NBL Canada All-Star 2012: Team Haywood takes the All-Star Win
posted by Romy Aquino
(Photo via Halifax Rainmen / stkPhoto.com)
Team Haywood had one goal at this NBL Canada All-Star game: Do not let Team Smith aka Team London take home another victory.
Since the Lightning took home a championship last weekend and then swept all of the All-Star Saturday events, Team Haywood and Coach Rob Spon weren't going to let them take another victory. Team Haywood, who was led by team captain and NBL Canada Canadian Player of the Year, Joey Haywood, got the job done with the 164-155 victory over Team Smith in Halifax. In true All-Star game fashion, it was a high-scoring affair with 17 of the 20 all-star participants scoring in double figures.
The Quebec Kebs' Ralphy Holmes, who was a member of Team Haywood, said it was a good win over Team Smith (led by London's Eddie Smith). "It felt good man. We were talking all weekend amongst each other and Team Smith was talking a lot of trash," said Holmes. "Saying that we were gonna get beat by 20 pts, we the champs, stuff like that."
Team Haywood's Brandon Robinson of the Oshawa Power, who led the league in regular season scoring and was named the NBL Canada Rookie of the Year, put on a show for the 2,600 fans in attendance. The 6'5" Florida native put up an impressive game-high 38 points. "It was a great experience out there," said Robinson who was named NBL Canada All-Star MVP. "We had a great team, it was a great atmosphere. I had a great time out there today."
Robinson also added that that his teammates were focused on taking home the win and not letting the team with the NBL Champs enjoy another All-Star weekend win. "Team Smith had all them London guys so they thought they were going to sweep the weekend and we already had it on our mind that we weren't going to let them sweep the weekend," Robinson told NBL Live! "We went ahead and took care of business today."
Trayvon Lathan of the Moncton Miracles finished with 27 points for Team Haywood and the Rainmen's Tyrone Levett put up 24 points in front of his hometown Halifax fans. Levett's Rainmen teammate, Lawrence Wright, put up 29 points for the opposing Team Smith in the loss.
Head Coach Rob Spon of Team Haywood had a game plan from the start. "We were going to have fun the first half. But in the third and fourth quarter, we were going for the win," said Coach Spon. "We're going to tough it out, play defence, we're going to rebound and get after it. They wanted to win just like I did. We didn't want the London Lightning to win everything."
Coach Spon enjoyed his time coaching some of the best talent in the National Basketball League of Canada on Sunday afternoon. "I told our guys that we were going to win this game and have MVP from our team and they responded. Great group of guys, that was a lot of fun."
The All-Star game capped an end for the inaugural NBL Canada season which many believe to be a successful season for this Canadian basketball league. The league moves into its offseason where it will look to continue to grow off the first season's success.
What would you like to see differently in the next NBL Canada season? Send me a tweet and let me know! @romyaquino
Romy Aquino covers the the National Basketball League of Canada including his hometown Halifax Rainmen. He also can be found at pro hoops blog, Hip Hoop Junkies (covering the Toronto Raptors/NBA) and liveblogging at Halifax Rainmen home games for Sportstream.ca Follow him on Twitter: @romyaquino