IBA: Legends Beat Splash in Coffino's First Game as Head Coach

The Albany Legends are still in first place after beating the Gary Splash 127-114 at CBA on Friday night in John Coffino's first game as head coach of the team.

The undefeated Legends faced up against the Splash, who had the second best record in the IBA behind Albany. Lloyd Johnson, Kyle Downey, E.J. Gallup, Tadre Sheppard, and Kenny Tribbett were the starters for the Legends. A jumpshot by Tribbett, a layup by Johnson, and a 3-pointer by Kyle Downey put the legends up 7-0 to start the game. However, the Splash went on a 17-6 run and were up by 4 with three minutes left in the 1st quarter. A layup by Sheppard tied the game at 17-17 with a 1:30 left and the quarter ended with the game tied 21-21.

The Legends and the Splash continued to go head-to-head in the 2nd quarter. Midway through the period, the Legends led 43-40, but the Splash came back and went up 56-53 at halftime.

The second half started with a 5-0 run by the Splash, but the Legends responded with an 11-2 run and went up 64-63 after a 3-pointer by Johnson. Later, back-to-back baskets by Gallup put the Legends up 77-73. Albany led 89-80 at the end of the 3rd.

The Legends continued to pull away in the 4th quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Gallup put the Legends up 110-93 and they never looked back. Late in the game, an alley-oop from Zachary Bye to Guy Dupuy left a Splash player posterized and the crowd going crazy (Unfortunately, it happened when I wasn't filming). The Legends ended up winning 127-114.

Player of the Game: Lloyd Johnson (37 points, 8 steals, 6 assists, 4 rebounds). He has emerged as the team's leader and go-to guy.

Tadre Sheppard also had a great game and scored 33 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. He also made 14 out of 22 field goals and shot over 60% from the field. E.J. Gallup finished with 15 points and led the Legends with 7 assists. Kyle Downey had a good all-around game and finished with 16 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds.

Marcus Snipes and Emanuel Mayben were in street clothes and didn't play. Snipes is probably still recovering from whatever injury caused him to miss last series. Mayben was suspended.

I like John Coffino. He seems like a cool guy and I'll think he's going to do well as head coach of the Legends. He's gotten off on the right start by winning his first game with the team. Then again, the Legends have won every game with every coach they've had this season.

Random Highlight of the Game: A missed dunk by the Gary Splash leads to an alley-oop from Lloyd Johnson to Tadre Sheppard.



The Legends (6-0) will play the Splash (8-2) again today at 7:00 pm at CBA to conclude the series. Regardless on whether the Legends win or lose, they will stay in first place.

(Sources: Times Union, http://ibaball.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/4-20-2012-legends-vs-splash.pdf)

Have any thoughts on the Legends beating the Splash? What do you think of John Coffino? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

IBA: Johnson Dominates as Legends Sweep Capitals and Stay Undefeated

The Albany Legends defeated the Lansing Capitals in all 3 games this past weekend at CBA and are now 5-0.

Game 1 - April 13th, 2012:

I wasn't at this game because I was in New York City watching the Knicks crush the Wizards at Madison Square Garden. However, the Legends continued their undefeated season in my absence and beat the Lansing Capitals 133-126 and improved their record to 3-0.

Kyle Downey played in his first game as a pro. Lloyd Johnson led all scorers with 35 points in his season debut with the Legends. Josh Jones chipped in with 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds while Tadre Sheppard also helped out with 22 points and 7 rebounds.

Terrance Shaw led the Capitals in scoring and rebounds with 26 points and 18 boards in the loss.

Player of the Game: Lloyd Johnson (35 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds)

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Game 2 - April 14th, 2012:

The Legends beat the Capitals again on Saturday 140-132 this time. E.J. Gallup led the Legends with 25 points. Lloyd Johnson scored 21 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out a game-high 6 assists. Emanuel Mayben chipped in with 17 points and 5 assists while Josh Jones also helped out with 17 points and 8 rebounds.

Terrance Shaw had another great night and led the Capitals in scoring and rebounding again. He finished with 32 points and 15 rebounds in the loss.

Towards the end of the game, Guy Dupuy got in a physical altercation with Will Wright of the Capitals and was ejected from the game. Wright received a technical foul.

Player of the Game: Lloyd Johnson (21 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists)

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Game 3 - April 15th, 2012:

Sunday's game was by far the most exciting game of the series and one of the most memorable Legends games of all-time.

The Legends only had 9 players in uniform. Marcus Snipes and Guy Dupuy were in street clothes. Snipes was on crutches and Dupuy was probably serving a suspension for getting thrown out of the game the night before. I walked into the building at the same time he did, 19 minutes before tip-off at 5:41. He had on a Jordan jumpsuit and a backwards Raiders hat. He was showin' some swag:

The Legends led for most of the game until the Capitals went on a run in the 3rd quarter. At the start of the 4th quarter, the Legends were down 93-91 despite leading by 20 points earlier in the game.

Both teams played hard in the 4th and battled until the end. A short jumper by Lloyd Johnson put the Legends up 128-125 with 21.4 seconds left in regulation.


The Capitals answered back with a 3-pointer by Ty Motley and Emanuel Mayben missed a long jumpshot at the buzzer. The game went into overtime with the game tied 128-128.

The Legends and the Capitals went head-to-head in overtime, but a few altercations by Legends players were key. Lloyd Johnson started arguing with the coaching staff after being replaced in the game by Kyle Downey. He exchanged some tense words with both coaches because he didn't want to be taken out of the game.

Almost directly after that, Mayben got in the face of a Capitals player and was issued a technical foul. He responded by storming off the court, taking off his jersey, and throwing it on the ground in Andrew Bynum-like fashion (Think of Game 4 of the 2011 NBA Western Conference Semi-Finals). He stayed in the locker room for the rest of the game. Despite leaving the game in disappointing fashion, Mayben finished with 27 points and 9 assists. Ironically, Lloyd Johnson was put in the game to replace him.

The Legends were up 148-146 with not much time left in OT and E.J. Gallup was intentionally fouled by the Capitals. He could have iced the game up, but made only one of two free throws. The Capitals were down 3 with a few seconds left. They brought the ball up from their backcourt and Ty Motley nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to double overtime.

Lloyd Johnson heated up in the second overtime period and rained 3-pointers. The Legends pulled away and won 173-159 in 2OT.

Terrance Shaw had a phenomenal game (47 points and 18 rebounds), but was unable to prevent the Capitals from getting swept. The Capitals are now 3-5.

Player of the Game: Lloyd Johnson (Legends franchise high 51 points, 17-28 field goals, 8 3-pointers

Star of the Series: Lloyd Johnson - He is now the only Legends player to have played in all 3 seasons and wowed the fans at CBA in his first 3 games back with the Legends after playing overseas in Italy.

Tadre Sheppard had a lesser role in these past 3 games than the first 2 games of the season. The return of Lloyd Johnson had a lot to do with it. Johnson carried the scoring burden and indirectly limited Sheppard on offense. However, Sheppard still played an important role in each of the past three wins for Albany and finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds on Sunday. He should continue to be a key player this season for the Legends.

Kyle Downey played his first three games this weekend with the Legends. He didn't put up overwhelming stats, but helped the team and utilized himself well. Downey is replacing Scott Morton on the roster and I think the team will break even with that move. Morton's height, defense, athleticism, and energy will be missed, but I think the Legends should play just as well without him.

Zachary Bye and T.J. Czeski gave solid contributions off the bench in the series. Bye rebounds very well for his size and plays solid on offense and defense. He got some questionable fouls called on him and fouled out in Sunday's game. Czeski will be battling for minutes now that the Legends are stacked at the point guard spot, but distributed the ball and scored well in the series.

Marcus Snipes was on crutches and didn't play in the series. Josh Jones stepped up in his absence and played well.

Next, the Albany Legends (5-0) will play the Gary Splash (8-1) in a two-game series starting on Friday, April 20th. The Legends and the Splash have the two best records in the IBA so far this season.

Sources:
http://ibaball.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/4-13-12-box-score-ny-vs-lansing1.pdf
http://ibaball.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/4-14-2012-box-score-albany-vs-lansing.pdf
http://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Legends-get-sweep-3484076.php

Have any thoughts on the Legends sweeping the Capitals? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

IBA: Legends Beat Knights in Season Opener 129-102

The Albany Legends won their first game of the 2012 season last night against the Battle Creek Knights 129-102.

The first thing I noticed was that Will Pratt and Kyle Downey weren't there and Pratt wasn't listed on the roster. According to timesunion.com, Downey had a prior commitment and might not play with the team until their game on April 13th. I still don't have any word on Pratt. I also noticed that Scott Morton, who played with the Legends last season, was with the team and was listed on the roster.

I predicted the starting lineup almost all right with the exclusion of Josh Jones. Emanuel Mayben, Jones, EJ Gallup, Tadre Sheppard, and Kenny Tribbett started for the Legends. The Legends won the tip and a short jumper by Mayben and a 3-pointer by Gallup put Albany up 5-0. A dunk by Tribbett put the Legends up 17-6 and another 3-pointer by Gallup put the team up 20-8. The first quarter ended with the Legends up 22-14.

The Legends kept their level of play up in the second quarter. One highlight play was when Mayben threw an off-the-backboard alley-oop to Marcus Snipes. The score at the end of the first half was 57-47.

Albany continued to dominate in the second half and started out the third quarter with a 15-5 run. The Legends kept pulling away and led 98-72 at the end of the 3rd.

The Legends came out hot in the 4th and led 113-83 with 6:15 left in the game. The Knights were unable to make a comeback and the Legends won 129-102.

Here are some observations I had:

-The Legends led the entire game and didn't look back. It was a very comfortable win for the team.

-During a dead ball in the first, Courtney Smith of the Knights noticeably shoved Mayben and it wasn't called.

-I love Scott Morton's game. He is always taking charges on defense and diving for loose balls. There was also a specific play in which Morton really impressed me. He was hard-fouled by a player on the Knights and didn't try to retaliate or anything. He just got up and shot his free throws. That's good sportsmanship.

-Guy Dupuy doesn't do much else besides dunking. He threw down some good dunks in warmups and in the game, but didn't do much else noteworthy besides making a 3-pointer in the game.

-EJ Gallup's game hasn't changed a bit. He jacked up 12 3-pointers made 5 of them. He finished with 19 points.

-TJ Czeski and Zachary Bye served as good role players off the bench. Neither of them played overly well, but they're both young and should improve over the course of the season. Czeski had a good dunk during the game and I think he will serve as a good back-up point guard to Mayben.

-Josh Jones and Marcus Snipes both scored the ball well and helped the team. I think Ben Smith should start 2 out of these 3 players at shooting guard and small forward: Jones, Snipes, and Gallup.

-Kenny Tribbett, who started for the Legends, played fairly well, but didn't seem to be overly aggressive on either side of the court. He did make a few shots from inside.

Player of the Game: Tadre Sheppard. Sheppard scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Random Highlight of the Game: EJ Gallup hits a 3-pointer off an assist from TJ Czeski.



The Legends play the Knights again today at 1:00 pm at CBA.

Sources:
http://www.fox23news.com/sports/custom/localsports/story/Albany-Legends-Win-Season-Opener-129-102/InXeEl93QUKprJ6xiK-MXw.cspx
http://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Legends-open-with-a-victory-3448976.php

Have any thoughts on the Legends winning their first game of the season. Do you think they can go all the way this year? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

Albany Legends to Start Season on Friday

The Albany Legends are back for their third season as a franchise and there are some notable changes with the team as they start the season on Friday.

The Legends have switched leagues. They are now playing in the IBA instead of the IBL. I don't think it will be a big factor.

There are also a lot of roster changes. There are only two returning players from last season:

-Emanuel Mayben is a talented point guard who should get more minutes now that Lloyd Johnson is not with the team. He ranked third in the IBL last season with 7.3 assists per game.

-EJ Gallup is a sharp-shooting guard-forward who can make it rain from 3-point range and should continue to get a lot of minutes this season. He averaged 16.1 points in 22 games for the Legends last year.

New additions to the team include:

-Zachary Bye: I couldn't find much information on this guy, so here's everything I know: He's from Scotia, New York, he went to Saint Rose, and is 25 years old. He could be a good 3-pointer shooter like Gallup.

-TJ Czeski: This 6-2 guard from Amsterdam, New York played college ball at Wagner College. In 100 games with the Seahawks, Czeski averaged 2.3 points, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game. He is 24 years old.

-Kyle Downey: Downey is a rookie out of Siena College. He averaged 13.5 points per game with the Saints in his senior season that ended this year. He is a 6-2 guard and is 22 years old.

-Guy Dupuy: I had heard of Dupuy before he signed with the Legends. He is a tremendous dunker, has been featured on TeamFlightBrothers, and is well known on YouTube. Besides dunking, I don't know anything about his game.

-Josh Jones: Jones is a 6-4 shooting guard out of Husson College who was waived by the Maine Red Claws of the NBA D-League in November of last year.

-Will Pratt: Pratt is a 6-5 forward who played two seasons of D1 college basketball for Northwestern State. In his senior season (2010-2011), he averaged 17.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.2 assists in 32 games and shot 50.8 percent from the field. He played 11 games this season in the D-League with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and put up averages of 8.6 points and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field. Pratt sounds very talented and I wouldn't be surprised if he leads the Legends in scoring this season.

-Tadre Sheppard: This 6-7 forward from Texas played 2 seasons of college ball at Central Arkansas and put up averages of 10.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.2 steals in 52 games while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. I have never seen Sheppard play, but I imagine that he will show a lot of energy on both ends of the court.

-Marcus Snipes: Snipes played with the Legends back in April of 2010. He averaged 1.3 points and 0.5 rebounds in 4 games with the team. He is a 6-4 guard.

-Kenny Tribbett: Tribbett played in 5 seasons at Drexel University from 2005-2010 and averaged 2 points and 2 blocks in 94 games with the Dragons. He is 6-9 and from New Jersey. I expect him to be a rebounder and a presence in the post.

Here is what I think the starting lineup will be for the Legends:

PG: Emanuel Mayben
SG: EJ Gallup
SF: Will Pratt
PF: Tadre Sheppard
C: Kenny Tribbett

Key Players NOT Returning to the Legends this year:

-Deandre Thomas: Thomas helped lead the Legends to the championship in 2010 was named the Championship MVP. He was a dominant post player and his size and post-presence will be missed this season.

-Lloyd Johnson: Johnson was a key player with the Legends during their title run in 2010 and led the team in scoring last season with 19.9 points per game. However, I think that Mayben will fill the void at point guard.

-Damone Morris: Morris was an athletic shooting guard and an integral part of the championship Legends squad in 2010 who could get above the rim and make jumpshots. The Legends will miss his scoring this year.

The big problem with the Legends this season is size. Most of the players on this team are guards and it looks like some players will have to play out of position to make up for it. I think that the Legends will finish the season with a winning record like they did their first two seasons. This team could win the championship, but its too early to tell.

The Legends will play their first game of the 2012 season on Friday, March 30th at 7:00 pm against the Battle Creek Knights at home (Christian Brothers Academy). I will be in attendance and will post a blog entry on the game.

Sources:
http://ibaball.net/nyalbanylegends
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000641411096
http://www.sienasaints.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/downey_kyle00.html
http://www.sienasaints.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031612aaa.html
http://www.sunjournal.com/news/local-sports/2011/11/15/jones-one-maines-own-red-claws-training-camp/1115480
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/89052
http://www.kjonline.com/sports/claws-cut-jones_2011-11-21.html
http://basketball.realgm.com/player/Kenny_Tribbett/NCAA/18543/2010
http://www.drexeldragons.com/news/2011/3/25/MBB_0325112133.aspx
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=209804514
http://www.albany.com/byesline/2012/03/albany-legends.html
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/32860/tj-czeski
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/61381
http://basketball.realgm.com/player/Will_Pratt/Summary/21726
http://www.ibl.com/player_profile.php?playerid=908
http://www.ibl.com/stats.php?year=2011

Have any thoughts on the Legends this year? Think they have what it takes to go all the way? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.