Earlier today the Canadian Elite Basketball League revealed the branding for their new professional basketball team in Edmonton.
In an announcement held at the Edmonton Expo Centre. CEBL Head of Basketball Greg Francis, Chief Executive Officer Mike Morreale and President/COO Lee Genier, along with Edmonton Expo Centre General Manager Arlindo Gomes revealed that the newly founded Edmonton Stingers basketball team would be playing out of the Edmonton Expo Centre D Hall beginning May 2019.
Canadian Elite Basketball League
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is a newly founded six-team professional basketball league. They will be hosting their inaugural season in 2019, and will feature a 20 game schedule followed by playoffs and - of course - league championship.
They chose Edmonton as one of it’s host cities because “world-class sports has always been an integral part to Alberta”.
The league will start with six teams but mentioned the plan is to expand to 12. Along with the Edmonton Stingers are the Guelph Nighthawks, Hamilton Honey Badgers and Niagra River Lions. Two teams, Fraser Valley and Saskatoon have yet to announce their branding.
The CEBL will use official FIBA basketball rules for competition. Some changes between FIBA rules and the more common NBA rules are:
FIBA Rules
- NBA has 12 minute quarters while FIBA has 10 minute quarters.
- The defence in the NBA cannot reach about the rim to swat away a basketball. In FIBA as long as the ball does not have a downward motion, the defence can reach above the rim to swat it away.
- In the NBA, 6 fouls or 2 technicals earns a player the rest of the night off. It’s only 5 fouls in FIBA rules and that is irregardless if it is a regular foul or a technical.
- NBA has 3 referees, while FIBA competition has 2.
- NBA has 6 timeouts to be used as needed. FIBA has 5 timeouts. Only 2 can be used in the first half. Of the 3 second half timeouts, only 2 can used within the final two minutes of the game.
- If you collect a rebound in the NBA you get a fresh 24 second clock. You only get 14 seconds in FIBA.
The focus of the CEBL is to bring entertainment to the game of basketball, not just hold sporting events. President and COO Lee Genier was quoted saying “It’s like a basketball game meets a rock concert”. Fun, affordable family-friendly entertainment is the focus of the league, while still putting a good product on the court.
Currently, there is no draft but the CEBL is focused on partnering with Canadian USports and hosting a player draft and rookie combine. The CEBL wants to focus on growing Canadian talent within Canada and giving them an option to play at home instead of overseas.
As of now, we do not have more information regarding the team as it’s still in its infancy. Expect more news regarding the Stingers in the future with the announcement of personnel likely coming early 2019.
For more news on the Edmonton Stingers follow us HERE.
You can follow the CEBL HERE.
Raw Media:
President and COO Lee Genier:
CEO of CEBL Mike Morreale:
