Deadspin
cut the check, baby
Posts Tagged “
Aba
”
cut the check, baby
american basketball association
New ABA Coach Has Cleanest Rain Gutters In His Neighborhood
We love the Dodge City Legends' motion offense; the one in which their center sets picks at the top of the key. Because it's important to keep the tallest player in the history of organized basketball as far away from the basket as you can at all times. You've probably heard of Sun Ming Ming, a native of China who, at 7-foot-9, makes Yao Ming look like Porky from the Our Gang comedies. Sun has been in the U.S. for a couple of years now and was just signed by the Maryland Nighthawks of the American Basketball Association. He isn't very athletic and has only been playing the game for five years (hello, New York Knicks!), but he's recovering quickly from recent health problems and hopes to one day play in the NBA. More »
movies
Will Ferrell Is Making A Movie About The ABA
I ran across this yesterday and thought it was the sort of thing about which you'd like to be made aware: Will Ferrell and Andre Benjamin of OutKast are making a movie entited "Semi-Pro" about an ABA Basketball team. Sold. That's all I need. To be honest, I was sold after "Will Ferrell," but I thought it polite to go ahead and finish the sentence. More »
allen iverson
Allen Iverson's Mom Set To Revolutionize The ABA
Ann Iverson, mother of NBA superstar Allen, has become the owner of an ABA franchise. Richmond will be the city, and there's not a nickname yet, though "Iversons" or "Answers" might be a good bet. More »
aba
Muresan Lives! (In The ABA)
After he read about the promotion on Deadspin last week, Danny Groner of Silver Spring, Md. decided to attend the ABA game featuring guest player Gheorghe Muresan. Because he was really there. He files this report: More »
aba
Partying It Up In Sunrise
We are long-time fans of the American Basketball Association, with their makeshift rosters, frosty hamlets of Gallup, N.M. and Strong Island Sound, N.Y. and their bravery of allowing Sports Illustrated writers own their own teams. The ABA franchises remind us of a bunch of scrappy kids trying to launch a magazine; they're doomed, but doomed in new and different ways. More »
nba
Waiting For Rodman ...
Let's hear it for the people who waited for three hours outside of Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco on Tuesday for Dennis Rodman to show up for a book signing. (Who gives you coast-to-coast Rodman coverage? Deadspin, that's who). And what an occasion it was. The weather was cool and crisp, the milling throng of 11 fans orderly and reserved, the local police on high alert. The event was otherwise noticeable only for its complete lack of Rodman anywhere on the premises. He never showed up.
For those who don't know, Rodman plays for the Tijuana Dragons of the minor league American Basketball Association. The team was scheduled to play the San Francisco Pilots last night at 7 p.m., with Rodman slated to arrive at 4 p.m. to sign copies of his book, I Should Be Dead By Now. But when 5 p.m. came and went without any sign of him, and then 6, the few people who had showed up, autograph pens in hand, slowly dispersed into the fog.
"I kept calling his hotel," said beleaguered Pilots chief operating officer Chris Conley. "They said he was working out. They're saying now that he may sign books after the game. I don't know; clearly we are dealing with Rodman Rules."
Rodman did show up for the game — 10 minutes late (they held the start time for him). This reporter was there for the action, and let us just say, a little warm-up time is essential when one is 44 years old. Rodman had none; stretching out a bit, then running right into the game where he immediately: 1. Threw away an inbound pass under his own basket for an opposition layup; 2. Took his first shot — an airball; 3. Was consistently the last man back on defense; and 4. Grabbed some pine five minutes into the first quarter. Oh, by the way, he prefers the lime Gatorade.
Our favorite moment came during the break between the first and second quarters. Rodman grabbed a ball to take some practice shots, but when his first shot hit the front rim and rolled to the opposite side of the floor, he waved his hand in disgust and returned to the bench.
In all Rodman logged about 25 minutes, had seven assists, four rebounds and didn't score. The weirdest thing was, the crowd of about 350 or so didn't really seem to be there to see him (the Pilots drew more in their home opener two weeks before). Only a small contingent of press seemed to be jazzed about him being there. We left midway through the fourth quarter, with the Pilots ahead 113-71.
In case we didn't mention it, the Dragons really, really suck.
So that's your Dennis Rodman update for today, and we'd like to add that we were disappointed not to have seen his publicist, Darren Prince, anywhere. We wanted to impress him with our impeccable grooming. More »
aba
Meet The New ABA
The seats were uncomfortable, the snack bar didn't have much of a selection and the halftime show was nonexistent (the sound system broke, causing the scheduled singer to go home). But professional basketball returned to San Francisco on Tuesday, and for the 1,000 people or so who turned out at Kezar Pavilion, that was enough.Yes, the American Basketball Association is back. The original version gave us Dr. J, Rick Barry and the 3-point shot and lasted until 1977, when four of its teams merged with the NBA. It resurfaced in 2000 as a minor league, with eight teams. And four years later (skipping 2003-04 to "reorganize") the league boasts 47 teams, including an expansion franchise in San Francisco, the Pilots. And when we heard about their opener on Tuesday, vs. the Fresno Heat Wave, we couldn't resist. So off we went to ancient Kezar Pavilion, once the occasional home to the great Bill Russell, Casey Jones USF teams of the 1950s and the NBA San Francisco Warriors before they moved to Oakland and became Golden State.
The team, owned by local attorney Parimal Rohit and using a roster made up primarily of ProCity Summer Basketball League players, isn't bad. They've got former UAB forward Anthony Johnson, and guard Kevin Butler from UC Riverside, another player we always liked. We must say it took a while for us to get acclimated to the ABA rules, which call for, among other things, a four-point shot. Also, it should be noted that this is the only pro league we're aware of in which one can actually buy a franchise online. Yep. Just fill out a form, pick a name (Brentwood White Broncos would be ours), and go nuts. Players earn $600-$800 a week (there's a $1,200 salary cap) for a 35-game league schedule.
We sat in the stands (the "press area" consisted of a folding table which was occupied by a large box of promotional T-shirts), where we met Tim Weidner, a San Francisco native who plans on attending every home game. "It's about time pro basketball came back to San Francisco," he said. "It's pretty good basketball. For five bucks you can't beat it."
Yeah, $5 to get in. Compared to our recent viewing of the film "Doom," that's a steal. Of course, ticket prices will be raised to $10 when the Tijuana Dragons come to town on Nov. 22. The Dragons, of course, feature Dennis Rodman.
"We're expecting Rodman to show up," said ever-hopeful Pilots chief operating officer Chris Conley. "I call the Dragons every day, and they say he'll be here. But of course, I don't think even Dennis knows what he's going to do on any given day. He quit his marriage after one week, so what's to stop him from quitting his team?"
Yes, but one can dream. And of course, if Rodman does show up, we'll be there — perhaps dressed as Beetlejuice, just for laughs.
San Francisco Pilots [Official Site]
American Basketball Association [Official Site]
aba
Viva Los Rodmanos!
From the What Could Possibly Go Wrong? file comes today's fun bit from the world of semi-professional basketball: Dennis Rodman is close to signing a contract with the ABA's Tijuana Dragons. Rodman is 44 years old but doesn't look a day over 13. Our love for the ABA is well-documented, and even though the Tijuana season supposedly starts in November, their schedule isn't set and they're still not sure if they have any clean towels. Honestly, the ABA is run out of a boiler room in the basement of some junior high school. More »
aba
