Antwerp Giants

Last updated
Windrose Giants Antwerp
Telenet Giants logo.png
Leagues BNXT League
FIBA Europe Cup
Founded1995;29 years ago (1995)
HistoryRacing Antwerpen
1995–2006
Antwerp Giants
2006–present
Arena Lotto Arena
Capacity5,500
Location Antwerp, Belgium
Team colorsRed, White, Black, Yellow
    
PresidentBjörn Verhoeven
General managerEddy Faus
Team captain Jean-Marc Mwema
Championships1 Belgian Championships
4 Belgian Cups
2 Belgian Supercups
Retired numbers1 (4)
Website antwerpgiants.be
Logo of the Antwerp Giants, without sponsor Antwerp Giants logo.jpg
Logo of the Antwerp Giants, without sponsor

Antwerp Giants, named Windrose 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.

Contents

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 in 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 the 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]

On 8 July, 2024 Antwerp got a new name sponsor. The company Windrose Technology, which is located in electronic trucks are the new name sponsor. The new team name is Windrose Giants Antwerp. [7]

Trophies

The Port of Antwerp Giants logo (used until 2017) Port of Antwerp Giants logo.png
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:

Players

Retired numbers

Antwerp Giants retired numbers
Nat.PlayerPositionTenureRetired
4 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Roel Moors PG 2000–2002, 2009–2015October 8, 2015 [8]

Current roster

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

Windrose Giants Antwerp roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
PG 1 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Tallir, Feie 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)18 – (2006-01-01)1 January 2006
PF 2 Flag of the United States.svg Moore, Mike 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)30 – (1994-05-30)30 May 1994
SF 3 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Van Drom, Letto 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)18 – (2006-08-17)17 August 2006
PG 6 Flag of the United States.svg Flowers, Michael 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)25 – (1999-01-14)14 January 1999
PG 8 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Van Buggenhout, Jo 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)21 – (2003-06-06)6 June 2003
SF 9 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Lasisi, Elias 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)32 – (1992-01-09)9 January 1992
SF 10 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Van Cleemput, Vince 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)22 – (2002-01-24)24 January 2002
SG 11 Flag of the United States.svg Foster, Kyle 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)26 – (1998-03-11)11 March 1998
PF 13 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Schoepen, Yoeri 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)30 – (1994-03-30)30 March 1994
PF 21 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Vandenbossche, Maarten 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)21 – (2003-04-08)8 April 2003
C 22 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Schrevens, Arne 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)22 – (2002-07-08)8 July 2002
C 24 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg Tumba, Kevin 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)33 – (1991-02-23)23 February 1991
SF 35 Flag of Bulgaria.svg Alipiev, Ivan 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)25 – (1999-07-28)28 July 1999
C 50 Flag of the United States.svg Baker, Will 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)23 – (2000-12-31)31 December 2000
Head coach
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jill Lorent
Assistant coach(es)
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Eddy Faus

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Updated: October 10, 2024

Season by season

SeasonTierLeaguePos.W–L Belgian Cup European competitions
2010–11 1 Division I 5th18–17Semifinalist3 EuroChallenge L164–1–3
2011–12 1 Division I 3rd23–11Runner-up3 EuroChallenge T166–6
2012–13 1 Division I 5th17–13Last 163 EuroChallenge RS4–2
2013–14 1 Division I 4th21–21 Runner-up 3 EuroChallenge T167–5
2014–15 1 Division I 6th16–17 Semifinalist 3 EuroChallenge T166–6
2015–16 1 Division I 5th14–16 Runner-up 3 FIBA Europe Cup QF13–4
2016–17 1 Division I 3rd25–17 Quarterfinalist 4 FIBA Europe Cup R28–4
2017–18 1 Division I 2nd31–12 Quarterfinalist 3 Champions League QR35–1
4 FIBA Europe Cup RS3–3
2018–19 1 Division I 2nd35–9Champion3 Champions League 3rd15–9
2019–20 1 Division I 3rd [lower-alpha 1] 11–6Champion3 Champions League RS4–10
2020–21 1 Division I 3rd20–11 Quarterfinals 2 EuroCup RS1–9
  1. The 2019–20 PBL season was cancelled early because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Head coaches

NameNat.Tenure
Arik Shivek Flag of Israel.svg 2005–2007
Sven van Camp Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 2007–2008
Eddy Casteels Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 2008–2013
Paul Vervaeck Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 2013–2015
Roel Moors Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 2015–2019
Christophe Beghin Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 2019–2022
Luc Smout Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 2022
Ivica Skelin Flag of Croatia.svg 2022–2024
Geert Hammink Flag of the Netherlands.svg 2024
Jill Lorent Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 2024–present

Notable former players

A list of former players of Antwerp Giants since 2000

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References

  1. "Roundup: Magical 'Night of the Giants'" . Retrieved February 3, 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  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. "WINDROSE GIANTS ANTWERP!". antwerpgiants.be (in Dutch). 2024-07-08. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  8. "Niemand zal ooit nog het nummer 4 dragen bij de Giants". Archived from the original on 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2015-10-08.