Atléticos de San Germán

Atléticos de San Germán
Nickname El Monstruo Anaranjado
Leagues BSN
Founded 1930
Arena Arquelio Torres Ramírez Coliseum
(Capacity: 5,000)
Location San Germán, Puerto Rico
Team colors Orange, Black
         
Head coach Nelson Colón
Championships 14 (1932, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1997)
Website http://www.atleticos.org/
Uniforms
Home
Away

The Atleticos de San Germán (lit. "San German Athletics") also known as La Cuna del Baloncesto en Puerto Rico is a BSN basketball team from Puerto Rico. San Germán has won fourteen championships (ten from 1932 to 1950, one in 1985 and in 1991, 1994, 1997).

Following the 1985 championship, San Germán began to develop many young, talented players who would later lead them to several more championships, the first coming in 1991 when development of these players peaked. Under the guidance and stellar play of José "Piculín" Ortíz, los Atleticos won their second championship in six years. The 1991 team, however was quite different from the '85 team. It was very young (with the exception of Ortíz) and for that reason received the nickname of "Los Nenes" (The boys). It included Eddie Casiano, Nelson Quinones, Luis Allende and Oscar Santiago, the core of the Atléticos who won the championship in 1994.

Soon after, public feuds between Ortíz and the team owner led the star center to move to Europe to play in Greece. The young players then reaching the height of their careers then won another championship for San Germán. In 1997, Eddie Casiano carried the team to victory over an underdog Carolina team. The great play of Quiñones and Casiano led San Germán to their league leading 14th championship.

A change of ownership and more disputes eventually led San Germán to trade Eddie Casiano to Leones de Ponce. Ortíz returned from Europe, but was then traded to Cangrejeros de Santurce. Both players have won championships with their respective teams while San Germán is still in the hunt for the 15th championship. San Germán is again full of new blood and hoping to break a thirteen year drought in 2011 and bring the championship back to San Germán, which is considered by many to be one of the most traditional and dominant teams in the league.

Current roster

As of 20 May 2011, the team's roster is formed by:

1 Jesse Pellot-Rosa Shooting Guard
2 Leandro Díaz Point Guard/Shooting Guard
6 Filiberto Rivera Point Guard
7 Raúl Orta Point Guard
9 Ryann Abraham Point Guard
11 Joel Nieves Shooting Guard
12 / Joey Rodriguez Point Guard
13 Gabriel Ruiz Forward/Center
14 Jaime Lloreda Forward
20 Gilberto Acevedo Point Guard
21 Alphonse Dyer Center
22 Carlos Strong Point Guard/Shooting Guard
23 Héctor Zayas Small forward
33 Mike Harris Small forward
50 Manuel De Jesús Forward/Center

Notable players

External links