Team officials with the minor league basketball Albany Patroons are denying a published report that the team could be gone after the current playoffs.
Last August, officials with the North American Premier Basketball League announced the Patroons — who returned for four years in 2005 in a previous bid to recapture the magic of the 80s — were back.
But, according to the Sunday Times Union, the third time wasn't exactly the charm. The franchise hasn't attracted fans to the Washington Avenue Armory and is suffering financially. The paper said two home league championship playoff games Sunday and Tuesday against the Ohio Bootleggers would likely be the last for the green and gold.
By early afternoon, the Armory's PR arm and the NAPB League issued this statement: "While the inaugural season certainly had its expected first year logistical and financial challenges, we have every intention of moving into season 2 next year. In fact, we are already in the planning phase."
And then Sunday night, the Patroons won the first of that three-game playoff series, beating the Ohio Bootleggers 126-109 at home in Albany. By Monday, Armory Spokesman Joe Bonilla was optimistic: "The goal is that we're looking for this to be a community team. And we believe that this region and the city can support a professional basketball team such as the Patroons. And so with that we've already begun planning for season two, we've been looking at additional new partnerships and sponsorships for season two, so as we progress through the playoffs, and we won last night against the Bootleggers, we're looking forward to bringing the magic back in 2019."
The newspaper quoted one source suggesting "there is a 50-50 chance the Capital Region will host a pro basketball team next year." That hasn't fazed Albany head coach and managing partner Derrick Rowland: "I think that we're getting a lot of momentum from these playoffs, you know, and where we're headed, you know our role here is to win a championship. I have a lot of confidence that we will be back, and then we'll go from there. A lot of people are looking forward to it and we're just looking really hard to attain that goal. If I had to tell you right now where we were headed, the Patroons will be back."
Bonilla theorizes there may have been a "communication breakdown" between the team and the newspaper. "Rest assured that the league wants the Patroons to return, you know the owners want the Patroons to return and certainly the fans want the Patroons to return. Certainly, as we go to the playoffs and hopefully we'll beat Ohio on Tuesday and we'll go on to the finals, whether it's against Kansas City or Yakima, we're looking forward to hopefully bringing home a championship to Albany. And with that, the second season of the Patroons is what we all want together."
Game 2 is Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. at the Washington Avenue Armory.
