LENEXA, KS - Proving once again that he learned at the foot of the master, ABA President Jim Clark has blithely announced that the ABA Tournament will begin on Thursday, March 4. The fact that there were still a dozen regular-season games scheduled on or after that date is not important, at least not in the league that for the third consecutive season has halted its schedule early in favor of a postseason tournament. "We are excited to have our playoffs start in Juárez, México and having every game televised and with packed arenas for our international audience," said Clark, with a straight face and his best Joe Newman "pay no attention to the unplayed games behind the curtain" demeanor. Juarez will apparently host the quarterfinals and semifinals of what is likely to be an all-comers tournament once again, with Long Beach hosting the championship game on Sunday, March 9. [DISCUSS]

LENEXA, KS - The ABA has not yet started looking in jail cells for prospective owners, but that day probably isn't too far off. With recent revelations that the former owner of the expansion team in Little Rock, Arkansas was indicted on 82 counts of fraud, and that the owner of the Portland expansion team has an outstanding arrest warrant and has declared bankruptcy three times, the ABA is continuing its tradition of due diligence that brought you Wayne Butler and Calvin Jarrett. Then, this week comes word that the league has hired Ricardo Richardson, who helped run the Indiana Legends into the ground, as Vice President - Special Projects. The ABA release didn't mention that Richardson was the General Manager of the Legends for just over four months at the end of the 2001-2002 season, and presided over falling attendance, the fiasco involving the mystery "leaky roof" at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and games being mysteriously cancelled before resigning on May 20, 2002, citing differences "with the direction of the team and owners." But, hey, they're making a movie about the league, right? What could be better?

KANSAS CITY, MO - Whether Dennis Rodman is truly "serious about his comeback," has he is described by Long Beach Jam coach Earl Cureton or not, he is certainly having a serious effect on ABA ticket sales. Friday night a capacity crowd of 4,800, largest in the ABA this season, turned out in Kansas City hoping to at least catch a glimpse of the former NBA star. Rodman, however, remained in New York, where he had taped a TV show with radio personality Howard Stern, and did not make the trip to Kansas City. He was unlikely to play because of a leg injury, but the Knights had led fans to believe Rodman would be in attendance at the game, even staging a Rodman lookalike contest and handing out 2,000 posters of the 42-year-old forward. Oh, by the way, the Jam won anyway, has they have with or without Rodman this season, getting 27 points from DerMarr Johnson and 23 from Jannero Pargo in a 113-105 win over the Knights. Cortez Groves had 28 to lead Kansas City. The Jam's next game is a week from Sunday at home against Fresno.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The ABA plans to add four more badly-run and underfinanced franchises with no place to play in time for the 2004-2005 season, assuming they can complete the 2003-2004 season. Besides teams in Louisville, Kentucky and Little Rock, Arkansas, the ABA will try again in Pittsburgh, where they have two old owners with plenty of money, and Portland, Oregon, where they have one young owner with no money. Portland's Memorial Coliseum (pictured) is one possible home for the Portland Reign. The former home of the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA is just yards away from the Rose Garden, the Blazers' current home (when they're not in custody). Long Beach Jam owner Steve Chase said Monday that expansion franchises are being confirmed without the approval of the existing ownership groups, which seems curious. 

PHILADELPHIA, PA - From Trenton to Asbury Park to parts unknown, the ABA's Jersey Squires have moved around from place to place this season while remaining firmly in the league basement. The 1-14 Squires will now apparently call the Community College of Philadelphia's 1,400-seat gym (right) their home court, at least for now, beginning with Wednesday night's game against the Long Beach Jam. Dennis Rodman is expected to make the trip with the Jam, but the former NBA rebounding champ, who has played just two games for Long Beach, may not be 100% fit after a leg injury and may not play. The Squires may be counting on people anticipating Rodman to play, as they've set their ticket prices at a ridiculously high level of $40 for courtside seats, $20 for general admission and $12 for students.  

LAS VEGAS - Dennis Rodman did not play for the Long Beach Jam in Tuesday night's 136-124 win over the Rattlers, and will not play in the second leg of the back-to-back games Wednesday night because of a sore right knee. Rodman, who had 14 rebounds in his debut last Friday night against Fresno, took himself out of Sunday's game against Jersey because he felt he was not yet in basketball shape. He told the Long Beach Press-Telegram, "I need to take a couple of weeks so that I can explode off the knee and really, really run and jump." If Rodman doesn't play for the next couple of weeks, it would be a blow to the ABA, who have pinned their hopes on the publicity the former NBA rebounding champ brings. Meanwhile, a former pro player wanted on suspicion of defrauding the city of Cincinnati was believed to have his sights set on trying out for the Jam, perhaps under an assumed name. 

LONG BEACH - The Long Beach Jam may be the new kid on the block, but they're definitely acting like veterans. On Friday night in front of 1,200 fans at the Pyramid, the Jam beat the defending ABA champion Kansas City Knights for the second time in as many tries, 121-104. Point guard Yuta Tabuse (left) sparked the Jam with 9 assists and 7 points off the bench in his first action since being sidelined with ankle and knee injuries and Geno Carlisle scored 38 points as Long Beach came back from four points down at the half. The two teams play again Sunday afternoon. In other ABA action Friday night, the Las Vegas Rattlers and Jersey Knights played another mystery match, Las Vegas' second in three nights. How hard is it to let the league know the result of a game? Apparently too hard for whoever's running the show in Sin City. 

We've Turned Two 
January 1, 2004

That's right, almostbasketball turned 2 years old with the dawning of 2004. On January 1, 2002, we began as a message board devoted to the ABA, with our website following shortly thereafter. 

Not much has changed in two years. The ABA still has seven teams, at least a couple of them appear to be total jokes, a team from southern California and a team from Kansas City are atop the standings, games are going unplayed without explanation, and on a good night, maybe 1,500 people show up to watch. And we're still here, providing you with a place to find out information on the league, free from the ABA spin. 

Like any two-year-old, we need more love, so tell a friend and we hope to see more of you back here and on the board discussing the ABA. 

KANSAS CITY - The Kansas City Knights played the Grinch Tuesday night, with eight players opening double-figure gifts in a 128-80 win over the visiting Fresno HeatWave. With Jamaal Davis and Antoine Johnson leading the balanced attack with 18 and 17 points, respectively, the defending ABA champs moved to within a game and a half of the Long Beach Jam's league lead going into the Christmas break. Kansas City jumped out to a 35-12 lead after one and was never threatened, with Fresno scoring just 30 points in the first half. Joe Smith led the HeatWave with 25.  Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Ben Adams hit a layup and was fouled, and converted the free throw with one second left to give the Tijuana Diablos a 93-92 win over the Las Vegas Rattlers. Adams scored 20 on the night, while John Humphrey's 22 led Las Vegas. 

LAS VEGAS - The Las Vegas Rattlers used a big third-quarter run to break open a tight game and went on to claim a 100-90 win over the Tijuana Diablos Monday night for their first-ever win. Las Vegas (1-3) got 19 points (including 5 three-pointers) from guard Percy Miller (Master P) and 18 from Kevin Morris in claiming the win in front of an estimated 1,500 fans at a former roller rink at the Las Vegas Events Center. Tied 43-43 at halftime, the Rattlers exploded to outscore TJ 30-14 in the third to go up by 16 and held on for the win. The two teams play again tonight in Las Vegas. 

LONG BEACH, CA - As if the ABA wasn't absurd enough, the Long Beach Jam have signed basketball's master of the art by inking Dennis Rodman to a contract. The 42-year-old Rodman, who last played in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks nearly four years ago, signed Friday and expects to play for the Jam in mid-January, with hopes of a return to the NBA. Rodman led the league in rebounding a record seven consecutive times but was arguably the flakiest player ever, with his on and off the court antics resulting in as many fines as slowly shaken heads. The Jam, who beat Tijuana 125-116 in front of 700 fans Sunday afternoon, expect Rodman to begin practicing after Christmas. [DISCUSS]

SOMEWHERE IN PHILADELPHIA, PA - No mira ahora, but Los Gallos de Pelea de Juarez have won three straight and are closing on the Long Beach Jam in the ABA standings. Wednesday night Brian Lewin scored 28 points and Cedric Patton added 24 to lift the Gallos to a 121-114 victory over the winless Jersey Squires. Sam Bowie scored 17 and David Shelton knocked in 16 to lead a balanced attack as the Gallos finished a two-game sweep of the embattled Squires. Jersey owner Wayne Butler moved his team from Asbury Park last week, and played Kansas City Saturday night at the University of Philadelphia's Bucky Harris gym, an 850-seat arena on the campus of the Division II school. UP Athletic Director Thomas Shirley told almostbasketball the Squires played on his school's campus as a "favor to help them out of a jam" and that there were no plans to have any more ABA games there. Tuesday night's game was apparently played at Neumann College's 300-seat Thomas A. Bruder Athletic Center. Neumann is a private Catholic school in Philadelphia whose teams play in NCAA Division III. There is no word yet on where Wednesday night's game was played or where the Squires will land on a permanent basis. 

LENEXA, KS - The ABA's plan to conduct secret basketball operations is working brilliantly after less than three weeks, league observers say.  The first part of the operation, to release little or no information about one or more league teams, was successfully carried out by waiting until the week of its first game to announce details of the Las Vegas franchise. Part of that operation is still ongoing, with the league observing silence on where the Rattlers will play their home games, with less than a week to go before the team's home opener. The ABA is also conducting games without letting anyone know where they will be played, as well as not releasing the final scores of games until days after they have been played. "It's all a part of our master plan to keep a little mystery in the air," a league spokesman would have said if he wasn't going to be violating the directive not to release information. "We think if people knew everything about the league, it would take some of the fun out of it." Inside sources have revealed that the league may never announce where the Jersey Squires franchise will be moved, and instead will wait to see if anyone notices. 

ASBURY PARK, NJ - Jersey no longer fits. The Jersey Squires, plagued by a poor arena and a worse owner, have left Asbury Park and will play in another city for however much longer they exist in the ABA this season. Unable to come up with the cash wanted by the Asbury Park Convention Hall management (who weren't born yesterday), owner Wayne Butler has moved the team. In typical ABA fashion, he didn't tell anyone where he has moved the team. In fact, Saturday night's game against the Kansas City Knights was apparently played (KC won 118-112), but no one seems to know where. Perhaps we'll find out today, when the Squires are supposed to host Juarez in the first night of back-to-back games. 

KANSAS CITY, MO - The Kansas City Knights only lost five games in the 2001-2002 ABA season on their way to the championship; they've already lost three in the 2003-2004 season, including back-to-back losses at home after previously winless Tijuana capped a mini-sweep with a 98-94 win at Hale Arena Thursday night.  The Knights, who went 32-5 in the league's last season, are 3-3 and three full games behind the Long Beach Jam two weeks into the season. 

CIUDAD JUAREZ, MX - Yes, Virginia, there is a Las Vegas Rattlers. The last ABA team to take to the court in 2003 dropped its opener Tuesday night at University Gymnasium, 120-91 to the Juarez Gallos. New coach Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant, father of NBA star Kobe Bryant, had just nine players available and was without former NBAers Reggie Jordan and Mark Jackson, but the Rattlers jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Juarez recovered and ran off 10 straight points to take the lead for good, however, and led by as many as 40 points in the second half before settling for their third win of the season by a comfortable 29 points. 

LONG BEACH, CA - The Long Beach Jam are threatening to run away with the ABA after less than two weeks of play. On Tuesday night the Jam got 33 points from DerMarr Johnson (left) and 30 from Damion Dantzler in a 132-120 win over the Fresno HeatWave in front of 2,271 fans at The Pyramid at Long Beach State. In winning their home opener, the Jam improved to 6-0 and served notice that they are the team to beat. 

ASBURY PARK, NJ - The Jersey Squires won't play their scheduled ABA game tonight against the Tijuana Diablos, and it's not clear exactly when they'll play again, or who their players and coaches will be if they do. The Squires have postponed tonight's game officially due to the winter storm that pounded the Northeast this weekend, but it's a convenient excuse. The players haven't been paid, the coaches have been fired, and the Asbury Park Convention Center (right) wants its money up front from team owner Wayne Butler. Butler has until noon Thursday to meet a list of requirements, which includes adequate insurance, back pay for players, and the ability to field a competitive team, or the league will seek "alternative financing." This must be one of those "couple of bumps" league President Jim Clark talked about. [DISCUSS]

KANSAS CITY, MO - Three straight wins have the defending ABA champion Kansas City Knights closing in on first place in the ABA standings. On Thursday night, Joe Crispin scored 25 points, Jamaal Davis (left) had 22, and Doug Wrenn had 9 points and 10 rebounds in a 118-99 win over the Juarez Gallos de Pelea. Nate Driggers and Sam Bowie each had 17 points for Juarez, which lost its second straight. 

KANSAS CITY, MO - The Kansas City Knights have started a new winning streak after seeing their ABA-record 24-game run come to an end in the season opener. The Knights got 23 points from Joe Crispin (right), 22 from Jamal Davis, and 20 from Cortez Groves in a 124-106 win over the Juarez Gallos de Pelea. Sam Bowie and David Shelton led Juarez with 17 points apiece. With the win, Kansas City claimed second place in the ABA standings, with the two teams set to battle again Thursday night at Hale Arena. Another sparse crowd greeted the Knights, as they drew fewer than 300 fans for their second home game. 

KANSAS CITY, MO - If there were any doubts about what effect  sitting out nearly 20 months will have on the ABA, there shouldn't be after only about 500 fans turned out for the home opener of the league's flagship franchise, the Kansas City Knights, Tuesday night at Hale Arena. The Knights got 18 points from former Kansas State player Cortez Groves (left) in a 117-81 win over the Jersey Squires, but the crowd was the Knights' smallest ever. Kansas City had averaged 2,265 and 2,722 fans per game in its previous two seasons. The defending league champs host Juarez the next two nights.

FRESNO, CA - The Long Beach Jam improved to 5-0 with a 153-102 win over the Fresno HeatWave Tuesday night despite having two key players sick with the flu. With Juaquin Hawkins playing limited minutes and DerMarr Johnson unable to play at all, the Jam got 31 points from Matt Barnes and 26 points and 23 rebounds from Jack Hartman in picking up the easy victory. Long Beach will host Fresno in its home opener at The Pyramid at Long Beach State next Tuesday night. 

FRESNO, CA - The Long Beach Jam improved to 4-0 on the young ABA season Monday night with a 125-109 win over the Fresno HeatWave. Geno Carlisle (left) poured in 25 of his game-high 37 points in the second quarter as Long Beach outscored Fresno 45-17 in the period. Matt Barnes had 24 points, Jack Hartman and Juaquin Hawkins had 13 apiece, and DerMarr Johnson chipped in with 11 as the Jam stayed perfect. Only about 500 fans attended the HeatWave's home opener at Selland Arena. 

ASBURY PARK, NJ - A month after announcing his team's move from Trenton to Asbury Park, Jersey Squires owner Wayne Butler is already threatening to move his team again if improvements aren't made to the team's Convention Center home (left). After about 80 people attended Sunday night's 108-103 loss to Juarez, Butler said "major improvements" to the building's heating system and locker rooms would have to be done by the team's next scheduled home game on December 9 or "the team won't be here." It's doubtful anyone would notice, as the city has little idea the team exists. Butler did virtually no marketing of the team, prompting one player to remark, "It's like he wanted to sneak up on people or something." [DISCUSS]

JUAREZ, Mexico - The Kansas City Knights may yet defend their ABA title, but it appears as though it won't be as easy as the last time out. The Juarez Gallos de Pelea snapped the Knights' 24-game win streak dating back to the 2001-2002 season with a 136-123 win. Behind 29 points by Nate Driggers and 23 more from Sam Bowie, the Gallos notched their first win ever, while dealing the Knights their first loss since a 122-120 loss at Southern California on February 2, 2002. Kansas City won the last 22 games of that regular season (including a forfeit win), and two playoff games in the league-record streak. 

JUAREZ, Mexico - Geno Carlisle scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Long Beach Jam to a 144-109 rout of the Juarez Gallos de Pelea Thursday night in the first game of the 2003-2004 American Basketball Association season. The Jam had three scorers with more than 20 points, as Matt Barnes added 25 and DerrMar Johnson 23 in the win. Cedric Patton led the Gallos with 22, while Sam Bowie had 21. A 12-0 first-quarter burst put the Jam in front 36-24 after one.

JUAREZ, Mexico - More than 19 months after it last played a game, the American Basketball Association is set to begin its third season on Thursday when the expansion Juarez Gallos de Pelea host the Long Beach Jam in the first game of the new campaign. 

The league is especially proud that it hasn't had a team move in nearly a month, since the San Joaquin Sun Devils abruptly picked up and landed in Fresno in October. 

"Our objective is to try to make it another few weeks before we have to move another team," a league spokesman didn't say. 

LENEXA, KS - The ABA is unveiling a league-wide promotion that will celebrate the most popular night on its schedule. 

Because 24 of its 125 scheduled games this season fall on Tuesdays, the league's new "So Happy It's Tuesday" program, or SHIT, will offer fans special incentives to ensure they have fun on the popular weeknight.

"This season, we're planning to actually play the games that we put on the schedule," a league spokesman didn't say. "We think this will be a big step up for us. Fans are more likely to come to games if they know they're not going to be suddenly and mysteriously cancelled, not that we've ever done that.

"We think SHIT is a perfect way to describe our league," the spokesman didn't go on to say. "That's all we've heard for three years."

League Finalizing Cable TV Deal
November 18, 2003

INDIANAPOLIS, IN  - After years of promises, ABA co-founder Joe Newman has revealed he has finally worked out a cable television deal.

"They said they'd be here next Tuesday between 9 and noon, or between 1 and 5," Newman would have said, optimistically. "But you know how those cable guys are, they make you wait around all day. That's okay, though. I don't have anything else to do since the ABA won't let me get near any of the actual workings of the league anymore. I can wait all day."