IBL's Albany Legends Ready for 2011 Season
April 5, 2011 - International Basketball League (IBL)
Albany Legends News Release
The Albany Legends' front office has been feverishly working to finalize the roster for 2011 season and Head Coach/General Manager Ben Smith promises a well balanced team of returning Legends, pro experience, rookies and local talent. Smith has clearly focused on talent that brings a strong sense of community to the team in an already talent-rich Northeast and more specifically, Albany area, to include MAAC and AEC Division 1 alumni. Smith, also a capital region product, headlines a coaching staff and roster that highlights veterans and new faces to the IBL, faces that are certain to impress.
The current Legends roster is as follows:
E.J. Gallup (6'4")- Coastal Carolina (Gloversville, NY)
Lloyd Johnson (6'0")- Schenectady County CC
Chris Grant (6'5")- Morgan State
Damone Morris (6'4")- Eckerd College
Scotty McRae (6'9")- U Albany ( Staten Island, NY)
Will Harris (6'8")- UAlbany ( East Greenbush, NY)
Prince Jackson (6'5")- Dominican College ( Schnectady, NY)
Adam Abdourhamane (6'9")- Cecil College (Niger, Africa)
Emanual "E-man" Maybe (6'3")- UMASS/Binghamton (Troy, NY)
Scott Morton (6'6")- SUNY Geneseo (Syracuse, NY)
It is also expected that 2010 IBL Champions Rashad Wood and Evan Lane will be returning from overseas placements to play with the Legends. The team is looking into adding more size to its roster, inviting 7'0" James Smith (Marist) and 6'10" Justin Marshall (Iona), along with local 6'8" PF Anthony Bruin (Iona/ Colonie, NY) to veteran's camp in early April. Local guards Lucious Jordan (UAlbany) and Tim Ambrose (UAlbany) could also balance out the roster, as they will be invited to camp April 4th..
The Albany Legends will announce the opening night roster on Friday April 9, 2011 and tip off for the 2011 season is 7pm, Friday April 15th at Christian Brothers Academy (12 Airline Dr in Colonie, their new home venue).
For more information, contact Albany Legends Head Coach Ben Smith @ 518-470-5743. For more information on the IBL, visit the IBL web site www.iblhoopsonline.com
About the International Basketball League
The International Basketball League is heading into its 7th year: the sixth IBL Championship was held in Albany New York on July 16th, 2010; in that game- the Albany Legends beat the visiting Bellingham Slam (from Washington) 126 to 111.
The IBL is international: Shanxi China and Edmonton Canada competed in the IBL 2008 season. In the 2009 IBL season, a team from Japan- the Nippon Tornadoes and a second Canadian team-the British Columbia Titans competed in the IBL. In addition to teams from Asia and Canada playing in the IBL, the Central Oregon Hotshots and the Elkhart (Indiana) Express played 5 games apiece in China. In 2011, the Vancouver Volcanoes played 5 games in Japan.
An entertaining game:by allowing only 1 timeout per quarter, and reducing dead time with an 'immediate inbounds', IBL games are always fast & entertaining and the contest only lasts 2 hours. IBL believes that basketball was meant to be athletic and the game was meant to move; the IBL takes out the unnatural and unintended breaks in play ('unintended' by Naismith).
Arena league: IBL teams upgraded playing venues in recent seasons.
The IBL dates of play appeal to high level players: the IBL season occurs from late April - the end of June with playoffs occurring July 1st- 3rd. The timing of the IBL season has led to great players wanting to play in the IBL. These are players who need to continue their development or maintain their development. This development league concept- started with the 2007 season-when after the 2007 IBL season ended- 102 players went on from the IBL to then play overseas basketball.
Former NBA players that have played in the IBL: 25 former NBA players have appeared in the IBL (IBL web site, Hall of Fame link).
Highest attendance: An impressive attendance was garnered at an IBL game played in 2006 in Portland Oregon at the Rose Garden (photo above) where 4,400 fans watched Portland beat Vancouver (video of this game is available on the IBL web site, click on the team- Vancouver Volcanoes). One year later, that attendance record was eclipsed when just under 6,000 fans saw the Elkhart Express (Indiana) beat the Grand Rapids (Michigan).
Key feature of the IBL for an owner: the IBL was designed around the concept of creating extremely low travel costs for the owners; in fact, the IBL has a 'one flight guarantee' for teams. International Basketball League teams can play a variety of opponents from all over the country (or world) but team owners in the IBL only are required to fly one time (not counting playoffs which are optional, after the 20-game season).
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International Basketball League Stories from April 5, 2011
- IBL's Albany Legends Ready for 2011 Season - Albany Legends
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
