Daniel Z Lieberman Michael E Long Popular Books

Daniel Z Lieberman Michael E Long Biography & Facts

The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to early-summer schedule. The league quickly became known as a development league for players, with many players moving up to the NBA and many more playing in Europe after stints here. In 1996, the league made a stock offering, a rarity among sports leagues. However, in later years, the league declined as rival leagues appeared and USBL had a tougher time replacing teams that folded. In the last two seasons, the league was mainly a midwestern league, with teams mainly in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. After speculation that the USBL might fold after the 2007 season, the league announced that it would sit out the 2008 season and consider its options for the future. In January 2010, the league expressed hopes to resume play in April 2010. However, no further news has surfaced from the league. The final champions are the Kansas Cagerz, who won the title game on July 1, 2007. History The United States Basketball League was founded in December 1984 by Daniel T. Meisenheimer, a stockbroker from Connecticut. The league management initially planned to schedule about 40 games during the summer, and started to look for new teams to join the newly formed USBL. Former NBA referee Richie Powers was named the league's vice president and director of operations, while Earl Monroe was the commissioner. Meisenheimer introduced a salary cap of $250,000 per team. The teams for the first season were the Connecticut Colonials from New Haven, Connecticut; the New Jersey Jammers from Jersey City, New Jersey; the Long Island Knights from Long Island, New York (owned by Meisenheimer himself); the Rhode Island Gulls from Warwick, Rhode Island; the Springfield Fame from Springfield, Massachusetts; the Westchester Golden Apples from Westchester, New York; and the Wildwood Aces from Wildwood, New Jersey. Several players with NBA experience joined the USBL: among them Ken Bannister, Jim Bostic, Tracy Jackson, Lowes Moore, Eddie Lee Wilkins and Sam Worthen. Other players who played in the 1985 USBL season would later play in the NBA, such as Michael Adams, Manute Bol, Ron Crevier, Spud Webb and John "Hot Rod" Williams. After the regular season ended after each team played 25 games, the league management decided not to organize postseason games, since many players were going to join other teams for the start of the regular season of other leagues such as the NBA or the CBA. The first USBL champions were the Springfield Fame, that had ended the regular season leading the league with a 19–6 record. Hot Rod Williams and Tracy Jackson were named co-MVPs, while Manute Bol led the league both in rebounds per game (14.2) and blocks per game (11.2). In 1986 two teams, the Long Island Knights and the Rhode Island Gulls, left the league, and three new franchises joined the USBL: the Gold Coast Stingrays from West Palm Beach, Florida, the Staten Island Stallions from Staten Island, New York and the Tampa Bay Flash from Tampa, Florida. In the same year Nancy Lieberman joined the Springfield Fame and became the first female player to play in a professional league with men. Lieberman debuted in June 1986 in a game against the Staten Island Stallions, playing 3 minutes during which she did not score. In 1987 another woman joined the USBL: Lynette Richardson, who had played college basketball at Florida International, signed for the Miami Tropics. On June 13, 1987, Richardson and Lieberman played against each other during a game between the Miami Tropics and the Long Island Knights: Richardson scored 3 points while Lieberman scored 2. The top teams of the regular season advanced to the USBL Postseason Festival, a playoffs system that saw teams play single elimination games in order to advance to the final game. On three occasions (1985, 1986 and 1990) no postseason was held, and the team with the best regular season record won the championship. In 1989 the USBL ceased operations temporarily in order to improve its organization, and resumed the following season, in 1990. Complete team list USBL Champions Teams played a single championship game at the end of the playoffs to name the league champions 1985 Springfield Fame (19–6) won regular season, no playoffs 1986 Tampa Bay Flash (22–8) won regular season, no playoffs 1987 Miami Tropics 103 Rhode Island Gulls 99 1988 New Haven Skyhawks 134 Palm Beach Stingrays 126 1989 USBL suspended operations 1990 Jacksonville Hooters (15–1) won regular season, no playoffs 1991 Philadelphia Spirit 110 Miami Tropics 108 1992 Miami Tropics 116 Philadelphia Spirit 114 1993 Miami Tropics 139 Westchester Stallions 127 1994 Jacksonville Hooters 117 Atlanta Trojans 109 1995 Florida Sharks 109 Atlanta Trojans 104 1996 Florida Sharks 118 Atlantic City Seagulls 115 1997 Atlantic City Seagulls 114 Long Island Surf 112 1998 Atlantic City Seagulls 100 Long Island Surf 96 1999 Atlantic City Seagulls 83 Connecticut Skyhawks 77 2000 Dodge City Legend 89 Oklahoma Storm 86 2001 Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs 100 Dodge City Legend 91 2002 Oklahoma Storm 122 Kansas Cagerz 109 2003 Dodge City Legend 97 Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs 96 2004 Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs 118 Brooklyn Kings 116 2005 Dodge City Legend 97 Kansas Cagerz 84 2006 Nebraska Cranes 100 Dodge City Legend 92 2007 Kansas Cagerz 95 Brooklyn Kings 92 2008 USBL suspended operations League awards Player of the Year 1985: John "Hot Rod" Williams, Rhode Island Gulls & Tracy Jackson, Springfield Fame 1986: Don Collins, Tampa Bay Flash 1987: Don Collins (2), Tampa Bay Stars 1988: Lewis Lloyd, Philadelphia Aces 1990: Jerry Johnson, Jacksonville Hooters 1991: Michael Anderson, Philadelphia Spirit 1992: Roy Tarpley, Miami Tropics 1993: Ken Bannister, Miami Tropics 1994: Stan Rose, Atlanta Trojans 1995: Charles Smith, Florida Sharks 1996: Brent Scott, Portland Mountain Cats 1997: Dennis Edwards, Florida Sharks 1998: Curt Smith, Washington Congressionals 1999: Adrian Griffin, Atlantic City Seagulls 2000: Sean Colson, Dodge City Legend 2001: Aubrey Reese, Oklahoma Storm 2002: Kwan Johnson, Brevard Blue Ducks 2003: Albert Mouring, Oklahoma Storm 2004: Chudney Gray, Brooklyn Kings 2005: Nate Johnson, Kansas Cagerz 2006: Quannas White, Oklahoma Storm 2007: Anthony Richardson, Kansas Cagerz Postseason MVP 1987: World B. Free, Miami Tropics 1988: Bobby Parks, New Haven Skyhawks 1991: Paul Graham, Philadelphia Spirit 1992: Duane Washington, Miami Tropics 1993: Ken Bannister, Miami Tropics 1994: Fred Lewis, Jacksonville Hooters 1995: Charles Smith, Florida Sharks 1996: Charles Smith (2), Florida Sharks 1997: Mark Baker, Atlantic City Seagulls & Brent Scott, Atlantic City Seagulls 1998: Adrian Griffin, Atlantic City Seagulls 1999: Adrian Griffin (2), Atlantic City Seagulls 2001: Frantz Pierre-Louis, Pennsylv.... Discover the Daniel Z Lieberman Michael E Long popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Daniel Z Lieberman Michael E Long books.