FC BARCELONA (BASKETBALL)
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'AXA FC Barcelona' is a Spanish basketball team. It is part of the FC Barcelona family and was founded on August 24th 1926. The club has won seven of the last eleven Spanish League titles and in 2003 completed a Spanish League, Copa del Rey de Baloncesto and Euroleague treble. From 2004 they were sponsored by the Winterthur Group, a Swiss insurance company with offices in Barcelona since 1910, which led to the team featuring the birthplace of Joan Gamper, the club's founder, on their shirts. However, in the summer of 2006 the Winterthur Group was taken over by AXA, and in 2007 AXA decided to merge Winterthur's brand into its own, leading to a change in the club name. The team play their home games at Palau Blaugrana which was opened on October 23rd 1971. They share the facilities with the roller hockey, five-a-side football and handball teams.
| Contents |
| History |
| Early years |
| Decline in the 1960s |
| Revival in the 1980s |
| Champions of Europe |
| Trophies |
| Current squad 2007/08 |
| Famous Coaches |
| Former players |
| External links |
History
Early years
The club entered its first competition in 1927, playing in the ''Campionat de Catalunya de Baloncesta''. During these early years basketball in Catalonia was dominated by other clubs such as
''CE Europa'', ''Laietà BC'', ''CB Atlètic Grà cia'' and ''Société Patrie'' and it was not until the 1940s that FC Barcelona became established as a basketball team. During this decade they won six ''Copas del Generalissimo'' and were runners-up once. In 1956 they were founder members of the Spanish League and finished as runners-up. In 1959 they won the Spanish basketball's first ever league and cup double.
Decline in the 1960s
The 1960s and 1970s saw the team in decline. In 1961 the club president Enric Llaudet dissolved the team in spite of its popularity. However, in 1962, the club was reformed after a campaign by the fans. In 1964 the league's ''Primera División'' was cut from fourteen teams to eight and the club found themselves in the ''Segunda División''. However they quickly returned to the top division after being crowned ''Segunda'' champions in 1965. During the 1970s the club was persistently overshadowed by its rivals Real Madrid and Joventut.
Revival in the 1980s
In the 1980s club president Josep LluÃs Nuñez gave the team his full support with the aim of making the club the best in Spain and Europe. His support produced results and during the decade inspired by their coach Aito Garcia Reneses and players like Epi, Andres Jimenez, Sibilio, Audie Norris and Solozabal, the club won six Spanish League titles, five Copas del Rey, two European Cup Winners Cups, the Korac Cup and the World Championship. However the European Cup remained elusive. They were, however, runners-up in 1984.
Champions of Europe
The club built on this success during the 1990s, winning a further four Spanish League titles and two Copas del Rey. They were still unable to win the European Cup despite playing in a further four finals in 1990, 1991, 1996 and 1997. They also made a record six Final Four appearances. The star player during this era was Juan Antonio San Epifanio.
Their persistence eventually paid off and in 2003, inspired by Dejan Bodiroga, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Juan Carlos Navarro, they won the Euroleague, beating Benetton Treviso 76-65 in front of a packed Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona.
Trophies
Palau Blaugrana
★ 'European Champions':
★
★ 2002-03: '1'
★ 'Spanish League':
★
★ 1958-59, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04: '14'
★ 'Copa del Rey de Baloncesto':
★
★ 1942-43, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1958-59, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1990-91, 1993-94, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07: '20'
★ 'Lliga Catalana de Basquet':
★
★ 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1989-90, 1993-94, 1995-96, 2000-01, 2001-02: '11'
★ 'European Cup Winners' Cup':
★
★ 1984-85 1985-86: '2'
★ 'European Super Cup':
★
★ 1986-87: '1'
★ 'World Clubs' Cup':
★
★ 1984-85: '1'
★ 'Korac Cup':
★
★ 1986-87, 1998-99: '2'
★ 'Catalunya Cup':
★
★ 1941-42, 1942-43, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1947-48: '6'
★ 'Prince of Asturias Cup':
★
★ 1988-89: '1'
★ 'Iberian Cup':
★
★ 1947-48: '1'
Current squad 2007/08
''The numbers are established according to the official websites of FCBarcelona.cat and the Spanish league.
''As of August 22, 2007''
★ 'Point Guard:' ★ ★ 10 Jaka LakoviÄ ★ ★ — Pepe Sánchez ★ 'Shooting Guard:' ★ ★ 5 Gianluca Basile ★ ★ 44 Roger Grimau ★ 'Small Forward:' ★ ★ 19 Ersan Ä°lyasova ★ ★ — Alex Acker ★ ★ — Michel Morandais ★ 'Power Forward:' ★ ★ 8 Jordi Trias ★ ★ — Albert Moncasi ★ 'Center:' ★ ★ 9 Denis Marconato ★ ★ 17 Fran Vázquez ★ ★ 41 Mario Kasun ★ 'Coaches:' ★ ★ Dusko Ivanovic (Head coach) ★ ★ Xavi Pascual ★ ★ Josep Berrocal ★ 'Players arrived 2007/2008:' ★ ★ 19 Ersan Ä°lyasova (Milwaukee Bucks) ★ ★ ? Pepe Sánchez (Unicaja Málaga) ★ ★ ? Alex Acker (Olympiakos Piraeus) ★ ★ ? Michel Morandais (Eldo Napoli) ★ 'Players left 2007/2008:' ★ ★ 14 Rodrigo De la Fuente ★ ★ 11 Juan Carlos Navarro (Memphis Grizzlies) ★ ★ 20 Michalis Kakiouzis (Cajasol Sevilla) ★ ★ 21 Roko Ukic (on loan to Lottomatica Roma) |
Famous Coaches
★ Manel Comas
★ AÃto GarcÃa Reneses
★ Eduard Kucharsky
★ Eduard Portela
★ Antoni Serra
★ DuÅ¡ko Ivanović
★ Božidar Maljković
★ Svetislav PeÅ¡ić
★ Ranko Žeravica
Former players
''see also ''
External links
★ FCBarcelona.cat - Official team page
★ Euroleague.net - Official team page
★ ACB.com - Official league page
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