History II (1988-1992)
History II (1988-1992) | An unforgettable season
The 1988/89 season was one of the best (if not the best I remember). The team moved its stadium to the Pazo “Paco Paz” (at that time it did not yet have that name, but Pabellón Finca Sevilla). For the first time, the team achieved promotion to the highest level of Spanish basketball: the ACB League. Almost all Ourense fans will remember that harrowing best-of-five tie against Caja Madrid, where their point guard Toño Llorente stood out (who would later play for Real Madrid, like his brother José Luis Llorente). The fifth game was reached and two free throws by Toño García decided the tie (94-95, after two overtimes).
Before arriving here, “Caixa Ourense” already had a first opportunity to decide the tie in the fourth game at the Pazo, but it was not possible. The previous tie (best of three) was resolved by winning the first and third games (home games) against Júver Murcia. Some players from that season are still remembered by many: Nacho Suárez (another hero of that game with 35 points), the aforementioned Toño García, Crujeiras, Estany, Douglas Arnold, Planell, etc. Many of them remained with the team for years and continued to contribute to the growth of the club.
THE BEGINNINGS IN ACB
After the first round, there were 9 wins and 13 losses in Group A-2. As a result, the team played in the second round of Group III. Things didn’t go so well there, with only 3 wins in 14 games. The team had to play for survival and in the decisive playoff Ourensán was saved by relegating Gran Canaria to relegation after the fourth game. The team finally finished in 21st place in its debut in the Spanish first basketball division.
The sad note that occurred this season was the death of Francisco Paz Sotelo, coach of the stadium, which from then on was renamed Pazo “Paco Paz” in his honor. Paco Paz lost his life in a tragic traffic accident on April 21, 1990, when he was returning from Santiago de Compostela for a COB match. The team paid tribute to him with the I MEMORIAL PACO PAZ in September 1990. For this match the chosen rival was Real Madrid, despite the large financial outlay, but the people responded (about 6,000 people attended the match) to give him a great farewell.
After their greatest achievement up to that point, the 1989/90 season saw the difficult goal of remaining in the League. The core of players from the previous season was retained and James Hardy (a center with NBA experience who was expected to be the star player) was hired. Over time, the club needed to strengthen the team to avoid relegation, and Roland Gray was chosen (what a great goalscorer!). The striker contributed significantly to Caixa Ourense’s relegation to the relegation playoffs. Mike Williams joined the playoffs. The board’s efforts were rewarded and the goal was achieved despite the suffering.
The list of that historic first season in the ACB was made up of point guards Estany and Nacho Suárez; forwards Toño García, Douglas Arnold, Dardé and debutant Carlos Rodríguez; and the centers Ibáñez, Hardy, Crujeiras and Ricardo García.
A few months later, the aforementioned Roland Gray joined the team, and Mike Williams also played a role in the playoff run. Ángel Navarro continued to be a coach and the number of members was around 2,000. It should be noted that this season Nacho Suárez led the League in ball recoveries with 104 (3.05 per game) and was the second player with the most assists (192 with an average of 5.64 per game), only surpassed by José Luis Llorente (famous defender for Real Madrid and the national team).
In the following season (1990-91), the team sought to consolidate itself in the league. The squad has undergone countless changes. The already known players, Crujeiras, Nacho Suárez, Roland Gray and Carlos Rodríguez, were joined by Javi Pérez, Barneda, López, Díaz and Brad Wright (center with a brief stint in the NBA, great rebounder and shot blocker). The point guard, who spent much of his career in Orense, will be especially remembered, becoming the team’s captain in the following seasons.
The team reached the playoffs for the title for the first time and ended up playing, after being eliminated, in the unusual invention of the play-out.
COB won their group with a great campaign, which complicated their schedule for the following season. The Caixa Ourensán players were beginning to arouse great interest and admiration. Nacho Suárez even entered the pre-selection of the Spanish team; Crujeiras, perhaps having the best season of his career, even knocked on the doors of the national team, with the late Díaz Miguel present at the Pazo to follow his evolution. Toño García, Wright, Carlos Rodríguez and Barneda also stood out (well remembered in the club, despite being highly criticized abroad; a good trio with outstanding performances during their time in Ourensán). But this also had its drawback: Nacho Suárez was leaving for Murcia, where they offered him a salary that was unattainable for the coffers of Ourense, which meant losing one of the best Spanish players in the competition for the future (the only player with two triple-doubles and one of the three or four with a triple-double). Brad Wright has also left the club. Like the main sponsor, Caixa Ourensán.
The league had a strange system in which the winners of the title play-off and the winners of the first relegation play-off (you had to lose two relegation play-offs to be relegated) were organized into four groups of four teams. The winner of each group was from 9th to 12th place in the table. This was significant because the league had A1 and A2 divisions. A1 was made up of the twelve best teams in the league and A2 was made up of the twelve worst. The following year, you had to play two games against each team in your group and only one against teams in the other group. There was also a correction factor for the A2 teams that saw their positions in the play-off for the title fall behind, because it was easier to achieve victories (a clear example was TDK Manresa, which finished third in the regular season and its final classification was 9th).
The foreign players were replaced from the previous season, both new to the ACB league. They were Roosevelt Bouie (a European veteran with a great record in Italy, from Cantú). Bouie arrived with the label of an important player, with a large salary. However, his battered physique prevented him from performing as expected, and he never fulfilled his role as a star player. The other option was the Yugoslavian Sasa Radunovic, a much cheaper player with less exposure in Europe. He quickly became a fan favorite, despite being somewhat inconsistent and perhaps less powerful than his rivals, and his involvement, especially in offensive duties, became vital. This player had a great time in Orense, which led him to achieve higher goals such as playing for Valencia or Vitoria.
The 1991-92 season was the first in which the Ourense Basketball Club suffered its first serious warning about its permanence in the ACB. The previous season’s classification weighed heavily on the team and playing in the A1 division forced us to fight harder to win with stronger teams. Among the main changes was the departure of Caixa Ourense, giving way to the entry of Coren as the team’s main sponsor. This caused several changes in the team’s atmosphere, such as the disappearance of the capercaillie as mascot, replaced by Coren’s hen, or changes in the fans’ chants, for example.
The list of players of the national team remained practically unchanged, but without Nacho Suárez it was significant. The achegas of these players are not the same (Crujeiras, for example, has a slightly weaker performance). Javi Pérez’s season was notable, as it made a more significant moment, largely due to Suárez’s absence. Pérez was a player who had a good career in our team, becoming captain himself (what a great game based on the famous victory against Real Madrid in Pazo!).
The casualties led to the arrival of George Ackles from the NBA, which caused Bouie to leave, although he returned later. Ackles had a privileged physique (a great killer), but his inexperience did not make him the key player to help the team. Leo Rautins also appeared on the list, but the right match has not yet been found. Finally, the foreign couple (Bouie and Radunovic) assumed ownership and the team faced the relegation playoffs with Tim Shea on the bench replacing Ángel Navarro, ending his first stage as coach at the club. The team finished 22nd out of 24 teams in the regular season, with 10 wins and 24 losses. Salvation came in the final playoff against Granada, after being eliminated by Mayoral Maristas 3-0 in the previous round. The advantage of playing at home was decisive, and in the tie against Granada it was Coren Coruña who won 3-0 (an important victory in the last game of the series by one point).