Joe's faux league makes Sports Illustrated

[ABA_TampaBay]

Yes folks, the ABA, Jacksonville Giants and Columbus Riverballers got a mention on page 19 of the Feb. 13 edition of SI.

|SCORED| By the Jacksonville Giants of the American Basketball Association , 211 points, in a win last Saturday over the Columbus Riverballers (who put up 84), breaking the scoring record for the 12 year old ABA, and believed to be the most points ever in a pro basketball game.

The two other high men's highs, pro or college, were listed at 186 by the Pistons (12-13-83) over the Nuggets - they scored 184 - and Loyola Marymount (1-5-91) over Alliant International - they scored 140.

Does any see Old Joe using this as a way of somehow legitimizing his make believe outfit?

[zeke41]

Well, I know for a fact that the East Kentucky Miners scored 194 points in a CBA game against the Atlanta Krunk (I had 5 of them). The CBA, unlike the ABA, was recognized by FIBA (I know the ABA was not, hearing that directly from Brent Baumberger from USA Basketball).

That 194, according to my research and knowledge, was the most by a FIBA/USA Basketball "recognized" league. Personally, I think this was a classless record. We scored 45 in the 1st quarter of a game, and when talk about gong for 200 points came up during the huddle before the 2nd quarter, one of my players stepped up and said "I have a problem with that, coach!" We decided to downshift and just enjoy the game, playing some of the guys who wouldn't normally play as much.

Here's a debate we can all engage in - is this type of exposure helping or hurting minor league basketball? Any team that scores 200 points in a game is doing something very difficult, but...does it diminish the quality and perception that fans will have of minor league basketball? Does it reduce it to some sort of cheap, but entertaining magic show?

Personally, I wouldn't sit through a shalacking like that. In the ABA, Jax seems to be having a regular occurance of these types of games. They've scored 200 twice (maybe even more), and regularly score in the 150-170's, beating opponents by 50+ points (and sometimes more).

Is this a good thing?

[turbocamyes]

Top 10 (or so) games:

Code: Select all

League	Date    	Visiting Team ID	V Score	Home Team ID      	H Score
ABA	02/04/12	Columbus Riverballers	84	Jacksonville Giants	211
IBL	06/22/07	Phoenix Flame   	128	Las Vegas Stars  	206
ABA	01/02/11	Georgia Gwizzlies	102	Jacksonville Giants	206
ABA	02/06/11	Florida Makos    	85	Jacksonville Giants	204
ABA	11/06/11	Wyoming Roughnecks	100	Colorado Kings  	198
IBL	06/23/07	Lansing Capitals	120	Holland Blast    	196
IBL	06/17/07	Chicago Hghts Soldiers	176	Central Oregon Hotshots	194
CBA	03/02/08	Atlanta Krunk    	115	East Kentucky Miners	194
ABA	12/13/11	Fayetteville Flight	116	South Carolina Warriors	194
ABA	11/24/06	Toledo Ice      	66	Detroit Panthers  	191
ABA	01/04/11	Jacksonville Giants	187	Florida Makos    	123
ABA	11/05/11	Wyoming Roughnecks	111	Colorado Kings  	186

[The Sweeper]

Can we find the box score on abastatscentral.com?

The Pistons-Niggets game went into 3 OT if I remember correctly.

[The Magician]

Minor League Basketball should be about Coaching, Personal and Professional Player Development ... utilizing a system and platforms to create promotional opportunities for both coaches and players to reach the NBDL, NBA & FIBA. Scoring 200+ points a game may provide an entertainment buzz for a # of fans and mention on the 11'oclock news, but it's far from what needs to be occuring within the structure, management and execution of the principles of team building and advancement.

[The Magician]

And that goes as well on the other side of the scoreline. If a team is losing by 30, 40, 50, 100, 120 points a game, night in, night out ... that's not competitive sport. And to be honest, I don't see the value in that, on any level.

[zeke41]

[quote=""turbocamyes""]Top 10 (or so) games:

Code: Select all

League	Date    	Visiting Team ID	V Score	Home Team ID      	H Score
ABA	02/04/12	Columbus Riverballers	84	Jacksonville Giants	211
IBL	06/22/07	Phoenix Flame   	128	Las Vegas Stars  	206
ABA	01/02/11	Georgia Gwizzlies	102	Jacksonville Giants	206
ABA	02/06/11	Florida Makos    	85	Jacksonville Giants	204
ABA	11/06/11	Wyoming Roughnecks	100	Colorado Kings  	198
IBL	06/23/07	Lansing Capitals	120	Holland Blast    	196
IBL	06/17/07	Chicago Hghts Soldiers	176	Central Oregon Hotshots	194
CBA	03/02/08	Atlanta Krunk    	115	East Kentucky Miners	194
ABA	12/13/11	Fayetteville Flight	116	South Carolina Warriors	194
ABA	11/24/06	Toledo Ice      	66	Detroit Panthers  	191
ABA	01/04/11	Jacksonville Giants	187	Florida Makos    	123
ABA	11/05/11	Wyoming Roughnecks	111	Colorado Kings  	186

[/quote]

You should send that to Sports Illustrated. My hunch is...they'll realize something "fishy" is going on. Hey...maybe I'll set up a game against the Lake Nona YMCA champions and have the Flight score 214...if that's what can get you in Sports Illustrated, why not?

You know what is sad? Now, even Sports Illustrated isn't even doing due diligence and research before publishing something. I'll bet they didn't realize that lopsided victories like this are common in the ABA...and even the IBL apparently.

[Chuck the Writer]

[quote=""zeke41""]You should send that to Sports Illustrated. My hunch is...they'll realize something "fishy" is going on. Hey...maybe I'll set up a game against the Lake Nona YMCA champions and have the Flight score 214...if that's what can get you in Sports Illustrated, why not?

You know what is sad? Now, even Sports Illustrated isn't even doing due diligence and research before publishing something. I'll bet they didn't realize that lopsided victories like this are common in the ABA...and even the IBL apparently.[/quote]

Big deal. The Albany Patroons once scored 205 points in a game. And like the entire ABA, it was in an exhibition game.

http://www.chuckthewriter.com/patroons/pats23.html

[JeffKuntz]

[quote=""zeke41""]You should send that to Sports Illustrated. My hunch is...they'll realize something "fishy" is going on. Hey...maybe I'll set up a game against the Lake Nona YMCA champions and have the Flight score 214...if that's what can get you in Sports Illustrated, why not?

You know what is sad? Now, even Sports Illustrated isn't even doing due diligence and research before publishing something. I'll bet they didn't realize that lopsided victories like this are common in the ABA...and even the IBL apparently.[/quote]

You want them to do research and due diligence for reporting a published score in a 2-line blurb on page 19??

[tops804]

[quote=""The Magician""]Minor League Basketball should be about Coaching, Personal and Professional Player Development ... utilizing a system and platforms to create promotional opportunities for both coaches and players to reach the NBDL, NBA & FIBA. Scoring 200+ points a game may provide an entertainment buzz for a # of fans and mention on the 11'oclock news, but it's far from what needs to be occuring within the structure, management and execution of the principles of team building and advancement.[/quote]

Thanks for bringing some sense to this thread.

Weren't the Denver Nuggets using a run and gun style in the early 90's where people were waiting to see a 200 put on the scoreboard? They'd often make the news, but always for the wrong reasons.

If I recall correctly, those seasons went badly for both them and their head coach.

Yes...It is entertainment. I once recall a 3rd base coach (the visiting one, no less) get booed at an Indians game when he held the 20th run from crossing the plate in an obvious rout.