BASKETBALL Minor league eyes Youngstown entry

The International Basketball League is looking for an ownership group.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two professional basketball leagues have failed in this city, but a west-coast businessman believes he has the answer to make it work.
"I felt the life was being drained out of basketball at every level," said Mikal Duilio, who has run an amateur league in Portland, Ore., for 12 years. "Games are somewhat boring, and they're spread out too long. I feel the game should be more active."
That's the message Duilio has been sending on a nationwide tour before launching the International Basketball League, which has headquarters in Portland, in April, 2005.
He stopped in Youngstown on Friday, admitting something this area has known following collapses by the World Basketball League and International Basketball Association:
"Leagues come and go," Duilio said. "Minor league basketball programs don't work."
Solution
In his studies of minor league basketball, Duilio discovered that travel has been the game's biggest weakness and the reason for its downfall.
"Minor league basketball is a great concept, but everybody who goes into it loses money, primarily because of travel," he said.
To eliminate that problem, Duilio created a system that he labels "cluster scheduling," which is designed to reduce travel expenses by keeping teams in geographical clusters. Youngstown would play in the Ohio-Indiana-Michigan cluster.
"You don't randomly pick cities," Duilio said. "You've got to recruit in clusters, and if you do so, the minor league basketball model works."
Teams would play a 20-game schedule, which would be filled primarily by their respective cluster. One lengthy trip by plane would be required to play teams from another cluster, said Duilio, who is also recruiting in the Pacific Northwest, California, Nevada and Iowa. Teams from another cluster would also make the plane trip to Youngstown to complete the home schedule.
"An owner can have a team play 11 different opponents, but yet you've only had to travel out of town once on an airplane," Duilio said. "That's an amazing schedule."
No dead time
The game's rules are designed to create an up-tempo style of play that keeps fans entertained, Duilio said. An "immediate-inbound rule" would prevent defenses from resting while the offense attacks the basket quickly. The league will aim to eliminate as much dead time as possible.
"If the game's faster, it's better," Duilio said.
"When the game is sped up, the offensive player benefits tremendously. It's fun basketball, and it's nice to watch."
The IBL's interest in Youngstown isn't related to the convocation center project, but more so to the city's demographics. The league prefers its teams to play in smaller venues, such as high school or college gymnasiums, to add "a sense of urgency to the game."
For Youngstown to become a full-time member of the IBL, an ownership group will need to step forward and undertake the project.
According to Duilio, an owner could "break even or make some money" by drawing at least 800 fans per game.
"This is going to be a business based on making sense financially," Duilio said. "It's not a get-rich quick, crazy scheme."
Prospective owner
News of the IBL's interest in Youngstown attracted some community members to Friday's press conference.
One was Frank Petrakos, 36, a Canfield dentist who was a minority owner with the Youngstown Hawks of the IBA.
"Ever since being involved with the Hawks, I've had a place in my heart for [minor league basketball]," said Petrakos, who's considering involvement in the team. "I think it can work in this area. This is a sports town."
Warren Harding High graduate Glenn Owens, 24, listened to Duilio's presentation, as well.
"I wanted to come out and see what it was about," Owens said. "I play all the time now, and I don't get nothing. Being paid anything would be all right."
Owners will decide the player's salary, Duilio said, but it isn't expected to be much.
"If you're going to play for the love of the game, with relatively low pay, you can keep your career," Duilio said.
"Some players will be trying to keep their line in the water for the NBA. They want to keep the dream alive."
richesson@vindy.com