Greensboro Swarm: The G-League Thread

[BeesWax]

There used to be an NBDL team in Asheville, the flight. Didn't make it, don't think they'll try again.

The Altitude. I remember going to a couple of games, they moved when I was 10. And if I remember correctly, they were doing okay but moved to Tulsa because the Thunder bought the franchise.

Ah Altitude, right, been a while.

I went to college near there and all I heard was that the attendance was awful. Was purely anecdotal though so maybe not accurate.

I do believe that the Asheville Tourists have the worst name of any professional sports team.

I would have to say the Winston-Salem Dash is pretty close to Tourists. I mean come on naming your team after the hyphen in the middle of the city name is ridiculous.

[yosemiteben]

No idea why they went away from the name Warthogs, I loved that name.

[BeesWax]

Me too. When I lived up there they were the Warthogs. I also liked the Bollweavils more than the Intimidators for the Kannapolis minor league team.

I have always said they should name a minor league team in the area Dragons. That way they could do charity stuff with the Knights vs the Dragons.

[JDR720]

Jordanians (cause MJ)
Hornets
Killer Bees
Flight (if in NC)
Mountaineers (if in a mountain city)
Soldiers (if in Fayetteville. Fort Bragg)

[Liver_Pooty]

Jordanians (cause MJ)
Hornets
Killer Bees
Flight (if in NC)
Mountaineers (if in a mountain city)
Soldiers (if in Fayetteville. Fort Bragg)

Our name should have been flight instead of Bobcats to begin with.

[BeesWax]

I vote Banana Slugs because UC Santa Cruz can't have all the fun.

[Snidely FC]

This is some of the best news from this team in a while. Every team in the NBA should have its own D League affiliate.

I used to go to Asheville Altitude games. The D league was of no consequence back then. That was well before teams like GS and HOU figured out how to use their own as a competitive advantage.

I remember the big names I saw were guys like Jason Hart, Rusty Larue and Chris Carrawell, and the coach was Joey Meyer. I went to see Carrawell play because I was a fan of his at Duke. He skulked around with a terrible attitude, like he was better than anyone else and belonged somewhere better, but he was terrible.

Would love to see the current version of D League return to Asheville.

[yosemiteben]

Official Presser

The franchise today is sending an RFP to seven cities throughout the Carolinas seeking the best home for the D-League club, which would be owned and operated by HSE. Cities receiving the RFP include Asheville, Fayetteville, Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, South Carolina.

[BeesWax]

So without biases because of where we all live what place would be the best? I would kind of vote for Greensboro for the new home of our D-league team. I just think it would be the best place to have the team due to proximity to the parent club and the coliseum. I mean fans from Charlotte could drive up for a weekend game if a young pick was playing and it would be convenient to send the back and forth.

[yosemiteben]

I vote Greensboro. Nice size population, especially considering proximity to Winston, already has an arena, close proximity, no major college teams (sorry UNCG), seems like a good fit.

[Liver_Pooty]

I'd vote Charleston

[LofJ]

I think Greensboro is the most logical choice as well. Columbia is a decent option too though, especially if MJ wants to expand the team's footprint a bit. Greensboro has the most going for it though, at least in terms of what the organization has stated it's looking for - proximity and the ability to get things up in running in a little over a year. Greensboro has a coliseum that needs filling and other than Columbia they're the closest candidate city. Setting up a team in Greensboro would be the easiest and quickest option, and the location gives it the advantage of being centrally located to most of the urban areas of the state.

[Liver_Pooty]

This is some of the best news from this team in a while. Every team in the NBA should have its own D League affiliate.

I used to go to Asheville Altitude games. The D league was of no consequence back then. That was well before teams like GS and HOU figured out how to use their own as a competitive advantage.

I remember the big names I saw were guys like Jason Hart, Rusty Larue and Chris Carrawell, and the coach was Joey Meyer. I went to see Carrawell play because I was a fan of his at Duke. He skulked around with a terrible attitude, like he was better than anyone else and belonged somewhere better, but he was terrible.

Would love to see the current version of D League return to Asheville.

Civic center has also been severely renovated since then.

[BeesWax]

I'd vote Charleston

They had one when the league started didn't they? I do not know that I would want to send our players down there to all those great places to eat. We could end up with some fat rookies.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Asheville has it's fair share of good eats too. Heck, even Greensboro has one of my favorite NC restaurants.

[BeesWax]

I was not meaning to demean any of the food selections anywhere but Charleston is just such a great eating town. I love going down there over the summer and going out to eat.

[HornetJail]

[HornetJail]

So without biases because of where we all live what place would be the best? I would kind of vote for Greensboro for the new home of our D-league team. I just think it would be the best place to have the team due to proximity to the parent club and the coliseum. I mean fans from Charlotte could drive up for a weekend game if a young pick was playing and it would be convenient to send the back and forth.

I think any of Greensboro NC, Greenville SC, or Columbia SC make sense if a decision was made based on proximity in Charlotte. They're all pretty much exactly 90 minutes away. Even Asheville is doable in two hours. However, I doubt many fans are going to commute from Charlotte to go to a D-League game when there is an NBA team in town. It's more about the people who live in the town the D-League team will be in. I doubt there's any interest in the Raleigh area given the college ball scene in the area. I don't know wtf is in Fayetteville. I'd probably rule those two out. I don't know what the market's like for them mountain folk up in Asheville, but they had a D-League team before. Greensboro and Columbia aren't small towns but I know from experience nobody really gives a **** about basketball in Columbia, though interest would probably grow if there were actually teams there. Charleston doesn't have any basketball team within 3 1/2 hours and it's a decent sized city, so it's definitely possible. But I think Greenville makes the most sense- it's a growing city accessible to Asheville, Charlotte, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbia, and all the nothing in between. We could even share a D-League team with Atlanta.

[yosemiteben]

I can see Greenville. Does it have an arena?

[JDR720]

I can see Greenville. Does it have an arena?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Secours_Wellness_Arena