NBA G-League Still Needs to Expand

[Discrim]

On 1/24/2017 at 2:46 PM, AstroBull21 said:

- Milwaukee = anywhere in Wisconsin other than Madison

As it so happens, the Bucks are considering various non-Madison places to put a D-League team in.  Rumor has it that the current front runner is Oshkosh, with Sheboygan a close second.  The other candidates are is Appleton, La Crosse, and my own hometown of Racine. (EDIT: man am I late to the party...apparently the Appleton and Lax groups threw in the towel months ago)  I figure a team would succeed in La Crosse, given that I recall the old Catbirds were pretty popular there back in the CBA days, but being on the other side of the state would probably be an issue; I also figure Racine would support a team well, but for an even larger sticking point than Lax's distance: no real arena.  If you've ever visited, you may have thought this would be the perfect place to put a minor league team of some sort, but all we have are a couple semipro football teams.  (edit: and the Storm...forgot about those guys)

"But wait Discrim!  Didn't you guys have a team in that women's baseball league?"  Yes, and the stadium's exterior still stands...but there's a reason A League of Their Own didn't shoot any scenes there: the interior's radically different now...instead of one field that switches between football and baseball, there's a permanent football field, mainly used by our Raiders and some of our high school teams...and a permanent diamond next to it (separated by football stands), used by the high schools and in Legion and amateur ball IIRC.

[The_Admiral]

17 minutes ago, Discrimihater said:

I also figure Racine would support a team well, but for an even larger sticking point than Lax's distance: no real arena.

 

Do what the old Bakersfield Jam did: convert a warehouse or slap one up and have it be like a 500-seat facility with pseudo-luxury amenities and the basketball incidental to the event experience. You have Marquette and UWM for less-than-pro basketball, so you need a niche. Just have like an all-you-can-eat buffet with a basketball game going on, and it could just be like college dining hall food but you get as much of it as you want and you can just hang out eating barbecue chicken thighs and ice cream all night long while you half-watch basketball. Think of twinning it with a Friday Fish Fry, this is gonna be awesome.

[hettinger_rl]

9 hours ago, the admiral said:

 

Do what the old Bakersfield Jam did: convert a warehouse or slap one up and have it be like a 500-seat facility with pseudo-luxury amenities and the basketball incidental to the event experience. You have Marquette and UWM for less-than-pro basketball, so you need a niche. Just have like an all-you-can-eat buffet with a basketball game going on, and it could just be like college dining hall food but you get as much of it as you want and you can just hang out eating barbecue chicken thighs and ice cream all night long while you half-watch basketball. Think of twinning it with a Friday Fish Fry, this is gonna be awesome.

"The Wisconsin Walleye"

[Seadragon76]

So the Minnesota to Iowa pipeline continues (The NHL's Wild has their affiliate in Des Moines as well). I wonder if the colors are going to change to mimic more of what the T-Wolves have.

[TBGKon]

6 minutes ago, Seadragon76 said:

So the Minnesota to Iowa pipeline continues (The NHL's Wild has their affiliate in Des Moines as well). I wonder if the colors are going to change to mimic more of what the T-Wolves have.

I would assume so as the Energy logo looks very Memphis focused:

 

[Yac12]

On 1/26/2017 at 3:03 AM, Discrimihater said:

As it so happens, the Bucks are considering various non-Madison places to put a D-League team in.  Rumor has it that the current front runner is Oshkosh, with Sheboygan a close second.  The other candidates are is Appleton, La Crosse, and my own hometown of Racine. (EDIT: man am I late to the party...apparently the Appleton and Lax groups threw in the towel months ago)  I figure a team would succeed in La Crosse, given that I recall the old Catbirds were pretty popular there back in the CBA days, but being on the other side of the state would probably be an issue; I also figure Racine would support a team well, but for an even larger sticking point than Lax's distance: no real arena.  If you've ever visited, you may have thought this would be the perfect place to put a minor league team of some sort, but all we have are a couple semipro football teams.  (edit: and the Storm...forgot about those guys)

"But wait Discrim!  Didn't you guys have a team in that women's baseball league?"  Yes, and the stadium's exterior still stands...but there's a reason A League of Their Own didn't shoot any scenes there: the interior's radically different now...instead of one field that switches between football and baseball, there's a permanent football field, mainly used by our Raiders and some of our high school teams...and a permanent diamond next to it (separated by football stands), used by the high schools and in Legion and amateur ball IIRC.

Being from Racine and now living in Kenosha, I would love for Racine to have a D-League team.  Just not sure where Racine would put an arena.  Some place downtown by the Festival Grounds site would be most likely ideal.  But I can see something closer to the West side of town so teams don't have to drive all the way into the city to get to the arena.  
I agree with your thinking that La Crosse would have been near perfect.  I was going to college up there when the Catbirds won a few CBA Titles and the La Crosse Center was almost always full.  Maybe that would be more ideal for the Timberwolves, but they are now heading to Iowa.  

[Bmac]

On 11/5/2015 at 0:09 PM, Seadragon76 said:

There's also talk that Omaha could land a D-League team. I'd assume that since the target is smaller arenas, then the newly built Baxter Arena (Which is what Nebraska-Omaha uses now) would be perfect.

Here's an article about this.

Green wanted to put a Brooklyn Nets affiliate in Ralston Arena last year. Obviously the Nets have since gotten a team, and Ralston Arena has basically fallen apart financially. Minnesota and Denver were his second choices, but obviously Minnesota is now out. Baxter Arena is probably a no-go because UN Omaha wants to have all their games uninterrupted and are only scheduling concerts outside of school events. The only chance of the D-League coming to Omaha is if Denver puts a team in Ralston Arena.

[panthers_2012]

I didn't see it posted by the Los Angeles D-fenders are becoming the South Bay Lakers next season.

http://losangeles.dleague.nba.com/news/south-bay-lakers/ 

[dfwabel]

32 minutes ago, Bmac said:

Green wanted to put a Brooklyn Nets affiliate in Ralston Arena last year. Obviously the Nets have since gotten a team, and Ralston Arena has basically fallen apart financially. Minnesota and Denver were his second choices, but obviously Minnesota is now out. Baxter Arena is probably a no-go because UN Omaha wants to have all their games uninterrupted and are only scheduling concerts outside of school events. The only chance of the D-League coming to Omaha is if Denver puts a team in Ralston Arena.

Omaha is too tough a market since on the weekend, they're battling one or two of the following: Creighton basketball, UNO basketball, UNO hockey, or a traveling event at CenturyLink Center

[hettinger_rl]

1 hour ago, AstroBull21 said:

I would assume so as the Energy logo looks very Memphis focused:

 

I hope they create their own identity to use. My vote is for the team name to be Muskies or Water Wolves to harken back to the ABA team.

 

[panthers_2012]

8 minutes ago, hettinger_rl said:

I hope they create their own identity to use. My vote is for the team name to be Muskies or Water Wolves to harken back to the ABA team.

 

Yes!! I vote muskies. 

[LMU]

3 hours ago, panthers_2012 said:

I didn't see it posted by the Los Angeles D-fenders are becoming the South Bay Lakers next season.

http://losangeles.dleague.nba.com/news/south-bay-lakers/ 

They're rebranding to coincide with moving to the new Lakers training facility.

 

As a South Bay resident I'm all for it.

[panthers_2012]

2 hours ago, LMU said:

They're rebranding to coincide with moving to the new Lakers training facility.

 

As a South Bay resident I'm all for it.

I agree too with the move. It's not really a "new" team, but I thought people would like to know. 

[bosrs1]

46 minutes ago, panthers_2012 said:

I agree too with the move. It's not really a "new" team, but I thought people would like to know. 

 

At least one of the worst names in pro sports is dying with the cross town move.

[LMU]

2 hours ago, bosrs1 said:

 

At least one of the worst names in pro sports is dying with the cross town move.

They're actually only moving next door.  They've been playing in the Lakers' current facility in El Segundo for years.

[4_tattoos]

I still feel that a likely location for a Wizards D-League affiliate would be at The Showplace Arena in nearby Upper Marlboro, Maryland. 

[Sykotyk]

3 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

I still feel that a likely location for a Wizards D-League affiliate would be at The Showplace Arena in nearby Upper Marlboro, Maryland. 

Nice arena. Hosted indoor football for a few years. Has a 'unique' feel to it, though.

[4_tattoos]

19 hours ago, Sykotyk said:

Nice arena. Hosted indoor football for a few years. Has a 'unique' feel to it, though.

Had a minor league hockey team for a while too. Don't remember which league, but that team was called the Chesapeake Breakers.

 

To be honest, homerism makes me vouch for Show Place Arena to land the Wizards' D league team. I'm from that county in Maryland. Just want my hometown... err, county to have nice things lol.

[Bmac]

On 1/27/2017 at 10:17 AM, dfwabel said:

Omaha is too tough a market since on the weekend, they're battling one or two of the following: Creighton basketball, UNO basketball, UNO hockey, or a traveling event at CenturyLink Center

Yeah, I don't think a D-League team would draw much of a crowd at this point. Ralston Arena is the best bet if they can share dates with the Omaha Lancers.

[leopard88]

On 2/1/2017 at 7:44 PM, 4_tattoos said:

I still feel that a likely location for a Wizards D-League affiliate would be at The Showplace Arena in nearby Upper Marlboro, Maryland. 

 

I've always thought of George Mason's Patriot Center (or whatever it's called now) as a good location, but that actually might be a little too big.  The Showplace Arena seems like a good size for a D-League arena.

 

My primary question would be access.  Whenever I travel to Upper Marlboro, I take 1-97 to US 301, which isn't the easiest ride.  How is the trip from the Capital Beltway?