Mens Sana 1871 Basket

Mens Sana 1871 Basket
Leagues	Italian League IV
Founded	Athletic Club: 1871 Basketball Club: 1934
History	Associazione Ginnastica Senese "Mens Sana in Corpore Sano 1871" (1934 – 2014)
Arena	Palasport Mens Sana (6,000) Nelson Mandela Forum (8,000)
Location	Siena, Italy
Team colors	Green and White
President	Ferdinando Minucci
Head coach	Marco Crespi
Championships	8 Italian Championships 7 Italian SuperCups 5 Italian Cups 1 Saporta Cup
Retired numbers	3 (5, 13, 20)
Website	menssanabasket.it
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate

Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club from Siena, Italy. More precisely, it is the now-autonomous basketball section of the comprehensive sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana. The club was also widely previously known as Montepaschi Siena. "Montepaschi" was an internationalized short form for the name of the club's principal sponsor, the Siena banking company Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. For past club sponsorship names, see the list below.

History

The Montepaschi name sponsor era logo.

Montepaschi Siena's main sponsorship logo.

The basketball club's parent multi-sports club, Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871, claims to have been the first sports club in Italy to play and organize basketball; asserting that it did so in 1907, just sixteen years after James Naismith invented the sport, in 1891. This began with the club's women's section, giving the first basketball demonstration in Italy, in 1907, led by Professor Ida Nomi Pesciolini. Nomi translated Naismith's basketball rules, but had not seen an actual demonstration of the sport before doing so. Nomi called the sport, Ball to the Rim.

The actual basketball department of the parent athletic club was founded in the year 1934. However, despite its long history, it was mostly a provincial side until the 1973-74 season, when it joined Italy's top division for the first time. The club moved into Palasport Mens Sana arena in 1976.

The club became increasingly competitive over the years, and started to play in European-wide competitions in the 1999-2000 season, when it competed in the Korać Cup. The team then played in the FIBA SuproLeague, in the 2000-01 season, before winning the Saporta Cup in the 2001-02 season. This was followed by their participation in the Euroleague, during the 2002-03 season.

They won their first Italian League championship and their first Italian Supercup title in 2004. They won their first Italian Cup title in the year 2009. Since the turn of the 21st century, Montepaschi has established itself as one of the strongest clubs in Europe, with a championship win in the Saporta Cup, eight Italian League championships, and regular Euroleague appearances, including four trips to the competition's Euroleague Final Four.

After winning a record 6th consecutive Italian League championship in 2012, the club went through a major rebuild. Out of the fifteen players that were on the team's roster in the 2011-12 season, only four of them returned for the 2012-13 season. Just three of the team's rotation players, and just one of the team's starters, remained with the team. In addition to that, the club's long-time head coach, Simone Pianigiani, also left the team. Despite the rebuild, the team managed to win the Italian League and Cup once again.

In June 2014, it was announced that Mens Sana would not play in neither the Serie A nor the Euroleague for the 2014–15 season, as the club was in financial trouble.^[1] On July 9, 2014, Mens Sana Basket was officially declared bankrupt.^[2] Later, it was revealed that the team will play 2014-15 season in the fourth-tier Italian league Serie B Dilettanti.^[3]

Arenas

Mens Sana Basket uses the 6,000 seat Palasport Mens Sana in Siena, as the their home arena. They also used the 8,000 seat Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, as their home arena for Euroleague games during the Euroleague 2013-14 season.

Honors

Total titles: 21

Domestic competitions

• Italian Championship
  • Winners (8): 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
• Italian Cup
  • Winners (5): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
• Italian Supercup
  • Winners (7): 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013

European competitions

• Saporta Cup
  • Winners (1): 2002

Players

Retired numbers

Mens Sana 1871 Basket retired numbers
N°	Player	Position	Tenure
5	Terrell McIntyre	PG	2006–2010
13	Rimantas Kaukėnas	SG	2005–2009, 2010–2012
20	Shaun Stonerook	PF	2005–2012

Season by season

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:

• Played at least one season for the club.
• Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club.
• Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time.
• To perform very successfully during period in the club or at later/previous stages of his career.

Note: Flags indicate national team, as has been defined by FIBA. Players may hold more than one nationality.

Notable coaches

Sponsorship names

Before Montepaschi's advent, the Sienese side was main-sponsored by:^[4]

• Sapori (1973–1978, 1981–1983)
• Antonini (1978–1981)
• Mister Day (1983–1986)
• Ticino (1990–1993)
• Olitalia (1993–1994)
• Comerson (1994–1995)
• Cx Orologi (1995–1996)
• Fontanafredda (1996–1998)
• Ducato (1998–2000)
• Montepaschi Siena (2000–2014)

References

External links

• Official website (Italian) (English)
• Eurobasket.com Team Page