Defending champions the RazorSharks look forward to a repeat
In 2005-06, the Rochester RazorSharks
pulled off what few, if any, of the other teams in the American Basketball
Association were able to do — succeed on and off the court.
In its first year of existence, the team won the ABA title and instantly
became one of the league’s financial successes by drawing a couple thousand or
more fans a game at Blue Cross Arena. For a league that is still experiencing
significant growing pains — including the instability, financial and otherwise,
of several franchises and the league as a whole — the RazorSharks
became a model for all other ABA
teams to follow.
Now, as the ‘Sharks begin their 2006-07 season, the team is
faced with a challenge: what to do for an encore? On the court, Rochester will be without the services of last year’s ABA player of the year,
Chris Carrawell, who decided to ply his trade
overseas this year.
But the team spent the off-season pursuing several prized
free agents, including 2005-06 ABA
first-team All-Star guard Caleb Gervin, who inked a
deal with the RazorSharks in September.
The ‘Sharks also have a solid nucleus of key players
returning, including hometown favorites James “Mook”
Reaves, the team’s leading scorer last year, and Demond
Stewart, who led the team in scoring during its playoff run. They’ll also have
2005-06 ABA Coach of the Year Rod Baker back at the helm after he signed a
multi-year deal with the team in July.
But perhaps the linchpin of the team’s success is
player/assistant coach Lazarus Sims, a former SyracuseUniversity
star who acts as the team’s on-court general.
“Every coach talks about his point guard being the coach on
the floor,” Baker says. “Our point guard actually is our coach on the floor.”
After many years of working together, he and Sims have
developed an intuitive connection. Says Baker: “He knows what I’m thinking
before I say it.”
Sims can also be a strict disciplinarian and in-your-face
team leader. If players screw up, Baker says, “he’ll
go after guys. He’ll take guys to the side and explain things. He’ll grab them
and yell at them. He’ll do whatever it takes to get through to you.”
City spent a few minutes talking with Sims after a recent
team practice at the downtown YMCA. Sims talked about repeating as champs,
attracting new fans, and fulfilling the job of player-coach.
City: What’s it going
to take to repeat this year?
Lazarus Sims: Focus.
The main thing is focus, and the new guys coming in learning the roles, old
guys accepting the roles, and just a total team effort.
Are you going to have
a target on your back?
There’s a chance, yes, for the first couple games. But then
it’s just, you gotta win games. You gotta win your home games, you gotta
sneak out some road games, and some games you’re not supposed to win, yougotta kind of sneak in the
door and get those games. It’s a target for a couple weeks, but then after
that, it’s just a normal season.
What type of game are
you going to play this year?
The same game. We’re gonna try to keep it exciting, up tempo, pretty much fast-paced,
just try to keep fans into the game so we can get our normal crowd, then get
more generated as word of mouth goes on.
You mentioned word of mouth. How do you think Rochester is embracing
you guys?
They received us very well last year. I think this year it
should be a lot better. We won the championship, so it’s more exposure. Last
year, it was like, “Let’s see what you do first,” and we showed them. So now it
should be a little bit, “Alright, let’s go see them now.”
What’s your job as a
player-coach? What does that involve?
It involves me being a leader, taking control, and setting
the tempo. Guys will have to follow my lead, and I’m going to have to lead by
example, so I can’t make some of the mistakes I could have made before. It’s more, “Do as I say — and do as I do, too.”
What are your
personal goals for this year? What do you want to achieve?
Personally, just lower down my turnovers that I had last
year and try to get back to the championship and win it.
The RochesterRazorSharks
2006-07 home opener against the Buffalo Silverbacks
takes place Thursday, November 16, at 7:05 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena. At the
game the team will raise its 2005-06 championship banner to the arena rafters.
Individual game tickets range from $9.50 for general admission to $26.50 for
courtside. Tickets can be purchased at the BCA box office, by calling 232-1900,
or going to ticketmaster.com.
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2006.
