Location: Downtown Buffalo in the Niagara Square between Delaware streets and Franklin.
Dates: June 2- 4 or TBA
Time: 8 am- 5 pm
Hosted by: Terrance McGee and Toyota
Description: This is a 3-on-3 international basketball tournament hosted in downtown Buffalo Niagara Square between the dates of June 2nd and 4th or TBA. Registration is Friday June 1st between 2- 7 p.m. and on Saturday June 2nd at 7 a.m. During the times of operation, the earliest game to be played starts at 8 a.m. The place of registration is at New Era Cap Company located at 106 Delaware Ave. between Mohawk and Huron streets in Buffalo, New York.
There’s just about 1,000 games played on these three days, with over 4,000 participants and 50,000 spectators as players compete amongst each other. The age limit for this is 7-51, men and women alike. Trophies are awarded to the top 3 teams at the end of the tournament.
The event is provided to people in Buffalo along with those from other areas to have a safe and enjoyable time watching Buffalo’s best players from around the city and other areas. We have teams from Buffalo, Amherst, Lackawanna, Lockport, Williamsville, and other parts of the country. We've had teams from Alabama, New York, Chicago, etc.participate in this event. Refreshments and beverages are served throughout the event to those interested and all donated funds are given back to the community at designated times and places throughout the city for our youth.
The event is hosted starting corner back Terrence McGee of the Buffalo Bills who always brings friends and teammates with him to help host. In recent years his guest list of appearances have included but not limited to; Ryan Fitzpatrick (Quarterback), Namaan Roosevelt(Wide Receiver), Roscoe Parrish (Slot Receiver), Stevie Johnson (Wide Receiver), Marshawn Lynch (running back), and Ruben Brown (Left Tackle) just to name a few. This event has a host of sponsors that involve themselves to the highest degree to help this become a successful venture. Sponsors include:Wegmans, Coca-cola, Sahlen's, Holiday Inn, at&t, and Applebee's just to name a few.
The games and teams are divided up based on age, height, size, and experience level. When applying, you are asked a series of questions on a questionnaire about various attributes of yourself and team. Based on your answers, teams are evenly divided and games are evenly distributed among competition at each level. It doesn't matter if you were a four year starter in high school, or someone who has no experience at all playing basketball. The people who run this event do their absolute best work in order to make the games as competitive as possible. The courts are marked and based for specific guidelines, which indicate what qualifies as legal participation.The courts are in order by number and color, that tell you and your team where you will play, and for the duration of the tournament, that is where your team will compete.
Games are to 15 points straight up no win by two or anything of that nature, or games last up to 25 minutes if 15 points are not scored by any team. There are two pointers that are marked by tape on the court which also shows the boundaries of what is and isn’t out of bounds. There is no foul limit, but when a foul is called against you, you have the choice to either, shoot a free throw worth one point, or take a two point shot. If you take a one- point shot and make it, the other team then gets the ball but if you miss, you still regain possession of the ball. With the two point shot, regardless if you make or miss you do not get the ball back, so players make decisions based on their skill, team, time, etc.. The referees are volunteers officials from the community so obviously there will be some missed calls but at the same time they aren’t NBA refs, but they do their very best. They are volunteering their time after all so you have to be reminiscent of that.
A few, but necessary rules apply to this game which include: no dunking during games. Doing so will automatically disqualify that player from the tournament except if you’re playing on top men’s or women’s courts, which then it’s allowed. Each team is allowed one timeout per game. Substitutions are only allowed during any dead ball situation. Everything must be taken back to the take back line before a player attempts a shot therefore if any shot is taken afterwards it will not be counted and that team will lose possesion of the ball.
In terms of games if you win you’re first game you are in the winning bracket and if you lose you’re in the losing bracket. If you go 1-1 on Saturday you are automatically in the losing bracket but have a chance on Sunday to get back in the winning bracket having to win all of your games otherwise you are eliminated. If you lose both games Saturday you are automatically in the Toilet Bowl which is all the teams who also lost Saturday In which teams are also rewarded for first, second, and third.
All people of all different races, ages, and gender participate in this event as it is a way for people all over to come together for one specific cause which is the game of basketball. There are courts known as Top Man and Top Women’s courts which is the oldest bracket for both men and women in which there games are played on a carpet kind of flooring where people at the ages from 20 and up to 50 play in which you can consider an “old-school” feel type of a game.
Jobs and volunteering are provided during this event as sponsors, vendors, etc. look for help from those in the community of Buffalo to help out during this successful event. Buffalo Police are enforced during this event in order to make it a safe event as it is primarily a family fun-entertainment event. If interested in playing next year make sure to register online at macker.com and join in the fun of a fun filled weekend of basketball.
