Boca Juniors (basketball)

Boca Juniors basketball section is part of the Boca Juniors sports club based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The team plays in the Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB), the first division of the Argentine league system. Boca's home games are played at the Estadio Luis Conde, also called the Bombonerita (in English: "Small Bombonera"), as a reference to the club's football stadium known as the La Bombonera.

At the local level, the club has 4 First Division championships, among which four editions of the LNB (1996–97, 2003–04, 2006–07 and 2023–24) and 5 national cups, all of them in the Copa Argentina consecutively (top winner of the contest: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006). It also has 22 titles in the amateur era, the most notable being the 1963 Argentine Club Championship (the highest category of Argentine basketball in the amateur era).

At the international level he achieved 3 titles, all of them in the South American Championship of Champion Clubs (2004, 2005 and 2006). Adding national and international tournaments, it is the third most successful club with the most titles in the history of Argentine basketball: 13 official titles behind Peñarol (17) and Atenas (20). At the same time, it is one of the most successful teams in Argentina, since it had great prominence both in the amateur and semi-amateur era of the different metropolitan basketball leagues of the city of Buenos Aires, and in the National Basketball League, where he is one of the greatest champions, which is why he is considered one of the so-called Greats of the National Basketball League.

Great players and coaches wore the blue and gold jersey before and/or after representing the National Basketball Team and even playing in the major leagues in Europe and the NBA.

The beginning
The basketball section of Boca Juniors was created in 1929, requesting affiliation to the association but it was rejected. In 1930 the club could be registered to Federación Argentina de Básquet (the body that governed basketball in Argentina by then) but only junior teams took part of the competitions. The good results encouraged the club to continue participating in the league. In 1934 the team debuted at second division finishing second.

In 1936 a dissident association, the "Asociación de Básquet de Buenos Aires" was created. This organized its own championships from 1936 to 1973 when it would later merge with the Federación Argentina again. Boca played the tournaments held by the ABBA becoming one of the most successful teams during the decades of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

On 27 November 1938 Boca Juniors played United States' team Amateur Athletic Union at the Luna Park of Buenos Aires. Boca won the match 38-33 being the first victory achieved by an Argentine basketball team over a North American side. The line-up was José Giuliano, Víctor Di Vita, Pedro Aizcorbe, Carlos Stropiana y Roberto Contini.

The "all-star" team
During the decade of the 1940s, Boca played in the Torneo Apertura (organized by the ABA) and then in the Torneo Metropolitano (since 1951) where the best ranked teams from both leagues, ABA and FBA, took part.

During the decade of 1940, Boca was nicknamed "el equipo de las estrellas" ("the all-stars team" in Spanish). During those years Boca won the 1938 and 1939 Apertura championships and the Campeonato Oficial in 1940 and 1941, all of them organized by the ABBA. The roster was: Pedro Aizcorbe, Daniel Anglés, Elías Bissio, Roberto Contini, Alberto Dayán, Víctor Di Vita, José Giuliano, Carlos Induni, Felipe Mattianich, Mario Mattioni, Pedro Rodríguez and Carlos Stroppiana. Nevertheless, Boca did not got any other championship until middle of the 1950s.

In 1951 a new championship, "Torneo Metropolitano" was created. This competition joined teams from both rival leagues, Federación Argentina and Asociación de Buenos Aires. To form a more competitive team, Boca hired Rosarian players Enrique Borda and Bernardo Schime, then acquiring Rubén Petrilli. Andrés Naranjito Rossi was the coach. Despite having lost the first six games, Boca finished in the 4th position in the 1955 tournament. In 1957, with the addition of notable players such as José Olivera, José Novoa and Luis Pérez, Boca won the 1957 and 1959 Metropolitano championships and was runner-up in 1958. The team was also runner-up in 1958 and 1958.

After the tenure of Rossi as coach, Abelardo Dasso replaced him. Under his coaching, Boca Juniors achieved its most significant success, winning during 3 consecutive years (1961, 1962 and 1963) all the tournaments disputed: the Oficial, Apertura and Metropolitano championships. During that period, the squad played a total of 93 games, winning 89.

Boca Juniors continued with his successful path, winning also the 1964 Apertura and the 1965, 1966 and 1967 Oficial championships.

Boca won another Metropolitano title in 1969 and the Oficial championship in 1970, defeating Lanús by 91–76 at River Plate arena. The most frequent line-up was Juan Carlos Mazzini, Néstor Delguy, Adalberto Gusso, Emilio Dumani, Juan Tito, Jesús Díaz, with Enrique Borda as coach.

Liga Nacional titles
Boca played the 1984 season, the last before the creation of Liga Nacional de Básquet, although the severe crisis of the club by then caused the team went off the competition few days before the beginning of the tournament. Boca made an effort to play in the second division in 1986 but the association did not allow the team to participate so Boca had to play at the last division, the Regional C. The team promoted to Liga B that same year.

In 1988 Boca promoted to Liga A, where the team debuted one year later. Boca Juniors did not make a good campaign so it was relegated to Liga B, where the team promoted again in 1990. At the top level again, in 1996 Boca Juniors inaugurated its first stadium built specifically for the practise of basketball, then named "Luis Conde" (mostly known as "La Bombonerita") in honour of a recently dead manager of the club. That same year Boca won its first title in the Liga Nacional (defeating Independiente (GP) at the finals. The team roster was: Byron Wilson, Jerome Mincy, Ariel Bernardini, Luis Villar, Sebastián Festa, Gabriel Fernández, Claudio Farabello, Gustavo Fernández, Diego Prego, Claudio Chiappero, Sebastián Acosta, Esteban Acosta, Fernando Oyarzún and Ariel Eslava. Julio Lamas was the coach.

That first achievement in the modern era would be succeeded by a second championship in 2003–04 (being its rival at the finals Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)). The successful era continued, winning its third title in 2006–07 against Peñarol (MdP). Apart from the domestic league, Boca disputed the Copa Argentina de Básquetbol, winning the title in 2002 (inaugural season), 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 (five consecutive times). At international level, Boca won three Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes in 2004, 2005 and 2006 (three consecutive achievements).

Budget problems
In the 2007–08 season he finished fifth. He was runner-up in the 2007 South American Championship of Champion Clubs, earning 9 points, just like Minas Tênis Clube, but the latter finished with a better point difference. In the 2008–09 season he finished seventh. For the 2009–10 season, Boca Juniors is going through a series of economic difficulties that force the institution to drastically reduce the budget allocated annually to the development of basketball activity in the club. As a result of these inconveniences, the club came very close to losing its place in the National League. However, the board of directors manages to sign an agreement with the airline Aerochaco that allows it to obtain the money necessary to maintain the seat, and to finance the activity of the professional team. In addition, he signed an agreement with the president of the Club Atlético Sarmiento de Resistencia (Chaco), Jorge Capitanich, by which the team would move its home to the basketball stadium of the Chaco institution, in addition to changing the Boca Juniors team name for Aerochaco Boca. They achieved an important fourth place, after being eliminated in the semifinals against Peñarol de Mar del Plata by 3–0, exceeding expectations prior to the start of the tournament. The beginning of the 2010–11 season was marked by strong controversy, since according to some sources, the board of directors had considered selling the team's place in the national league, due to the high economic costs involved in maintaining a team. top-level professional in a discipline that historically had not enjoyed relevant importance, as happened with football.

Boca had a bad start to the season, quickly falling to the bottom of the competition. The team did not find answers and wandered in the lower part of the table, finally finishing in 17th place, with 13 games won and 17 lost. This forced the team to play a best-of-5 tie to avoid relegation to the second category of the league against the Argentino de Junín, last classified in the regular phase. Finally, Boca won the series 3–0 and, in this way, will maintain its place in the vanguard league of Argentine basketball. In the 2011–12 season he finished eighth. For the 2012–13 season they reached the final stages, losing in the semi-final against Regatas by 3–2. In the 2013–14 season they played again in a semifinal against Peñarol where they were defeated 3–0.

Bad results and fight to maintain the category
In the 2014–15 season it finished in 14th place out of 18. In 2015–16 it finished in 17th place out of 20 teams. In the 2016–17 season they finished tenth (last) in the first phase in the Southern Conference. For the second phase, Boca was reinforced with former NBA Carlos Delfino who had been inactive for 4 years due to a foot injury. Once again they occupied the last place in the Southern Conference, having to compete in a third phase to remain against Echagüe, which finished last in the first and second phases of the Northern Conference. They achieved permanence by beating Echagüe 3–2. For the 2017–18 season it finished in 14th place out of 20. For the 2018–19 season, Boca moved away from the last positions and managed to reach the quarterfinals, losing to San Lorenzo 3–2.

Change of leadership and return to being the protagonist of the LNB
After the club's presidential elections in 2019, where Jorge Ameal won, it opted to maintain professional basketball, deciding to invest in the section. He finished in ninth place in the 2019–20 season after its suspension due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. After returning to the fields, with new coach Gonzalo García Boca reached the semifinals of the 2020–21 season where they were defeated by Quimsa 2-0. For the 2021–22 season they would reach the semifinal again and would be defeated again against Quimsa by 3–1. In the 2022–23 season, coach Gonzalo García would present his resignation, after losing against Platense after a bad start (7-8). Carlos Duro would take charge of the team in his third step as coach of the club. He would qualify fifth in the qualifying stage, reversing the bad start and finishing with a record of 25–13. In the reclassification stage they would beat Peñarol 3–0, they would also do the same in the quarterfinals against Oberá. In the semifinals they would face Instituto where they would lose the first two matches. He would manage to tie the series 2–2 , respectively winning both matches in "La Bombonerita". The fifth game would be at the Instituto stadium, where after losing by 13 points at halftime, they would win the match 75–72, reaching a new final of the National Basketball League after 16 years. In the final they would be defeated by Quimsa 4-1.

Luis Conde Stadium
Located at Arzobispo Espinosa 600, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of La Boca, the Luis Conde Stadium, known as "La Bombonerita", was inaugurated on 29 June 1996 and has a capacity of 2,400 spectators. On that date, its baptism took place with a friendly confrontation between the local team and Obras Sanitarias, which ended 85–74 for the homeowner.

In June 2022, a series of renovations were announced that were estimated to be completed by October of that same year, but were finally completed in January 2023. The renovation of the stadium, according to the head of the club basketball, was inspired by the Roberto Pando Sports Center, and consisted of replacing the game field, with FIBA certification; a 5700K LED projector lighting system; a reconditioning of changing rooms, offices, entrances and exterior, in addition to the installation of central air conditioning. The stadium was re-inaugurated on January 16 with the match between Boca and the Ciclista Olímpico Club for the 2022–23 National Basketball League, which culminated in Boca's victory by 84–76.

Current roster

 * 2023–24 season

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Notable players

 * Jasiel Rivero (born 1993), Cuban basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League

Head coaches

 * This list only includes coaches from Club Atlético Boca Juniors from 1985 onwards, where the professional era of Argentine basketball began.

Domestic

 * Torneo Apertura (6): 1938, 1939, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
 * Campeonato Oficial (7): 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970
 * Torneo Metropolitano (6): 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1969
 * Campeonato Argentino de Clubes (1): 1963
 * Liga Nacional B (1): 1988
 * Liga Nacional de Básquet (4): 1996–97, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2023–24
 * Copa Argentina (5): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
 * Torneo Top 4 (1): 2004

International

 * Sudamericano de Clubes (3): 2004, 2005, 2006

Season by season
Champions  Runners-up   Promoted   Relegated
 * This list only includes the statistics of Boca Juniors from 1985, when the professional era of Argentine basketball began.