GRAND RAPIDS 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 EASTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONS

GRAND RAPIDS 2000-01 EAST DIVISION CHAMPIONS

Grand Rapids Hoops
CBA 1989-1994, 1996-2003

In 1964, the Grand Rapids Tackers, champions of the Midwest League, hosted the Eastern League's Allentown Jets in an interleague championship contest. The Tackers lost that day, but 25 years later, a new Grand Rapids franchise joined the CBA, and stayed competitive for the next fifteen years.

The Grand Rapids Hoops began life as an expansion franchise owned by Tom Rubens, a former stockbroker from Chicago. Right off the bat, the team was a success at the box office, as the 3,800-seat Welsh Auditorium was packed nearly every night. The Hoops' first season saw the team qualify for the playoffs, guided by Willie Simmons, a strong center who led the Hoops in rebounding (8.2 per game), and was third in the CBA in blocked shots that year (2.4 blocks per game).

The 1990-91 season proved even stronger for the Hoops, as the team notched 12 sellouts en route to another playoff run. However, the Hoops started out slow, and after a 1-6 record head coach Jim Sleeper was replaced by Cazzie Russell. The team started winning again; Jay Taylor was the team's hot scorer, while Eric McCarthur's 410 rebounds earned him a spot on the league's All-Defense Team. Even though Grand Rapids lost their first-round playoff series against Albany, they did win a game on Albany turf - the first team all year to do so, backed by a 45-point performance by Grand Rapids' Reggie Fox.

Although Grand Rapids made the playoffs in each of its first two seasons, head coach Cazzie Russell was later replaced by Bruce Stewart, who had 12 years of collegiate coaching experience under his belt. Led by the 1992 CBA Rookie of the Year Marcus Kennedy, Grand Rapids finished its 1991-92 campaign with its first division title. Unfortunately, it was the same story again in the playoffs, as Grand Rapids left in the first round.

The slow and steady improvement of the Hoops continued in the 1992-93 season. Grand Rapids' new Rookie of the Year Gerald Madkins, who led the Hoops with 20.2 points per game and 7.5 assists per game, the Hoops took their 35-21 record to a second Eastern Division title win. This time, the Hoops weren't going to burn out in the opening round - they defeated two Illinois teams, Quad City and Rockford, but were defeated in the CBA Championship contest by the Omaha Racers.

By the 1994-95 season, some changes were made - a new ownership group, led by Mark Kimball, purchased the Grand Rapids Hoops in March 1994 and renamed the team the Mackers in May 1994. Kimball owned the legendary Gus Macker Three-on-Three Basketball Tournament, and for the next two years the Hoops - er - Mackers - were the new franchise in the CBA. The history of the Mackers is listed here.

After the 1995-96 season, coach Brendan Suhr and Grand Rapids businessman Bob Przybysz purchased the Mackers, renamed them the Hoops, and moved into the sparkling new Van Andel Arena. With an opening day crowd of 8,370, the Hoops took a victory over the Rockford Lightning. The Hoops flew through the regular season, wining 22 of 32 games after starting 10-14. When Brendan Suhr was called up to be an assistant in the Toronto Raptors organization, former player Mark Hughes was tabbed as the Hoops' new head coach - a position he would hold for many years.

After a 1997-98 campaign in which the Hoops missed the playoffs, the 1998-99 season saw several Hoops receive promotions to the NBA, including Mark Baker (Toronto), Ben Davis (New York), Benoit Benjamin (Philadelphia), Greg Buckner (Dallas), Ryan Perryman (Sacramento) and Grand Rapids' #1 draft pick, Saddi Washington (Utah). Mark Hughes retired as a player and focused his attention on coaching, and led the Hoops to the final round of the American Conference before losing to the eventual CBA champion Connecticut Pride.

In the 1999-2000 campaign, Isiah Thomas purchased the CBA and ran the league as a single-owner entity. With nine teams in the circuit, everybody made the playoffs, which were now set up as a single-elimination tournament. In the tournament, despite strong efforts from Kiwane Garris, Marlon Garnett and Sean Colson, the Hoops lost in the playoff round to the Yakima Sun Kings.

Isiah Thomas left the CBA after the 1999-2000 season to accept a position as head coach of the NBA's Indiana Pacers. Since an NBA coach cannot own a team in another league (conflict of interest rules), Thomas placed the league in a blind trust - essentially leaving the league to wither and shut down in February 2001. At the time the CBA shut down, Grand Rapids had a 15-10 record and were tied for second place with the Idaho Stampede in quarter points.

Five franchises, including the Grand Rapids Hoops, merged with the International Basketball League, and played the rest of the season under international rules (i.e., trapezoidal key, zone defense, etc.). Based upon winning percentage, Grand Rapids won the IBL's Eastern Division. The Hoops faced the IBL's Trenton Shooting Stars in a best-of-three semifinal playoff, which was won in the third and deciding contest by the Hoops, when, with the score tied 89-89 and the clock ticking away, Grand Rapids' Khalid Reeves hit a three-pointer with .01 left on the clock.

Grand Rapids faced the St. Louis Swarm in the 2001 IBL championship round. St. Louis won the first round, 98-90, in Grand Rapids. The Hoops took the second game in St. Louis, 106-97, when Ray Jackson dropped 29 points on the Swarm. But in the third and final game, Grand Rapids missed 14 consecutive shots from the arc, and fell to the Swarm 81-73. Even though the Hoops still had "cba" embroidered on their uniforms, for all intents and purposes, the CBA was dead.

Or was it?

Joel Langlois, who renovated the former Stadium Arena in the Grand Rapids suburb of Walker, Mich., into the sparkling new DeltaPlex Arena and Exposition Center, purchased the CBA's name and intellectual property rights for $16,000. He also purchased the names of four other franchises. Langlois and the Hoops, along the resurrected Rockford Lightning, Gary Steelheads and Sioux Falls Skyforce, initiated a friendly merger with teams in the International Basketball Association (IBA). Without the efforts of Langlois and the other former CBA owners, we would not have a Continental Basketball Association today.

The Hoops survived for two more seasons, finishing their existence with a third trip to a championship final. The single-elimination championship match featured Grand Rapids against the Yakima Sun Kings. Despite the efforts of Alex Scales, who led the Hoops with 34 points and 7 rebounds; and of veteran Olden Polynice, who contributed 14 points and 9 boards, the Hoops lost their final matchup, 117-107.

The franchise was shut down after the 2002-2003 season, but not before one last tribute to one of Grand Rapids' most popular players and its longtime coach, Mark Hughes. On February 9, 2002, Hughes' #44 was retired, commemorating at that time his seven seasons with the organization.

CONTINENTAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
             W   L   QW     QP   Result
1989-1990   26  30 110.5  188.5  lost in quarterfinals
1990-1991   25  31 116.5  191.5  lost in quarterfinals
1991-1992   28  28 110.5  194.5  lost in quarterfinals
1992-1993   35  21 125.0  230.0  lost in finals
1993-1994   37  19 119.0  230.0  lost in quarterfinals
1994-1995   as Grand Rapids Mackers
1995-1996   as Grand Rapids Mackers
1996-1997   32  24 124.5  220.5  lost in semifinals
1997-1998   21  35 101.5  164.5  did not make playoffs
1998-1999   27  29 121.0  202.0  lost in semifinals

             W   L  PCT   GB     Result
1999-2000   29  27  .518   1     lost in quarterfinals

             W   L   QW     QP   Result
2000-2001   15  10  55.0  103.0  season ended early

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE
             W   L  PCT   GB     Result
2000-2001   17  12  .586  --     lost IBL championship

CONTINENTAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
             W   L   QW     QP   Result
2001-2002   30  26 114.0  204.0  did not make playoffs
2002-2003   23  25 100.5  169.5  lost CBA championship

CONTINENTAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
1989-1990 Lost in quarterfinals to Pensacola, 1 game to 2
1990-1991 Lost in quarterfinals to Albany, 2 games to 3
1991-1992 Lost in quarterfinals to LaCrosse, 1 game to 3
1992-1993 Won in quarterfinals over Quad City, 3 games to 2
          Won in semifinals over Rockford, 3 games to 2
          Lost in CBA Championship to Omaha, 2 games to 4
1993-1994 Lost in quarterfinals to Quad City, 1 game to 3
1994-1995 as Grand Rapids Mackers
1995-1996 as Grand Rapids Mackers
1996-1997 Won in quarterfinals over Quad City, 3 games to 2
          Lost in semifinals to Florida, 2 games to 3
1997-1998 did not make playoffs
1998-1999 Won in quarterfinals over Fort Wayne, 3 games to 2
          Lost in semifinals to Connecticut, 1 game to 3
1999-2000 Lost in quarterfinal game to Yakima, 96-98
2000-2001 Season ended early

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE
2000-2001 Won in semifinals over Trenton, 2 games to 1
          lost IBL championship to St. Louis, 1 game to 2

CONTINENTAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
2001-2002 did not make playoffs
2002-2003 Won in semifinals over Rockford, 3 games to 1
          Lost in CBA Championship to Yakima, 107-117