Buffalo Sharks

The Buffalo Sharks were a professional basketball team in the American Basketball Association based in Buffalo, New York. The team played two seasons as the Buffalo Rapids and Buffalo Silverbacks before suspending operations. This team is not to be confused with the Buffalo Stampede of the Premier Basketball League.

Buffalo Sharks

Founded	2005
League	ABA 2005–2008
Team history	Buffalo Rapids 2005–06 Buffalo Silverbacks 2006–07 Buffalo Sharks 2008
Based in	Buffalo, New York
Arena	Koessler Athletic Center
Colors	Red and Blue
Owner	Vincent Lesh
Head coach	Richard Jacob
Championships	0
Division titles	0
Cheerleaders	Buffalo Rush (05-06)
Dancers	WBLK Sweet Divas (06-07)

History

Buffalo Rapids (2005–06)

The Buffalo Rapids were founded by Gary Nice and began play in the fall of 2005 as part of the ABA's Connie Hawkins Division. It was the first professional basketball team to play in Buffalo, New York since the Buffalo Braves. The team's name was chosen by a fan voting, with "Rapids" finishing second to "Braves". Trademark restrictions prevented the franchise from adopting the Braves name, but the Rapids team colors were identical to those of the Buffalo Braves.

Dan Robbie and Todd Wier became co-owners of the franchise in December 2005 following the league's removal of Gary Nice.^[1]

Initial games were played at Burt Flickinger Center, but a financial dispute left the team searching for a new permanent home. They played most home games at Park School of Buffalo until February 2006. The final home game of the 2005–2006 season was played at Buffalo State Sports Arena, with the team later utilizing the venue for most 2006–2007 home games.

Buffalo Silverbacks (2006–07)

 

The controversial first logo of the Silverbacks

It was announced in May 2006 that the franchise had changed its name to the Buffalo Silverbacks.^[2] Controversy arose in August 2006 when the Buffalo News ran an article condemning the team's logo, which featured a silverback gorilla, as racist. The team responded by adopting a new team logo featuring a tiger in October 2006.

Another bit of controversy involved the Silverbacks announcing that DayShawn Wright had been signed to the team in September 2006.^[3] Soon after this announcement, Wright signed with the Minot SkyRockets of the CBA.^[4]

Head coach Richard Jacob resigned from the team in November 2006 to focus on his job at Medaille College.^[5] Trevor Ruffin, a player from the team's inaugural season and an assistant coach during their 2006–07 training camp, replaced him as head coach.

In 2007, Weir sold the team to Vincent Lesh.^[6] Lesh has been an entertainment promoter in Western New York for 25 years and is the owner of Concerts Plus. On November 11, 2007, the Silverbacks announced that they were suspending operations. On their official MySpace page, the team stated "If you did not already know, the Silverbacks are not playing this fall in the ABA. New ownership has decided to take this season off after taking over the team with 5 weeks before tip off."

Buffalo Sharks (2008)

Lesh re-branded the team as the Buffalo Sharks and reactivated them to begin play in November 2008. Richard Jacob was named the Head Coach and General Manager as he was for both the Rapids and Silverbacks. The Sharks were to play at Koessler Athletic Center on the campus of Canisius College. However, on 2008-09-18, Lesh announced his folding of the Sharks, his leaving of the ABA, and his purchase of the former Buffalo Dragons.^[7]

The ABA would later return to Buffalo with the Buffalo 716ers, set to begin play in 2013; that team has since moved to the Premier Basketball League.

The ABA would again return to Buffalo with the Buffalo Blue Hawks, who began play in 2016.

Standings

Regular Season
Year	Wins	Losses	Percentage	Home	Away	League	Division
2005–06	11	17	.392	6-7	5-10	17th – ABA	3rd – Connie Hawkins
2006–07	16	10	.615	10-3	6-7	12th – ABA	3rd – Northern
Playoffs
Year	Wins	Losses	Percentage	Home	Away	Seeding	Finish
2005–2006	1	1	.500	1-0	0-1	15th – ABA	Lost Quarterfinal
2006–2007	1	1	.500	-	1-1	12th – ABA	Lost Semifinal

Game results

2005–2006

ABA Regular Season
Date	Venue	Status	Opponent	Result	Score	High Score
11/03/2005	Burt Flickinger Center	Home	Maryland Nighthawks	Loss	108-107	17 – Carlton Brown
11/05/2005	Blue Cross Arena	Away	Rochester Razorsharks	Loss	89-88	29 – Tim Winn
11/11/2005	Centre Pierre Charbonneau	Away	Montreal Matrix	Loss	94-74	22 – Kevin Ross
11/14/2005	Burt Flickinger Center	Home	Harlem Strong Dogs	Win	97-90	32 – Trevor Ruffin
11/19/2005	Montgomery College	Away	Maryland Nighthawks	Loss	132-102	20 – Tim Winn
11/26/2005	Niagara Catholic High School	Home	Montreal Matrix	Win	104-94	26 – Tim Winn
11/29/2005	Park School of Buffalo	Home	Maryland Nighthawks	Loss	113-112 (OT)	34 – Tim Winn
12/01/2005	Lackawanna College	Away	Northeast Pennsylvania Breakers	Loss	95-86	29 – Tim Winn
12/04/2005	Hunter College	Away	Harlem Strong Dogs	Loss	116-109	-
12/13/2005	Park School of Buffalo	Home	Harlem Strong Dogs	Win	107-102 (OT)	31 – Tim Winn
12/17/2005	Montgomery College	Away	Maryland Nighthawks	Loss	110-94	20 – Brad Buddenborg
12/18/2005	Essex County College	Away	Newark Express	Win	89-88	23 – Tim Winn
12/23/2005	Gow School	Home	Rochester Razorsharks	Loss	110-100	29 – Tim Winn
12/28/2005	Park School of Buffalo	Home	Maryland Nighthawks	Win	94-89	30 – Rashid Byrd
12/30/2005	Centre Pierre Charbonneau	Away	Montreal Matrix	Win	98-86	38 – Brad Buddenborg
01/07/2006	Barnstable High School	Away	Boston Frenzy	Win	113-96	-
01/11/2006	Park School of Buffalo	Home	Rochester Razorsharks	Loss	94-91	27 – Tim Winn
01/14/2006	Saint Joseph's College	Away	Strong Island Sound	Win	70-65	20 – Tim Winn
01/21/2006	Saint Joseph's College	Away	Strong Island Sound	Loss	123-107	-
01/26/2006	Blue Cross Arena	Away	Rochester Razorsharks	Loss	114-87	19 – Tim Winn
02/01/2006	Park School of Buffalo	Home	Montreal Matrix	Loss	132-127 (OT)	40 – Johnny Tyson
02/03/2006	Park School of Buffalo	Home	Boston Frenzy	Win	136-90	52 – Antoine Sims
02/05/2006	Park School of Buffalo	Home	Strong Island Sound	Loss	128-100	23 – Turner Battle
02/19/2006	Park School of Buffalo	Home	Strong Island Sound	Loss	102-101	31 – DeRon Rutledge
02/25/2006	Barnstable High School	Away	Boston Frenzy	Win	117-104	20 – Tim Winn
03/04/2006	Hunter College	Away	Harlem Strong Dogs	Loss	103-96	-
03/05/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Newark Express	Win	112-104	21 – Willie Chandler
03/07/2006	Blue Cross Arena	Away	Rochester Razorsharks	Loss	106-95	-
ABA Playoffs (15th seed)
Date	Venue	Status	Opponent	Result	Score	High Score
03/12/2006	Hilbert College	Home	Boston Frenzy (16th seed)	Win	133-88	29 – Johnny Tyson
03/17/2006	New Birth Missionary Baptist Church	Away	Atlanta Vision (7th seed)	Loss	99-97	19 – Johnny Tyson

2006–2007

ABA Regular Season
Date	Venue	Status	Opponent	Result	Score	High Score
11/08/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Detroit Panthers	Loss	109-100	33 – Antoine Sims
11/12/2006	Buck Weeber Center	Away	Detroit Panthers	Loss	128-113	24 – Antoine Sims
11/16/2006	Blue Cross Arena	Away	Rochester Razorsharks	Loss	107-93	23 – Dameon Sansom
11/18/2006	Burlington Memorial Auditorium	Away	Vermont Frost Heaves	Loss	110-100	27 – Johnny Tyson
11/24/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Rochester Razorsharks	Win	96-93	29 – Antoine Sims
11/30/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Hammond Rollers	Win	120-104	19 – Antoine Sims
12/08/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Detroit Panthers	Win	119-104	24 – Antoine Sims
12/09/2006	Blue Cross Arena	Away	Rochester Razorsharks	Loss	109-90	18 – Marlin Johnson
12/13/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Richmond Ballerz	Win	119-97	22 – Antoine Sims
12/14/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Richmond Ballerz	Win	123-116	25 – Kevin Ross
12/15/2006	Buck Weeber Center	Away	Detroit Panthers	Loss	110-104	21 – Antoine Sims
12/20/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Rochester Razorsharks	Loss	107-102	33 – Antoine Sims
12/29/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Cape Cod Frenzy	Win	118-110	28 – Johnny Tyson
12/30/2006	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Quebec City Kebekwa	Win	110-98	29 – Lamar Castile
01/05/2007	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Rochester Razorsharks	Loss	96-94	30 – Lamar Castile
01/10/2007	Burlington Memorial Auditorium	Away	Vermont Frost Heaves	Loss	92-90	29 – Lamar Castile
01/13/2007	Libbey High School	Away	Toledo Royal Knights	Win	152-138	33 – Lamar Castile
01/18/2007	Buffalo State Sports Arena	Home	Detroit Panthers	Win	103-95	25 – Lamar Castile
01/19/2007	University of North Florida Arena	Away	Jacksonville Jam	Loss	105-96	25 – Lamar Castile
01/21/2007	Montgomery College	Away	Maryland Nighthawks	Win	114-108	31 – Dameon Sansom
02/09/2007	Université Laval	Away	Quebec City Kebekwa	Win	91-79	23 – Antoine Sims
02/10/2007	Centre Pierre Charbonneau	Away	Montreal Royal	Win	99-76	18 – Kueth Duany
02/21/2007	Iroquois High School	Home	Vermont Frost Heaves	Win	100-95	45 – Lamar Castile
02/22/2007	Park School of Buffalo	Home	Detroit Panthers	Win	116-102	38 – Antoine Sims
03/09/2007	Centre Pierre Charbonneau	Away	Montreal Royal	Win	102-99	34 – Lamar Castile
03/10/2007	Université Laval	Away	Quebec City Kebekwa	Win	120-107	38 – Lamar Castile
ABA Playoffs (12th seed)
Date	Venue	Status	Opponent	Result	Score	High Score
03/16/2007	University of North Florida Arena	Away	Jacksonville Jam (2nd seed)	Win	100-91	37 – Lamar Castile
03/22/2007	Felix Events Center	Away	Beijing Aoshen Olympian (7th seed)	Loss	121-106	30 – Antoine Sims

Roster and staff

2005–2006

04 – Andrew Bush – F 08 – Antoine Sims – G 09 – Marlin Johnson – G/F 11 – Tim Winn – G 12 – Modie Cox – G

18 – DeRon Rutledge – F 20 – Kevin Ross – F 21 – Mark Bortz – F 24 – Carlton Brown – F 33 – Willie Chandler – G

34 – Brad Buddenborg – F 42 – Jean Paul Afif – F 44 – Johnny Tyson – C

• Team Captain – Tim Winn
• All-Star Selection – Tim Winn
• All-ABA Selection – Tim Winn

Released

08 – Caswell Cyrus – C 08 – Trevor Ruffin – G 09 – Julien Nze – F 18 – Harry Good – C

18 – Tyrone Thomas – F 21 – Brian Gilic – C 21 – Louis-Patrick Levros – F 21 – Pierre Tucker – G

25 – Turner Battle – G 33 – Rashid Byrd – C ?? – Shanod Burton – G

Staff

• Owners – Gary Nice (11/05 – 12/05), Dan Robbie and Todd Wier (12/05 – 11/07)
• General Manager – Richard Jacob
• Head Coach – Richard Jacob
• Assistant Coach – Tyrone Thomas
• Player Assistant Coaches – Modie Cox and Tim Winn
• Strength and Conditioning Coach – Bob Bateson
• Account Executive – Bryan Perry
• Game Day Operation Manager – Timothy M. Simko
• Media Relations – Nadia Fezzani

2006–2007

05 – David Ruffin – G 11 – Lamar Castile – G 12 – Modie Cox – G 18 – Trevor Ruffin – G

21 – Mackenzie Clark – F 23 – Antoine Sims – G 24 – Marlin Johnson – G/F 31 – Kueth Duany – G/F

32 – Kevin Ross – F 33 – Keith Closs – C 34 – Sean Murphy – G/F 42 – Andrew Bush – C/F

• All-Star Selection – Antoine Sims
• ABA Community Service Award – Modie Cox

Released

03 – David Bailey – F 03 – Victor Venters – F 04 – Koran Barnes – G 10 – Dameon Sansom – G

18 – Kenny Brunner – G 18 – Jeff Daisley – C 20 – Todd Jones – G/F 21 – Eze Samuel – C

21 – James Williams – ? 33 – Herb Baker – C/F 44 – Johnny Tyson – C/F ?? – DayShawn Wright – F

Staff

• Owners – Dan Robbie and Todd Wier
• Head Coach – Trevor Ruffin
• Player Assistant Coach – Modie Cox
• Strength and Conditioning Coach – Bob Bateson

References

1. "Rapids' Santa Claus Revealed - OurSports Central".
2. "Buffalo team changes name and logo - OurSports Central".
3. "Silverbacks sign first overall pick DayShawn Wright - OurSports Central".
4. "Skyrockets Sign First Round Draft Pick Dayshawn Wright - OurSports Central".
5. Niagara Gazette - SILVERBACKS: Jacob steps down as coach unexpectedly
6. McKissic, Rodney (2008-07-11). . Buffalo News. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
7. McKissic, Rodney (2008-09-18). "New minor-league basketball team will be called Stampede". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2008-09-18.