Carolina Cougars

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Carolina Cougars
founding 1969
resolution 1974
history Houston Mavericks
1967–1969
Carolina Cougars
1969–1974
Spirits of St. Louis
1974–1976
Utah Rockies
planned
Stadion Greensboro Coliseum
Charlotte Coliseum
JS Dorton Arena (Raleigh)
Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh)
Winston-Salem Coliseum
Location Greensboro
Charlotte
Raleigh
Winston-Salem
Club colors blue & red (1969–1971)
green and blue (1971–1974)
division Eastern Division
Head coach 1969–70: Bones McKinney
1970–71: Bones McKinney & Jerry Steele
1971–72: Tom Meschery
1972–74: Larry Brown
owner Southern Sports Corporation

The Carolina Cougars were a basketball franchise from the American Basketball Association that existed from 1969 to 1974. Originally, the Cougars were a founding member of the ABA under the name Houston Mavericks in 1967. The Mavericks moved to North Carolina in late 1969 after two unsuccessful seasons in Houston . The colors of the cougars were green, blue, and white.

history

The Carolina Cougars story began when the Houston crew relocated to North Carolina in 1969. During the 1970s North Carolina had no major metropolis to establish a professional team, so the owners decided to play the home games in Charlotte at the Charlotte Coliseum, Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum , Raleigh at the Dorton Arena and Reynolds Coliseum, and in Winston-Salem at the Winston -Salem Memorial Coliseum as a regional team.

In the early days, the Carolina Cougars weren't particularly successful on the pitch. They ended the 1969/70 season with 42 wins and losses, 1970/71 with 34:50 wins and 1971/72 with 35:49 wins. The Cougars only reached the playoffs in 1969/70, but lost in the first round against the much stronger Indiana Pacers . Even so, the Cougars had a decent fan base, especially in Greensboro.

In 1972/73, the Carolina Cougers hired former ABA players Larry Brown and Doug Moe as coaches. The team was talented enough that season and included players Billy Cunningham , Joe Caldwell and Mack Calvin. All three played in the All Star Game that season and Cunningham was named MVP. Carolina achieved 57:27 wins, which was the best value of any team this season. In the first round of the playoffs, the Cougars beat the New York Nets 4-1, but lost in the division finals just 3-4 against the Kentucky Colonels .

1973/74 turned out to be the last season for the Carolina Cougars in North Carolina. Despite injuries and internal quarrels, they finished the season with 47:37 wins, but were swept out of the playoffs in the first round by the Kentucky Colonels. In late 1974, the Carolina Cougars moved to Missouri and became the Spirits of St. Louis until the ABA and NBA merged in June 1976. The Spirits of St. Louis were one of only two ABA teams that survived to the end, however were not inducted into the NBA; the other were the Kentucky Colonels. (The Virginia Squires broke up after the end of the regular season but before the league union for financial reasons.) At the time of the union, the owners of the Spirits planned to move the team to Salt Lake City , Utah , to continue playing as the Utah Rockies .

The Cougars were generally moderately successful and had more fans than many other clubs in the ABA; but even these factors were not enough to prevent the Cougars from moving. The regional concept may also have been a factor; Several people speaking in Terry Pluto's book Loose Balls said the travel expenses incurred by the regional approach contributed to the Cougars' failure.

Professional basketball returned to North Carolina in 1988 when the Charlotte Hornets were inducted into the NBA, but they have been playing in New Orleans since 2002 . Two years later, the Charlotte Bobcats played their first season in the NBA.

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