Defending champions ready for start of rec league playoffs
By: Bob Nuse
Nick Palmieri was there for his team’s growing pains in the Princeton Recreation Men’s Summer Basketball League.
"The last three years we’ve been Where2ball.com, but the first year we were the Junction Boys and we were 1-10," Palmieri said. "We were not good. We were all West Windsor guys and we’re still pretty much a West Windsor team, but we added a couple guys like Shahid (Abdul-Karim) and Jay Curtis and that has really helped us."
That 1-10 season is now a distant memory. The current team is the defending league champion and Where2ball.com will begin defense of its title Wednesday night as the No. 4 seed in the league playoffs. The playoffs begin with the 8-9 game Sunday. Where2ball.com ended the regular season with a thrilling 55-54 win over George’s Roasters & Ribs.
"Last year was really fun," Palmieri said. "We never expected that. We just scrapped our way through. This year we have another year of experience. Last year we weren’t expected to win. This year we’ve been in every game and we feel like we can win every game.
"The standings were pretty jumbled up and winning this game probably puts us in the four spot, which is nice. George’s always gives us trouble. This was a good win for us. Last year we were the seven or eight seed. In my four years in the league, this is our best finish in the regular season."
Palmieri has made an effort to keep playing in the league even though he’s seen his job take him farther away from the Princeton courts.
"I’m working at Madison Square Garden, I do finance for them," said Palmieri, a West Windsor-Plainsboro High graduate. "I still try to play as often as possible. I work in New York and I live in North Brunswick, so I take the train out early and get here."
His job at MSG comes with some perks. He’s around sports a lot of the day and has also had the opportunity to play in the historic Madison Square Garden.
"My goal is to try to get into the basketball operations," said Palmieri, who graduated from Rider University, where he played intramural basketball. "I deal with New York Knick expenses and Ranger expenses. I just basically analyze on a quarterly basis.
"I’ve played on the Garden floor twice, which was fantastic. They have employee days where we get to play."
Right now his main focus is on trying to help Where2ball.com to a second straight title. Palmieri scored 11 points in the win on Wednesday night. Abdul-Karim led the way with 19 points, while Bryan Wilson also had 11. It was Jay Curtis’ putback of a missed shot in the closing seconds that proved to be the difference in the game.
"It should be a real interesting playoffs," Palmieri said. "I don’t know if there is one dominant team this year. It could be anybody winning the playoffs. The teams in the league this year all seem pretty balanced. Last year we came from being the seventh seed or something like that to win the playoffs. So anything is possible."
In another year or two, Palmieri will join the long list of players who have become fixtures in the league. He hopes to play in the as long as long as he can.
"I’d love to play in the league as long as possible," Palmieri said. "I’d like to be someone like (Rich) Simkus, who plays into his 40s. That would be great. I could bring my kids to the games. I play with Rich on Saturday mornings and he’s a great player. I can only imagine how good he was when he was younger."
Palmieri has already lived through the growing pains with his team. Now he wants to hang around as long as he can during the good years.

