Rapid City Thrillers

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Rapid City Thrillers

Founded	1984
League	CBA 1984-1997
Team History	Tampa Bay Thrillers 1984-1987 Rapid City Thrillers 1987-1995 Florida Beach Dogs 1995-1997
Arena	Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
Based in	Rapid City, SD
Team Colors	Red, White, Blue
Owner	Pat Hall
Head Coach	Bill Musselman, Flip Saunders, Keith Fowler, Eric Musselman
Championships	3 (1985, 1986, 1987)
Division Titles	9
Cheerleaders	Thrillseekers
Dancers	Thriller Girls
Mascot	Thrilla Gorilla

The Rapid City Thrillers was a professional basketball club based in Rapid City, South Dakota that competed in the Continental Basketball Association beginning in the 1987 season. One of the many notable players of the team was Keith Smart, who had previously played for the 1987 NCAA basketball champion Indiana Hoosiers team.

The Thrillers had some very notable head coaches in its time. First Bill Musselman coached the team to three consecutive CBA titles during the 1980s. Bill would go on to be one of the winningest coaches in CBA history before moving to the NBA as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Flip Saunders coached the Thrillers for a season and is now current head coach of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. Keith Fowler coached the team during one of their only losing seasons. Eric Musselman (son of Bill Musselman) coached the team successfully for seven years but was never fortunate enough to bring the championship back to the franchise although the team was runner-up three separate times during its existence.

This team traced its history back to the Tampa Bay Thrillers of the Continental Basketball Association, which moved to Rapid City in 1987 because of lack of attendance. After ten seasons in Rapid City and by a move that some say ruined professional basketball in the Black Hills, the team moved to West Palm Beach where they became the Florida Beach Dogs. The Beach Dogs lasted only two seasons folding after losing the championship series to the Oklahoma City Cavalry.

[edit] Year-by-year

Year	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs
1984/85	CBA	2nd, Eastern	Champions
1985/86	CBA	1st, Eastern	Champions
1986/87	CBA	1st, Eastern	Champions
1987/88	CBA	6th, Western	Did not qualify
1988/89	CBA	1st, Western	Western Division Finals
1989/90	CBA	1st, National Midwest	Finals
1990/91	CBA	2nd, National Midwest	National First Round
1991/92	CBA	1st, National Northern	Finals
1992/93	CBA	1st, National Midwest	National Conference Finals
1993/94	CBA	1st, National Midwest	National Conference Finals
1994/95	CBA	4th, National Midwest	National First Round
1995/96	CBA	1st, National Southern	National Conference Finals
1996/97	CBA	1st, American	Finals