Geelong Supercats

The Geelong Supercats are an Australian basketball team, based in the Victorian town of Geelong, that currently plays in the Australian Basketball Association and previously played in the National Basketball League.

NBL History

The Geelong Cats were founded as part of the Victorian Basketball Association in 1978. After achieving championship success in that league in 1981, the club was pitted against four NBL clubs (the West Adelaide Bearcats, the St. Kilda Saints, Nunawading Spectres and Launceston Casino City) over two tournaments. After defeating all of these NBL teams the Supercats were accepted into the NBL for the 1982 season [http://www.supercats.com.au/content/view/27/64/ Official Supercats site - Early Beginnings] . With star players such as Cal Bruton and James Crawford on the roster [http://www.nblstats.com/roster.php?teamid=10039 NBL Stats - Geelong Cats 1982] , the Cats recorded 13 straight victories and finished second overall at the end of the regular season with 21 wins and 7 losses. Remarkably, the Cats also competed in the Grand Final in their first season. However, they lost to the West Adelaide Bearcats 80-74 [http://www.supercats.com.au/content/view/28/64/ Official Supercats site - NBL Years] .

The following several seasons continued to be successful for the Cats, but they failed to reach the Grand Final again. By 1986, star players such as Bruton and Crawford had moved on and the club was sliding down the NBL ladder.

In 1988, the Cats changed their name to the Supercats and continue under that moniker to this day. However, the 1988 season saw the Supercats lose all 24 games that season [http://www.nblstats.com/roster.php?teamid=10127 NBL Stats - Geelong Supercats 1988] . Star recruits, such as Shane Heal, helped the Supercats recover from such depths in the early '90s, but eventually the Supercats dropped to last on the NBL ladder in 1992 and failed to regain a position in the finals in their remaining years [http://www.supercats.com.au/content/view/28/64/ Official Supercats site - NBL Years] .

In 1996, the Supercats were one of three teams (the Gold Coast Rollers and the Hobart Devils being the other two) that had their NBL licenses revoked by the league directors due to financial difficulties. While not the first time teams had folded in the league, the sudden departure of the Supercats, Rollers and Devils signified that the NBL's successful era (between late 1980s and early 1990s) was truly over.

ABA History

Since 1997, the Supercats have competed solely in the ABA, as part of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).

Over the last couple of seasons the Supercats have been particularly successful. In 1999 the Supercats won the South Conference final beating the Nunawading Spectres 82-81, before going on to win their 2nd ABA national championship by beating Kilsyth Cobras 98-78 in Canberra. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 the Supercats became SEABL East conference champions. In 2006 the club won its second ABA National club championship in less then 10 yrs when they defeated the Dandenong rangers 94-80 [http://www.supercats.com.au/ Official Geelong Supercats website] .

Honour Roll

References

External links

* [http://www.supercats.com.au Official Website]