D-League Expands...

[Brian in Boston]

The NBA Development League has granted expansion franchises to four cities in time for the 2006-2007 season. The communities are Bismarck (ND), Boise (ID), Broomfield (CO) and Sioux Falls (SD).

In effect, the move means that the Dakota Wizards, Idaho Stampede, Colorado 14ers and Sioux Falls Skyforce are jumping from the Continental Basketball Association to the D-League.

[paynomind]

Wow.. what an exciting 4-pack of thrilling vacation destinations for the Dleague to expose basketball players to... i can see the crowds now, spring breakers on vacation attending games between funnelling episodes.

[sc49erfan15]

I've always been a "fan" and supporter of the D-League...but I'm a little confused about the franchises. For the first few years, they were concentrated in the south, with the North Charleston Lowgators, Asheville Altitude, Fayetteville Patriots, etc, then started moving more northward, and now out west? What's the deal? Are they expanding or just moving teams around the country to give it more exposure?

[agentrygraphics]

I've always been a "fan" and supporter of the D-League...but I'm a little confused about the franchises. For the first few years, they were concentrated in the south, with the North Charleston Lowgators, Asheville Altitude, Fayetteville Patriots, etc, then started moving more northward, and now out west? What's the deal? Are they expanding or just moving teams around the country to give it more exposure?

IMO, they are expanding that way, absorbing as many CBA teams as possible to hopefully run the CBA, a SUCCESSFUL minor bball league, out of business. Didn't the af2 do the same thing with the Indoor Football League? If you can't beat your competition...buy them out and take their product.

[TBGKon]

how much you wanna bet that the Dakota franchise is an affiliate of the Washington Wizards?

[Lee.]

...but with a better logo

[Discrim]

heh, they may as well give the Skyforce an actual color scheme then. their unis used to look good when it was black and sky blue. hopefully you haven't seen em lately...there are many ways to look bad in black, teal and gold. I think they've exhausted most of those ways.

[Lee.]

You forget, however, that the teal craze has just reached South Dakota.

[yh]

You forget, however, that the teal craze has just reached South Dakota.

. . . . following hard on the heels of those other fads "electricity" and "the automobile."

Seems to me this isn't such a bad idea. If the NBA has the financial means to sustain and stabilize the top tier noncollegiate development league then perhaps it's time for the cba to fold up shop. The cba (I'm assuming they still use lowercase letters in their logo) has been around a long time, yes, but it's been less than stabile for nearly 20 years. And I think the geographic expansion of the D-League is a smart marketing move so long as the majority of team's schedules are regionalized thus cutting down on travel expenses. Plopping four teams down in the Dakotas and Idaho gives them instant regional rivalries and the opportunity to play a majority of their games within a relatively close distance to each team's home gym.

[rams80]

I've always been a "fan" and supporter of the D-League...but I'm a little confused about the franchises. For the first few years, they were concentrated in the south, with the North Charleston Lowgators, Asheville Altitude, Fayetteville Patriots, etc, then started moving more northward, and now out west? What's the deal? Are they expanding or just moving teams around the country to give it more exposure?

IMO, they are expanding that way, absorbing as many CBA teams as possible to hopefully run the CBA, a SUCCESSFUL minor bball league, out of business. Didn't the af2 do the same thing with the Indoor Football League? If you can't beat your competition...buy them out and take their product.

The af2 did exactly that-killed the IFL by buying it out. Nowadays instead of trying to buy out entire leagues though, they merely try to poach individual markets.

As for the D-League and CBA, I've seen rumors that as part of this expansion the CBA will try to grab as many of the stable Northeastern ABA teams as possible and that the D-League is about to completely pull out of the Southeast.

[gosioux76]

I expected the D-League to be a hit here in Albuquerque. I never attended any games, and from the few video clips of highlights shown on local TV broadcasts I don't think many other people went to them either.

I'm curious to see how successful they've been elsewhere. I would bet they would do well in a place like Bismarck, which has little else to draw public interest. No offense to Bismarck, naturally.

[Lee.]

I've always been a "fan" and supporter of the D-League...but I'm a little confused about the franchises. For the first few years, they were concentrated in the south, with the North Charleston Lowgators, Asheville Altitude, Fayetteville Patriots, etc, then started moving more northward, and now out west? What's the deal? Are they expanding or just moving teams around the country to give it more exposure?

IMO, they are expanding that way, absorbing as many CBA teams as possible to hopefully run the CBA, a SUCCESSFUL minor bball league, out of business. Didn't the af2 do the same thing with the Indoor Football League? If you can't beat your competition...buy them out and take their product.

The af2 did exactly that-killed the IFL by buying it out. Nowadays instead of trying to buy out entire leagues though, they merely try to poach individual markets.

As for the D-League and CBA, I've seen rumors that as part of this expansion the CBA will try to grab as many of the stable Northeastern ABA teams as possible

so that's what, 1? 2 teams?

Bye bye, CBA. It's been nice ignorin' ya.

[Eye]

I was watching our free trial of NBA TV the other day and I heard them say something about Bakersfield California getting a team too. It must be for 2007-08 though, but I'm not sure. Can anyone confirm this.

[TBGKon]

I was watching our free trial of NBA TV the other day and I heard them say something about Bakersfield California getting a team too. It must be for 2007-08 though, but I'm not sure. Can anyone confirm this.

It is true, they are listed as a team on the NBADL site.

[gosioux76]

I was watching our free trial of NBA TV the other day and I heard them say something about Bakersfield California getting a team too. It must be for 2007-08 though, but I'm not sure. Can anyone confirm this.

It is true, they are listed as a team on the NBADL site.

This is from an NBA.com press release about the league expansion:

The Dakota Wizards, Idaho Stampede, Colorado 14ers and Sioux Falls Skyforce, along with the previously announced expansion Bakersfield Jam (Calif.), join the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (N.M.), Arkansas RimRockers (Little Rock), Austin Toros (Texas), Fayetteville Patriots (N.C.), Florida Flame (Ft. Myers), Fort Worth Flyers (Texas), Roanoke Dazzle (Va.) and Tulsa 66ers (Okla.).

[winghaz]

I'm curious to see how successful they've been elsewhere. I would bet they would do well in a place like Bismarck, which has little else to draw public interest. No offense to Bismarck, naturally.

No, you have a point about Bismarck.

Bismarck is a great city. Wonderful people, nice places to visit (Fort Lincoln, for example). But it's not a big college town, so high school athletics had been basically the thing in Bismarck ... until minor-league basketball came around. So the Wizards have been a big hit in Bismarck. Plus, they play in a fantastic place to watch basketball.

[Lumbergh]

[Lee.]

I was watching our free trial of NBA TV the other day and I heard them say something about Bakersfield California getting a team too. It must be for 2007-08 though, but I'm not sure. Can anyone confirm this.

It is true, they are listed as a team on the NBADL site.

This is from an NBA.com press release about the league expansion:

The Dakota Wizards, Idaho Stampede, Colorado 14ers and Sioux Falls Skyforce, along with the previously announced expansion Bakersfield Jam (Calif.), join the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (N.M.), Arkansas RimRockers (Little Rock), Austin Toros (Texas), Fayetteville Patriots (N.C.), Florida Flame (Ft. Myers), Fort Worth Flyers (Texas), Roanoke Dazzle (Va.) and Tulsa 66ers (Okla.).

...giving them a tidy, and remarkably lucky, 13 teams. Can we expect another western team, or even, and don't laugh, a franchise in Minot ND?

Minot was one of the more successful teams in the old IBA (or was it IBL? I can't remember, but it was the league that existed before the CBA came knocking in the midwest), and even held an ABA franchise for a while before shifting it to SLC.

For a town of 35,000, with -all else to do, I think it might have a fighting chance in the D.

[NJTank]

The D League rules it needs to expand even more, with players leaving college early and not ready for the NBA they are better off going down there and working their way up like in the NHL and MLB.

[gosioux76]

I was watching our free trial of NBA TV the other day and I heard them say something about Bakersfield California getting a team too. It must be for 2007-08 though, but I'm not sure. Can anyone confirm this.

It is true, they are listed as a team on the NBADL site.

This is from an NBA.com press release about the league expansion:

The Dakota Wizards, Idaho Stampede, Colorado 14ers and Sioux Falls Skyforce, along with the previously announced expansion Bakersfield Jam (Calif.), join the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (N.M.), Arkansas RimRockers (Little Rock), Austin Toros (Texas), Fayetteville Patriots (N.C.), Florida Flame (Ft. Myers), Fort Worth Flyers (Texas), Roanoke Dazzle (Va.) and Tulsa 66ers (Okla.).

...giving them a tidy, and remarkably lucky, 13 teams. Can we expect another western team, or even, and don't laugh, a franchise in Minot ND?

Minot was one of the more successful teams in the old IBA (or was it IBL? I can't remember, but it was the league that existed before the CBA came knocking in the midwest), and even held an ABA franchise for a while before shifting it to SLC.

For a town of 35,000, with -all else to do, I think it might have a fighting chance in the D.

Minot's in a similar situation as Bismarck, but with an air force base population to boot. The only towns in the entire state with any local sports to follow are Grand Forks (UND) and Fargo (NDSU).

I wonder if the plan here is to expand to a point where each NBA team has its own minor league affiliate. Is it three teams that split a minor league club now?