Currently in its second season, the International Basketball League is set up differently than some of the other leagues in the world of minor league basketball. Teams are grouped into what Commissioner Mikal Duilio calls "geographical clusters."

For example, a team is scheduled against rivals that are close enough to reduce travel expenses. In addition, there is one long road trip per team that gives them the chance to play teams from out of their area, which consists of four games in four days.

The benefits of this are three-fold:

1. All teams are guaranteed to only have to travel by plane on one occasion per season.

2. Teams get to see their opponents during the regular season, which they may end up meeting in the playoffs.

3. Fans do not have to have a limited number of teams playing their club over and over, such as many other minor basketball leagues are forced to do.

OK, what else is special about the IBL that would make hesitant fans that have been burned by other leagues come on down and see a game?

Did you ever hear a friend say that he or she turns on a basketball game in the last five minutes because the entire beginning is meaningless? That person obviously never watched an IBL game.

Instead of dragging a contest out to the three-hour time, the IBL has figured out a way to stay within the main NBA rules and condense the game to make it an up-tempo and high scoring style that all fans enjoy watching.

Using the same four 12-minute quarters, the IBL has limited the number of team time-outs to one per quarter. In comparison, the NBA allows teams six time-outs per quarter.

In addition. all in-bounds are considered the "quick' variety. The referee will put the ball back into play immediately following an out-of-bounds or a turnover. The defense is kept on their heels and they will not have the opportunity to set up and get back.

The average team scoring total in the IBL is 127 points. This is not a league that emphasis on defense.

The target audience for minor league sports are families, due to the affordable tickets and friendly atmosphere. To bring the wife and kids to a game expecting to make it to the final buzzer is not a likely scenario in most cases. But if a game is approximately the same length of time as a motion picture, heading for the exits early is a thing of the past with the IBL.

In addition, all IBL players remain on the court after the game to meet and greet the fans and sign autographs, which is a better "bang for your buck" than eating stale popcorn in the dark watching a movie that you hope isn't a bomb.

Currently, fielding teams in the west and mid-west, the IBL will be expanding to different parts of the continent next season. Current teams located in places such as Vancouver, Portland and Seattle will be joined in 2007 by expansion teams in the east, such as Buffalo and Jersey City, New Jersey. This is not a regional league, but one that is represented throughout the entire United States and parts of Canada.

In its inaugural season, the IBL was very successful and capped off the year by rocking the Kellogg Arena in the first league championship game, when the Battle Creek Knights (21-0) defeated the Dayton Jets (15-2.)

To give you an example of the league being one that concentrates on the offensive side of the ball, the 2005 scoring leader was Jovan Harris of the San Jose (now Tri-City) Ballers, who had an incredible 35.3 points per game average.

This year, the IBL has picked up right where it left off. On March 12th, 4,900 fans came out to the Portland Trailblazers' home court, the Rose Garden, to attend an IBL game between the Portland Chinooks and the Vancouver Volcanoes. The record crowd went home happy as the home team left the court victorious. There is nothing minor about nearly 5,000 fans attending a professional basketball game. Everyone comes away a winner.

The IBL is going to succeed where other minor basketball leagues have struggled. They have a plan in place and a determined, experienced founder in Mikal Duilio. Teams do not just get a schedule faxed to them after paying their fees and left to fend for themselves. Everything from uniforms, media relations and sponsorship and marketing tools are supplied to each team as part of their entrance fees, and all profits are kept by the teams themselves. This is unique in comparison to the reputation that minor league sports has received over the years.

How successful can minor league basketball be? All you have to do is look at the Continental Basketball Association.

The longest running professional league in the history of the sport, the CBA was born a few months before the NBA way back in 1946. Many title changes have taken place, but the league has remained the same and intact.

Four CBA clubs recently merged with the NBDL, which is considered the "Triple A" of the NBA. Minor league hoops is not a "come and go" type of sport. It is part of the fabric of basketball and extremely important as a showcase for players that want to remain state-side and hopefully "get a look."

The IBL is the most stable of the circuit and can become that springboard for talented pros.

For more information on the IBL, please visit www.iblhoopsonline.com