Lightning warning: It's here
The Los Angeles Lightning of the International Basketball League plays the first game in franchise history Friday night at the 1,500-seat Gilbert Sports Arena on the Cal State Lutheran campus in Thousand Oaks, the first of 12 straight home games to start the 2008 season.
The Lightning, coached by Ron Quarterman, face the Battle Creek (Mich.) Knights on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Future home opponents for the next six weekends include Gary (Ind.) Steelheads, Las Vegas Stars, Holland (Mich.) Blast, China Shanxi Kylins and Windy City Soldiers.
The team, which has an 18-game schedule through June, signed former Clippers first-round draft pick Lamond Murray, who recently played in China and last year was with the IBL’s Santa Barbara franchise.
Among some of the players who've made the opening-day roster:
==Fred Vinson, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard out of Georgia Tech who spent some of his NBA career on the Clippers' roster.
==Lorenzo Davis, a 6-10, 220-pounder out of Fort Valley St. and the Bakersfield NBA-D-League
==Johnny Hardwick, a 6-11, 225-pounder out of Eastern Kentucky with IBL and ABA experience
==Thomas Shewmake, a 6-10, 255-pounder out of Cal State Northridge who played in Germany
==Harry Lum, a 6-3, 200-pounder out of Florida International
==Wayne Oliver, a 6-7, 230-pounder out of Cameron University and the ABA
==Greg Minor, a 6-3, 207-pounder from CSUN, the CBA and the ABA
==Cody Pearson, a 6-4, 200-pounder out of Long Beach State and the ABA
==David Reichel, a 6-8, 220-pounder from Cal State San Bernardino
==Derek Gregory, a 6-7, 215-pounder from Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the CBA
==Phil Givens, a 6-2, 195-pounder from Cal State Dominguez Hills and the ABA
==Ryan Abrahams, a 6-3, 190-pounder from Hawaii Hilo
==Kevin Lewis, a 6-6, 220-pounder from Wyoming
==Ryosuke Nozawa, a 5-10, 170-pounder from Hawaii Hilo
The IBL emphasizes a fast-pace system with a college 3-point line (19 feet, 9 inches), a 22-second shot clock, immediate in-bound passes and just one timeout per 12-minute quarter.
More info: www.lalightning.net.
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