IBL expansion lifts struggling league

Victoria Sun

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2001 | 10:41 a.m.

Following the absorption of five franchises from the defunct CBA, the IBL now boasts 11 teams. They are:

The Las Vegas Bandits won't have to play the New Mexico Slam a total of 15 times in 52 regular season games after all.

The International Basketball League announced Wednesday that two more teams from the defunct Continental Basketball Association have decided to join the IBL, increasing the total number of IBL teams from six to 11.

The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Hoops and Connecticut Pride made the move to the IBL, joining the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Skyforce, Gary (Ind.) Steelheads and Rockford (Ill.) Lightning.

Bandits president and general manager Mike Olsen welcomed the expansion.

"I'm very excited about it," Olsen said. "It's a big difference when you go from six teams to 11.

"People like Nike, Reebok, etc. are now showing interest. It clearly brings opportunities for the possibility of having national sponsors and television contracts. Already, the league is working on securing the CBA's contract with BET (Black Entertainment Television) to give us national exposure."

A revised schedule integrating the five new teams with the others is expected to be released today or tomorrow.

Tentatively, the Bandits will play against the new teams in eight of their remaining 27 games.

The new schedule will not affect any dates for Bandits home games. The Bandits will host Gary on Feb. 22 at the Thomas & Mack Center at 7 p.m. It will be the first time the Bandits face one of the new teams.

"There has been an ongoing debate about the competition level in all of the minor leagues such as the IBL, CBA and ABA 2000 and now we'll get a chance to find out," Olsen said. "This is good because it brings some new teams in.

"We'll get some new competition and hopefully the fans will enjoy it. We hate having to play New Mexico 35 times."

Actually, the Bandits were scheduled to play the Slam only 15 times, but in a 52-game season, it probably feels like more for players and spectators.

The CBA folded last week after former Detroit Pistons guard Isiah Thomas decided he wanted to sell each team back to its previous owner. Thomas, the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, had purchased the CBA a couple of years ago.

Before the CBA disbanded, the NBA had provided the league with referees. Olsen is hopeful the IBL will work out a similar deal despite the fact that NBA commissioner David Stern is starting a new NBA developmental league.

"Getting these teams brings us an opportunity to continue working with the NBA," Olsen said. "The new developmental league is going to be focused in Southeastern cities for young players who didn't go to college.

"In our league, we're trying to get players ready for a call-up. We think in most cases, they're going to call up guys (ages) 24, 25, 26 that can make an immediate impact, not the 19 or 20 year-olds in the developmental league that need more experience."

The Bandits are 16-9 and in second place of the IBL's West division behind the 20-4 St. Louis Swarm.