The new-again Albany Patroons open their home season this weekend
The resurrected Albany Patroons open their home schedule at the Washington Ave Armory this Saturday. The Patroons face the Rochester Razorsharks at 7:05 pm. Tickets are $10-$30 and available online.
The new-again Pats are playing in the new North American Premier Basketball, an 8-team pro league that's a bit of throwback to the old the CBA (Yakima Sun Kings!) in which the Patroons had their heyday in the 80s and 90s.
And the Albany roster includes a few players you might recognize, including former Siena star Edwin Ubiles and former NBA player Smush Parker. And the coach/general manager is Derrick Rowland, the all-time leading scorer in Patroons history.
The Patroons and Razorsharks opened the league December 31 in Rocester, a 110-92 Albany win in which Ubiles had 24 points.
The Armory seats about 2,500 people for a basketball game, so there's basically not a bad seat in the house. And if the games can draw decent-sized crowds, the atmosphere could be fun. The season runs through April, with playoffs in May.
Earlier:
+ The Albany Patroons are making a comeback
+ What's up with the Washington Ave Armory
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A few things to remember on game day.
1. Parking. Find it on the street, that's your best option. In fact, that's your only option.
2. Natural rivals: Obviously, the Rochester RazorSharks (which would make a great road trip, and Blue Cross Arena has decent parking available). But also the Yakima Sun Kings, who came out on the winning side of two classic Albany Patroons hoops battles. Oh yeah, and Yakima's still coached by Paul Woolpert, who coached the Sun Kings over Albany in the CBA 2007 finals.
3. Make noise. When the Patroons were in the Washington Avenue Armory in their first two iterations, the crowd noise was deafening - almost like the fans were the proverbial "sixth man" on the team. Cheer, scream, bring cowbells, it doesn't matter.
4. Have fun.
... said Chuck Miller on Jan 4, 2018 at 2:02 PM | link
Chuck,
Parking on the street isn't the only option actually. CDTA has at least six routes that stop right at the Armory and will be running in time for the game tomorrow, with routes that run on Western, Washington, and Central Avenues. Route #182 can get you to the game from parts of Latham, Colonie, Watervliet and Cohoes, and Route #214 will get you there from Rensselaer and the Park & ride in Defreestville. Plus there's Uber & Lyft.
We almost always have transportation options other than driving, and with the way things are at the State & Federal levels it is on us to make sure we take those into consideration if we want to reduce our environmental impact, save money, and be healthier.
... said Sam on Jan 5, 2018 at 8:48 AM | link