title: Bàsquet Manresa
text: Bàsquet Manresa, S.A.D., also known as Baxi Manresa for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Manresa, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and Basketball Champions League. Their home arena is the Pavelló Nou Congost. Bàsquet Manresa has won the Spanish Championship once, in 1998.
  
  Joan "Chichi" Creus is the team's most decorated player; he was the Spanish Cup Most Valuable Player in 1996, and the ACB Finals MVP two years later. Some others well known players that had played for Bàsquet Manresa are Juan Domingo de la Cruz, Roger Esteller, Derrick Alston, Serge Ibaka, Andrés Nocioni, Rolando Frazer, and the Basketball Hall of Famer George Gervin, that at the age of 38 spent one year in the team, averaging 23.1 points and helping them to avoid the relegation from the Spanish top division.
  
  History 
  Bàsquet Manresa was founded in 1931 with the name of Manresa Bàsquetbol Club and merged in 1934 with Club Bàsquet Bages for becoming Unió Manresana de Bàsquet. In 1940, the club wins the Copa Barcelona and integrates in CE Manresa as its basketball section.
  
  In 1968 the club promotes for the first time to the Liga Nacional but is immediately relegated again in its debut season. Two years later, Manresa played again in the top tier and ended the league in the fourth position, thus qualifying for the first time to play the Korać Cup, where it reached the quarterfinals.
  
  In 1979 the club splits from CE Manresa and becomes Manresa Esportiu Bàsquet and grew up until becoming a usual contender in the Liga ACB. With the sponsorship of TDK between 1985 and 2000, the club lived its best years. In 1992, as a professional club and according to the law, Manresa becomes a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva and changes again its name to Bàsquet Manresa. This name change allowed Manresa EB and its former rival CB Manresa to merge definitively.
  
  In 1996, Manresa wins its first national trophy by defeating FC Barcelona in the Copa del Rey played in Murcia. Two years later, and after finishing the regular season in the sixth position and without the home-court advantage in any of the playoffs series, Manresa wins the 1997–98 Liga ACB after eliminating Adecco Estudiantes in the quarterfinals and Real Madrid in the semifinals, for winning in Tau Cerámica Baskonia 3–1 in the finals. As in the Copa del Rey won two years ago, Joan Creus became the MVP of the finals. This achievement is nowadays considered on the biggest surprises in Spanish sport ever.
  
  As league champions, Manresa played the EuroLeague, but was eliminated in the group stage. The golden era of the club suddenly ended in 2000, after the relegation to Liga LEB by losing in the do-or-die match against Gijón Baloncesto, that ended 95–91 after an overtime.
  
  Since its relegation, Manresa started to alternate seasons in ACB and LEB, with two league promotions in 2002 and 2007, as LEB champions. In 2012 and 2013, Manresa suffered two relegations in Liga ACB, but remained in the league due to the impossibility of LEB Oro teams to promote. In 2017, after registering the worst season in the top tier since the 1983–84 season, Manresa relegated to LEB Oro. However, the club achieved promotion just in the next season after beating Club Melilla Baloncesto in the final of the playoffs.
  
  Sponsorship naming 
  Bàsquet Manresa has several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship:
  
  Logos
  
  Home arenas
  Pavelló Congost (1968–92), before 1968 the team played in not domed courts next to the football stadium of Pujolet.
  Pavelló Nou Congost (1992–present)
  
  Players
  
  Basketball Hall of Famers 
  
   George Gervin, SG, 1989–1990, Inducted 1996
  
  Retired numbers
  
  Current roster
  
  Depth chart
  
  Head coaches 
  Since 1967:
  
  Francesc Casé 1967–1968
  Josep Masseguer 1968–1969
  Jeroni Alberola 1969–1970
  Antoni Serra 1970–1977
  Alfonso Martínez 1977–1978
  Joan Martínez 1978
  Josep M. Soler 1978
  Jaume Berenguer 1978–1979
  Joan Basora 1979–1981
  Pere Guiu 1981
  Miguel López Abril 1981
  Jaume Ventura 1981–1984
  Germán González 1984
  Francesc Canellas 1984–1985
  Miquel Bataller 1985
  Juanito Jiménez 1985–1986
  Joan María Gavaldá 1986–1988
  Flor Meléndez 1988–1990
  Ricard Casas 1990, 2001–2005
  Pedro Martínez 1990–1994, 2014–2015, 2019–
  Salva Maldonado 1994–1997, 2000–2001
  Luis Casimiro 1997–1999
  Manel Comas 1999–2000
  Xavier García 2005
  Óscar Quintana 2005–2007
  Jaume Ponsarnau 2007–2013
  Borja Comenge 2013–2014
  Pere Romero 2014
  Ibon Navarro 2015–2017
  Aleix Duran 2017–2018
  Diego Ocampo 2018
  Joan Peñarroya 2018–2019
  
  Season by season
  
  Trophies and awards
  
  Trophies 
   Spanish championships: (1)
   1997–98
   Spanish cups: (1)
  1996
   2nd division championships: (1)
   LEB Oro: (1) 2007
   Catalan basketball leagues: (3)
   1997, 1999, 2021
   LEB Catalan basketball league (Catalan 2nd Division Cup): (2)
   2000, 2001
   Trofeu General Orgaz-Copa Ciutat de Barcelona: (1)
   1940
  
  Individual awards 
  ACB Finals MVP
   Joan Creus – 1998
  
  Spanish Cup MVP
   Joan Creus – 1996
  
  ACB Rising Star
  Micah Downs – 2012
  
  All-ACB Second Team
  Dejan Musli – 2016
  
  ACB Slam Dunk Champion
  Nate Higgs – 2000
  Serge Ibaka – 2008
  
  ACB Three Point Shootout Champion
  Sergiy Gladyr – 2010
  
  LEB Oro MVP
   Jordi Trias – 2018
  
  Notable players 
  
     Joan Creus
     Roger Grimau
     Rafa Martínez
     Albert Oliver
     Jordi Trias
     Sergio Llull
     Serge Ibaka
     Juan Domingo de la Cruz
    Juan Alberto Espil
    Andrés Nocioni
    Juan Pablo Vaulet
    Kieron Achara 
    Ádám Hanga
    Siim-Sander Vene 
    Rolando Frazer
    Marius Grigonis
    Deividas Dulkys
    Gabriel Lundberg
    Chima Moneke
    Ismaël Bako
    Elias Valtonen
    Dejan Musli
    Toby Bailey
    George Gervin
    Granger Hall
    Nate Higgs
    Jeff Lamp
   Scott Machado
    Linton Townes
    Justin Doellman
    Derrick Alston
  
  References
  
  External links 
  Official website
  
   
  Basketball teams in Catalonia
  Liga ACB teams
  Former LEB Oro teams
  1931 establishments in Spain
  Basketball teams established in 1931
  Manresa