The La Crosse Bobcats were a Continental Basketball Association (CBA) basketball team located in La Crosse, Wisconsin , from 1996 to the league's bankruptcy in February 2001. The Bobcats were the second CBA team located in La Crosse; previously, the La Crosse Catbirds played from 1985 to 1994. The team hosted its matches at the La Crosse Center .
7-516: Don Zierden served as the Bobcats head coach during their inaugural 1996–97 season. The team held their first open tryouts at Viterbo College from October 25 to October 27, 1996. In 1997, the Bobcats marketing campaign featured commercials depicting La Crosse players hawking sub-par team endorsed products in a home shopping parody. The team's tagline for the commercials were, "Lousy endorsements. Great basketball". No actual La Crosse players were in
14-512: A Cassville prep school . He was a McDonald's High School All-American in 1995. In 2006, the City of La Crosse dedicated a time capsule which included objects from the city's 150-year history. Buried under a marble slab, the capsule is set to be opened for the city's bicentennial celebration in 2056. A Bobcats pin-back button and program from their inaugural season were included in the capsule. Don Zierden Donald Casper Zierden Jr.
21-662: Is an American basketball coach. From 2007 to 2009, Zierden served as the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Zierden, a Minneapolis native, graduated from DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis and later from Mount Senario College in Ladysmith, Wisconsin in 1981. He returned to DeLaSalle High in 1984 to become head varsity basketball coach and led DeLaSalle to
28-710: The La Crosse Catbirds of the Continental Basketball Association under Flip Saunders. In four seasons, the duo had a 139–85 record, including the 1992 CBA championship. In the 1994–95 season, Zierden became an assistant coach of the Pittsburgh Piranhas of the CBA, again, alongside Flip Saunders. They lead the team to a 27–29 record and CBA Finals appearance. Zierden got his first NBA job in 1999 as video coordinator for
35-666: The Minnesota Timberwolves , and he would be promoted to assistant coach the following year and remain for five seasons on the staffs of Flip Saunders (replaced by interim coach Kevin McHale in early 2005). From 2005 to 2007, Zierden was an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons . Zierden became the Minnesota Lynx's fifth head coach on December 13, 2006, replacing Carolyn Jenkins , who remained on
42-525: The Minnesota Class A title in his first season. In two seasons at DeLaSalle, Zierden had a 61–14 record as head coach. In 1986, Zierden moved to the collegiate ranks to be an assistant coach at the University of Tulsa under J. D. Barnett . After two seasons at Tulsa, Zierden left coaching to work at a steel company. Zierden returned to coaching in 1990, as he became an assistant coach for
49-571: The commercials since they were filmed during the off-season, so actors were used. During the 1999 CBA draft, the Bobcats selected former Wisconsin Badgers forward Sam Okey in the eighth round. Okey declined a contract from La Crosse, opting to play in a Turkish professional league. In September 2000, the Bobcats announced that Okey had signed a contract for the upcoming season. Okey first received basketball notoriety in Wisconsin while attending
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