Bayi Rockets
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Bayi Shuanglu Rockets (八一双鹿电池火箭) or Bayi Rockets or Bayi Army Rockets or Bayi Shuanglu are a basketball team in the South Division of the Chinese Basketball Association, based in Ningbo, Zhejiang. Bayi ("eight one") means "August First", so the English name of the team could be translated as August First Rockets, but this name is very rarely seen in English-language Chinese media. They are occasionally called Bayi Deers because of their corporate sponsorship by the Pairdeer brand of batteries, whose logo is a pair of deer (双鹿, or shuanglu).
The Bayi Rockets are an army team and their players serve in the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The "Bayi" in their name represents the anniversary of the founding of the PLA. There are also other army teams with the Bayi name in other sports leagues, such as Bayi China Telecom in the WCBA, the men's soccer team Bayi Zhengbang, and the women's soccer team Bayi Xiangtan.
The Bayi Rockets have a long history that predates the currently-existing CBA. When they entered the CBA in its inaugural season in 1995–1996, they had already won 34 national titles. The Bayi Rockets dominated the CBA in its earlier years, winning no less than seven championships in the first eight years of the CBA, including the first six CBA championships in a row, and the first five of those without losing a single playoff match. They also had a home-game unbeaten streak of 65 games that ended in 2002. In recent years, however, other CBA teams have become more competitive, and Bayi has won only one championship in the last four seasons (as of the end of the 2004–2005 season).
In the 2004–2005 season, the Bayi Rockets finished in third place in the South Division and defeated the Beijing Ducks in the quarter-finals, but lost in the semi-finals to the Guangdong Southern Tigers, the defending champions. This was the first time since the founding of the CBA in 1995 that the Bayi Rockets did not make the finals.
In the 2005–2006 season, the Bayi Rockets made the finals but lost to the Guangdong Southern Tigers.
