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* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Charles Cornelius Smith|Charles Smith]] <small>1 season: '04-'05</small>
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Charles Cornelius Smith|Charles Smith]] <small>1 season: '04-'05</small>
* {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Hanno Möttölä]] <small>1 season: '04-'05</small>
* {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Hanno Möttölä]] <small>1 season: '04-'05</small>
* {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Teemu Rannikko]] <small>2 season: '03-'05</small>
* {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Teemu Rannikko]] <small>2 seasons: '03-'05</small>
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Scoonie Penn]] <small>1 season: '04-'05</small>
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Scoonie Penn]] <small>1 season: '04-'05</small>
* {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Robert Archibald]] <small>1 season: '04-'05</small>
* {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Robert Archibald]] <small>1 season: '04-'05</small>

Revision as of 10:39, 4 January 2010

Scavolini Gruppo Spar Pesaro
Scavolini Gruppo Spar Pesaro logo
NicknameVL
Vuelle
LeaguesLega Basket Serie A
Founded1946
HistoryVictoria Libertas Pesaro
(1946-present)
ArenaADRIATIC Arena
(capacity: 10,323)
LocationPesaro, Italy
Team colorsRed and White
   
PresidentStefano Vellucci
Head coachStefano Sacripanti
ChampionshipsItalian Championships (2):
1988, 1990
Italian Cups (2):
1985, 1992
Saporta Cups (1):
1983
WebsiteOfficial Site

Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian Vuelle), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. It is commonly known across Europe as Scavolini Pesaro, from the name of its main sponsor Scavolini, an Italian kitchen designer and manufacturer, whose co-founder Valter Scavolini was formerly club president. The club competes in the top level Italian professional basketball league, the Lega Basket Serie A.

Brief history

Victoria Libertas was officially founded in 1946 and had its best seasons during the 1980s. After being among the top teams in Italy for decades, Victoria Libertas won its first important trophy in 1983 (European Cup Winners' Cup). Since then, Italian League was won twice (in 1988 and 1990), and the Italian Cup was also won twice (in 1985 and 1992).
In recent years, Victoria Libertas was among the best European teams, having played the Euroleague in 2001-02 and 2004-05 seasons. In 2004-05 it unexpectedly got to the Euroleague Top-8, being defeated in the quarter finals by eventual champion Maccabi Tel Aviv. Furthermore, Victoria Libertas shooting guard, Charles Smith, was honored with the first-ever Euroleague's Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy[1], named after the late Euroleague scoring champ who died in 2004 and who was replaced in Victoria Libertas by Smith himself.

In the past, due to sponsorship deals, it has also been known as Benelli Pesaro (1952–1958), Lanco Pesaro (1958–1961), Algor Pesaro (1961–1963), Butangas Pesaro (1966–1969), Frizz Pelmo Pesaro (1969–1970), Tropicali Pesaro (1970–1971) and Maxmobili Pesaro (1971–1975).[2]

Latest facts

In July 2005, as a consequence of the poor administration of the previous two seasons, Victoria Libertas failed to remain within the parameters required to join the Italian Basketball League and wound up. Pesaro's second team, Falco Spar, agreed with former Victoria Libertas president Valter Scavolini to join forces to invest in a team to bring back Victoria Libertas to Italian First Division (Lega Basket Serie A).
The new team, named Scavolini Gruppo Spar (or simply Scavolini-Spar), played the 2005-06 season in the Italian Third Division (B1). Owners' target resulted in Scavolini-Spar having large amounts of money at its disposal compared with the other teams of the league. Players from the upper divisions were enrolled, star Carlton Myers among them, which lead the team to win the league and gain promotion to the Second Division (LegaDue).
In 2006-07 Scavolini-Spar won the LegaDue playoff series, lining up players such as Carlton Myers, Rodney White (9th overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft), Mindaugas Žukauskas (captain of the Lithuanian national basketball team) and Michael Hicks (Panamian national team star). The team was therefore promoted, for the second straight year, to play the Lega Basket Serie A 2007-08 league.

Arena and supporters

In 1996 Victoria Libertas moved from the historic "hangar" arena into the new BPA Palas arena (today: ADRIATIC Arena) which now hosts its home games. Drawing large audiences from nearby towns and the whole Marche region, in mid 2000s Victoria Libertas was among the top ten basketball teams in Europe for average attendance.

2008-2009 Roster

3 United States Lucian Pesoli Small forward
4 United States Pervis Pasco Center
5 Lithuania Mindaugas Žukauskas Small forward
6 United States Ronald Slay Small forward
7 United States Rasheed Brokenborough Shooting guard
8 Italy Stefano Laudoni Point guard
9 Italy Portugal Robert Fultz Point guard
10 Italy United Kingdom Carlton Myers Shooting guard
11 Panama Michael Hicks Small forward
12 Bulgaria United States Keydren Clark Point guard
13 Italy United States Dan Gay Center
14 Italy Samuele Podestà Center
15 Italy Michele Bei Small forward
Italy Alberto Rossato
Serbia Greece Dusan Sakota

Notable players

References

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