NEWARK – Nineteen basketball players threw their skills on the line at the West Side Park gymnasium. At stake were roster spots on the Jersey Express, New Jersey’s entrant in the American Basketball Association.

After an extended shoot around, the players stretched before being called to center court.

Kirk Quockco started the day addressing the hopefuls about the opportunity at their fingertips.

“The Jersey Express are a PROFESSIONAL organization,” Quockco stated, as he explained the expected behavior and level of professionalism expected of everyone representing the express.

Next, co-owner Marsha Blount took her turn to talk to the players.

“This league can be a stepping stone, a stepping stone to overseas leagues,” Blount said. “During this try-out, need you to do what you do. If you are a scorer, then score. If all you do is rebound, then by all means, rebound.”

By the time head coach Quaasim Richardson took the floor, everyone was ready to get the show started. Richardson had a brief message for the players.

“We need you guys to compete and give effort,” Richardson said before calling for the beginning of the try-outs with a tight three-man-weave drill performed with a medicine ball. The time was 12:25.

Success in the ABA game is predicated on having players that can play many positions on the floor, when the drill was spread and players had to put the ball on the court deficiencies in some players game began to show. As the players ran through drills, the watchful eyes of Blount, Richardson, and assistant coach Cassandra Smith focused in on those possessing the required skill set.

The first break came at 1:40, five minutes later, there were only 16 players remaining.

Now, to test the remaining players' stamina and competitiveness a continuous run of 3-on-2 breaks with the shooter hustling back on defense was executed. The usually calm Richardson stopped the run and Blount addressed the players.

“If you don’t want to be here than go home, save us all a lot of time, we need effort out of all of you, if you aren’t going to give the effort just go home,” Blount said.

The intensity picked up as one player was eliminated at 2:20. The remaining 15 players were now divided into three teams and five-minute full court rotation of games took place, with no rest between games within 23 minutes only 13 players remained. The games now became one long game with substitutions taking place on one of the staff members command. At 3:03 the final 11 remained.