Goldfields Giants

Goldfields Giants
Leagues	State Basketball League
Founded	1990
History	Goldfields Giants 1990–present
Arena	Niels Hansen Stadium
Capacity	1,200
Location	Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Team colors	Navy blue, gold, white
Main sponsor	Silver Lake Resources
President	Daniel Bowler
Head coach	Michael Haney
Team captain	Jacob Holmen
Championships	2 (2007, 2008)
Website	GoldfieldsGiants.com

The Goldfields Giants are a men's basketball club from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia competing in the semi-professional State Basketball League (SBL). The Giants are a division of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Basketball Association, the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. For sponsorship reasons, the club is known as the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants.

Since debuting in the SBL in 1990, the Giants have reached five Grand Finals, culminating in back-to-back championship wins in 2007 and 2008. They were also runners-up in 1995, 2004 and 2006. The Giants are one of four SBL clubs from Western Australian regional cities (along with the Geraldton Buccaneers, Mandurah Magic and South West Slammers), while the remaining ten teams are based within the Perth metropolitan area.

History

The Giants entered the State Basketball League in 1990, one year after the league's inaugural season in 1989. In their first season, the Giants were involved in a game against the Willetton Tigers where the scoreline was 155–134 in the Giants' favour. In that game, American import Paul Graham scored a league record equalling 82 points on 34-of-51 from the field, 11-of-11 from the free throw line, and just one made three-pointer. Following that game, Graham parted ways with the team and returned to the United States for an NBA tryout.^[1] In 10 games for the Giants, Graham averaged an incredible 43.3 points per game.^[2] To replace Graham, the Giants signed Mark Griffin who teamed up alongside Calvin Earl.^[3] However, the team failed to make the playoffs in their first season, finishing the year in 12th place with a 7–19 win/loss record.

The Giants made the playoffs for the first time in 1993, a season where they finished eighth on the ladder with a 9–15 win/loss record. The following season, they finished as quarter-finalists for the second year in a row, before finally making it through to the Grand Final in 1995 where they faced the Bunbury Slammers. In the league's first and only best-of-three grand final series, the Giants were defeated 91–78 in Game 1, and 88–86 in Game 2, losing the series 2–0 to the Slammers.^[4] They continued to make the playoffs in 1996 and 1997, before having a two-year playoff hiatus to round out the 1990s.

The Giants celebrate their 2007 SBL championship win

Between 2000 and 2010, the Giants made the playoffs every year except 2003. Included in this run of playoff appearances, the Giants made the Grand Final in 2004 and 2006, losing both times. The team's golden years took place over the next two years, with the Giants winning back-to-back championships in 2007 and 2008, defeating the Lakeside Lightning in the 2007 grand final,^[5] and the Willetton Tigers in the 2008 grand final.^[4] In both seasons, the team was led by captain Shamus Ballantyne and vice captains Mark Heron and Ryan Hulme. Import Michael Haney was also a major factor in the team's success, as was Matthew Leske and Todd Earle.^[6][7]

In the wake of their successful playoff run during the 2000s, the Giants dropped off between 2011 and 2014, managing to make a lone quarter-final appearance in 2012 with a 13–13 win/loss record. In 2013 and 2014, the team won a combined 10 games, finishing second last and last respectfully. This poor two-year run by the Giants forced major changes coming into the 2015 season. The first move that was made was appointing former import and club legend Michael Haney as head coach. Along with two new imports in Jay Bowie and Jacob Holmen, the Giants added former Melbourne Tigers centre Edin Zunic, Queensland guard Brandon Holloway, and former club captain Shamus Ballantyne.^[8] Tipped to finish outside the top eight again,^[8] the Giants demonstrated early in the 2015 season that they were headed for such a finish. However, with Bowie, Holmen and mid-season signing Mathiang Muo leading the charge as the new-look "Big Three", the Giants began to surge after losing their first eight games of the season. The Giants ended up winning 14 of their last 18 games to qualify for the playoffs in seventh position. Then, in dramatic fashion, they swept the No. 2 seeded Geraldton Buccaneers in two games in the quarter-finals, moving on to the semi-finals for the first time since 2009.^[9][10] Their dream run ended, however, in the semis where they faced the South West Slammers. While staying competitive in the best-of-three series, their luck ran out as they were defeated 2–0 by the Slammers to bow out of the playoffs.

Season-by-Season Results

Year Won Lost Pct Pos Playoffs 1990 7 19 .269 12th 1991 10 16 .385 13th 1992 5 19 .208 12th 1993 9 15 .375 8th Quarter Finals 1994 16 10 .615 5th Quarter Finals 1995 19 7 .731 3rd Runners-up 1996 14 12 .538 7th Semi Finals 1997 17 7 .708 3rd Quarter Finals 1998 10 14 .417 10th 1999 8 18 .308 12th 2000 11 8 .579 8th Quarter Finals 2001 14 12 .538 7th Quarter Finals 2002 18 8 .692 4th Semi Finals

Year Won Lost Pct Pos Playoffs 2003 12 7 .632 9th 2004 20 4 .833 2nd Runners-up 2005 16 8 .667 4th Semi Finals 2006 21 3 .875 2nd Runners-up 2007 17 7 .708 2nd Champions 2008 19 7 .731 3rd Champions 2009 21 5 .808 2nd Semi Finals 2010 14 12 .538 7th Quarter Finals 2011 12 14 .462 9th 2012 13 13 .500 7th Quarter Finals 2013 5 21 .192 13th 2014 5 21 .192 14th 2015 14 12 .538 7th Semi Finals

Current roster

Goldfields Giants roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. G 4 Basten, Jacob 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) G 5 Forlano, Daniel 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) G 6 Nikora, Ezra 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) G 7 Tierney, Miles 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) F 8 Franich, Lordan 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) G/F 9 Reid, Jerome 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) G 10 Hicks, Billy 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) F 11 Crombie, Lachlan (DP) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) G 12 Goodluck, Daniel 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) F 13 Holmen, Jacob (I & C) 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) G/F 14 Lydiat, Andrew 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) C 15 Zunic, Edin 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) G 21 Dela Cruz, Maui (DP) 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) F 22 Exell, Mike 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) G/F 23 Manigault, Kenny (I) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) F 24 Gulley, Dion (DP) 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) F 25 Gadd, Brock (DP) 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) G/F 31 Vince, Nathan (DP) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) F/C 32 Hurst, Russell 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Head coach Michael Haney Assistant coach(es) Lou Causer Jamie Crombie Team manager(s) Brad French Ryan Hough Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 21 March 2016

Notable former players

Jay Bowie Jimmy Bowler Wayne Chapman Wayne Creek Darnell Dialls / Calvin Earl Todd Earle Mike Elliott Jerry Everett Paul Graham / Ty Harrelson

Michael Haney Mark Heron Ryan Hulme Matthew Leske / Adrian Majstrovich Randy Miegel Mathiang Muo Marcus Taylor Donald Whiteside Leon Williamson

References

1. "Giants Throwback Thursday – Third Edition". GoldfieldsGiants.com. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
2. "SKYWEST BASKETBALL LEAGUE: MEN – All time Players". BasketballWA.asn.au. Archived from the original on July 18, 2005. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
3. "1990 Playing List & Coaching Staff". GoldfieldsGiants.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
4. "Past Champions". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
5. "2007 Grand Final: Goldfields Giants vs Lakeside Lightning - Last 90 seconds". YouTube.com. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
6. "2007 Statistics". GoldfieldsGiants.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
7. "2008 Statistics". GoldfieldsGiants.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
8. "SBL season preview – Goldfields Giants". FoxSportsPulse.com. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
9. Pike, Chris (16 July 2015). "Giants hunger behind them securing a return to playoffs". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
10. Pike, Chris (16 July 2015). "Red hot Giants excited for challenge of Slammers in semis". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.

External links

• Giants' official website
• Goldfields Giants on Facebook
• Goldfields Giants on Twitter