KW Titans ready for much anticipated return
Posted Feb 14, 2022 05:30:00 PM.
A new season. A new general manager. A new coach. A new roster.
If you ask KW Titans GM Mel Kobe, that's just sports.
“Professional sports teams, amateur sports teams, coaches change all the time, every few years, players change and keep coming and going,” she said.
“The whole point of our league is to develop these guys to take the next step, which is why we don't do multi-year contracts with athletes.”
Nonetheless, it's been a long time coming for the National Basketball League of Canada (or NBL Canada for short) to begin its 10th season. And Family Day Monday will be that new beginning when the Titans host their rival London Lightning (at 2 p.m.).
Neal Foreman will come in for his first season leading the Titans bench, after spending the last few seasons with the Windsor Express.
Roster players like Ty Walker, a seven-footer with G-league experience, as well as dunk specialist Davon Dillard will be just a couple of the names you'll see in Titans blue.
Overall, Kobe said to expect a fast, high-flying team.
“We were looking at our final roster, and our average height is (somewhere around 6'5″ and 6'6″),” she said, “We're tall, we're talented. There's going to be a lot of running the floor, there's going to be some great dunks.”
There's also going to be some new competition, with The Basketball League joining the fray with four US-based teams.
Kobe welcomes the new competition, adding it'll attract more eyes to Titans players through the season.
“Our guys will now be down in the States playing a couple of games, and some of the TBL teams will be coming up here,” she said. “As soon as you move into new markets, and have opportunity to be in new and different venues that you haven't played in before, you don't know who's in the stands.”
She said it's also great for the fans to see new teams, with a different style of basketball.
“It's new and exciting, it's a little bit fresh for the year,” she said.
“Everything's different because of COVID, so why not just make it all different?”
Tickets are still available for Monday's home opener. Visit the Aud's website for details.
