There may not be a new sheriff in town, but there is definitely a new professional basketball team in our midst, the Dayton Air Strikers, a Premier Basketball League (PBL) team. The Air Strikers may be new to the Dayton-area and the PBL, but are looking to fly high in their first season.
The Air Strikers have been in existence for about three months and despite a 2-9 start the team is optimistic it can turn its season around.
Don Allen Sellers, Head Coach and General Manager for the Air Strikers, believes that he has a great group of talented men and makes it clear that he will not make any excuses for their slow start this season.
Don Allen Sellers
Sellers stated, “I want people to know the Premier Basketball League that we [Dayton Air Strikers] are a part of is not a semi-pro basketball league, it’s a professional basketball league. If you compared it to baseball it would be the Double-A of the Minor Leagues. These men are professionals and they get paid to play and I expect them to play as such. In spite of personnel changes and being a new team I won’t make any excuses for our guys. We have the talent. We just need to play like we have it.”
Sellers is a former NBA scout for the Memphis Grizzles and has coached overseas in developmental leagues, including ones in China, Dubai and Lebanon. Don brings tenure and tenacity to the Dayton Air Striker team.
Phillip "Mickey" Perry
University of Dayton graduate and 2010 NIT Championship winner Mickey Perry is among the talent Sellers speaks so passionately about. Perry, a guard for the Air Strikers, averages 11.5 points per game, shooting 41.3 percent from behind the arc and 71.4 percent from behind the free throw line according to the most recent PBL statistics.
Mickey added, “Even though we have lost some tough games, we are getting better every day. We just have to make sure we show up to play every night. It’s been hard with the constant shuffling of players and it makes it kind of hard to come together as a team, but I still won’t make any excuses. We just have to get out there and go hard.”
The PBL was formed in 2008 as a developmental basketball league and gained momentum in its first season, while TV Basketball Analyst Kenny Smith was Commissioner. The PBL is presently comprised of nine teams from Canada and the United States.
Air Striker games take place at Fairmont High School’s James S. Trent Arena in Kettering, Ohio. Be sure to support the Air Strikers as they take on Kentucky’s Bluegrass Stallions on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 7pm at Trent Arena.
For ticket information, schedule, team appearances, game stats and more, visit their website www.daytonairstrikers.com or contact them 937-410-4694.
