Antwerp Giants

Antwerp Giants, named Telenet Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, is a Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketball. The club was created from the merger of Sobabee and Racing Mechelen. Then named Racing Basket Antwerpen, it was renamed Antwerp Giants in 2005.

Telenet Giants Antwerp
Telenet Giants Antwerp logo
LeaguesBNXT League
Founded1995 (1995)
HistoryRacing Antwerpen
1995–2006
Antwerp Giants
2006–present
ArenaLotto Arena
Capacity5,500
LocationAntwerp, Belgium
Team colorsRed, White, Black, Yellow
       
PresidentRoger Roels
General managerEddy Faus
Head coachIvica Skelin
Team captainJean-Marc Mwema
Championships1 Belgian Championships
4 Belgian Cups
2 Belgian Supercups
Retired numbers1 (4)
Websiteantwerpgiants.be
Logo of the Antwerp Giants, without sponsor

Antwerp has won the Belgian championship once, in 2000. The team has won five Belgian Cups and two Belgian Supercups.

History

In 1995, Sobabee from Antwerp and Racing Mechelen merged into Racing Basket Antwerpen. The club made its debut on the highest stage in Belgium in the 1998–99 season. Antwerp was one of the top 3 teams until 2001. In the 1999–2000 season the club won its first national championship as Telindus Antwerpen, by beating Oostende 3–1 in the Finals. The team had a setback after the championship year and ended on the 6th, 7th or 8th place for five seasons in a row. In 2007 the club won its third trophy, by winning the Belgian Basketball Cup for the second time.

The second team of the club plays in the Belgian Second Division, while the women's team participates in the regional competition.

The team holds the attendance record for a basketball game in Belgium, with 17,135 spectators, on 31 January 2015, during their game against Spirou Charleroi, in the Sportpaleis.[1] In June 2017, it was announced that Telenet would become the main sponsor of the team for three seasons.[2] The signing of this sponsor, previously main sponsor of Oostende, made the Giants one of the favorites in Belgian basketball.

In the 2018–19 season, Antwerp had its most successful season in club history. In Europe, it qualified for the Basketball Champions League (BCL) after advancing past three qualifying rounds. Antwerp was the surprise of the BCL season, as the team beat Murcia and Nizhny Novgorod in the round of 16 and quarterfinals. It qualified for the Final Four which was hosted in the city of Antwerp in the Sportpaleis. In the semi-finals, Antwerp lost to Iberostar Tenerife, and it won the third place game over Brose Bamberg.[3] Domestically, Antwerp won the Belgian Basketball Cup for the first time in 12 years.[4] In the PBL, Antwerp lost to Filou Oostende 1–3 in the finals.

Since the 2021–22 season, Antwerp plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.[5]

On 12 March 2023, the Giants won their fifth Belgian Cup title after beating Oostende in the final.[6]

Trophies
The Port of Antwerp Giants logo (used until 2017)

Domestic competitions
Champions (1): 1999–2000
Winners (5): 1999–2000, 2006–07, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2022–23
Winners (2): 2007, 2016

European competitions

Names

Due to sponsorship reasons, the name of the club has frequently changed:

  • Racing Basket Antwerpen (1996–1999)
  • Telindus Racing Antwerpen (1999–2004)
  • Daewoo Racing Antwerpen (2005–2006)
  • Sanex Antwerp Giants (2006–2008)
  • Antwerp Diamond Giants (2008–2011)
  • Port of Antwerp Giants (2011–2017)
  • Telenet Giants Antwerp (2017–present)

Players

Retired numbers
Antwerp Giants retired numbers
N° Nat. Player Position Tenure Retired
4BelgiumRoel MoorsPG2000–2002, 2009–2015October 8, 2015[7]

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Telenet Giants Antwerp roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
PG 1 United States Anderson, Brandon 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 25 – (1998-06-12)12 June 1998
SG 2 Belgium Smout, Quinten 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 21 – (2002-02-15)15 February 2002
SF 8 United States Bradford, Desonta 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 27 – (1996-04-12)12 April 1996
SF 9 Belgium Van Cleemput, Vince 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 21 – (2002-01-24)24 January 2002
SF 10 Belgium D'Espalier, Seppe 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 24 – (1999-03-27)27 March 1999
SF 11 Belgium De Ridder, Thijs 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 20 – (2003-01-31)31 January 2003
G 12 Germany Zylka, Ferdinand 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 25 – (1998-09-11)11 September 1998
C 13 Serbia Marinković, Ivan 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 29 – (1993-11-17)17 November 1993
C 14 Belgium Rogiers, Roby 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1997-06-14)14 June 1997
SG 21 United States Butterfield, Spencer Injured 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 31 – (1992-10-11)11 October 1992
F 29 Belgium Mwema, Jean-Marc (C) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 33 – (1989-12-05)5 December 1989
SF 30 United States Upshaw, Reggie 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 28 – (1995-04-07)7 April 1995
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: April 4, 2023

Season by season
Season Tier League Pos. W–L Belgian Cup European competitions
2010–11 1 Division I 5th 18–17 Semifinalist 3 EuroChallenge L16 4–1–3
2011–12 1 Division I 3rd 23–11 Runner-up 3 EuroChallenge T16 6–6
2012–13 1 Division I 5th 17–13 Last 16 3 EuroChallenge RS 4–2
2013–14 1 Division I 4th 21–21 Runner-up 3 EuroChallenge T16 7–5
2014–15 1 Division I 6th 16–17 Semifinalist 3 EuroChallenge T16 6–6
2015–16 1 Division I 5th 14–16 Runner-up 3 FIBA Europe Cup QF 13–4
2016–17 1 Division I 3rd 25–17 Quarterfinalist 4 FIBA Europe Cup R2 8–4
2017–18 1 Division I 2nd 31–12 Quarterfinalist 3 Champions League QR3 5–1
4 FIBA Europe Cup RS 3–3
2018–19 1 Division I 2nd 35–9 Champion 3 Champions League 3rd 15–9
2019–20 1 Division I 3rd[lower-alpha 1] 11–6 Champion 3 Champions League RS 4–10
2020–21 1 Division I 3rd 20–11 Quarterfinals 2 EuroCup RS 1–9
  1. The 2019–20 PBL season was cancelled early because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Head coaches
Name Nat. Tenure
Arik Shivek Israel 2005–2007
Sven van Camp Belgium 2007–2008
Eddy Casteels Belgium 2008–2013
Paul Vervaeck Belgium 2013–2015
Roel Moors Belgium 2015–2019
Christophe Beghin Belgium 2019–2022
Luc Smout Belgium 2022
Ivica Skelin Croatia 2022–present

Notable former players

A list of former players of Antwerp Giants since 2000

References
  1. "Roundup: Magical 'Night of the Giants'". Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  2. Telenet komende drie jaar hoofdsponsor van Antwerp Giants
  3. "Antwerp use home support to stun Bamberg for third place". Basketball Champions League. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  4. "Antwerp Giants troeven Charleroi af in spannende bekerfinale". Sporza.be (in Dutch). 8 March 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  5. "Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. "Antwerp Giants kloppen favoriet Oostende in spannende bekerfinale". sporza.be (in Dutch). 2023-03-12. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  7. "Niemand zal ooit nog het nummer 4 dragen bij de Giants". Archived from the original on 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
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