Long Beach tries to tame Tijuana

February 13, 2004 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Maywood Laguneros News Release


LONG BEACH, CA – Who is the only local professional basketball coach to have played on the same team with Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, and Hakeem Olajuwon? The answer is Long Beach Jam Head Coach Earl Cureton who has kept the Jam (18-5) in first place despite consistently losing his best players to the NBA. In the past few weeks, the team's top two scorers were signed for the remainder of the season by the Los Angeles Clippers (Matt Barnes) and the New York Knicks (DerMarr Johnson).

Cureton has kept the team winning and expects to see more of his players in the NBA before season's end. Cureton's NBA background, which included winning two championships (the 1983 76ers and 1994 Rockets), and playing with some of the most gifted athlete's of all time, have shaped the coach he is today. His experience has helped him teach his players what it takes to make it to the NBA.

The Tijuana Diablos (10-15) will get their final look at Cureton and the Jam Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Long Beach Pyramid. In the teams' previous meeting, Long Beach escaped with a 127-121 victory. Derrick Dial had 24 points and Juaquin Hawkins added 22 points and seven rebounds in the victory. James Penny led all scorers with 39 points in the loss. The Jam are 4-0 this season versus the Diablos.

Dial is leading the Jam in scoring, averaging 16.0 points per game. Jack Hartman is grabbing 15.3 rebounds and Yuta Tabuse is handing out 6.3 assists per game, both team leaders. Geno Carlisle has continued his assault from behind the three-point line, hitting 51 percent (67-132) of his shots.

The Jam leave for Fresno after Sunday's game for a Monday night matchup with the HeatWave, before returning to Long Beach for a game against the Jersey Squires Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m

Sunday's game will air on KVMD-TV. Play-by-play announcer, Geoff Witcher will call the game and Neil Evans will be the color analyst. Witcher, with more than 25 years of television and radio broadcast experience, is best known for his work with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Anaheim Angels. KVMD-TV is a full service station and can be found by cable viewers on Adelphia and Charter systems in such communities as Anaheim, Santa Ana, Santa Monica and Long Beach on Channel 23. The station is also carried on satellite by DirecTV (Channel 31) and the Dish Network (Channel 8021).

The 36-game ABA 2003-04 season includes seven teams, the Long Beach Jam, Kansas City Knights, Tijuana Diablos, Gallos de Pelea of Juarez, Jersey Squires, Las Vegas Rattlers and Fresno HeatWave. The ABA includes unique game rules such as the "3-D" rule (when a team loses possession while in the backcourt, the team who acquires possession gains one additional point per field goal—2-point shot becomes 3, 3-point shots become 4: if a foul occurs, the number of free throws awarded increases by one), and the international basket interference rule (once the ball hits the rim, it is live and any player may make contact with it without being penalized for "goaltending").

Individual game tickets are on sale now and available for purchase by visiting the Long Beach State Pyramid box office, or by phone at 562-985-4949 and 888-4-JAM-TIX. Prices range from $5 for students, senior citizens and military, to $10-15 for reserved seating. Season and group tickets may be purchased by calling the Long Beach Jam offices at 562-799-8100.

Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.



American Basketball Association Stories from February 13, 2004


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