16-673: The Philadelphia Aces were a United States Basketball League team that played from 1987 to 1988 and in 1990. The Philadelphia Aces were previously known as the Wildwood Aces during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. Their home court was the Wildwoods Convention Center in Wildwood, New Jersey . In 1985, the team finished last in the USBL with a 6–18 record while being 12.5 games out of first place. The following year,
32-412: 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. Teams played a single championship game at
48-561: 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
64-494: Is a retired American professional basketball player, from Baltimore, Maryland . At 6' 9" tall he was a power forward - center . Bannister played college basketball at Trinidad State Junior College , Indiana State University , and Saint Augustine's College . Bannister was selected by the New York Knicks , in the 7th round (156th overall), of the 1984 NBA draft . Bannister played in 5 NBA seasons. He played for
80-667: The Knicks , from 1984 to 1986, and the Los Angeles Clippers , from 1988 to 1991. In his NBA career, Bannister played in 253 games, and scored a total of 1,501 points. His best season as a professional came during the 1985-86 NBA season , as a member of the Knicks, appearing in 70 games, and averaging 8.6 points per game. During the 1986–87 season, he played in Israel, with Hapoel Holon . Bannister served as player-coach for
96-684: 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
112-603: 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
128-535: 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
144-712: 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 ,
160-753: 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 ,
176-480: The Wildwood and Philadelphia tenures include Michael Anderson , Stewart Granger , Othell Wilson , Tim Legler , Ralph Lewis , Alex Bradley , Granger Hall , and Michael Brooks . United States Basketball League 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
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#1732780540511192-498: The end of the playoffs to name the league champions On 21 July 2005 the League announced the players of its "Top 20 and Beyond Anniversary Team" were chosen by a vote of executives, coaches, and administrators that have served over the years in the USBL. An alphabetical listing of 20 voted players is as follows: Honorable mention by USBL (2005) : Source Ken Bannister Kenneth Darnell Bannister (born April 1, 1960)
208-556: 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 National Basketball Association (NBA) and many more playing in Europe . 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
224-535: The league. The final champions are the Kansas Cagerz , who won the title game on July 1, 2007. 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
240-526: The squad improved to 21–10, finishing third in the league. In 1987, the team then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and became the Philadelphia Aces. That year, they finished tied for fifth in the league with a 13–17 record. In 1988 they went 19–11 and finished in second place, where they participated in the league's postseason festival and made it to the semifinals. In 1990, they played an abridged season and went 1–5. Notable players from both
256-551: 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);
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