TBL? BSL? ABA? New season means new league and new letters for the Newfoundland Rogues
Basketball team to play in its 3rd league in as many years
When the Newfoundland Rogues' third season in franchise history tips off in January they'll be part of the newly created Basketball Super League, or BSL for short.
Last year it was The Basketball League — TBL — and the year before that it was the American Basketball Association — the ABA.
But the Rogues' newest league is an extension of the one it played in last year.
"We feel we'll have probably the best outside of the NBA and G League for talent-wise," Rogues owner Tony Kenny said during a virtual news conference Thursday.
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It's a lot of letters and a lot of initialisms — and it gets a little more confusing.
TBL owns the BSL, which will be made up of the four teams who played in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC) last year, along with the Montreal Tundra and the Rogues.
The president of TBL and the BSL told the media that every year Newfoundland has played, the competition has gotten better.
"The Rogues have gone up every year — so it's not like they've gone to three different leagues that are equal leagues," David Magley said.
"BSL is that next level up, and that's why the Rogues are in it."
On Thursday the Rogues also released its 2024 schedule, which consists of 37 games with 25 of them being played at the Mary Brown's Centre.
With all four teams leaving the NBLC, the league appears to be finished. Emails to league commissioner Audley Stephenson bounced back.
"There will be no NBLC this year," Magley said, before adding he's not sure what the future of the brand is.
But the NBLC's loss appears to be the Newfoundland Rogues' gain, as the team will see better competition and won't have to travel outside Canada this season to play — something that took a toll on the team in its first two seasons, as the league plays during the winter months.
The good news for Rogues fans is that coach Jerry Williams will be returning for the third season.
"I have some exciting players coming in and I do have some returning guys that a lot of fans are going to be very excited about," Williams said.
Williams made it clear he wants to win.
"We want … to be the first team to win the championship of the BSL," he said.
The Rogues' first game of the 2024 season is Jan. 19.
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