Sudbury — The Sudbury Five are back. On Thursday morning in a virtual news conference, the National Basketball League team announced its new head coach and general manager.
The team is promoting from within, with Elliott Etherington taking on the role of general manager and head coach.
"The No. 1 thing is being able to bring back so many guys," said Etherington. "That's going to bring back a level of familiarity to this roster and offensively, I don't want to come in here and change things."
The team is hoping to win this season after such a close finish last year. Bob Johnston, the team's vice-president of basketball operations, said Etherington's is well suited to the role.
"He's a quality person and I think he was mentored well under (former) coach Logan Stutz," said Johnston.
The announcement came just hours after new COVID-19 restrictions were announced by Public Health Sudbury and Districts.
COVID modelling indicates the problem might get worse before it gets better, but the league isn't letting those worries affect its day-to-day operations just yet.
"I think that's where the importance of working with the local health unit comes into play," said league vice-president Audley Stephenson.
"We'll be prepared to make whatever adjustments necessary. It's sort of hard to speculate on what that will be until we get all the conditions in front of us, but we are working closely and following public health guidelines. It's as much as we can do right now."
Team management had a similar message, saying they're taking a day-to-day approach.
"You got to play it day-by-day, it's an ever-fluid, changing landscape," said Etherington.
"Especially with what restrictions are in place, not just municipally but provincially and across the country so I can't dive into that too deeply."
The team is working on contingency plans to see how the next two months work out. Johnston said they're also working with the Sudbury Wolves to see what lessons can be learned from their return.
The Wolves have been sidelined for days now due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
"I think the lessons there are that we have to be very diligent with our practices and follow public health guidelines," said Johnston.
"I like to consult with our administration on the Sudbury Wolves side and quite frankly I'm working now on COVID guidelines for our team and I'm going to integrate the lessons learned from the Sudbury Wolves with what they've faced and talk to our CEO Scott Lund, working together to make sure we're in the best place possible for when the season starts."
Johnston said he's confident they should be able to pivot with those contingencies, but it would be hard for him to predict the next 45 days.
The home opener this year will be at Sudbury Arena on Feb. 5, when the Five welcomes the London Lightning.
