score, however, it was not a smooth ride wire-to-wire.

“We were so emotionally volatile in the first half, we were beating ourselves,” Plumb explained. “We got away from the gameplan. I have said this all year to the guys. We have a lot of talent, but we have a lot of egos in the room, and it can go one way or another. You can either band together and beat people down in waves, or you can beat yourselves. In the first half, we beat ourselves. It was terrible.”

London trailed 56-53 at the half, but it looked much worse. Take turnovers, for example. The Lightning had 8 first-half turnovers that resulted in 14 Titans points and a 3-point lead for the visitors at the half. That was just one indication of overall sloppy play early on.

“All that energy we were spending on emotional stuff on the bench and in the locker room, we sorted it out in the locker room at the half. Sometimes when you’re a family, you have to hash it out. They got on each other; they yelled; they sorted it out.”

The second half was a much different story as London outscored the Titans 66-35 – with their lead expanding to as many as 25 points in the fourth. Despite the blowout on the scoreboard, Plumb sees a lot of room for improvement for Game 2.

“We need to have more of a killer instinct, need to be more emotionally resilient, and need to get it done at home.”

2. Long story short. The shorthanded KW Titans ran out of gas (and bodies) in the second half.

The Titans were missing all-star forward Eric Ferguson, who averaged 19.4 points in 32.9 minutes per game in the regular and postseason; all-star point guard Chad Frazier (16.0 points/28 minutes per game); NBL Canada Rookie of the Year Shakwon Barrett (4.5 points/22.6 minutes per game); and Ron Artest III (5.8 points/16.0 minutes per game).

“It’s always tough when you don’t have our guys out there. We play 1-12. We really are one big group. No matter who is out, it affects us,” Titans head coach Neil Foreman said.

The Titans shooting completely fell apart as the game wore on, as the team posted 52.2% from the floor in the first quarter, followed by 52.4% in second, 40% in third, and a painful 19% in the fourth. They scored 31 points in the first quarter, followed by 25 in the second, 18 in the third, and 17 in the fourth. Contrast that with the Lightning, who scored 31, 22, 30, and 33.

“The games become a war of attrition,” Plumb said. “We have more bodies; we have more depth; we have more versatility on the wings. That shined through tonight.”

The injury forecast for Game 2 remains, at best, cloudy, as Foreman made no promises on any of his four injured contributors returning Sunday.

“The gameplan stays the same,” Foreman stressed. “Come all four quarters, we have got to play our style of game. Whatever that means, we have got to continue, continue, continue. You’re going to miss shots; you’re going to make shots. That’s how the game is played. But we have to stay the course no matter who is out there. When they go on runs, we have got to go on runs of our own. There’s nothing magical we have to do.”

Don’t look for the depleted Titans lineup to give Plumb any solace, however.

“We have got to be much, much better. When you play a team like that, a wounded animal, they don’t have anything to lose in that moment. Sometimes it’s harder to play a team like that,” he said. “These guys are all pro basketball players – everyone is good – and when you get the ropes taken off you a bit, and you get set loose, well, confidence is a hell of a drug. You get a player who isn’t used to that confidence, and you don’t know them as well because they aren’t a primary player, they become an X-factor. They are doing things you don’t scout.”

The Lightning did a good job in Game 1 of holding league MVP Joel Kindred in check. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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3. Wishes he was someone just a little more funky. Lightning point guard Chris Jones showed you exactly why he has gotten second (and third and, occasionally, fourth) chances from every coach from whom he has played. The infinitely talented Jones can take over a game more directly than any Bolt – and that’s saying a lot when you look up and down this stacked roster. On Friday night, Jones carried the team on his back during late first-half and early second-half lulls. He led all scorers with 39 points, then threw in 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. He scored 24 points in the final 24 minutes (10 in the third, 14 in the fourth).

“We came here to do one thing, one thing only – and that’s to win a championship,” Jones said. “For me, yeah, it was probably my best game scoring, but I came here to learn to be humbler, to be a better man, a better person. For me, this might have been my best game, but overall I think I became a better person. That’s the biggest thing for me. My game is going to speak for itself.”

Obviously, Jones was a key factor in London dominating bench points (59-16). But his constant penetration helped London lead in the paint (62-40) as well. It wasn’t the bigs who carried the team down low, but guards going to the hoop. The six-foot Jones got plenty of buckets among the trees.

For Jones, this was his top scoring performance of the year, and only the second time he topped 30 points the season. (He had 30 against the Sudbury Five on March 17.)

“We have got 12 guys who can play. Anyone on our bench can be a starter for any team in this league. I don’t have to do this every night,” Jones said. “But if need be, this is my time to step up. I am a veteran. I am supposed to come up big for my guys.”

Since returning from his regular season suspension, Jones has been a force in the playoffs, averaging 21 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.

“Ever since I was a kid, I have always been one of the top guys, regardless of where you put me. Sometimes you have to buy into a group of guys who are at the same level as you, have the same talent. For me, it was a buy-in factor. You have seen me average 24 points in this league. I could have been doing that all season, but when you have guys like Cam Forte and Amir Williams and so many others, you do what the team needs you to do. As long as I keep my teammates happy, as a point guard, I win.”

When welcoming the 30-year-old guard back to the team, Plumb was clear with him about his role on the team. Jones has settled into – and thrived within – the bench role thus far.

“Coming off the bench is nothing. I am bought in,” Jones said. “I didn’t want to come in and mess anything up. I am just going to come in and do what I do. You know what I bring. As long as we win, I don’t have a problem with it. They need me to go for 40, go for 30, go for 25, I’ll do it for them. But if they don’t need me to do it every night, I will just do what they need me to do.”

4. Head-to-head MVP matchup. London Lightning home fans summoned up some “MVP, MVP” chats when Bolts forward Cameron Forte touched the ball during his 14 minutes of court time. In the battle of MVP finalists, MVP runner-up Forte got the best on KW Titans guard and MVP Joel Kindred in their first meeting since the regular season award-winners were named. Forte dropped a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Kindred posted 22 points on a subpar 8-20 (40%) shooting night, including 3-11 in the second half.

“You can’t stop a player like Joel. You can only hope to contain him and make his life difficult,” Lightning head coach Doug Plumb said. “Your goal with a guy like him is to throw multiple bodies at him – keep him guessing and not let him find his rhythm. We were able to do that tonight.”

5. Time to show up. OK, London, it’s time to show up. Sunday is most likely going to the Lightning’s last home game of the season. This team is too talented not to return home from KW with a championship next week. So, let’s get some butts in the seats. Post-pandemic crowds have been mixed all year, but Friday night’s showing for a Finals game was pathetic. After the last two years, let’s celebrate what it took for these players and coaches, this organization, and this league to survive and thrive.

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LIGHTNING NOTES

The London Lightning remain undefeated at home this season – 12-0 in the regular season and now 3-0 in the playoffs. … Centre Amir Williams will be ready to go for Game 2 after a shoulder injury sidelined him for most of the third quarter in Game 1. … Forward Jordan Jensen-Whyte struggled in his first game back from injury, posting only 2 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in a starting role. Perhaps that is to be expected, as Jensen-Whyte not only missed the round one matchup against the Windsor Express but has only played two games since April 14.

2022 NBLC Finals: London Lightning (1) vs. KW Titans (3) (London leads series 1-0):

Game 1 | Lightning 116 vs. KW Titans 91
Game 2 | KW Titans at London Lightning | 2 p.m. Sunday, May 29
Game 3 | London Lightning at KW Titans | 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 1
Game 4* | London Lightning at KW Titans | 7 p.m. Friday, June 3
Game 5* | KW Titans at London Lightning | 7 p.m. Monday, June 6
* If necessary

BEYOND MY BYLINE

OK, so Rocky III remains my fave film in my fave film series. (Although there are days Rocky IV is exactly what we all need.) It is the perfect 1980s film, full of all the troubling issues and awesomeness of that decade. It also gave us Mr. T, Hulk Hogan, and elevated Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger to every workout playlist ever since. Somehow, it was 40 years ago that I first saw this in the theatre as a kid, and I look forward to revisiting it this weekend. Check out In the American Machine We Trust: Rocky III and Sylvester Stallone’s Body by Dom Sinacola of Paste before sitting down to your own viewing this weekend.

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