Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino

Fiat Torino
Leagues LBA
EuroCup
Founded 1974
History Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino
(1974–2008)
Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino
(2015–present)
Arena Palavela
Capacity 6,300[1][2]
Location Turin, Piedmont, Italy
Team colors Yellow, Navy
         
Main sponsor Fiat
President Antonio Forni
Head coach Larry Brown
Team captain Giuseppe Poeta
Championships 1 Italian Cup
Retired numbers 1 (11)
Website auxiliumcustorino.com
Uniforms

Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino, or Auxilium Pallacanestro Turin, also known for sponsorship reasons as Fiat Torino, or Fiat Turin, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Turin, Piedmont. It competes in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, as of the 2018–19 season. The club's main sponsor is FIAT.[3]

History

The Beginnings

The club was founded in 1966 under the initiative of Don Gino Borgogno, a salesian priest, who regrouped all the different oratories (Christian youth social clubs) practising basketball in Turin under one organisation, Auxilium Torino, based in the Agnelli oratory.[4][5] The club was promoted to the fourth-division Serie C in 1970 and moved up to the Serie B in 1972. At the same time another local side, Libertas, based in Asti and sponsored by Saclà, was moving quickly up the divisions, reaching the second division in 1971 and the first division Serie A in 1972.[6][7] However Saclà Asti wanted to move to a bigger arena and market, transferring to Torino in 1973 which meant the city had two clubs in the national divisions. The clubs would fusion in the 1974 offseason after protracted discussions, with Asti president (Carlo Ercole), coach (Lajos Tóth), players and sponsors transferring to Auxilium (now Saclà Torino) who would play in the newly formed second division Serie A2 whilst nearly all the Auxilium players were sent to Asti to play in the Serie B.[4][5]

Serie A

In their first season in Serie A2, Auxilium were promoted to the Serie A. During the 1975 off season, the club changed coaches and sponsors, with Martini & Rossi becoming the main sponsor under the Chinamartini brand. The renamed team were relegated domestically but this was compensated by a run to the 1976 Korać Cup final, in which they came back from a first leg deficit of 24 points to eliminate Juventud Schweppes by one point in the semifinals, before losing honourably in the final to the Yugoslavian rising superpower Jugoplastika Split. Torino would return to the Serie A in 1979, staying there until 1989 and battling for honours during that decade, with playoff semifinals places in 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1986.[8] After one season in the Serie A2, the club returned to the Serie A in 1990, staying there until 1993.

The Minors

Though the club finished comfortably outside the relegation places in the two Serie A2 seasons it played, the club struggled financially and in July 1995 asked the league to play in the Serie B to reduce its debts, also selling its best players for that purpose.[4][9]

Playing a few years at that level, Auxilium was relegated, on the pitch, to the Serie B2 at the end of the 1998–99 season, following which it merged with Pallacanestro Cerea Collegno in order to ask for a place in the Serie B1. The latter organisation's president, Giovanni Garrone, became Auxilium president, with the clubs base and home arena moved to Collegno.[10] The new organisation didn't have more success, on the contrary as it was relegated from the Serie B2 to the Serie C within a year.[8] It played at that level until it was amalgamated into Torino Basket, formed from the merger of two historic Torino clubs Don Bosco Crocetta and Reale Società Ginnastica, in 2007,[11] disappearing on the occasion.[12]

PMS

PMS Basketball was founded in 2009 by the merger of Pallacanestro Moncalieri and Libertas Amici San Mauro (with the PMS an acronym of Pallacanestro Moncalieri San Mauro). Playing in the Serie B Dilettanti (fourth division), the side won a promotion and the league's Cup in 2009–10.[13]

In 2011, the senior team - based in Turin and playing in the PalaRuffini - changed its name to PMS Torino, keeping the PMS Basketball name for its youth activities. One year later, Antonio Forni - formerly president of Pallacanestro Biella - joined founder Paolo Terzolo as club co-president, announcing his desire to return Torino to the Serie within three years.[14] It reached the second division DNA Gold in 2013, losing in the promotion playoffs at the end of the season.

Aux Comeback

The club would obtain a promotion at the second try, beating Agrigento in the 2014–15 finals series to earn a berth in Serie A. Soon afterwards it was announced that Forni had obtained the Auxilium brand, that Garrone had given to former coach Giovanni Asti when the club shut down, with the club renamed as Auxilium CUS Torino as a separate legal entity with CUS Torino (Centro Universitario Sportivo, a club founded in 1946) providing the youth sector under an agreement. PMS Basketball, with Terzolo at its head, separated from the club to play in Moncalieri, at a level no higher than the Serie B.[12][15]

Italian Cup Winners

The 2018 Italian Basketball Cup was the first ever played by Auxilium Torino. After beating Umana Reyer Venezia in the Quarter-finals and than Vanoli Cremona in the Semifinals, in the final game Sasha Vujačić’s layup in the dying seconds lifted Fiat Torino to a 69-67 victory over Germani Basket Brescia for the club’s first Italian Cup. After a series of threes in the closing seconds left the game tied, Brescia had the ball for what appeared to be the final possession, however Marcus Landry and Luca Vitali each missed from downtown, Deron Washington picked up the loose ball and started a fast break that Vujacic finished with the winning layup. Diante Garrett paced Fiat with 16 points, Nobel Boungou Colo and Vander Blue added 11 points apiece and Washington scored 10 for the winners. Landry paced Brescia with 22 points and 9 rebounds and Michele Vitali added 14 points in defeat.[16]

Arenas

Auxilium Torino played its home games at the 4,500 seat PalaRuffini, from 1974 to 2000. From 2000 to 2008, the club used the 1,350 seat PalaCollegno as its home arena. The club then returned to PalaRuffini, from 2015 to 2018. In 2018, the club then moved to the 6,300 seat Palavela.[1][2].

In European and worldwide competitions

Season by season

Season Tier League Pos. Italian Cup European competitions
2012–13 3 Nazionale A 1st
2013–14 2 LNP Gold 5th
2014–15 2 LNP Gold 1st
2015–16 1 LBA 15th
2016–17 1 LBA 11th
2017–18 1 LBA 11th Champion 2 EuroCupT16
2018–19 1 LBA 2 EuroCup

Honours

Domestic competitions

Winners (1): 2017–18
Runners-up (1): 2018

European competitions

Runners-up (1): 1975–76

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Auxilium Torino roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
SF 0 United States Wilson, Jamil 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 104 kg (229 lb) 27 – (1990-11-21)21 November 1990
PF 1 United States Rudd, Victor 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 112 kg (247 lb) 27 – (1991-03-18)18 March 1991
SG 3 Italy Anumba, Simon 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 22 – (1996-08-28)28 August 1996
SG 4 United States Carr, Tony 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 21 – (1997-10-11)11 October 1997
PG 6 Italy Guaiana, Vincenzo 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 78 kg (172 lb) 18 – (2000-01-12)12 January 2000
PG 8 Italy Poeta, Giuseppe (C) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 33 – (1985-09-12)12 September 1985
SF 10 Argentina Delfino, Carlos 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 104 kg (229 lb) 36 – (1982-08-29)29 August 1982
C 12 Italy Cusin, Marco 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 107 kg (236 lb) 33 – (1985-02-28)28 February 1985
C 14 United States McAdoo, James Michael 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 104 kg (229 lb) 25 – (1993-01-04)4 January 1993
PG 15 United States Taylor, Tyshawn 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 28 – (1990-04-12)12 April 1990
SF 18 Italy Okeke, David 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 20 – (1998-09-15)15 September 1998
SG 32 United States Cotton, Tekele 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 25 – (1993-05-27)27 May 1993
PF 71 Brazil Demetrio, Leonardo 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 99 kg (218 lb) 24 – (1994-03-24)24 March 1994
PG -- United States Holder, Tra 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 78 kg (172 lb) 23 – (1995-09-27)27 September 1995
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Team manager
  • Italy Davide Parente
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: September 29, 2018

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C James Michael McAdoo Marco Cusin
PF Jamil Wilson Leonardo Demetrio David Okeke
SF Victor Rudd Carlos Delfino Simon Anumba
SG Tony Carr Tekele Cotton Vincenzo Guaiana
PG Tyshawn Taylor Giuseppe Poeta Tra Holder

Notable players

1970's
  • Italy Romeo Sacchetti 5 seasons: '79–'84
  • Italy Pino Brumatti 6 seasons: '77–'83
  • Italy Carlo Della Valle 13 seasons: '76–'81, '83–'87, '89–'93
  • United States John Grochowalsky 4 seasons: '76–'80
  • Italy Alberto Merlati 2 seasons: '73–'75

1980's

1990's

2010's

Head coaches

  • Hungary Lajos Tóth 1 season: '74–'75
  • Italy Giovanni Asti 6 seasons: '76–'77, '80–'83, '87–'89
  • Italy Sandro Gamba 3 seasons: '77–'80
  • Italy Giuseppe Guerrieri 6 seasons: '83–'86, '89–'91, '93–'95
  • Italy Romeo Sacchetti 5 seasons: '96–'98, '96–'98
  • Italy Luca Banchi 1 season: '17–'18
  • Italy Carlo Recalcati 1 season: '18
  • United States Larry Brown : '18–present

Sponsorship names

Throughout the years, due to sponsorship deals, it has been also known as:

  • Saclà Torino (1974–75)
  • Chinamartini Torino (1975–79)
  • Grimaldi Torino (1979–81)
  • Berloni Torino (1981–87)
  • San Benedetto Torino (1987–88)
  • Ipifim Torino (1988–90)
  • Auxilium Torino (1990–91)
  • Robe di Kappa (1991–93)
  • Francorosso (1993–95)
  • Kappa (1995–98)
  • Caffarel (1998–99)
  • Auxilium Torino (1999–02)
  • Iscot Auxilium (2002–08)
  • Manital Torino (2015–16)
  • FIAT Torino (2016–)

References

  1. 1 2 "Turin, Italy to host first Final Eight!". EuroCupBasketball.com.com. 30 October 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Eurocup Final Eight dates changed". Eurocupbasketball.com. 15 January 2009.
  3. ↑ Agnelli is in contact with the EuroLeague, but Juventus is not creating a basketball team.
  4. 1 2 3 "La Storia" [A history]. CuoreGialloBlu.com (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  5. 1 2 Ercole, Guido. "Auxilium - story". AuxiliumCUSTorino (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Tavarozzi, Antonio (21 December 1971). "Le due vie piemontesi al successo nel basket" [The two Piedmontese roads to basketball success]. ArchivoLaStampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "Saclà Asti - storia" [Saclà Asti - history]. Serie A (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  8. 1 2 Latagliata, Domenico (16 June 2000). "Auxilium, storia di una crisi" [Auxilium, a crisis' history]. ArchivoLaStampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Torino ko. Addio alla A2, troppi debiti" [Torino knocked out. Goodbye A2, too many debts]. ArchivoLaStampa.it (in Italian). 1 July 1995. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  10. ↑ Latagliata, Domenico (14 June 1999). "Auxilium e Cerea si alleano per vincere" [Auxilium and Cerea team up to win]. ArchivoLaStampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "La Storia del Progetto Torino Basket" [History of the Torino Basket project]. TorinoBasket.it (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  12. 1 2 Di Schiavi, Vincenzo. "Bentornata Torino La serie A ritrova il mito dell'auxilium" [Welcome back Torino. The Serie A rediscovers the Auxilium myth]. Gazzetta.it (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  13. ↑ Mercandino, Claudio (4 April 2010). "Pms, dopo la "A" anche la Coppa Italia. Torino torna a sognare il grande basket" [PMS, it adds the Italian Cup to the "A" [promotion]. Torino dreams of elite basketball again]. Repubblica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Ormezzano, Timothy (22 June 2012). "Basket, operazione serie A, La Pms ora ci prova sul serio" [Basketball, Serie A mission, PMS is now seriously trying]. Repubblica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  15. ↑ Latagliata, Domenico (12 June 2015). "Nasce l'Auxilium Cus: testa in A e tanti giovani" [Auxlium CUS is born: its head turned towards the [Serie] A and with many youngsters]. LaStampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "National cups roundup: February 18, 2018". euroleague.net. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
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