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Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino

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For the active basketball club in Turin, see Basket Torino.
Auxilium Torino
Auxilium Torino logo
LeaguesLBA
EuroCup
Founded1974
Dissolved28 June 2019
HistoryAuxilium Pallacanestro Torino
(1974–2008; 2015–2019)
ArenaPalavela
Capacity6,300[1]
LocationTurin, Piedmont, Italy
Team colorsYellow, Navy
   
Main sponsorFiat
PresidentAntonio Forni
Head coachPaolo Galbiati
Team captainGiuseppe Poeta
Championships1 Italian Cup
Retired numbers1 (11)
Websiteauxiliumcustorino.com

Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino was an Italian professional basketball club in Turin, Piedmont. It competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the Lega Basket Serie A for the last time in the 2018–19 season. The club won one trophy, the Italian Basketball Cup, in 2018.

In June 2019, Auxilium was dissolved after the club was declared bankrupt after months of financial struggles, which had led to relegation from the LBA in May.[2]

History

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The beginnings

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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.[3][4]

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.[5] However, Saclà Asti wanted to move to a bigger arena and market, transferring to Turin in 1973, which meant the city had two clubs in the national divisions.

The clubs merged in the 1974 offseason after protracted discussions, with Asti president (Carlo Ercole), coach (Lajos Tóth), players, and sponsors transferring to Auxilium (now Saclà Torino) which played in the newly-formed second division Serie A2 while nearly all the Auxilium players were sent to Asti to play in the Serie B.[3][4]

Serie A

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In its first season in Serie A2, Auxilium was 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 was relegated domestically, but this was compensated by a run to the 1976 Korać Cup final, in which it came back from a first-leg deficit of 24 points to beat Juventud Schweppes by one point in the semifinals before losing in the final to the Yugoslavian team Jugoplastika Split.

Torino returned to 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.[6]

After one season in the Serie A2, the club returned to the Serie A in 1990, staying there until 1993.

The Minors

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Though the club finished outside the relegation places in the two Serie A2 seasons it played, it 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.[3][7]

Playing a few years at that level, Auxilium was relegated to 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 club's base and home arena moved to Collegno.[8] The new organisation did not have more success, and was relegated from the Serie B2 to the Serie C within a year.[6] It played at that level until it was amalgamated into Torino Basket, formed from the merger of two historic Turin clubs, Don Bosco Crocetta and Reale Società Ginnastica, in 2007,[9] disappearing on the occasion.[10]

PMS

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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 promotion and the league's cup in 2009–10.[11]

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 the founder Paolo Terzolo as club co-president, announcing his desire to return Torino to the Serie within three years.[12] It reached the second division DNA Gold in 2013, losing in the promotion playoffs at the end of the season.

Auxilium comeback

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From 2018, home games were played in the Palavela

The club obtained promotion at the second try, beating Agrigento in the 2014–15 finals series to earn a place 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.[10][13]

Italian Cup winners

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The 2018 Italian Basketball Cup was the first played by Auxilium Torino. After beating Umana Reyer Venezia in the quarter-finals and then Vanoli Cremona in the semi-finals, 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, but Marcus Landry and Luca Vitali each missed, 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 each and Washington scored 10 for the winners. Landry paced Brescia with 22 points and 9 rebounds and Michele Vitali added 14 points in defeat.[14]

Dissolution

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On 10 May 2019, the Federal Council deducted eight points from Torino due to financial irregularities.[15] Consequently, the club was relegated to the Serie A2 Basket after finishing last in the season. On 28 June 2019, the club was declared bankrupt.[16] In Basket Torino, a new professional club from the city was founded.

Arenas

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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 returned to PalaRuffini from 2015 to 2018. In 2018, the club moved to the 6,300 seat Palavela.[1]

In European and worldwide competitions

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Main article: Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino in European and worldwide competitions

Season by season

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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 EuroCup T16
2018–19 1 LBA 16th 2 EuroCup RS

Honours

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Domestic competitions

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

European competitions

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Runners-up (1): 1975–76

Notable players

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1970s

1980s

1990s

2010s

Head coaches

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Sponsorship names

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Throughout the years, due to sponsorship deals, it has been 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 (2016–2019)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Turin, Italy to host first Final Eight!". Euro Cup Basketball. 30 October 2007. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.
    - "Eurocup Final Eight dates changed". Euro Cup Basketball. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011.
  2. ^ "Basket: decretato il fallimento dell'Auxilium Torino, ma la pallacanestro del capoluogo piemontese ha un futuro" (in Italian). Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "La Storia" [A history]. Cuore Giallo Blu (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  4. ^ a b Ercole, Guido. "Auxilium - story". AuxiliumCUSTorino (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  5. ^ Tavarozzi, Antonio (21 December 1971). "Le due vie piemontesi al successo nel basket" [The two Piedmontese roads to basketball success]. La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
    - "Saclà Asti - storia" [Saclà Asti - history] (in Italian). Serie A. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b Latagliata, Domenico (16 June 2000). "Auxilium, storia di una crisi" [Auxilium, a crisis' history]. La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Torino ko. Addio alla A2, troppi debiti" [Torino knocked out. Goodbye A2, too many debts]. [La Stampa (in Italian). 1 July 1995. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  8. ^ Latagliata, Domenico (14 June 1999). "Auxilium e Cerea si alleano per vincere" [Auxilium and Cerea team up to win]. La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  9. ^ "La Storia del Progetto Torino Basket" [History of the Torino Basket project]. Torino Basket (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  10. ^ a b Di Schiavi, Vincenzo. "Bentornata Torino La serie A ritrova il mito dell'auxilium" [Welcome back Torino. The Serie A rediscovers the Auxilium myth]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  11. ^ 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]. la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  12. ^ 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]. la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  13. ^ 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]. La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  14. ^ "National cups roundup: February 18, 2018". Euroleague. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  15. ^ "Consiglio Federale: 8 punti di penalizzazione per Torino, che retrocede matematicamente" [Federal Council: 8 penalty points for Turin, which mathematically relegated]. Basketuniverso (in Italian). 10 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  16. ^ "Basket: decretato il fallimento dell'Auxilium Torino, ma la pallacanestro del capoluogo piemontese ha un futuro". Retrieved 6 July 2019.
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