First Pitch Q&A with Skyforce president Mike Heineman

The Skyforce are as deep in the NBA D-League playoffs as they've ever been since gaining membership in 2006. On Monday night, the club closed out Canton in the decisive game in a best-of-three series at the Sanford Pentagon, where they're 21-5 this season.

There's another home game on tap for tonight as fourth-seeded Sioux Falls welcomes top-seed Fort Wayne to open the semifinal round. The winner of that series will have the home-court advantage for the D-League finals.

In other words, it's getting serious for the 25-year-old Force. Team president Mike Heineman took time Tuesday to reflect on that in an interview with Argus Leader sports reporter Terry Vandrovec.

Question: During the regular season, the Force had their second-best record since joining the league and ended a four-year playoff drought. There were clear positives no matter how the playoffs went. But did you feel a sense that advancing was important in terms of eliminating any qualifiers about the success of this season?

Answer: It was definitely a relief. The last time we were in a series like this was probably in 2005 against Dakota when it kind of went back and forth. To come out on top – it was so nice to get over that hump when it looked like we weren't (going to). Guys battled back and it was fun to move on with this group.

Q. In the NBA, teams are expected to go one round further each year. But that's not the case in the D-League because of how rosters turn over. Do you feel like the club can go from missing the playoffs last year to winning a title this year?

A. You never know when you're going to get back here. You think things are going well this year. You think they'll go well next year. But you never know. We might not have the same group of guys, the same continuity we had this year. You have to move on when you can. That's what was fun about (Monday) – I think we have a good group of guys, and I think we can win it. To get beat out would have been a disappointing end.

Q. Game 3 against Canton didn't sell out, but the noise level was high – and now you're into the semifinals. Do you have a sense whether that's momentum building with the fans?

A. The good thing about playoff crowds is everyone who's there wants to be there. They've come out to watch the game. That's not always how the games are in the regular season. But the people that have come out for the (playoff) games, they're into it. They want us to win. They're really loud and passionate. Our crowds have been so good just noise-wise the last couple of games. It's been fun to see people have a passion back in Sioux Falls for the Skyforce.

Q. Is this team starting to gain consideration for one of the best in franchise history? Or is that premature?

A. I think this is a pretty special team. What makes it really unique is that we've had these guys all year long and we've basically built a team all year long. It hasn't been guys coming and going. We haven't just picked up a bunch of new guys late and that way we made a run into the playoffs. These guys have gone through the entire season, which has been really neat to see. It's right up there with some of the better ones we've had for sure. How far we make it in the playoffs will determine (their all-time standing) in the end.