Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Max's All Stars awarded with Red Auerbach statue in recognition of 2nd Annual ZogSports DC Jingle Ballin' Winter Hoops Classic Championship

The ZogSports DC Jingle Ballin' Winter Hoops Classic Champions do not receive a cash prize or a trophy or t-shirts or anything like that. Instead the winning team gets to make a contribution to the charity of their choice. As champions, Max's All Stars is proud to make a donation to the Red Auerbach Youth Foundation. In recognition of our tournament victory and as a thank you for our charitable contribution Red Auerbach's nephew, Mr. Stewart Grossman presented us with this statue (autographed by Red Auerbach himself) - the same one given to the NBA Coach of the Year every season. Thank you Mr. Grossman, Hope Allen, ZogSports DC and most importantly all the players who took part - Branden Gibson, Chuck Thompson, Corey Orgias, John Simmons, Kevin Johnson, Marvin Billups Jr, Nikola Djurdjevic, Patrick James and Shereef Taylor. Max's All Stars only played in two tournaments this year and won them both. One in Boston where Red Auerbach is a Celtics legend and the other in Washington, D.C. at the very same school his basketball coaching career began (Saint Albans). Max's All Stars proudly dedicates these two championships in honor of Red Auerbach. He remains a constant inspiration for our team.

Monday, December 3, 2018

Max's All Stars win ZogSports DC 2nd Annual Jingle Ballin' Winter Hoops Classic Championship

Yesterday, Max's All Stars won the 2nd Annual ZogSports DC Jingle Ballin' Winter Hoops Classic in Washington, D.C.! It was a very fun weekend for our team in the nation's capital! On Saturday night we attended the Washington Wizards game and on Sunday we competed in the tournament at Saint Albans School. Branden Gibson, Chuck Thompson, Corey Orgias, John Simmons, Kevin Johnson, Marvin Billups Jr, Nikola Djurdjevic, Patrick James and Shereef Taylor all played hard and went 5-0 to claim the championship. Max's All Stars defeated Terps (51-47), Snowmen Brigade (46-41) and Fannie Pack (49-33) in pool play then took down Fannie Pack again in the semifinals (40-33) and Terps in the championship game in (57-53). This is the 14th championship in team history. Thank you to all the players for making the trip and bringing home this championship! Also, thank you to Hope Allen and ZogSports DC for hosting a great tournament!
Max's All Stars
ZogSports DC 2nd Annual Jingle Ballin' Winter Hoops Classic Champions
Kevin Johnson, Branden Gibson, Shereef Taylor, Chuck Thompson, Max Margulis, Marvin Billups Jr, Nikola Djurdjevic, Patrick James, Corey Orgias, John Simmons

Monday, July 30, 2018

Max's All Stars Hosts First Annual Hall of Fame Game

This past Saturday, July 28th, 2018 - Max's All Stars hosted our first annual Hall of Fame Game at Julia Richman Education Complex. Patrick James and Corey Orgias were the team captains. The roster for Team PJ was Damion Staple, David Seagers, Doug Herring, Kevin Pegram, Nikola Djurdjevic, Patrick James (Captain), Shereef Taylor and William Davis. Team Corey's squad featured Angel Gonzalez, Branden Gibson, Corey Orgias (Captain), Jason Lewis, John Simmons, Kaheem Davis, Kevin Major, Marvin Billups Jr and Spencer Smith. It was a highly entertaining and competitive game! Both teams played great! Team PJ defeated Team Corey by a final score of 123-114. Doug Herring and Marvin Billups Jr were named co-MVP. After the game Patrick James, Corey Orgias, Branden Gibson, Marvin Billups Jr, Doug Herring, Spencer Smith, Rob Thomas and Troy Whittington were inducted into the inaugural class of the Max's All Stars Hall of Fame. Thank you to everyone who participated - all the players, family and friends who came through to show us love and support. Thank you to Indoor Hoops for providing the gym rental; ABC Hoops for bringing referees, scorekeepers and a photographer; Lifestyles Sports for the jerseys; Crown Awards for the MVP trophy and Athletic Awards Company for the Hall of Fame plaques. Special thanks to Sadia Alrobaie, Mandy Figueroa, Janiris De Jesus, Justinne Pegram, Elizabeth Palega, Chelsea P. Freeman, Shayla Diaz of Shayz Dayz, Shaun Diaz, Carl Gibson, Nat Harris and Jerrell Lewis for coming through as well.

From left to right: Marvin Billups Jr, Kevin Major, Kevin Pegram, William Davis, Doug Herring, Corey Orgias, Max Margulis, Branden Gibson, Patrick James, Kaheem Davis, Jason Lewis, Shereef Taylor, Damion Staple, Spencer Smith and John Simmons
Winners of the First Annual Max's All Stars Hall of Fame Game - Team PJ! From left to right: William Davis, Shereef Taylor, Nikola Djurdjevic, Patrick James, Max Margulis, Kevin Pegram, Doug Herring, David Seagers and Damion Staple

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Max's All Stars win 19th Annual Full Court Charity Challenge Corporate Division Championship

This past Saturday, March 10th, 2018 - Max's All Stars won the 19th Annual Full Court Charity Challenge Corporate Division Championship held at the Boston University Fitness and Recreation Center. Our team went 6-0 en route to winning the title! We did so with only seven players (Branden Gibson, Corey Orgias, Jason Lewis, Kaheem Davis, Nikola Djurdjevic, Patrick James and William Davis) for the first four games. Then Spencer Smith arrived and joined us for the semifinals and championship game, giving us the jolt of energy we needed to see this thing through. Branden Gibson won MVP and deservedly so, but this was truly an all-around team effort. Everyone stepped up and had an opportunity to contribute and shine. Branden did a little bit of everything - scoring in a variety of ways (3's, mid-range, post-up) and distributing the ball. Corey and Jason hit some clutch shots and stepped up as vocal leaders. They were basically playing and coaching. PJ locked up as always and was one of our primarily ball handlers. He did a great job. Nikola had a block party. Nobody could score on us down low. He also pulled down a ton of rebounds and scored a bunch underneath the basket. The Davis brothers, Kaheem and William, provided size and athleticism. They did a little bit of everything - attacking the basket, stretching the floor and playing aggressive defense. Spencer came in motivated for the final two games. He hit a bunch of 3's and also drove to the basket and finished with ease. We couldn't accomplish this without all these contributions. Some of the guys were still learning how to play with each other when the tournament started, but as the day went on we made tons of progress in a short period of time. It's amazing how smart veteran basketball players can come together and make it work the way our team did. Thank you to all the players for making the trip and leaving it all out on the court. Thank you to Bob Forlenza for organizing a great tournament as always. Big thank you to ARTEMIS, Inc. (Yuly Margulis) for sponsoring our team. It is an honor to compete in this tournament in support of the Nashoba Learning Group and the Lurie Center for Autism. Also, shout-out to Boston University Fitness and Recreation Center for hosting this great event. Nearly a decade after Hofstra Club Basketball made their first trip to Boston for the NIRSA NCCS Regional Tournament, Max's All Stars continued the tradition and finally brought a championship back to New York. This is the thirteenth championship in team history.
Click here to see photos of Max's All Stars at the 19th Annual Full Court Charity Challenge.
Max's All Stars
19th Annual Full Court Charity Challenge Corporate Division Champions
Kaheem Davis, Patrick James, Jason Lewis, Branden Gibson, Max Margulis, Corey Orgias, Spencer Smith, Nikola Djurdjevic, William Davis

Post-tournament awards banquet
Corey Orgias, William Davis, Branden Gibson, Spencer Smith, Jason Lewis, Max Margulis, Patrick James, Nikola Djurdjevic, Bob Forlenza, Kaheem Davis