Wyoming Wildcatters
Wyoming Wildcatters | |
---|---|
Casper Events Center | |
Capacity | 8,842 |
Location | Casper, Wyoming |
Team colors | red, white, blue |
Team manager | Jeff Gordon |
The Wyoming Wildcatters were a
History
In the early 1980s, CBA commissioner
The 1983–84 season was one of the most successful for the franchise: the addition of guard Del Beshore was pivotal for the team's improvement, as he contributed with 15.7 points, 8.8 assists and a league-best 3.2 steals per game; Anthony Roberts led the team in scoring with a 25.2 average, and newly acquired Dave Johnson recorded a team best 8.0 rebounds per game. After finishing in the third place in the Western Division, the Wildcatters won the division semifinals against the defending champions, the Detroit Spirits (3-1), and also won the division finals against the Wisconsin Flyers (3-1), thus reaching the CBA finals.[3] The Wildcatters had home advantage, playing the first game at the Casper Events Center,[10] but they lost to the Albany Patroons 129-121. The series went back and forth, with the teams alternating wins: the Wildcatters won the second game 128-126; Albany won the third 120-111; and again the Wildcatters put the series 2-2 with a 128-112 win. The final game saw the Patroons winning 119-109 and winning the CBA title. Willie "Hutch" Jones averaged 20.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in postseason play, while Beshore recorded 9.8 assists per game. The season also saw the first Wildcatters player to receive an individual award: Anthony Roberts won the MVP award at the All-Star game, which saw the Wildcatters playing against the CBA All-Stars in Casper.[11]
By 1984–85 the Wildcatters had created ties with three colleges (Brigham Young, Utah and Wyoming) and were associated with two NBA teams, the Phoenix Suns and the Seattle SuperSonics.[12] The team acquired forwards Sam Mosley and Rick Lamb, who were two of the best players in the roster (Mosley averaged a double-double with 20.0 points and 11.5 rebounds), and former NBA player Larry Kenon tried to make a comeback after 1 year of inactivity;[12] he only played 7 games for the Wildcatters, averaging 3.6 points per game. Again the Wildcatters experienced considerable success, and won the Western Division title with a .500 record (24-24). However, despite good performances in the playoffs by Boot Bond and Rick Lamb, they lost in the division semifinals against Wisconsin.[3] Del Beshore continued his leadership at the point guard position and led the league in assists, averaging 10.0 per game. For the second season in a row a Wildcatters player was appointed the All-Star game MVP: this time it was Rick Lamb who received the award.[11]
Coach Schalow left the team after the end of the 1984–85 season, and in June the franchise started looking for a new coach, focusing on Wisconsin Flyers coach Bill Klucas, who had already declared that he was going to leave the team.[13] Klucas was officially appointed as the Wildcatters' new coach, and started the preseason training in November the roster was heavily changed for the new season, and many players who had built the team success in the previous years left the team.[14] Among the few who remained were Boot Bond, Michael Jackson and forward Sam Mosley, who only played 1 game. Forward John Drew scored a franchise-record 1,241 points during the 1985–86 season, but the team performance worsened significantly, and the team finished with a .438 record (21-27), failing to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.[3]
In June 1986
In 1987 the franchise was in financial trouble.[16] Despite the issues off the court, the team played well and won several games in the beginning of the season, but the financial issues were too severe and forced team owner John O'Donnell to leave his position on March 1, 1988: the club was managed by the CBA until the end of the season.[17] The team lost 20 of the last 23 games played, but managed to qualify for the playoffs: they defeated the La Crosse Catbirds in 7 games in the Western Division semifinals, and won the division finals against the Rockford Lightning 4 games to 2 after a 4th-overtime 137-134 game 6 win in Rockford.[3] The Wildcatters thus reached the CBA finals, where again they had to face the Albany Patroons. The team was leading the series 3-2, but lost both games 6 (102-81) and the decisive game 7 (105-96), and lost the title to the Patroons.[3] The franchise ceased operations after that final game.
Season-by-season records
Years | Wins | Losses | Winning percentage | Head coach(s) | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1982–83 | 22 | 22 | .500 | Jack Schalow | [18] |
1983–84 | 23 | 21 | .523 | Jack Schalow | [19] |
1984–85 | 24 | 24 | .500 | Jack Schalow | [20] |
1985–86 | 21 | 27 | .438 | Bill Klucas | [21] |
1986–87 | 21 | 27 | .438 | Cazzie Russell | [22] |
1987–88 | 23 | 31 | .426 | Cazzie Russell | [23] |
All-time roster
- David Allen
- Larry Anderson
- Rick Anderson
- Brett Applegate
- Earl Belcher
- Del Beshore
- Freeman Blade
- Roylin "Boot" Bond
- Charles Bradley
- Ron Cavenall
- Greg Cook
- John Copeland
- B. B. Davis
- Marvin Delph
- Billy Donovan
- John Drew
- Chris Engler
- Chuck Everson
- Alvin Franklin
- Gary Furniss
- Chris Galloway
- Thad Garner
- Lionel Garrett
- Luster Goodwin
- Michael Graham
- Tony Guy
- Ray Hall
- Reggie Hannah
- Tom Haywood
- Johnny High
- Jo Jo Hunter
- Michael Jackson
- Dave Johnson
- Willie "Hutch" Jones
- Eddie Jordan
- Larry Kenon
- Rick Lamb
- Todd Linder
- Dave Magley
- Anthony Martin
- Tony Martin
- Bryce McPhee
- Barry Mitchell
- Keith Morrison
- Sam Mosley
- Kenny Natt
- Clayton Olivier
- Joe Onyekwelu
- Mike Phelps
- Paul Phifer
- Orlando Phillips
- David Pope
- Mark Radford
- Dwayne Randall
- Richard Rellford
- Anthony Roberts
- Ken Roper
- Tim Ruff
- Mike Schultz
- Aubrey Sherrod
- Tyrone Shoulders
- Jim Smith
- Juden Smith
- Rocky Smith
- Andre Spencer
- Terence Stansbury
- Alex Stivrins
- Emmett Taylor
- Charles Thompson
- Bonner Upshaw
- Vince Washington
- Brad Wright
- A. J. Wynder
- Danny Young
- Perry Young
Awards
- CBA assists leader: Del Beshore (1984–85)
- CBA steals leader: Del Beshore (1983–84)
- CBA blocks leader: Ron Cavenall (1987–88)
- CBA All-Star game MVP: Anthony Roberts (1984), Rick Lamb (1985)
References
- ^ "It was unique mold that cast CBA commissioner". Casper Star-Tribune. April 1, 1982. p. D1.
- ^ "Proposed CBA team gets GM, nickname". Casper Star-Tribune. March 18, 1982. p. D1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bradley, Robert; Anderson, Chris; Astolfi, Mark; Bradley, Robert; Foster, Marc; Grasso, John; Smith, John Z. "History of the Continental Basketball Association". apbr.org.
- ^ "Wildcatters continue head coach search". Casper Star-Tribune. March 27, 1982. p. 8.
- The Billings Gazette. July 3, 1982. p. 17.
- ^ "Wildcatters get ready for pre-season camp". Casper Star-Tribune. October 27, 1982. p. 45.
- ^ "Ex-NC player Hill impresses at camp". Casper Star-Tribune. November 15, 1982. p. 8.
- ^ "Wildcatters play historic game at Billings tonight". Casper Star-Tribune. December 3, 1982. p. D1.
- ^ "Wildcatters on center stage for home opener". Casper Star-Tribune. December 7, 1982. p. D1.
- ^ "Wildcatters set to open CBA finals". The Billings Gazette. April 2, 1984. p. 20.
- ^ a b Miller, Chuck. "The CBA All-Star Game - Five Decades of Excellence". CBAClassic.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2006. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- ^ a b "Teams at a glance". The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 2, 1984. p. 33.
- ^ "Wildcatters courting Klucas for coach". The Billings Gazette. June 14, 1985. p. 17.
- ^ "Klucas starts construction on Catters". Billings Gazette. November 20, 1985. p. 31.
- ^ "Russell becomes coach of Wyoming Wildcatters". The Billings Gazette. June 24, 1986. p. 32.
- Colorado Springs Gazette. July 4, 1987. p. C2.
- ^ "Wildcatters extinguished". The Billings Gazette. March 2, 1988. p. 19.
- ^ a b "1982-83 Wyoming Wildcatters Statistics". StatsCrew.com. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- ^ a b "1983-84 Wyoming Wildcatters Statistics". StatsCrew.com. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- ^ a b "1984-85 Wyoming Wildcatters Statistics". StatsCrew.com. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- ^ a b "1985-86 Wyoming Wildcatters Statistics". StatsCrew.com. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- ^ a b "1986-87 Wyoming Wildcatters Statistics". StatsCrew.com. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- ^ a b "1987-88 Wyoming Wildcatters Statistics". StatsCrew.com. Retrieved November 26, 2018.