Magicians face number one team in ABA in final home game of season
February 8, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Birmingham Magicians News Release
Birmingham, AL...The Birmingham Magicians of the American Basketball Association (ABA) plays the final home game of its historic first season on February 16, 2006 against the number one ranked team in the ABA, The Indiana Alleycats.
The Alleycats have been ranked number one for the entire ABA season and are currently 23-2, the best record in the ABA. The Birmingham Magicians are currently 4-11, after going winless in January. According to Magicians head coach, Jim Farmer, the team still has a shot at the playoffs. "We had the opportunity to win every game with the exception of two games. Our players are young and the inexperience is causing us to lose games in the fourth quarter," Farmer said. "We feel good about our team doing well in the playoffs, because the teams we lost to are among the best in the ABA and we could have easily won most of those games."
Magician's owner, Reggie McDaniel, said he is proud of his team and their tenacious fighting spirit. "Our guys fight hard every night and never give up. We believe we will be a major factor in the ABA playoffs. We've added a couple of experienced players such as Charles Ward, a former premier player with the Hawaii ABA franchise and now a member of the Magicians. Charles is a very athletic player who can score a lot a points, but most of all he's experienced in professional ball at this level, "McDaniel said.
The Birmingham Magicians now play their home games at Jefferson State Community College located at 2601 Carson Rd in northeast Birmingham. "We like Jeff State. It's a more intimate arena that puts the fans closer to the action," McDaniel said. "We are expecting a good crowd for our last home game this season." With the number one ABA team coming to town which features former Auburn Stars, Mack McGadney and Lincoln Glass; we know the interest will higher than usual." McGadney started the season with the Magicians before joining the Alleycats in January. "We miss Mack. He was our second leading scorer. Our players are looking forward to playing against McGadney," McDaniel said. McDaniel added that although this season has been a struggle, the Magicians will finish the season and start plans for next year.
"We have proved the naysayers wrong. Many in the local media unfortunately didn't want to see us succeed, while others were supportive. It's hard to get the attention you deserve being a professional team when many of the local media refuse give you the coverage they give to other local minor league teams. But despite of this, we have succeeded and we will continue to build our fan base in the coming years."
After the February 16th home game, the Magicians will finish up the season with road games at Indiana, and Atlanta. Tickets for the last home game are only $5.00 for the special "Pack the House" promotion according to team officials.
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.
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