Goldfields Giants

Goldfields Giants
Leagues	SBL
Founded	1990
History	Goldfields Giants 1990–present
Arena	Niels Hansen Stadium
Location	Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Team colors	Navy Blue, Gold, White
Main sponsor	Silver Lake Resources
President	Daniel Bowler
Team manager	Brad French
Head coach	Michael Haney
Championships	2 (2007, 2008)
Website	GoldfieldsGiants.com

The Goldfields Giants are a men's semi-professional basketball team that competes in the State Basketball League (SBL). The Giants are based in the Western Australian regional city of Kalgoorlie, and their home court is the 1200-capacity Niels Hansen Stadium. 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 90s.

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

Current roster

Goldfields Giants roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. 3.5 !F 8 AUS ! Franich, Lordan  (C) 7000200999999999999♠2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 1.5 !G 9 AUS ! Forlano, Daniel 7000180000000000000♠1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 1.5 !G 11 AUS ! Holloway, Brandon  7000183000000000000♠1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 3.5 !F 12 AUS ! Exell, Mike 7000200000000000000♠2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 3.5 !F 13 USA ! Holmen, Jacob (I) 7000202000000000000♠2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 2.5 !G/F 14 AUS ! Lydiat, Andrew 7000194000000000000♠1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 4.5 !F/C 15 AUS ! Zunic, Edin 7000204999999999999♠2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 1.5 !G 21 AUS ! Ballantyne, Shamus 7000186000000000000♠1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 2.5 !G/F 22 AUS ! Reid, Jerome 7000195000000000000♠1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 5.0 !C 30 AUS ! Mann, Lewis 7000206000000000000♠2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 4.5 !F/C 32 AUS ! Hurst, Russell 7000200000000000000♠2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 1.5 !G AUS ! Goodluck, Daniel 7000185000000000000♠1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 2.5 !G/F USA ! Manigault, Kenny (I) 7000196000000000000♠1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 1.5 !G NZL ! Nikora, Ezra 7000183000000000000♠1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	Head coach Michael Haney Assistant coach(es) Jimmy Bowler Lou Causer Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (IN) Inactive (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 13 January 2016

Notable former players

References

External links

• Goldfields Giants official website
• SBL website
• Basketball WA website
• SBL Forum