There are moments in time that stick with you.
They will pop up when things go quiet. Late at night. While you are vacuuming or cutting the lawn.
If you are lucky, they are good memories.
More often than not, those moments are missed opportunities.
For London Lightning head coach, Kyle Julius, the past year has been filled with thoughts of one day and one three hour period that took place on June 13, 2016. That was the date of Game 7 of last year’s NBL Canada Championship series.
“The only two times I haven’t thought about Halifax from last year’s series were the two days that I took off since that Game 7,” said Julius.
The Lightning and the Hurricanes had slugged it out through the first six games of the series. In Game 7, Halifax led by 11 at the half. London surged in the third and wound up ahead by three points going into the fourth quarter, but the Hurricanes made shots and won the game 125-117.
As hard as that time was for the Lightning, it really did impact this year. And not just through painful memories.
“For me it wasn’t about losing Game 7,” Julius points out. “I think it had a lot to do with some of the decisions we made on personnel throughout the course of the year. As a result, you say if we would have had a little more of this and a little bit less of that, we would have been a lot better.”
That allowed Julius and Lightning owner and president, Vito Frijia, to sit down and shape the 2016-17 edition of their team. The changes they made created 35 regular season victories, which broke a record, and a 7-0 run in the playoffs all the way to the finals rematch with the Hurricanes.
By the numbers, this season has appeared more breezy than stormy for London. Add up their overall record and you get 42-5. Still, Julius suggests that it hasn’t been all fast-break lay-ups.
“You might not see it in our record, but we have won a lot of close games,” Julius admitted. “We’ve had our share of off-court issues. Guys on the team have had family members become ill, family members have passed this year. We have experienced a full season, the full scope of a season and that togetherness. We’ve seen some serious adversity this year and we just kept winning and grinding through it. It’s been special.”
The other element that the Lightning have on their side is the fact that they are playing some of their best basketball right now. Julius says that 13 of the 16 quarters against the Windsor express in the second round were well-played quarters by the Lightning.
Still, Halifax plans to be a challenge.
Unlike last year, they are not the top team in the league and they have been through some considerable changes. There are three returning players from last year’s championship squad and the Hurricanes changed coaches as well.
That’s where Julius admits you can’t rely on those memories of last season.
“They are very different. They shoot the ball from three less. They go inside a bit more and culturally you just can see the different styles in coaching.”
The 2-3-2 series format will open in London with games tonight (Friday, May 26) and tomorrow (Saturday, May 27) and then move to Halifax next week for Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 on Thursday.
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