Newarks Pro Basketball Team Offers Open Tryout

NEWARK, N.J. - July 23, 2013 - PRLog -- Posted by Paul Milo (http://newarknj.patch.com/users/paul-milo) (Editor), July 22, 2013 - When the Nets (http://www.nba.com/nets/hellobrooklyn-we-are-in) blew out of town a few years ago for a new home in Brooklyn, there was still a pro basketball team remaining in Newark -- the Jersey Express (http://www.jerseyexpress.net/), the American Basketball Association league team that plays its home games at Shabazz High School (http://newarknj.patch.com/listings/shabazz-malcolm-x-high-school-2) on Johnson Avenue.

The eight-year-old franchise -- which finished fifth out of 80 teams in the 2012-13 season -- won’t start playing regular season games again for several weeks yet, but that doesn’t mean the team is idle right now.

Team members recently conducted a clinic for younger kids. The Express also took part in the recent kickoff for “Super Summer,” a menu of recreation programs sponsored by the city of Newark and other agencies .

The team also has a benefit game planned for this Saturday at 1 pm at West Side Park Gym, 600 S.17th St., versus the Newark Fire Department (tickets are $10).

And next month, on Aug. 17 at 1 pm, there’s going to be an open tryout at Shabazz High for anyone with the skills to take their game to the next level.

All of the above is consistent with the team’s -- and the ABA league’s -- philosophy of not just playing for the community, but being a part of it, said the franchise’s owner, Marsha Blount (pronounced “Blunt”).  

“We don’t want to be here just for a temporary rental. We are New Jersey’s professional basketball team, and we have ties to the NBA [National Basketball Association],” said Blount, the first African-American woman to own a professional male sports franchise.

“A lot of our players come from our own backyard,” she added, including forward Charles Smith, a Shabazz High graduate.

Blount, whose retired jersey hangs from the rafters at her high school alma mater in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., has a long basketball pedigree. After a successful career at Queens College in the mid-1980s, she played on traveling and other squads before becoming involved with the WNBA, the women’s professional league.

She then moved on to the ABA, the league that once boasted such giants of the game as Julius “Dr. J.” Erving. The ABA reformed about a decade ago after a 25-year moratorium during which the NBA, which absorbed four ABA franchises in the 1970s, rose to prominence.

The ABA, however, offers a lot for both players and fans that you won’t get from the likes of the Heat, Spurs or Knicks, Blount says.

For instance, in addition to the three-point rule -- an ABA innovation -- there’s also a power play rule where a three-point shot actually counts for four. The rule kicks in when a turnover is caused in the backcourt.

“That rewards the defense and makes the game more exciting,” Blount says.

There’s also a crowd-friendly vibe at ABA games, with activities designed to draw the audience, such as the dunk contest -- another ABA invention.

Blount sounds almost like a parent when she speaks of her players, who are encouraged to stay in school and have opportunities to connect with professionals both in the NBA and in the European leagues, where many former ABA players have found a home. The team has also played exhibition games in China, broadening the horizons of the young men on the squad.
“Every year we find these players who are really hungry, and it makes the games exciting,” Blount says. “I really hope the fans come out so they can experience what I’m talking about.”