The Detroit Dogs are a defunct professional basketball team that played in the American Basketball Association. The Dogs were one of the ABA's charter franchises in it's inaugural season (2000-2001) and were based in Beverly Hills, Michigan.
The Dogs played their home games at Groves High School.
Staff[]
- Owner(s) - Kevin A. Carter
- Head Coach(es) - Bill Jones
- Assistant Coach(es) - None
History[]
The Detroit Dogs were created as one of the ABA's charter franchises in it's inaugural season (2000-2001) and were moderately successful, as they won the league's first championship and was one if the few teams to survive the 2000-2001 season.
The Dogs had the honor of being coached by ABA legend George Gervin (who played for the Virginia Squires, and later, the San Antonio Spurs of the original ABA) in their first season.
Detroit Wheels[]
After returning to the ABA in the 2003-2004 season (the league took the year off last season), the Dogs, in an effort to rebrand themselves, were renamed the Wheels.
The Wheels did worse on the court than the Dogs did, having various problems with finding an arena and barely playing any of it's games.
Detroit Panthers[]
In the 2006-2007 season, the Wheels came-off, as the franchise was redubbed the Detroit Panthers. The Panthers would only play one season in the ABA, they took the year-off in the 2007-2008 season, before jumping to the fairly new Premier Basketball League.
The Panthers would only last one season in the new league, and would case operations in the 2009-2010 season, making them the longest-lasting ABA team in history.
Season-by-Season Record[]
2000-2001[]
In their first season in the ABA, the Detroit Dogs (as they were then known) went 28-10 and won the league's first championship after defeating the Chicago Skyliners.
2001-2002[]
In their second season - and last as the Dogs - they went 11-17 and were defeated in the first round of the playoffs by the Phoenix Eclipse.
2002-2003[]
The ABA took the year-off.
2003-2004[]
In their first season as the Detroit Wheels, they went 4-8 and missed the playoffs.
2004-2005[]
In their second season as the Wheels, they again went 4-8 and missed the playoffs.
2005-2006[]
In their third - and last - season as the Wheels, they went on a 6-17 record, the worst for the franchise, and missed the playoffs.
2006-2007[]
The Wheels took the year-off in the 2006-2007 season, and later joined the PBL.