Jacksonville Giants 158 Atlanta(Southwest) Warriors 107

The Jacksonville Giants were glad to return home after completing an 11 day road trip in 5 states. Friday evening the Giants defeated the Atlanta(Southwest) Warrriors 158-107 at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
Jacksonville built a big lead starting the game utilizing their full court press, causing turnovers and they led at the end of the first quarter 41-19. At one point it was 20-2 early in the game.
At the half it was Jacksonville leading 79-48.
After three quarters, the Giants led 115-79. Final score Jacksonville 158, Atlanta 107.
Prior to the game, I talked with Jacksonville seven foot center, Jermaine Bell, who said he has the flu and was going to see prior to the game if he could play. Bell did not play.
Leading scorer for the game was Atlanta's Terry Martin with 30  points, A J Pilgram scored 22, and Brandon O'Brien added 17.
Tony Hooper was high scorer for Jacksonville with 26 points.
After the game I talked with Atlanta's Head Coach Presley, who said "Jacksonville played well and they played good defense. They shot the ball well making 14 shots out of 29 tries from the 3 point line. Our team shot the 3 point shot well making 9 out of 23 attempts."
Jacksonville Giants Head Basketball Coach, Kevin Waters, talked about the game on the video.

Jacksonville Giants 2012 ABA Champions

Sunday afternoon the Jacksonville Giants playing at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida (McArthur Center), became the 2012 ABA Champions when they defeated the South Carolina Warriors for the second time (best of 3-game series) 101-91. Friday the Giants defeated the Warriors in a thrilling overtime win 106-101.

The first quarter saw both teams start out slow and both teams committed numerous turnovers, thus the low first quarter score, Jacksonville led 19-16.

Both teams settled into their regular patterns in the second quarter and South Carolina led 49-43. Leading scorer for the Giants at halftime, seven foot center Jermaine Bell with 14 points. Leading scorer for the Warriors was 6-10 center Marquise Gainous with 17 points.

Shooting percentages for the first half: FG% for Jacksonville 47.5%. South Carolina shot 38.1%.

At the end of the 3rd quarter, South Carolina led 72-69. Jacksonville finished the 4th quarter strong and won the game, 100-91. FG% for the game: Giants shot 47.6%. Warriors shot 34.1%. Jacksonville made 5-17 from the three point line and South Carolina made 7-29.

The most valuable player of the tournament was Bell who finished the game with 29 points, 9 rebounds and numerous blocked shots. Sherod Harris scored 15 points and Currye Todd scored 10 points. Matt Fields grabbed 11 rebounds and Lamar Sanders had 10 rebounds.

Leading scorer for South Carolina was Gainous with 28 points. Tony White, Jr. scored 23 points. Joe Harris was the leading rebounder in the game with 12.

After the game, Jacksonville Giants head Coach, Kevin Waters talked about the win on the video.

Jacksonville Giants 102 Chicago Steam 99

The Jacksonville Giants travled to Chicago, Illinois for the ABA Playoffs to play against the Chicago Steam Saturday afternoon, March 31, 2012. The ABA Power Rankings lists Chicago #4 and Jacksonville #6. Basketball fans were able to watch the game on Facebook Ustream. Fans saw an exciting finish, with Jacksonville winning the game in the final seconds, 102-99.

At the end of the first quarter, Jacksonville led 28-22. Offensive rebounds helped the Giants to build a lead. Jacksonville extended their lead at the half to lead, 55-43. Anthony Lumpkin led the Giants in scoring with 18 points-he made 4 three points shots to lead all scores at half-time.

Chicago closed the gap, Jacksonville led 76-71 at the end of the third quarter. Currye Todd made a three point shot to give Jacksonville a 98-95 lead with seconds remaining in the game and Jacksonville held on to win 102-98.

Keys to the Jacksonville win was the Giants hit a high percentage of their free throws. They made 17 out of 21 free throw attempts at the end of the third quarter. Jacksonville was strong on the boards, as they made numerous offensive rebounds. Balanced scoring by the Giants was also key.

Leading scored for Jacksonville, was Lumpkin with his 18 first half points. Lamar Sanders added 13 points. Scoring 12 points each were, Jermaine Bell, Anthony Jackson, and Renaldo Norman.

Keith Dean led Chicago with 27 points. Sam Mack added 22 points.

Picture of Jacksonville Giants Head Coach, Kevin Waters courtesy of Jodi Arnold: j-vision.smugmug.com.

The final ABA Four will be played April 9th, in St. Petersburg, Florida with Jacksonville Giants playing Sand Diego Sol and South Carolina playing North Dallas. The ABA All-Star game will be played in St.Petersburg on April, 14th.

Giants Southeast Regional Champions

The 2012 Southeast Regional playoffs were held in Jacksonville over the weekend.

On Saturday at Atlantic Coast High School, the Jacksonville Giants got off to a fast start on a 15-0 run before Fayetteville Flight could score their first basket. Giants won 178-89. Leading scorer for Jacksonville was Lamar Sanders with 23 points. Currye Todd and Tim Ware each scored 22 points. Renaldo Norman,who dislocated a finger, scored all of his 21 points in the first half. For the Flight, Brian Calloway scored 28 points, Scott Draughn 26, and Jeremy McGhee added 16 points.

The Championship game between the Jacksonville Giants and the Gulf Coast Flash was played Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Arena. The Flash advanced to the finals by beating the Carolina Cougars 166-96 in the preliminary game Saturday. The Giants and Flash met twice this season, Giants won a thriller at the buzzer in Jacksonville by the score of 116-115 on December 3, 2011. Jacksonville beat the Flash in Gulfport, Ms. on February 8, 1012 by the score of 122-110.

Both teams played defense and both teams turned the ball over several times in the first quarter. The Flash led 27-25 after the first quarter. At half time Jacksonville led 55-53. At the end of the third quarter, Jacksonville led 86-82. The game was close to the end, when Jacksonville pulled away and won by the score of 118-108. Leading scorer for the Giants was Currye Todd with 30 points, Tim Ware had 20, and seven foot center, Jermaine Bell, had a triple double with 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots.

The Gulf Coast Flash is an excellent team, they play well together, shoot the three points with accuracy, and they are well coached.

Jacksonville Giants Head Coach states the Giants will play their next playoff game this coming Saturday in Chicago. Coach Waters talks about the win on the video.

Jacksonville Giants 209 Florida Makos83

The Jacksonville Giants traveled to Savannah, Georgia Thursday to tune-up for the ABA Playoffs on March 17& 18 in Jacksonville. The Giants played the Florida Makos at Johnson High School Gymnasium with tip-off at 7:00pm. Jacksonville came with in two points of tying their scoring record. Final score Jacksonville Giants 209 Florida Makos 83.

The first quarter saw the Giants outscore the Makos 41-22. At the half Jacksonville led 102-41. Leading scorer at the half for Jacksonville, Renaldo Norman scored 22, Anthony Jackson 18, Tim Ware and Lamar Sanders both scored 8 points. Brad Clark and A. J. Stewart scored 10 points each for the Makos.

Jacksonville had 148 points at the end of the 3rd quarter to lead, 148-61. Time ran out before the Giants could tie their scoring record and they won the game 209 to 83.

Leading scorer for Jacksonville was Anthony Jackson with 36 points followed by Norman with 34. Ware scored 21 points. Anthony Lumpkin scored 20 points.

Brad Clark was the leading scorer for the Makos with 19. Bernard Dixon scored 16 points.

Photo courtesy of Jodi Arnold.

After the game, Jacksonville Giants Head Coach talks about the win.

The Jacksonville Giants will host the first round of the ABA Playoffs starting March 17&18 to be played at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

Jacksonville Giants 154 Chicago Fury 109

The Jacksonville Giants played the Chicago Fury, a traveling ABA team, Saturday evening at the North Florida University Arena.

The Giants, noted for their fast starts, led at the end of the first quarter, 49-14. Matt Fields scored 11 points for Jacksonville in the quarter. Seven foot center Jermaine Bell had five blocked shots.

At the half it was Jacksonville 86, Chicago 54. Bell had 15 points at half time. Playing his first game for the Giants, Tim Ware, had 13 points.

Leading scorers for Chicago at half time:Maurice Carter scored 17, Grant Smith scored 14, and 6'-10" center Leon Smith scored 11.

Jacksonville led after three quarters 126-76. Final score Jacksonville Giants 154, Chicago Fury 109.

Recording a triple double, Bell scored 24 points, blocked 11 shots, and grabbed 12 rebounds. Scoring 22 points were Ware and Currye Todd.

Leading scorer for Chicago was Jerrod Tucker with 23 points. Maurice Carter scored 22 points.

After the game I met with Chicago Fury's Head Coach, Danny Little. Coach Little described the setting as a "Big Venue." We need to play hard and at the beginning of the game and we did not play hard. I do not know the shooting statistics, but Jacksonville shot well and made most of their shots. Chicago has a seven foot center who did not make the trip. I wished Coach Little good luck as his team travels to Myrtle Beach, S. C. to play the number ranked team in the ABA, the South Carolina Warriors.

Leon Smith played high school basketball at Martin Luther King High School in Chicago. In the 1999 NBA draft he was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs 1st round(29th pick, 29th overall), then traded to the Dallas Mavericks.

Picture courtesy of Jodi Arnold.

South Carolina Warriors 113 Jacksonville Giants 111

Fans saw a great re-match game between the Jacksonville Giants and the South Carolina Warriors Sunday afternoon at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. The Warriors won the first game in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 115-109 on January 22, 2012. Jacksonville made a great come-back but lost the game in the final seconds, 113-111.

The ABA Power Rankings list South Carolina tied for first place with the Colorado Kings Through February 19, 2012. Jacksonville is ranked #8.

Both teams traded baskets in the first quarter. Jacksonville led at the end of the quarter, 29-28. The second quarter was also even, with South Carolina leading 54-53. Giants seven foot center, Jermaine Bell scored 15 points at the half and the Warriors point guard, Tony White Jr. had 20 points at intermission.

In the third quarter, South Carolina extended their lead by 15 points and lead at the end of the quarter 86-71.

Jacksonville made a great comeback in the 4th quarter and took the lead at 109-108. Warriors three point shot gave them the lead, 111-109. Fans saw an exciting finish when Jacksonville had the final possession with under 10 seconds left in the game, but failed to get a shot off, Warriors won 113-111.

Leading scorer for Jacksonville was seven foot center Jermaine Bell with 30 points. Guard Hot Rod Harris scored 20 points. For the Warriors, point guard, Tony White Jr. scored 30 points and center/power forward Marquise Gainus scored 29 points.

Several fans after the game made the comment how well the South Carolina team was well coached by their head coach, George Tuttle, and his staff. Their guards were good bringing up the ball against full court pressure, several players made three point shots, and their big men did a good job rebounding and scoring in the paint.

The Warriors point guard, White, was an excellent ball handler, shot the three point shot with ease, showed quickness which enabled to get his own shot off the dribble, and unselfishly distributed the ball to his teammates. I look for him to make the ABA All-Star team.

After the game, I spoke with Jacksonville Giants Head Coach, Kevin Waters. He praised the South Carolina team saying, their is a reason they are ranked number one. I am proud of my players coming from a 15 point deficit, they did not give up, the guys battled back.

It was the Giants first home loss in two years.