Around the Perimeter: Lightning nab win despite missing mark

A Family Day win was nice, but Coach Plumb says the Lightning have a lot to work on. Next up is rival Windsor on Saturday. Columnist Jason Winders has all your Lightning news, notes and analysis.

(Photo: Dan Congdon).

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STARTING FIVE

1. That was a heck of a way to start the season. Full house (2,282). Down to the wire. Can we just take a moment and think about how cool it is to have hoops back after two years? OK, I promise to quit saying that in every story from now on, but it really is great to be talking FG% instead of COVID-19 case counts.

2. The marquee outside The Aud really did read ‘London Lightning,’ but it might as well have been The Commodores performing inside because the boys were building a Brick House. Let’s just say the shooting can improve – and it will with the talent on this team. Chalk most of this up to conditioning, but they were not ‘mighty, mighty.’ The Bolts ran out of gas in the second half, shooting 36.8% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc (including a brutal 0-6 in the fourth quarter). There were bright spots: Guards Jaylon Tate and Chris Jones were a combined 8-13 from three. But yes, that means the rest of the team was 1-18 from the same distance …

3. It wasn’t the return that forward Mareik Isom wanted – 1-10 from the floor, 0-7 from 3 (although 8-for-8 shooting from the line got him into double digits. In 2019-20, Isom averaged 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds in 20 injury-nagged games while still shooting 54% from the field (sixth best in the league). Don’t expect to see many stat lines like that from him this year. Guy is a gamer.

4. Coach Doug Plumb wasn’t happy with the shooting after the game, but he kept noting how much he liked the ‘toughness’ he saw on the floor. More than a coaching cliché, the Lightning did not back down all night, even when finding themselves down 11 early in the game. Take a look at the rebounding, for example, where the Bolts had a 55-43 edge, including 38 defensive boards. Forward Cameron Forte led the team with 17 rebounds on the way to a double-double (26 points). He had two more rebounds than the other four starters combined. Wing Terry Thomas and centre Amir Williams added 9 and 7 rebounds, respectively, off the bench.

5. The NBLC TV live stream of the Lightning-Titans opener was not quite ready for its closeup, never even starting up. (The Sudbury-Windsor feed worked beautifully.) At one point, I saw 1,200 viewers logged in for the Lightning. That’s cool – hopefully they give the feed another chance. League officials said they are working on the technical issues regarding the broadcast. Hope it works – “Hope not necessary,” as Audley Stephenson tweeted Tuesday. “It'll be up and running and ready to go.”

(Photo: Dan Congdon).

LIGHTNING NOTES

On Wednesday, the Lightning released Scott Plaisance. The 6-foot-9-inch American is a former Louisiana state High School Player of the Year and alumni of the University of New Orleans. This was his first season with the Lightning. Plaisance played sparingly in the season opener, going 0-for-2 from the floor in just 2 minutes of playing time. … After basking in the beautiful alliteration of the announcer saying “Terry Thomas for two” four times during the game, the team is really missing an opportunity to appeal to English nerds like myself by letting Thomas wear #22. (He wears #13.)

UP NEXT

Saturday (Feb. 26, 7:00pm) vs. Windsor Express (0-1)

The Lightning hit the road Saturday for their second game of the season — against rival Windsor at the WFCU Centre. The Express opened their season with a 113-108 road loss to Sudbury on Family Day. Windsor guard Lance Tejada nearly triple-doubled in the loss, amassing 29 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists. Billy White posted a double-double (26 points, 11 rebounds), while Marcus Lewis had 13 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.

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BEYOND MY BYLINE

Mirin Fader is one of the most irritating reporters working today – everything she writes is gold. Come on, one bad story, Mirin, so the rest of us can catch up. Her latest: The Many Dimensions of DeMar DeRozan. After enduring the darkest stretch of his life, the Bulls star has finally found joy in Chicago. DeRozan opens up about dealing with his grief, finding new success amid a record-breaking season, and discovering that life is about more than just surviving. “It’s about living.”