|
Valencia Basket
Valencia Basket Club S.A.D.,[1] commonly known as Valencia Basket (pronounced [baˈlenθja βasˈket]), is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup, with home games played at the Font de Sant Lluís. The club is owned by retail tycoon Juan Roig.[2] History1986–1997Valencia Basket was founded on 27 September 1986, after Valencia CF decided to fold its basketball section.[3] On 4 May 1988, while in its second season in the Primera División B, which was the second-tier league of Spanish basketball at that time, the team won its first promotion to the Spanish top-tier level ACB,[4] where the team remained until the 1994–95 season. In 1995, Valencia was relegated to the Spanish 2nd-tier level EBA League, after falling in the league's relegation playoff against Somontano Huesca. In the next season, after being the runner-up in Liga EBA, in a non-promoting season, Valencia BC bought Amway Zaragoza's ACB place to join the top league, where it has remained until nowadays. 1998–2014On 2 February 1998, Pamesa Valencia won its first Spanish national title, after beating Pinturas Bruguer Badalona, by a score of 89–75, in the final of the 1998 Copa del Rey, which was played in Valladolid. One year later, on 13 April 1999, the club played in the final of the 1998–99 FIBA Saporta Cup, but was defeated by Benetton Treviso, 64–60, in the final played in Zaragoza. Three years later, the club repeated the same success, but Montepaschi Siena won the final of the 2001–02 FIBA Saporta Cup, by a score of 81–71, in Lyon, France. Continuing on with some of the club's best years, the 2001–02 ACB season was historic for the club, as it reached the Spanish ACB League finals, where they could not win any games in their series against FC Barcelona. Before this first success in reaching the finals of the Spanish league's playoffs, Pamesa Valencia won its first European-wide title, by defeating Krka Novo Mesto in the 2002–03 ULEB Cup, which would then also allow the club to make its debut in the European top-tier level EuroLeague. In its first EuroLeague participation, Pamesa Valencia qualified for the Top 16, but was eliminated there, after not contesting its game at Nokia Arena against Maccabi Tel Aviv, adducing security issues in Israel.[5] On 18 April 2010, Power Electronics Valencia won its second European title, by beating Alba Berlin, 67–44, in the 2010 EuroCup Finals, which was played in Vitoria-Gasteiz.[6] This allowed the club to come back to the top level EuroLeague, seven years after its first participation in the tournament. This time, Valencia reached the EuroLeague quarterfinals, where it was eliminated by Real Madrid, who won the playoff series by a 3–2 margin. The club's third European-wide 2nd-tier level EuroCup title arrived on 7 May 2014, when Valencia beat UNICS Kazan, in the double-legged finals. 2015–presentOn 5 June 2017, Valencia Basket qualified for its second Spanish Liga ACB Finals series, after defeating Baskonia in the semifinals of the 2017 national league playoffs. This time, the club won its first ever Spanish national domestic league championship, on 16 June 2017, by defeating Real Madrid with a 3–1 series score in the ACB league's finals.[7] In the same season, the club also reached the finals of both the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup), and the EuroCup, but they lost those finals to Real Madrid, and fellow Spanish side, Unicaja, respectively. By winning the Spanish League championship, Valencia also sealed their return to the next season's top-tier level EuroLeague competition, for the 2017–18 season. The club's fourth European-wide 2nd-tier level EuroCup title arrived on 16 April 2019, when Valencia beat Alba Berlin, in the double-legged finals. Arena  External and internal view of La Fonteta During its first season of existence, the team played its home games at the La Canaleta Sports Complex in the municipality of Mislata.[8] Since 1987 Valencia Basket plays its home games at the 8,500 seat Font de Sant Lluís arena.[9] The arena is better known as La Fonteta. The club is expected to move to a new 15,600-seat arena called Roig Arena (previously proposed as Casal España Arena),[10] with the inauguration scheduled for 2024.[11][12] Sponsorship namingValencia Basket has had several sponsorship names over the years:
Logos
PlayersRetired numbers_(cropped).jpg)
Current rosterNote: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
Depth chart
FIBA Hall of Famers
Head coaches
Season by seasonHonours Trophies and awards
Friendly trophies
Individual awards
Notable playersNote: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
Women's teamThe women's team of Valencia Basket was created in 2014 and promoted to Liga Femenina in 2018, winning the final game against Real Club Celta de Vigo in Valencia. This access to the first division and the relegation of CB Estudiantes made Valencia Basket the only club with masculine and feminine representation in the first division in the 2018–2019 season. In the first season competing on the first division, Valencia Basket achieved a ticket to their first Copa de la Reina de baloncesto, celebrated in Vitoria between the 28th of February and the 3 of June. Also, they achieve a spot to participate in the playoffs, losing against Perfumerías Avenida on the semifinals, but achieving the opportunity to play his first European tournament the next season. Notes
References
External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
