The Maine ????

So - what's the team name??

I have a a few very good ideas on that front. Let's check on that another day.

First things first.

A very special congratulations goes out to Jon Jennings and his group from Portland, Maine who yesterday were officially awarded the first NBA D-League franchise in New England. There will be plenty more on this topic as the team evolves. For now, a toast to Jon Jennings, the NBA D-League Prez Dan Reed and best wishes to Rich Gotham of the Celtics and Danny AInge - the two people (among others) who will benefit the most from this tremendous development for basketball in Boston, Portland (Maine) and the New England region:

See:

The team, as yet unnamed, is owned in part by Jon Jennings. We sat down with Jon the other day to get some background on him, get his take on the NBA D-League, and get some facts about Maine.

Here's a snippet:

Q: What attracted you to the NBA Development League?

Jennings: I actually got my start in the NBA as an intern with the Indiana Pacers. After my career with the Pacers, I went to work with the Celtics, where I became an assistant coach when I was only 27. When I was coaching and doing scouting for the Celtics, I always believed that the NBA truly needed a minor league system in the way that baseball has one. I remember when the NBA D-League was first created, I was very excited about the prospects. The changes over the course of the last several years, I think, have only made it more exciting. To have a true minor league system is really so important for the future of the NBA.

Q: What qualities of the city will make the NBA D-League successful in Portland?

Jennings: The one thing about Portland is that it embraces minor league sports. It loves the Portland Sea Dogs [baseball], it loves the Portland Pirates [hockey], and it will love our team. The other thing is that the state of Maine has a fanatical love of high school basketball. When I was first getting started in this entire process, I met with the governor of Maine and he gave me a two-hour tutorial on how great high school basketball is in Maine.

The full interview can be found here:
http://www.nba.com/dleague/maine/jennings_090225.html