The Pittsburgh Xplosion was a professional basketball team based in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Pittsburgh were members of the Continental Basketball Association from 2006 to 2008. Founded in 2004 as the Pittsburgh Hard Hats as a member of the ABA, the team, following an ownership change, took the court as the Pennsylvania Pit Bulls. The team became the Xplosion in 2005, and joined the CBA in 2006. It has been replaced in the ABA with the modern day Pittsburgh Phantoms and later the Pittsburgh Bassets . The Xplosion played at

Pittsburgh Civic Arena The Civic Arena, formerly the Civic Auditorium and later Mellon Arena, was an arena located in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Civic Arena primarily served as the home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city's National Hockey League (NHL) ...

and on the campus of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

at the

Petersen Events Center The Petersen Events Center (more commonly known as "The Pete") is a 12,508-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood. The arena is named for philanthropists John Petersen and his wife Ge ...

, both in

, Pennsylvania.

Season by season

, - , colspan=6 align=center bgcolor="green" , Pennsylvania Pit Bulls (ABA) , - , 2004-05 , , 8 , , 9 , , .471 , , , , , - , colspan=6 align=center bgcolor="black" , Pittsburgh Xplosion (ABA) , - , 2005-06 , , 18 , , 11 , , .621 , , Lost Quarterfinals , , Bellingham 122, Pittsburgh 115 , - , colspan=6 align=center bgcolor="black" , Pittsburgh Xplosion (CBA) , - , 2006-07 , , 10 , , 38 , , .208 , , Won Quarterfinals
Lost Semifinals , , Pittsburgh 119,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

103

Minot Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Minot Air Force Base, Air Force base approximately north of ...

2, Pittsburgh 0 , - , 2007-08 , , 29 , , 19 , , .604 , , Won Quarterfinals
Lost Semifinals , , Pittsburgh 129,

East Kentucky The Eastern Kentucky Coalfield is part of the Central Appalachian bituminous coalfield, including all or parts of 30 Kentucky counties and adjoining areas in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. It covers an area from the Allegheny M ...

121

2, Pittsburgh 0

History

Pittsburgh Hardhats

The Pittsburgh Hardhats were an American Basketball Association team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team was created by Joseph Dydek after he failed to start an NBA team in Pittsburgh. To his surprise, the "Hardhats" were not very financially stable. The team essentially existed on paper only, as it folded prior to the start of the season due to financial difficulties. The team was replaced October 12, 2004, by the Pennsylvania Pit Bulls, who competed in the 2004-2005 ABA season.

Pennsylvania Pit Bulls/Xplosion

After the dissolution of the Hardhats, the Pennsylvania Pit Bulls were admitted to the ABA on October 12, 2004, to play in the 2004-2005 ABA season. They finished with an eight win-nine loss record, good for 7th place in the Blue Division, but not good enough to advance to

postseason The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

play. The team's first game (19 November 2004) was marred by the

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

-induced death of coach Tom Washington, who collapsed on court in the fourth quarter. The game was suspended; assistant coach Pat Blue was tabbed to be the team's head coach for the remainder of the season. The Pit Bulls played a majority of their home games at

Penn State Greater Allegheny Penn State Greater Allegheny (PSUGA) is a commonwealth campus of the Pennsylvania State University that sits on the border of McKeesport and White Oak in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth ...

, but later moved to

McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. It ...

High School. For the 2005-2006 season, the Pit Bulls became the Pittsburgh Xplosion. The team finished league competition with an 18 win-11 loss record, good for second place in the Freddie Lewis Division of the ABA White Conference. The Xplosion were eliminated in the playoffs by the

Bellingham Slam The Bellingham Slam are a semi-professional basketball team that formerly competed for seven seasons in the International Basketball League. Before joining the IBL, they played two seasons in the American Basketball Association. They were original ...

. The team subsequently left the ABA and entered the Continental Basketball Association, in which it continued to play as the Xplosion through the 2007-08 season. Former Pitt stars, Antonio Graves, John DeGroat, and

Carl Krauser Carl Isaac Krauser (born May 13, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Quebec Kebs of the National Basketball League of Canada. He was a point guard for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers from 2001 ...

started on the 2008 season roster. In the 2008 American Conference Finals, the Xplosion lost to the Minot SkyRockets. The SkyRockets won the first two out of three games in Minot, but ceased operations after the 2008 campaign. The Xplosion lasted a little longer, folding just prior to the start of the 2008-09 season, citing the economy.

References

External links