Patroons right at home
Albany puts seven players in double figures in impressive home debut against New York
Opening night for the Albany Patroons, for the most part, was a success Saturday night at Washington Avenue Armory.
The Patroons, in the second year of their reincarnation, mopped the Armory floor with the New York Court Kings, winning easily, 154-94 in front of an announced crowd of 1,000. That gave the Patroons a 2-0 record in The Basketball League, which was known last season as the North American Premier Basketball League.
“I’m happy with the way everything went,” Albany coach Derrick Rowland said. “I got to play a lot of guys and everyone played well.”
All 13 members of the Patroons who dressed scored. Albany’s Lloyd Johnson led the way with 28 points and led a Patroons barrage from 3-point range. Johnson made four of nine shots from long distance. As a team, the Patroons were 22-for-33 from 3-point range.
The Court Kings, who are based in Queens, were playing their first game of the season. The Patroons won in Jamestown 98-95 Friday night and did not get back to Albany until 6 a.m. Saturday.
“We had a lot of young guys play well,” said Johnson, one of the elders on this team at the age of 33. “It helps to have some youth.”
Saturday’s game did not go off without some glitches. The first one was out of the Patroons’ control. The Court Kings didn’t
arrive at the Armory until just about 40 minutes before the game started. That forced officials to delay the start of the game from 7 p.m. to 7:30. Shai Byrd, the coach of the Court Kings, said the team ran into traffic on the way up here Saturday afternoon.
“We have a young team,” Byrd said. “This was a game of growing pains for us.”
Scoreboard and shot clock issues plagued the team last year and there were still some minor bugs that will have to be worked out. The scoreboards did work fine (still nothing on the video portion of the board and the far end zone board wasn’t working) but the shot clocks above the baskets were dark and portable shot clocks had to be used.
Instead of a traditional horn to sound the end of quarters, the Patroons used air horns.
Also, the box score that was given out after the game was useless as it did not add up to the final score. It also had different scoring totals than actual scoring for several players in the box. The Patroons did have seven players hit double figures.
While those issues can be resolved, Rowland was happy with how his team introduced itself to the home crowd. Despite having limited rest, the Patroons had better legs and played a satisfying high-flying, above-the-rim brand of basketball.
The Patroons got contributions from everyone. Other locals Sajae Pryor of Lansingburgh (nine points) and Jerel Scott of Albany (25) made scoring contributions. Scott, a 6-foot-7 forward, made all six of his attempts from 3-point range. Pryor and Scott spent most of last season as practice players for the Patroons.
“What a difference a year makes,” Rowland said. “If I hadn’t given those two a chance, I don’t know who would have.”
The only drama in the second half was how large the Patroons’ margin of victory would be.
It got as high as 61 when Drew Healy made a free throw to make it 151-90 with 1:25 left.
The Patroons are now off until 7 p.m. Friday night when they play the San Diego Waves at the Armory.
Rowland said that while he is happy with the effort from Saturday, he is still evaluating this team, trying to figure out for himself what else the Patroons need to be a championship contender. After seeing how this team played against the Court Kings, the answer might be nothing.
“I do have a lot of guys waiting,” Rowland said. “This is a level of basketball where nothing is given. But I’m happy with how it went (Saturday).”