Slam begin regular season Sunday in Seattle
November 11, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Bellingham Slam News Release
Bellingham, Wash. - The American Basketball Association's Bellingham Slam are set to open the 2006-07 regular season Sunday, with a road game against the King County Royals in Seattle, the team announced today.
The Slam return five players from their 2005-06 squad that went 20-15 in their inaugural season and reached the quarterfinals of the ABA championship tournament. Guards Brandon Hartley, Jacob Stevenson and Jared Stevenson, forward Mike Parker, and center Brian Dennis all re-signed with the Slam during the off-season. Of the five returnees, Parker led in scoring with 16.0 points per game on 54 percent field goal shooting. Hartley was a close second, averaging 15.7 points on 50 percent shooting. Dennis led the Slam last season in rebounding, pulling down an average of nine rebounds per game.
Newcomers to the Slam this season include guard Scott Freymond, forward Michael Jones, and center Matt Short. Both Jones and Short played NCAA Division-I basketball collegiately, at Arkansas and Oregon, respectively. Freymond starred locally at Whatcom Community College and Central Washington, before playing professionally for the ABA's Los Angeles Aftershock last season. The new signings give the Slam some much needed size, with Jones standing in at 6'9" and Short at 7'0".
Rounding out the roster for the Slam is guard Chris Ferguson, who played with the ABA's Tijuana Dragons last season, and 6'11" center Kyle Dalvit, a graduate of Sehome High School who has played the last two seasons professionally in Europe.
Sunday's road game in Seattle will mark the first regular season action for both Bellingham and the King County Royals this season. King County is directed by head coach Rick Turner, who was named 2004 ABA Coach of the Year for leading the Bellevue Blackhawks to the ABA championship game, and is led on the floor by Jamaal Miller, who averaged 24 points per game in the ABA last season with the Tacoma Navigators. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. tip-off at North Seattle Community College in Northgate.
The Slam's first home game will take place Nov. 16 against the Hollywood Fame. Tickets for that game are currently on sale though the Slam's office or on their website at www.bellinghamslam.com. For more information contact the Slam at (360) 734-SLAM or by e-mail at admin@bellinghamslam.com.
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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