South Dragons
| South Dragons | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Leagues | NBL | ||
| Founded | 2006 | ||
| Dissolved | 2009 | ||
| History |
South Dragons 2006–2009 |
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| Arena | Hisense Arena | ||
| Capacity | 10,500 | ||
| Location | Melbourne, Victoria | ||
| Team colors | red, black | ||
| Championships | 1 (2009) | ||
| Uniforms | |||
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The South Dragons are a defunct Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). They made their début in the 2006/07 season and played their final season in 2008/09. The club was based at MSAC in Melbourne's inner south-eastern suburbs, and was one of the city's two NBL teams; the other was the Melbourne Tigers, which entered the league in 1984.
On 13 October 2005, Mark Cowan, a graphic designer and owner of Cowan Basketball, and Raphael Geminder, chairman of Visy Industries, bought the license of the former Victoria Giants/Titans NBL franchise to establish a new NBL team in Melbourne. Cowan is the Dragons' majority owner with 51% control, with Geminder owning the remaining 49%. The team's name and uniforms were not announced until 15 December 2005, and until that time the Cowan Basketball website left a message "UNLEASHED 15.12.2005" as the only details on the team.
The Dragons entered the NBL in the 2006-07 season as the 12th franchise, and promised to look to fill its roster with young Australian basketballers returning home after playing NCAA college basketball in the United States. The teams first signing was Joe Ingles (now with the Utah Jazz) at the age of 19. The first members of the development squad were Adam Barras & Ashly Donald from the Warrandyte Venom (SEABL) also both ages 19.
The Dragons hired former NBA All-Star Mark Price as their inaugural head coach on 1 March 2006. Price is arguably the biggest name to play a major role in any Australian basketball club. His appointment was announced one day after the Melbourne Tigers had won the 2005-06 NBL Championship. The team also hired various other front-office staff with extensive basketball experience, including former WNBA player and Australian team captain Michele Timms as basketball development officer.
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