Taranaki Mountainairs
| Taranaki Mountainairs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| League | National Basketball League | ||
| Founded | 1981 | ||
| History |
New Plymouth Bulls 1985–1991 New Plymouth Bears 1992–1993 Taranaki Bears 1994–1997 Taranaki Oilers 1998–1999 Taranaki Stormers 2001–2002 Taranaki Mountainairs 2003–present |
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| Arena | TSB Stadium | ||
| Location | New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand | ||
| Team colours | Yellow & black | ||
| President | Bernie Smith | ||
| Team manager | Mick McBeth | ||
| Head coach | Trent Adam | ||
| Championships | 0 | ||
| Website | TaranakiBasketball.nz | ||
| Uniforms | |||
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The Taranaki Mountainairs are a New Zealand basketball team based in New Plymouth. The Mountainairs compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Stadium.
New Plymouth basketball entered the Conference Basketball League (CBL) for the competition's inaugural season in 1981, and after winning the league title in 1984, the team was promoted to the National Basketball League for the 1985 season. Known as the New Plymouth Bulls until 1991, the team changed names to the Bears in 1992 before changing identity in 1994, renaming themselves after the Taranaki region. The team's best NBL finish came in 1992 when they ended the regular season in first place and finished with an overall win/loss record of 18–5. After six seasons known as the Bears, Taranaki changed their nickname again in 1998, this time to the Oilers. However, following the 1999 season, the Oilers pulled out of the NBL due to a lack of funding and Taranaki basketball returned to the CBL in 2001.
In August 2002, the Taranaki Stormers won the CBL title behind the play of point guard Willie Banks and import forward Link Abrams. The win gave Taranaki's bid for renewed NBL status the perfect springboard, and in 2003, they were readmitted to the league and took on the "Mountainairs" nickname. However, since being readmitted to the league, the Mountainairs have struggled to record wins – the team has failed to play post-season basketball since changing their name from New Plymouth to Taranaki.
On 28 June 2015, import Aaron Fuller broke the franchise and NBL record for points scored in a game with 54, surpassing John Whorton's record of 50 set in 2003. For the second time in franchise history, the Mountainairs finished the season with a winless record. Their 2015 record of 0–18 added to their 2009 record of 0–16.
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