NY Lightning vs. Bronx Holy Flame Game Preview

 

It has been two weeks since one of the ABA’s newest team the New York Lightning have played a basketball game, but they are ready to redeem themselves this Saturday. The Lightning will play their second road game of their preliminary season tomorrow afternoon against the Bronx Holy Flames at Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community Center in the Bronx.

The Holy Flames and owner Giovanni Concepcion have been in the ABA for 5 years and are excited about the addition of another New York City team.

“I’m really looking forward to the things we can accomplish for the city, having Willie in Brooklyn and us in the Bronx we can create something that will be good for the city,” said Concepcion. “It will bring more awareness to the ABA here in New York, we have so much going on in the city our league falls on the back burner. I believe having the Lightning and the Court Kings out in Queens, we can create a crosstown rival,” he added.

Although this is the Lightning’s first year in the ABA, these two teams have played a few times before this Saturday’s match-up, so there is some familiarity between them.

“We’ve played before actually way back in our first season in the ABA. I don’t know how many times we will get to play this season, but I figure we will probably play three times a season maybe four and it will be great,” said Concepcion. “We’ve played two times in non-conference games, and we have been able to split those games, and the games are competitive, and for us to succeed defense has to come first, “said Lightning Owner/coach Willie Negron.

The Lightning is looking to bounce back after a tough loss to the Scranton Shamrock out in Scranton Pennsylvania. A huge factor in that loss was the lack of depth on the Lightning’s bench an issue coach Negron fixed by making a few additions to the roster.

“It’s like building a house you have to make sure you have the right supplies or in our case players,” said coach Negron. “I think the players that I added going into this contest gives us a chance to be competitive and ultimately victorious,” he added.

The Lightning was able to put up 111 points in their last game with only seven players and two of those players fouling out. The key for them will be to play better defense something they showed they could do in the second half of their last game.

“Defense has to come first, and I have emphasized that strongly to the players,” said coach Negron. “We are capable of scoring, so defense has to be a priority for us,” he added.

The Lightning will get their chance to show off their defensive intensity tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. in Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community Center in the Bronx New York. The game will be streaming live on i95 Sports and Entertainment Network.

Note: Be sure to follow the NY Lighting on twitter (@nylightningbas) and check out their website www.nylightningbasketball.com for the latest news and updates.

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