Kentucky Mavericks announce press conference, things

[The Sweeper]

KENTUCKY MAVERICKS ANNOUNCE PRESS CONFERENCE, THINGS

http://www.abalive.com/news/releases/?n ... 8071106001

11-Jul-2008
Bowling Green, KY -- Lots of activity already in Bowling Green with the new ABA expansion Bowling Green Mavericks. The team will hold a press conference on Friday, July 11th at 11am at the Bowling Parks and Recreation, 225 East Third Avenue, Bowling Green, KY in the conference room. The entire Mavericks management staff will be there including team owner Jason Smith; GM and Head of Basketball Operations, Jay Sills; Head Coach Otis Key and his coaching staff.

Also in attendance will be Mayor Elaine Walker who is very excited about the team and has been very supportive of having the team in South Central Kentucky. Later in the day, at 6pm, the Mavericks will be hosting a "Coaches Meet and Greet" at TGI Fridays in Bowling Green and everyone is invited to come by and get to know the Kentucky Mavericks. The team is working hard to support the community and plans to be involved in many events throughout the region including Franklin, Scottville, Glasgow and Morgantown.

On another note, Mavericks GM Jay Sills announced that Otis Key has taken over as the Head Coach. "I feel that Coach Key is a perfect fit for the Mavericks," said Sill. "He is a guy who will communicate well with the players and can demonstrate how to play basketball the right way. We are lucky to have him. And be brought Quentin Hollis as an assistant. Quentin brings a lot of coaching experience and player development skills. We are also thrilled to have him. And we're still interviewing for additional assistant coaches.

Coach Key, a former Harlem Globetrotter and a local star in the region added, "At our first tryouts, we identified two local and very talented basketball stars. And we have a fantastic pool of local talent committed to our formal tryouts. I think we have enough great talent for 4-5 teams, we'll be competitive plus. Please keep your eye out for additional tryouts."
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Don't tell Joe you have enough 'talent' for 4-5 teams. He'll sell you market reservations for every city block.

[SignGuyDino]

Sweet! The Mavericks are coming! Will Mark Cuban be at the press conference?

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

Forget about the logo issue - can this team get their own NAME right?

From the same, TEAM-issued release

the new ABA expansion Bowling Green Mavericks.

get to know the Kentucky Mavericks

Mark Cuban doesn't care about the city/state part of the name, kids; it's the other part that will be getting you in trouble...

But just pick one, will ya?

[Sam Hill]

I'm curious about the things.

WTF?

"KENTUCKY MAVERICKS ANNOUNCE PRESS CONFERENCE, THINGS"

What is that?

I swear to God this league is one huge fart in the general direction of the English language.

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/200 ... ports1.txt

Kentucky Mavericks: Meet the Mavs
ABA roster loaded with locals

By MICHEAL COMPTON, The Daily News, mcompton@bgdailynews.com
Friday, July 25, 2008 9:52 PM CDT

Hunter Wilson/Daily News
Jeff Young, a member of the Kentucky Mavericks American Basketball Association team, hugs children from the Boys & Girls Club on Friday at Phil Moore Park after the team roster was announced during a news conference.

The Kentucky Mavericks continue to take shape with the announcement of its first roster Friday at Phil Moore Park.

Team officials announced the 20 men that will make up the Bowling Green-based American Basketball Association squad for the upcoming season, which begins in December. Each player in attendance received a warm welcome from local youth who were part of the festivities.

The roster includes former WKU players Boris Siakam and Derek Robinson, former Glasgow and University of Kentucky point guard Brandon Stockton and former Greenwood players Sean Clark and Aaron Hartz.

While most of the players were in attendance Friday, several - including Robinson and Stockton - were unable to make the announcement due to prior commitments.

That didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the coaching staff, ownership and fans who attended Friday’s announcement.

“I’m very excited about having the opportunity to work with these young men,” Mavericks coach Otis Key said. “Grabbing these 20 guys, I think we will not only be competitive, we have a great chance to win with these guys.”

Kentucky Mavericks CEO Jason Smith was also very pleased with the final roster.

“I get more excited every day with the process,” Smith said. “It was a hard process trying to narrow 48 players down to 20, but we did it. I couldn’t ask for a better roster than we have now.”

The players were excited about the chance to play professionally in Bowling Green.

“When I heard about the team, I had to get out here,” Clark said. “I went to a tryout and they told me if I got in shape, they’d keep me. I’ve been working real hard the last couple of weeks to get in shape so I could play in front of my home fans again.”

Siakam, who just finished a season with the Kentucky Developmental Basketball League’s Lebanon Lancers after completing his final season at WKU in March, said he couldn’t pass up a chance to play in Bowling Green again.

The Mavericks were also expected to announce where the team will play this season, but Smith said that there probably wouldn’t be a formal announcement until Monday.

When asked about potential locations, Smith had no comment, but did say the Mavericks are still in negotiations with one venue that looks promising.

“We have a venue, but we are going to wait a little bit longer to let it out,” Smith said. “We want to make sure all the details are in place before we say yes.”

One place Smith was quick to say the Mavericks won’t play is Owensboro. Smith said during the news conference that there had been speculation his team might play in Owensboro this season, but he was quick to dismiss those rumors.

“That’s not true,” Smith said. “We’re here to stay. We’re not going anywhere. The Kentucky Mavericks will be staying in Bowling Green this year.”

Kentucky Mavericks roster

Marlon Walls, Southwest Tennessee/Kentucky State

Teco Dickerson, WKU/Russellville High School

Michael James, Florida International

Jason McPherson, Ohio County High School

Aaron Hartz, Greenwood High School

Darryl Washington, Kentucky State

Aubrey White, Georgetown

Sean Clark, Greenwood High School

Justin Taylor, Tennessee Tech

Brandon Wardlow, Bowling Green/Southern University

Jamie Jackson, Bellarmine

Gus Chase, Georgetown

Avery George, Union County High School

Thaddius Key, Kentucky Wesleyan/ Russellville High School

Lamar Owen, Southern Illinois

Michael Morris, Austin Peay

Terrez DeWalt, Eastern Kentucky

Boris Siakam, Caverna/WKU

Brandon Stockton, UK/Glasgow High School

Jeffrey Young Jr., Louisville Male High School

Derek Robinson, WKU

[nksports]

A 20-man roster is two to three ABA teams. He must be using the extra players to be the opponent when the scheduled team doesn't show up.

[Paul S]

20 players is more than NBA teams carry, they dress 12 and have 3 in street clothes.


and I love this quote............

“I went to a tryout and they told me if I got in shape, they’d keep me"

I mean its no wonder they've got so many guys. Someone pitching up to a tryout camp and the coach says 'ok, you're on the team, but get in shape' doesn't sound like much of a camp to me.

and I love the website name..........MY KY MAVERICKS dot COM it just jumps out at ya. Maybe they'll need 20 guys to taunt the other team because the trash talk the other team will dredge up will be good.........the KY MAVERICKS indeed.

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/200 ... ports4.txt

Smith to step down as Mavericks CEO
Team owner cites family issues as reason for move

By NICK BAUMGARDNER, The Daily News, nbaumgardner@bgdailynews.com/783-3239
Friday, August 1, 2008 11:06 AM CDT

Due to recent family issues, Kentucky Mavericks majority owner Jason Smith has decided to step down as team president and CEO.

Smith confirmed this morning that due to recent events involving what he called a “life and death” situation with a member of his family, his time must be spent focusing now on personal issues rather than the day-to-day operations of the basketball team.

“It’s a real hard family issue happening right now. It just hit me over the past 48 hours and I’m not able to give the time right now to the Mavericks that I thought I would be able to due to this situation,” Smith said. “It is a life and death situation, it really is.

“We have to deal with emergency surgery right now and I’m trying to deal with that more so right now because I don’t want to lose anyone in my family.”

Smith said he will officially step down Aug. 8, and hopes to have someone hired and in place to serve as the team’s president and CEO on an interim basis.

“With me not being in the office a lot, things aren’t going to get done,” Smith said. “I can’t really give the time that I want to, the team with what’s going on with my family right now.”

This announcement comes just four days after the team announced that it will play its 2008-09 schedule in Owensboro, rather than in Bowling Green as originally planned.

Currently, the team still plans to practice and run all day-to-day operations at its office in Bowling Green.

Smith will still be the team’s primary owner, as he is the majority owner of S&A Corporations - the company that owns the Mavericks.

He also said that he will still have some involvement with the team while he deals with his family issue, but not nearly as much as before.

“I’ll be involved, but not as much as I have been recently. I’ll still be the owner, but I need someone in the office to run the team right now,” he said. “When I took this adventure, which has been a good and wild ride for me, I didn’t know it was going to be this much fun, but with the things going on in my family right now I think it’s wise for me to not juggle two balls at one time, but to just drop this one for a minute and possibly come back in the future.”

Smith also did not rule out the possibility of returning at some point to CEO duties down the road, but did say that whoever is hired as the interim CEO will take on the permanent role as the team’s president.

“It’s a possibility,” he said. “Right now, the position will be interim for whoever is hired, so there’s a possibility of when this is calmed down, I will come back, but the person who takes this position will become president permanently.”

I certainly hope that all goes well for his family health-wise, but how many twists and turns can this team have?

[Sam Hill]

Hope his family member is okay.

But he said "permanently" with regard to an ABA team.

[cglue]

I been there bro and I will be praying for yur family.

cglue