ABC Amsterdam
| Amsterdam Basketball | |||
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| Founded | July 21, 1995 | ||
| Dissolved | August 11, 2011 | ||
| Arena | Sporthallen Zuid | ||
| Capacity | 3,000 | ||
| Location | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||
| Team colors | Red, White |
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| Championships |
7 Dutch Leagues 5 Dutch Cups |
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| Uniforms | |||
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Amsterdam Basketball was a Dutch professional basketball club from the city of Amsterdam, established in 1995 and dissolved in 2011. The club won the Dutch championship seven times and the Dutch Cup five times.
After it was announced that the Graydons Canadians, a team from Amsterdam wouldn't participate in the Eredivisie of 1995–96, Ed de Haas, Carlo Brunink and Oscar Kales founded the club. The club immediately started playing in the highest division in the Netherlands, and was named Finish Profiles Amsterdam after the new main sponsor. In the first season Tyrone Marionneaux was the head coach and Finish Profiles ended on a 9th place.
In the 1996–97 Jan Willem Jansen became head coach and new players like Mario Bennes were acquired, which led to the team winning the NBB Cup and reaching the league Finals. The club also played for the first season with the name Amsterdam Astronauts, which referred to the home arena of the club: the Apollohal.
In 1997–98 the club debuted in Europe and started a second team, that would play in the Promotiedivisie. From that point some good years for the club began, as one of the all-time great coaches in Dutch basketball history Ton Boot started coaching the team. In the 1998–99 season the club won its first Dutch championship and reached the semifinals of the Korać Cup, in which it lost to Racing Basket Paris. In that semifinals the team played against later NBA All-Star Tony Parker. In the 2000–01 season the 3rd straight Dutch title was one. Before the 2001–02 season the club moved to Sporthallen Zuid, which had a capacity of 3,000. Another championship was won in the Sporthallen. The club had a tough season the following year, as newly formed EiffelTowers Nijmegen took the trophies.
In the 2003–04, season Israeli head coach Arik Shivek became head coach of Amsterdam, and some memorable players were acquired in Joe Spinks, Mario Bennes (who played earlier with the club), Chris McGuthrie and Teddy Gipson. The club also got a new main sponsor in Demon and was renamed Demon Astronauts. In 2004–05, the fifth national title was won, after Amsterdam beat Landstede Basketbal 4–0 in the Finals.
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