League CBA Arena Youngor Arena Mascot Rocket Founded 1995 Championships 8 | Colors Red, Yellow, White Head coach Adiljan Jun Location China Color Red, Yellow, White | |
Team history Bayi Basketball Team
(1955–95)
Bayi Rockets
(1995–present) Based in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Cheerleaders Main sponsor
Shuanglu Batteries
(1995-present) | ||
The Bayi Shuanglu Dianchi Rockets (八一双鹿电池火箭) or Bayi Shuanglu Dianchi or Bayi Army Rockets or Bayi Rockets are a professional basketball team based in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, which plays in the South Division of the Chinese Basketball Association. Bayi ("eight one") means August First, so the English name of the club could technically be translated as August First Rockets, but this clunky phrase is almost never used by any credible English language media in China.
Contents
The team is occasionally called the Bayi Deers by some Chinese media outlets, due to its of their corporate sponsorship by the Pairdeer brand of batteries, whose logo is a pair of deer (双鹿 / shuanglu), while the club's mascot is a rocket.
History
The team's founding members served in the People's Liberation Army, and the "Bayi" in its name represents the anniversary of the founding of the PLA, August 1. There are also several other army clubs using the Bayi name in other sports leagues, including Bayi China Telecom in the WCBA, the men's soccer team Bayi Zhengbang, and the women's soccer club Bayi Xiangtan.
The Bayi Rockets have a long history that predates the current CBA. When they entered the league in its inaugural season of 1995–96, they had already won 34 national titles. They had also held a friendly international competition against the Washington Bullets (now Washington Wizards) during the 1970s. Bayi dominated the CBA in its early years, winning seven championships in the first eight seasons of CBA competition, including the first six titles in the leagues existence, a streak which included going undefeated in playoff games for the first five years of that run.
The Rockets also had a home-game unbeaten streak of 65 games that ended in 2002. But in recent years, other CBA teams have become more competitive, and Bayi would only win one more championship after its initial spree of success, with that title coming in the 2006–07 CBA season.
During the 2004–05 CBA season, the Bayi Rockets finished in third place in the South Division and defeated the Beijing Ducks in the Quarter-Finals of the CBA Playoffs, but lost in the Semi-Finals to the reigning titleholders, the Guangdong Southern Tigers. This defeat marked the first time since the league's founding that the team did not advance to the CBA Finals, and the only time in the organization's first 12 years that the club failed to reach the championship series.