Where have you gone? (Non-Fingleton HC big man edition)

Stumbled across and interesting article in the Rochester alternative weeklyCity Newspaper about the Western New York city's new entry in the American Basketball Association.

For those unfamiliar with the relatively new ABA, this is not anything like the old Julius Erving-Connie Hawkins ABA. This is basically a has-been, never-been league where 50-year-old Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, a former NBA player and father of Kobe, averaged over 13 points per game last season after adding the player-hyphen to the front of his coach title with the Boston Frenzy for eight games last season.

You might recall, the Frenzy's roster included former Holy Cross big man Neil Fingleton for part of last season.

The new Rochester Razor Sharks are one of 48 franchise in the league, which includes teams in Tijuana, Beijing and-- our favorite -- the horse barn in Upper Marlboro, Md. What the league lacks in talent and level of play, it makes up for in gimmicks. Players are awarded an extra point if they score off a backcourt turnover. Post guys can only dribble three seconds before either shooting or passing (to discourage that NBA standard "backing and opponent down" play).

Why should Patriot League fans care about the RazorSharks. Well, aside from just the fact that it is a fun story about a fledgling basketball team, this piece also includes this PL hook:
Also expected to make the final roster is Scott Martzloff, a towering center who played on McQuaid's 1988 state title team and later suited up for Holy Cross. After playing for various teams in Europe and Asia for several years, Martzloff, like Stewart, was ready to return to the hometown stability the RazorSharks offer.
By the way, the search for Neil Fingleton is on again. Last spotted working out for the New orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets prior to the NBA Draft, a Google news search showed a link to a story that looked as though he was in negotiations with another ABA team, possibly the Frenzy again. The story did not show up when we clicked, so we are not sure.

If you spot Neil, drop us a line with an update.



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