Final Report Card: London Lightning
The London Lightning came into the 2018-19 season with a new status: the most successful NBL Canada team following their victory in the 2018 finals.
Being on this new plateau and under pressure to live up to their new stature, the season was going to go one way or the other: either they would capitalise and make it a fifth championship, or they were going to struggle to live up to those expectations.
The Lightning got their season off to a winning start, but with the field both in their division and the league as a whole they found wins did not come as easily for them, and at one point were bottom in the Central Division. Their fortunes changes in February when they won seven games on the bounce, and finished the regular season top of their division.
Notable players who helped London see out success in the season were veteran Garrett Williamson, NBLC newcomer Xavier Moon and AJ Gaines, who averaged 14.1 points and 5.9 rebounds while starting in only three games out of forty-five.
The regular season led to an extraordinary playoff series with the KW Titans, where they lost the first two games at home, then won the following two away, only to find themselves with no answers for the Titans in Game Five and watched their season come to a surprise end.
What They Did Right: London were defensively minded from the get go and were one of the hardest teams to break down. Additionally, they rose to the occasion when they needed to - at one point they looked in danger of missing out on the playoffs, but they picked up the wins they needed to secure the Central top spot at the end of the regular season.
What They Could Have Done Better: Rather than rescuing themselves when it all went wrong, London easily had the capabilities to be more consistent and competitive in the league, even with the higher standards seen across the board this season. A harder work ethic and desire to win could have seen them dominate again in 2018-19.
MVP: A key part of the Lightning's defence with 7.0 total boards per game on the season, Mo Bolden led the team in rebounding and was one of the biggest shot blockers in all of the NBLC. He was also their leading scorer with 16.2 points per contest in a season where they dominated from the field.
Final Thoughts: Packing plenty of firepower and able to play lockdown defence, London are still able to be a dominant force in the NBL Canada, but either through pressure, complacency or a game plan that did not suit them, they fell short of their full capabilities in 2018-19.
