Dongguan Leopards

From Hoopedia

Dongguan New Century Leopards (东莞新世纪烈豹) or Dongguan Leopards or Dongguan New Century are a basketball team in the South Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), who take their name from Dongguan, Guangdong. The Leopards play their home games at Dalang Coliseum in Dalang (大朗).

The team was founded in 2003 as a Chinese Basketball League (CBL) franchise. (The CBL is China's second-tier professional league.) They met with immediate success, finishing second in 2003-04 and first in 2004-05. As a result of their success they were promoted to the CBA for the 2005–06 season.

In their first season in the CBA in 2005–06, Dongguan New Century finished in seventh and last place in the South Division, out of the playoffs. In 2006-07 they finished in last place again. They improved considerably in 2007-08, finishing in fifth place in the 16-team league with an 18-12 record and making it to the playoff semifinals, before succumbing to the Guangdong Southern Tigers, the eventual league champions.

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