Marcelo Milanesio

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Marcelo Gustavo Milanesio (born on February 11, 1965 in Hernando, Córdoba) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. One of the most important figures in Argentine basketball, he obtained 16 Argentine championships, and was twice named MVP. He was also the player with most assists in at the 1994 World Championship^[1]. A one club man, he played all his professional life with Atenas.

[edit] Biography

Milanesio started playing basketball at the Military Factory of Río Tercero, where he was affectionately known as "Tachuela". Together with his brother Mario he joined Atenas in 1982 and debuted in the local league on April 20th of that year. In 1984, he participated on the transition of the National League to the current Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, in which he played 649 consecutive matches, always with the same club. In 1987, he obtained his first league title when Atenas won the 4th game 80-93 against Ferro Carril Oeste in Buenos Aires.

During that year, Marcelo played with the Argentina national basketball team for the first time, in the South American Championship disputed in Asunción, Paraguay. In 1990 he became the first team's base player playing the World Championship organised by Argentina.

Known for his efficiency of external shots, he reached an average of 43.9% in shots for three in the 848 matches he played in the 18 seasons of the Argentine League in which he participated, of which he played the first 649 without skipping any match of his team.

An injury suffered before the beginning of the 1998-99 season left him out of the court for the first time in his career, but when he came back he drove Atenas to a new Championship. Since the injury, Marcelo never returned to play for the national team. In 2002, he retired from professional basketball, with 14 Championships with Atenas, and 2 with the national team.

Marcelo Milanesio has not only stood out inside the basketball court. His community activities gave him a wide recognition from the public and institutions; he was declared illustrious citizen of the cities of Hernando, Río Tercero, San Marcos Sierra and Córdoba. In 1993 he received the first decade-wise Golden Olimpia Award for Basketball, which ten years later was given to Emanuel Ginóbili.

Milanesio currently works on sharing his experience and knowledge of the game. In 2004, he organised his first National Campus at Villa Carlos Paz, which has since successfully repeated every year, and receive around 150 children and teenagers not only from Argentina, but also from neighbouring Bolivia and Chile.