San Lorenzo de Almagro (basketball)

San Lorenzo
Nickname	Azulgrana
Conference	Sur
Leagues	LNB FIBA Americas League
Founded	April 1, 1908 (1908-04-01)
Arena	Polideportivo Roberto Pando[1]
Arena Capacity	2,000
Location	Buenos Aires
Team colors
President	Matías Lammens
Head coach	Julio Lamas
Championships	2 LNB
Website	Official website
Uniforms
Home Away

San Lorenzo de Almagro is the men's professional club basketball section of the San Lorenzo de Almagro multi sports club, that is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The team plays in the Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB), which is the first tier level division of the Argentine basketball league system. The team is currently coached by Julio Lamas.^[2] San Lorenzo plays its home games at the Polideportivo Roberto Pando, which is located in Boedo, Buenos Aires.

History

Beginning and golden years

San Lorenzo affiliated to the Argentine Association in 1930, and won a large amount of championships from the 1930s to the 1970s, being nicknamed The Cathedral of Basketball. 1942 was the year when San Lorenzo achieved its first titles, winning the Torneo Apertura and the Oficial championship, organised by the Buenos Aires Basketball Association. One year later, the team won another Apertura title, and they then won the 1946, 1949, and 1950 Apertura official titles. The club's most notable players of that era were Alfredo Belli, Salvador Capece, and Alberto Trama. Other notable members of the team were Armando Bo and Francisco Sommariva.

Alfredo Belli, notable player of the club in the 1940s.

In 1951, San Lorenzo played against the The Harlem Globetrotters, at the Estadio Luna Park, in Buenos Aires. That same year, the team won the Apertura championship (and repeated again in 1952), and the Oficial in 1954. Two years later, the team won another Oficial title, remaining unbeaten, and its first Torneo Metropolitano title. In 1957, San Lorenzo made its first international tour of Brazil, where the squad won 8 of 12 games played. Players on the tour were: Ricardo Lanzillotta (team captain), Herberto Fagnani, Edgar Parizzia, Oscar Zagatti, Carlos Vasino, Vicente Lazzara, Erio Cassetai, and Carlos Marranzino, with Francisco del Río being the head coach of the team.

San Lorenzo (in red uniform) played in the first LNB game ever, vs. Argentino de Firmat in 1985. With the ball, León Najnudel.

San Lorenzo won its first national title in 1958, the Campeonato Argentino. That allowed the team to play its first official tournament outside of Argentina, as the club competed in the South American top-tier level South American Club Championship, where San Lorenzo finished second, behind Defensor Sporting. At the Argentine national domestic level, San Lorenzo won the 1958 Apertura title, and finished third in the Buenos Aires championship (although the squad would later go on to win the 1959 and 1960 titles). In 1966, San Lorenzo won the Apertura title finishing unbeaten, and both the Metropolitano and Buenos Aires championships, in 1968.

The 1970s began with the 1970 Metropolitano championship, and the club then winning two titles else in 1971. That same year, San Lorenzo toured in Europe, marking the first time that an Argentine team played there. The club's layers were Oscar Visciglia, Gustavo Aguirre, Carlos Perroni, Carlos Garro, Dante Massolini, Norberto Pacheco, Carlos Perales, Abel Rojas, Néstor Delgui, and Emilio Dumani, with Edgard Parizzia acting as the team's head coach. San Lorenzo defeated the Yugoslavian national league champion, OKK Beograd, and six rivals from Italy, also playing the Spain national team.^[3][4] During that tour, the team was nicknamed, La Catedral (The Cathedral), after a speech from team player Emilio Dumani, saying: "This is a team that always fights, and never turns off... like the lights of a Cathedral".

Despite those successful years, the 1973 Buenos Aires championship would be the last official title of San Lorenzo until the 2010s.

Liga Nacional and decline

San Lorenzo players celebrating the 2015–16 LNB title.

On April 26, 1985, San Lorenzo played the opening game of the recently created Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB), facing Argentino de Firmat at the Obras Sanitarias venue.^[5] Nevertheless, the team was relegated that same year.^[6]

The basketball section of the club was inactive between 1986 and 1993, returning only at youth levels. In 1996, San Lorenzo's senior squad returned to first division tournaments of the city of Buenos Aires. Since then, the club won the Under-22 championship (2004), and Copa De Oyarbide (2012).

Return to glory

In 2014, San Lorenzo debuted in the Torneo Nacional de Ascenso (TNA), the second tier level division of professional basketball in Argentina.^[7] In 2015, San Lorenzo acquired a vacant place in the Argentine top-tier level Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB), because of a merger with the club 9 de Julio de Río Tercero.^[8] 30 years after its debut in the LNB, San Lorenzo returned to the top division on September 22, 2015, and beat Quimsa, by a score of 79-64.^[9]

San Lorenzo won its first LNB title in 2016, after beating La Unión, with a 4-0 series sweep in the league's finals. San Lorenzo player, Walter Herrmann, was chosen as MVP of the finals.^[10]

The following season, San Lorenzo won its 2nd consecutive title after defeating Regatas Corrientes 4–1 at the finals. The team become the most winning team in LNB's history, with a 23–3 record. Gabriel Deck was chosen as final's MVP.^[11] Unlike the 2015–16 series, San Lorenzo played its home games at Roberto Pando stadium of Boedo.^[12]

Matches against NBA teams

14 October 2016

Boxscore

Toronto Raptors

122–105

San Lorenzo de Almagro

Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Players

Current roster

San Lorenzo roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Age 2.0 !SG USA ! Tucker, Dar 7000193000000000000♠1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 000000001988-04-11-0000 29 – (1988-04-11)11 April 1988 3.0 !SF 7000600000000000000♠6 ARG ! Mata, Marcos 7000200999999999999♠2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 000000001986-08-01-0000 31 – (1986-08-01)1 August 1986 4.0 !PF 7001210000000000000♠21 URU ! Calfani, Mathías 7000204000000000000♠2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 000000001992-01-21-0000 25 – (1992-01-21)21 January 1992 1.0 !PG ARG ! Vildoza, José 7000191000000000000♠1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 000000001996-01-24-0000 21 – (1996-01-24)24 January 1996 1.0 !PG 7000700000000000000♠7 ARG ! Aguirre, Nicolás 7000189000000000000♠1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 000000001988-03-31-0000 29 – (1988-03-31)31 March 1988 2.0 !SG 7001150000000000000♠15 ARG ! Safar, Selem 7000192000000000000♠1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 000000001987-05-19-0000 30 – (1987-05-19)19 May 1987 4.0 !PF 7001220000000000000♠22 ARG ! Sandes, Matías 7000202000000000000♠2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 000000001984-04-14-0000 33 – (1984-04-14)14 April 1984 5.0 !C CUB ! Justiz Ferrer, Javier 7000210000000000000♠2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 000000001992-09-14-0000 24 – (1992-09-14)14 September 1992 3.0 !SF 7001140000000000000♠14 ARG ! Deck, Gabriel 7000199000000000000♠1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 000000001995-03-09-0000 22 – (1995-03-09)9 March 1995 2.0 !SG 7001240000000000000♠24 ARG ! Fernández, Lisandro 7000194000000000000♠1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 000000001998-01-19-0000 19 – (1998-01-19)19 January 1998	Head coach Gonzalo García Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 2017-7-28

Notable former players

José Biggi Armando Bo Salvador Capece Alfredo Belli Francisco Sommariva Francisco del Río Erio Cassettai Juan Ruggia Ricardo Lanzillota Jaime Pérez

Hereberto Fagnani Julián Rodriguez Edgar Parizzia Alberto Trama Dante Massolini Carlos Perales Carlos Perroni Oscar Visciglia Carlos Vasino Walter Herrmann

Walter Herrmann, the club's key player in their LNB 2015–16 title.

Honours

Copa Confederación Argentina de Deportes.

National

• Campeonato Argentino de Clubes (1): 1958
• Liga Nacional de Básquet (2): 2015–16, 2016–17
• Torneo Súper 4 (1): 2016–17

Regional

• Asociación de Buenos Aires Championship (12): 1942, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1968, 1971, 1973
• Torneo Apertura (11): 1942, 1943, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1957, 1958, 1966, 1967
• Torneo Metropolitano (5): 1956, 1967, 1968, 1979, 1971

See also

• San Lorenzo de Almagro
• Liga Nacional de Básquet

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Lorenzo de Almagro (basketball).

• San Lorenzo Basquet on official website (in Spanish)
• San Lorenzo on LNB website (in Spanish)
• Latinbasket.com Team Profile