John Lashaway isn't quite sure who, or how many, will arrive at the Hamilton Honey Badgers' inaugural game but he knows what he wants them to find when they get there.

"I look at basketball as being about half of this," says the Badgers' president, who is also executive vice-president of the six-team Canadian Elite Basketball League which got off to a high-scoring start in two western locales Thursday night.

"Basketball is kind of in the centre of a whole entertainment experience. We've got enough elements that if people come to our games and never even come into the seating bowl to sit and watch the game itself, I'm happy with that. I want to appeal to people who have no interest in basketball as well as to the hard-core basketball fan."

The Badgers, who have eight Canadians on their 11-man game roster , open their 20-match schedule against Edmonton Stingers Sunday at 4 p.m. and FirstOntario Centre. And, yes, Lashway acknowledges with a sigh, that is Mother's Day.

Through the use of drop curtains and on-floor seating the huge arena has been converted into a far more intimate basketball setting with a maximum capacity of 4,534.

The action on the hardcourt — expected to be offence-heavy — will be complemented by a swarm of off-court activities.

In the concourse before and during the game there will be an array of attractions for kids, including bouncy castles and costumed "Frozen" princesses. Some Tiger-Cat players will sign autographs and Niagara-based alternative band Avenue Inn will perform, beginning 60 minutes in advance of tip-off. They're essentially the team's house band and will work six of the 10 home dates.

Inside the arena, an aerialist will work the rafters and the Badgers will introduce their home DJ, Brandon Duke of Brampton who will be stationed in the hockey penalty box. Duke is only 12 years old and is in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest paid-gig DJ in history when he was only six. He'll crank it up before, during and after Badger games.

The Badgers will play on the same floor the Toronto Raptors used for their inaugural training camp, which was held at then-Copps Coliseum in 1995, when Lashway was an executive with the NBA team. It's been refinished and painted for the inaugural CEBL season.

"Every basketball team who's played in that arena has played on that floor," Lashway said. "The Globetrotters use it. It has a long and interesting history."

Just off one end of that floor there's a VIP viewing area and at the other end, there's a standing-room area, costing $20 a spot. Located between those fans and the court is the 'junk line:' four Badger boosters banging on five garbage cans to stimulate atmosphere and spirit.

Lashway hopes the junk line and standing room "develop it into a really crazy section, almost like what you see in the NCAA with Gonzaga or Duke. We want it to eventually be very rowdy. Over time these things kind of organically take on a life of their own, so we'll see who comes and how they react to it."

In that vein, the Badgers won't say how many seasons tickets they've sold, other than to note that they're "more than satisfied with the results," nor how many fans they expect Sunday. Lashways says he doesn't want to publicly over-estimate, or under-estimate, but does concede that playing on Mothers Day hasn't helped.

But he says that there should be no negative impact from Forge FC shifting its scheduled Saturday game to Sunday at 1 p.m. to accommodate TV needs. In fact, the two new pro teams have worked out a deal that a ticket for either Sunday game gets you into the other one.

The CEBL is offering its own free live streaming of all 60 league games through its platform at cebl.tv. Sean Woodley Zach Dadson and author and former Burlington Notre Dame coach Chris Dooley will handle the commentary at the home games of all three Ontario teams.

On the league's opening night Thursday, there were over 3,000 fans in both the Abbottsford Centre and Saskatoon's SaskTel Centre as the home teams (FraserValley Bandits and Saskatchewan Rattlers) lost close tight games to the visiting Guelph Nighthawks and Niagara River Lions, respectively.

There were 405 total points scored in the two openers and, remember that, at 40 minutes, games are eight minutes shorter than in the NBA.

Hamilton's Joe Raso, the CEBL's director of basketball operations, says that like in most pro leagues, setting up and making three-point shots will be of paramount importance.

"It's going to be a very fast league," says the former McMaster coach. "I think the calibre is going to be very high.If you're watching European basketball at the highest level I think we'll be able to be there. If you're watching (NBA development) G League, this is going to be very close to it."

Hamilton coach Chantal Vallée says her team's style of play, "is fast , energetic, with a destructive defence. The players have a lot of freedom...and they love it."

Lashway hopes the fans will too.

smilton@thespec.com

905-526-3268 | @miltonatthespec

smilton@thespec.com

905-526-3268 | @miltonatthespec

Steve Milton | May 10, 2019 | The Hamilton Spectator