Mix of the Month: Steve Novak 2011-12 Knicks Mix (shemmue0311)

Depending on how you look at it, the Knicks had a disappointing 2011-12 campaign. Between Melo's overshooting and STAT's dwindling athleticism, Steve Novak was one of the few bright spots on the team along with Jeremy Lin.

He's automatic from three-point range. This mix was made by shemmuel0311 on YouTube and the song is "The Choice Is Yours" by Black Sheep. Enjoy!



Speaking of sharp-shooting white guys who play in New York, I was hittin' three after three after three at the park yesterday. I was ballin', just like Novak does daily.

Have any thoughts on Steve Novak or any ideas for who I should feature in next month's mix? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

IBA: Legends Lose to Redline in Home Finale

The Albany Legends lost to the Chicago Redline 133-132 yesterday in their final home game of the 2012 season.

Whoever sang the national anthem before the game should do it before every Legends game. It was the best version of the national anthem that I've ever heard. Tadre Sheppard, E.J. Gallup, Tiki Mayben, Lloyd Johnson, and Kenny Tribbett were the starters for Albany.

The Redline scored the first 4 points of the game, but the Legends then scored the next 5 points to go up 5-4. Both teams were tied 8-8 with 8:47 left in the quarter. Free throws by Sheppard put the Legends up 17-14 with 4:44 left, but the Redline went on a 14-7 run to end the period and were up 28-24 at the end of the first.

The Legends came out hot and started the second quarter on a 7-0 run to go up 31-28. Free throws by Mayben put Albany up 55-52 with 2:30 left, but Chicago went on a 8-2 run to end the quarter and were up 60-57 at halftime.

A 2-point basket by Mayben put the Legends up 62-61 early in the third quarter, but the Redline responded with a 9-0 run and went up 70-62 after a dunk by Tony Bennett with 9:24 left. However, the Legends came back and pulled away. Albany led 101-92 at the end of the third.

The Legends started the fourth quarter on a 13-7 run and went up 114-99 after two 3-pointers by Gallup. However, the Redline didn't give up and started to mount a comeback. They gradually cut the lead during the fourth quarter and tied the game up at 130-130 late in the game. Tadre Sheppard and Andre Tyler traded baskets and the game was tied 132-132 with 5.1 seconds left. Antwan Ware was fouled by Johnson with 3.6 seconds left and made 1 out of 2 free throws to put the Redline up 133-132. With 3.6 seconds left in the game, Gallup imbounded the ball to Mayben who missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer (It looked like he was fouled, but it wasn't called). The Redline came out with a comeback win and won 133-132.

Player of the Game: Lloyd Johnson (42 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 8 three-pointers)

Tiki Mayben had a great statistical performance and finished with 36 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. Tadre Sheppard had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. E.J. Gallup scored 19 points and hit five 3-pointers.

Tony Bennett led the Redline with 33 points. Antwan Ware scored 29 points and grabbed a game-high 20 rebounds.

Random Highlight of the Game: Shagari Alleyne grabs an offensive rebound after a miss by Lloyd Johnson and dunks it. Adam Abdourahmane's (#32 on the bench) reaction makes it even better. (I'm so glad I got this on video! - Definitely the best highlight I filmed all season)



I was disappointed that the Legends blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost at the buzzer, but the Legends had a good season this year. I think the franchise has made some strides forward and I'm happy with what the team has done so far. I will continue to cover the Legends' road and playoff games this season. I might even do some opinion entries: "What Legends Should Be Re-Signed Next Season," "Who Should Coach the Legends Next Season," and "The Top 10 Legends Players of All-Time." I'm also finishing up a Baller Bio on former Albany Legend and NBA player Kenny Satterfield.

Next, the Albany Legends (9-3) will play the Lansing Capitals (5-6) on June 18th and then the Battle Creek Knights (2-10) on June 19th and June 20th. The Legends are 5-0 against the Capitals and the Knights this season. I'll be surprised if the Legends don't win at least 2 out of those 3 games. After those 3 games, the Legends will compete in the 2012 IBA Playoffs and hopefully win the championship.

Have any thoughts on the Legends losing to the Redline? How do you think the Legends will do in their road games and in the playoffs? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

IBA: Legends Beat Redline 143-137 in Shagari Alleyne's Debut

Yesterday, the Albany Legends defeated the Chicago Redline 143-137 on "Legends Love Lewie Night."

I was hyped up for this game. First off, Lloyd Johnson was 18 points away from scoring 1,000 career points as a Legend. The Legends also had two new players, Adam Abdourahmane and Shagari Alleyne. Abdourahmane played with the Albany last season as a role-playing big-man. Alleyne is a 7-3 center from Kentucky, and is now the tallest player to ever play on the Legends (beating out 6-11 center Neil Edwards who played with the Legends in 2010). 

Marcus Snipes and Evan Lane weren't with the team last night. Abdourahmane was wearing Lane's number so I'm assuming that Snipes and Lane were waived. It safe to say that they are being replaced by Abdourahmane and Alleyne. I think that this is a good move because the Legends struggled with rebounding against the Kankakee County Soldiers last series - Alleyne is 7'3" and Abdourahmane was a solid contributor on the boards last season for the Legends. Also, Lane struggled in his return to the Legends and Snipes didn't play as well after getting injured early in the season.

CBA was packed on Friday and there was a much larger crowd than usual. In attendance were Jimmer Fredette's parents and former Albany Legends coach Derrick Rowland.

Tadre Sheppard, Kenny Tribbett, E.J. Gallup, Tiki Mayben, and Lloyd Johnson were the starters for the Legends. Johnson made a 3-pointer as the first basket of the game to put the Legends up 3-0, but the Redline came out strong and developed an early lead. Chicago led 15-9 in the first quarter before Mayben made four 3-pointers in a row and tied the game up at 21-21. However, the Redline went on an 18-5 run to end the quarter and were up 43-29 at the end of the first. 

The Redline continued to pull away in the beginning of the second quarter and led 55-35 when Legends coach John Coffino called a timeout with 8:31 left. A big reason that Albany was down was lack of rebounding and bad defense. The Legends then went on a 36-8 run to end the first half and led 71-63 at halftime.

The first basket of the second half was a 3-pointer by Lloyd Johnson that was his 1,000th point as an Albany Legend. The game was stopped and the crowd applauded and gave him a standing ovation. It was a proud moment in Albany Legends history. Later in the 3rd, the Legends went on a 9-0 run and an alley-oop from Gallup to Sheppard put the Legends up 85-66. Midway through the period, the Legends led 92-75. The Redline cut the lead and the Legends were up 103-97 at the end of the third quarter.

The Legends and the Redline went head-to-head in the fourth quarter, but the Legends had the advantage because they were leading already. The game became close in the end and a Redline layup off a turnover by Gallup cut the Legends' lead to 3 and Albany was up 138-135 with 33.8 seconds left in the game. An off-balance shot by Mayben served as the dagger and put the Legends up by 5 with less than 20 seconds left. After a few free throws by Johnson and Gallup, the Legends won 143-137.

Player of the Game: Lloyd Johnson (36 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists) - He put up another triple-double and became the first Albany Legends players ever to surpass 1,000 points.

Tiki Mayben had a team-high 39 points and made six 3-pointers. E.J. Gallup made only 5 out of 15 field goal attempts, but finished with 19 points in the win. Tadre Sheppard chipped in with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting and Kyle Downey helped out with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. Shagari Alleyne scored 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field in his debut with the Legends. He also grabbed some rebounds and had some good blocks.

Tony Bennett of the Redline scored a game-high 43 points in the loss. Antwon Ware finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds. Terry Williams scored 33 points.

Random Highlight of the Game: Shagari Alleyne scores (He is my new favorite player on the Legends now that Guy Dupuy is gone.)



Next, the Albany Legends (9-2) will play the Chicago Redline (7-3) again today at CBA to end their 2-game series.

Have any thoughts on the Legends beating the Redline? Do you think Albany will sweep Chicago? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

Chris Grant: "(Albany Legends) Told Me They Didn't Need My Services"

(Photo Courtesy: The Record - troyrecord.com)

Back in March on opening night this season, the Albany Legends debuted an all-new squad, with only three returning players from the season before (Gallup, Mayben, & Morton) and no players from the 2010 title team (Lloyd Johnson returned to the team later). I didn't know what to expect from this team without the core of players that led Albany to IBL championship glory just two years earlier.

Fast-forward two months, I had a very interesting conversation yesterday with former Albany Legends player Chris Grant. I commented on one of his pictures and casually suggested that he should come back to the Legends. I said in the comment, "Come back to the Legends, we could use you up in Albany!"

Grant and I then exchanged a few messages that I'm very grateful he is letting me disclose. Here's what he told me:

"I wanted to come back. They (asked me several times) to come to the tryout and I did, then they hit me with the head fake and told me they didn't need my services."

"Like I said I wish the legends nothing but the best and I wish things would have turned out different but thats the nature of the business."

"So no more Albany for me."

If you don't remember Chris Grant, he played for the Legends in 2010 and 2011. He was a key player on their inaugural squad led by Kenny Satterfield and Gordon Klaiber that won the IBL Championship. He was a multidimensional player who couldn't be labeled as a scorer, a distributor, a rebounder, or a defender. He did everything and utilized himself well. He wasn't the best Legends player ever, but (in my opinion) he was their most versatile player. He could play point guard, shooting guard, and small forward well. Here are some highlights of Chris Grant when he was with the Legends:



It would be one thing if the Legends had a lot more talent this season, but no. No offense to any of the following players, but Grant is better than T.J. Czeski and Guy Dupuy. He was a glue guy who went out to help the team and never played for stats.

It would be another thing if the Legends did this with someone like Charles Henson (if you actually remember him, then good for you - I don't remember ever seeing him without his warmups on, but I digress), but Grant was a good player who would help the team. Sure, the Legends went 7-0 without him to start the season, but they could be 10-0 right now instead of 8-2 if he was still on the team.

Maybe there is more to this story that I don't know about, but I think the Legends made a bad decision to leave Grant in the dust. This is right up there with the Legends waiving Toby Smith back in 2010 (I'm never gonna let that one go).

Hopefully this isn't the same reason that Lloyd Clinton, Scott McRae, Damone Morris, and Deandre Thomas aren't on the team this season.

Have any thoughts on Chris Grant's comments on his departure from the Albany Legends? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

BBall Book Review: Don't Put Me In, Coach by Mark Titus

I recently finished reading Don't Put Me In, Coach by Mark Titus. It is by far the funniest book I've ever read and one of my favorite memoirs.

The book follows the basketball career of Mark Titus. He writes about playing with future-NBA players Mike Conley, Daequan Cook, and Greg Oden on an AAU team in high school and then tagging along with them to Ohio State as a walk-on. During his time as a member of the powerhouse Buckeyes team, he writes about rarely playing, but tells the reader about funny stories and pranks on his teammates and coaches. He also discusses creating his blog, Club Trillion, and being drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters.

This book is funny. I rarely laugh while reading, but this one had me grinning and cracking up a lot. He writes about stuff like provoking his teammates into fights and calling his high school basketball coach an "asshole" to his face. Also, the analogies he uses to describe his personal experiences are hilarious.

There's some humor that some people may find inappropriate (a lot of stuff about balls, weiners, and stuff like that), but I thought that everything about the book was good. Also, Titus makes so many 90's TV and movie references that it'll bring your childhood memories back.

I give this book 5 stars out of 5. It's a really great book and I'd suggest it to any basketball fan, but especially white guys, players who aren't stars on their teams, and (of course) Ohio State fans. Plus, the language and wording that he uses in the content of he book is perfect, in my opinion.

Here are the other BBall Book Reviews that I've written:
-Resilence by Alonzo Mourning (posted on May 16, 2011)
-Bad As I Wanna Be by Dennis Rodman (posted on September 18, 2011)

Have any thoughts on Don't Put Me In, Coach by Mark Titus? Have you read it? Do you wanna read it? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

IBA: Guy Dupuy Leaves Albany Legends for China

The Albany Legends announced yesterday via Facebook that guard Guy Dupuy is "headed for China" and will be playing on "the Chinese Mainland Tour of the SKY 'Street Ball' Syndicate sponsored by SHEMGOD & VOIT."

Guy Dupuy confirmed this, also via Facebook. He thanked his fans and his teammates on the Legends.

Dupuy played in 8 games with the Legends this season. The Legends were 6-2 when he played and 2-0 without him. His highlights included scoring 13 points in a game on April 13th against the Lansing Capitals, getting ejected and then suspended a game because of an altercation with an opposing player, and doing an off-the-bounce, between-the-legs dunk over a girl at halftime during a game:



He left the Legends on odd terms. During Saturday's loss to the Soldiers, he left the bench during the 3rd quarter and changed into street clothes after exchanging words with head coach John Coffino. He was later seen talking to General Manager Nick Dean outside the gym and spent the rest of the game sitting in the bleachers with Dean. Dupuy was not at Sunday's game and the Legends announced his departure from the team on Tuesday.

Albany Legends head coach John Coffino (left) and Guy Dupuy (right)

My theory is that he was going to leave the team anyway. I sit behind the Legends' bench at games and on Saturday, I heard Dupuy say to Coffino that it was his "last game." I think that whatever Coffino said to Dupuy set him off and provoked him to go back to the locker room and change out of his uniform mid-game. From what I heard, Coffino said something about to Dupuy dunking during halftime and said, "now everyone's fooling around." Dupuy took offense to his remarks and talked back. Coffino told him he could leave and Dupuy left after saying a few words (One of them was the f-word).

Dupuy didn't play overly well during his stint with the team and even had a few scoreless games. However, he was never given enough playing time, in my opinion, to show what he was made of.

Dupuy was one of my favorite players on the Legends. I thought he was cool and he is the best dunker that I have ever seen. Although his contributions to the team were sporadic (He was about as good at shooting as I am, and that's not saying much for either of us), I'm still sad to see him go.

Now that Dupuy is gone, the Legends could add another player to their roster if they want to. I would suggest that they bring back Scott Morton. He is a very energetic athlete who would help the Legends on both sides of the floor. Or the Legends can bring back Toby Smith!

Have any thoughts on Guy Dupuy leaving the Legends? Who do you think the Legends should sign, if anyone? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.