Pittsburgh Keystones
| Pittsburgh Keystones | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Conference | Eastern | ||
| Division | Central | ||
| Founded | 2010 | ||
| History | Springfield Fusion (1995-2010) Pittsburgh Keystones (2010-present) | ||
| Arena | AmeriSteel Forum | ||
| City | Pittsburgh, PA | ||
| Team colors | Black, Vegas Gold and Gray
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| Owner(s) | John Del Grotto (male greyhound) | ||
| RL Primary Contact | Kinto Mythostian | ||
| General manager | Mark Quintaux (male draft horse) | ||
| Head coach | Maggie Seton (female sheep) | ||
| Assistant coach | Reggie Wilkins (male wolf) | ||
| Lead trainer | Harry Grant (male cheetah) | ||
| Championships | |||
| Division titles | |||
| Retired numbers | 12 (Volker Zahn) 10 (Lance Freewell) | ||
The Pittsburgh Keystones are a professional furry basketball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the Furry Basketball Association (FBA). They play their home games at the AmeriSteelForum and were founded in 2010 after the relocation of the Springfield Fusion as one of the newer teams of the FBA.
2010-2011: Off to a Slow Start
Under the ownership of John Del Grotto, the new franchise pulled in plenty of fans in the early part of their inaugural season. High-flying dunker Alan Murphy and sharpshooter Rick Wick kept the crowd entertained and hopeful for the team's success, but the rest of the league showed no mercy upon the relocated club. With dwindling attendance by the end of the season and no chance at the playoffs, General Manager Terry McMasters agreed to a last-second trade before the deadline that sent Murphy to the Williamsburg Minutemen in exchange for the option of a future draft pick should Murphy extend his contract in Virginia. It would turn out to be a moot point, as the kangaroo was sign-and-traded back to Pittsburgh in exchange for the #3 overall pick of the 2011 draft.
2011-2012: Struggles in the Steel City
On December 24th, 2011 after starting 2-17, the Keystones fired their first head coach Nasir Abdul-Wahad, top assisstant Davey Warbuckle, and Strength & Conditioning coach Marv Burton in the first staff firings of the new franchise. On December 26th, 2011 they hired former Lupine State assistant coach Vinny Tanner to lead the team after reports of a toss up between the two current assistant coaches Lauren Montana and Jeff Quinn to lead on an interim basis. Also hired was fellow LSU assistant Reggie Wilkins and former Minutemen strength coach Rudy Brown to fill the gaps in the staff. The same week GM Terry McMasters was fired in response to the Marcus Baylor deal at the beginning of the season and resulting fallout. Former Minutemen assistant Tulliano Parsons is named successor on December 29th. They would wind up with the worst record at the end of the season.
2012-2013: New Look for a New Era
During the 2012 offseason, the Keystones began completely overhauling their team starting with the head coach, firing Vinny Tanner and hiring former Oklahoma State standout Omar Randal to succeed him. They then moved on to the roster, pulling off several surprising trades, such as the 3 way trades that brought Theodore Dunn and Stripes Quinn to the franchise. But the biggest was the blockbuster that sent the face of the team, Rick Wick to the Spokane Rapids in exchange for Phil Grandon, Tatiana Trotsky, and the #6 pick in the 2012 Draft. That trade, plus a general lack of movement in the negotiations meant that starting center Doug Day would not be resigned. At one point the Keystones held 4 draft picks, all in the first round until the Ned Pritchard trade left them with the #4 and #6 picks.
Despite the small bit of success that came about, the Keystones still graced the bottom of the conference, only outperforming the Huntsville Mayors who crashed hard from their previous season's success. GM Parsons chose to retire late in the 2012-13 season, leaving owner John Del Grotto to pull double duties while searching for a replacement. At the end of the season, head coach Omar Randal also called it quits, forcing the greyhound to rebuild his top managerial staff from scratch.
2013-2014: Re-tooling the Roster
Shortly after the season ended, John Del Grotto hired Mark Quintaux as the new general manager of the Keystones. Under Quintaux, the Keystones embarked on an aggressive rebuilding campaign, such that by the time the season started only 6 players remained from the previous season's roster. Acquisitions included Dennis Xabbu (Spotted Giraffe, C) from the defending Dakota Bikers, as well as Silas Rand (Squirrel, G) from the Minutemen in a trade involving Crystal Summers (Cheetah, G). In addition the Keystones had a majorly successful draft, picking up the #2, #4, and the #11 rated prospects of the draft class with two top-eight picks and a second-round pick. Despite all the offseason activity, it was only at the last moment that the GM hired the new head coach of the team, tapping former D-League coach Anton K. Schumacher to lead the Keystones.
Despite their best record ever, a late season collapse left the Keystones fighting for a playoff spot right until the last game of the season. Once more the Keystones were on the outside looking in when the postseason rolled around. Nevertheless, both Quintaux and Schumacher were retained for the 2014-2015 season.
2014-2016: Two Conference Finals
2016-present:
Current Roster
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| Starters | |||||||||
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| Point Guard | Shooting Guard | Small Forward | Power Forward | Center | |||||
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| 00 | Garland Kaye Ulysses (White Lion, G) | 42 | Blayke Evans (Blue Heeler, G/F) | 66 | Chantal Magnano (Slender Mongoose, F) | 26 | Rebekah Huotari (Badger, C/F) | 7 | Margo Warrior (White-tailed Jackrabbit, C) |
| Bench | |||||||||
| Guard | Guard | Bigfur | Swingfur | Forward | |||||
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| 20 | Ella Blessing (Horseshoe Crab, G) | 4 | Guillaume Fortier (Siamese Rat, G) | 54 | Timothy Svengaard (Red Deer, F/C) | 8 | Wei Xing (red shanked douc, F/G) | 16 | Ivan Divokozic (Balkan Chamois, F) |
| Reserves | Deep Reserves | ||||||||
| Guard | Bigfur | Guard | Swingfur | ' | |||||
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| 29 | Mikhail Vahova (Siberian Lynx, G) | 41 | Christiaan Hengst (Friesian Horse, C/F) | 19 | Seelia Boyce (Common Earwig, G) | 5 | Albert Jon Middendorff (Kodiak Bear, F/G) | ||
| Head Coach Use Only: | |||||||||
Coaching Staff
Head Coach
- Marseilles (Mars) Ngozi (Lion)
Assistant Coaches
- Reggie Wilkins (Wolf)
- Giancarlo Massipi (Greyhound)
- Lauren Montana (Black bear)
- Jeff Quinn (Cardinal)
Athletic Trainer
- Harry Grant (Cheetah)
Strength and Conditioning Coach
- Rudy Brown (Panther)
Team Images
Logos
Uniforms
