Saski Baskonia

**TAU Cerámica**
	TAU Cerámica
Leagues	ACB 2008–09, 1st; Euroleague
Founded	1959
History	C.D.Basconia; (1959–1983); Caja Alava; (1983–1986); Taugres/Tau Ceramica; (1987–)
Arena	Fernando Buesa Arena; (capacity: 9,717)
Location	Vitoria-Gasteiz Basque Country, Spain
Team colors	White, Red, Dark Blue;
President	Josean Querejeta
Head coach	Duško Ivanović
Championships	2 Spanish Championships; 6 Spanish Cups; 1 Saporta Cup; 4 Spanish Supercups
Website	www.baskonia.com
	Uniforms
Home	Away

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Saski Baskonia, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional basketball club from the Basque city of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Outside of Spain, the club is more often referred to as TAU Cerámica, a brand name of ceramics manufacturer TAULELL, which has sponsored the club since 1987. Originally, TAULELL put another of its brand names, Taugres, on the team, changing to today's TAU Cerámica in 1997. Baskonia, TAU Baskonia, and TAU are also frequently used to refer to the team.

Well-known players that have played with the club have included: Jose Calderon, Andres Nocioni, Luis Scola, Carlos Arroyo, Fabricio Oberto, and Jorge Garbajosa.

[edit] History

The club was founded in 1959 as the basketball section of Club Deportivo Vasconia. It first played at Spain's highest level in 1971, and emerged as a major force in Spanish basketball in the 1990s. Most recently, TAU advanced to the Euroleague Final Four in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, losing to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 2005 final and 2006 semifinals, to Panathinaikos in the 2007 semifinals, and to CSKA Moscow in the 2008 semifinals.

Through outstanding scouting and shrewd management, Tau has built a squad that has been to four straight Final Fours and now is looking to take the last step to becoming a Euroleague champion. Tau's first trophy of any kind came in 1995, the Spanish King's Cup, when Pablo Laso and Velimir Perasović led the team to an historical win. The club was already making noise internationally too, reaching the Saporta Cup final in both 1994 and 1995. When it hosted the same title game in 1996, Baskonia pleased its many fans by downing PAOK Thessaloniki behind 31 points from Ramon Rivas. Tau made its first Spanish Championship playoff final in 1998 and added a second Spanish King's Cup title in 1999.

Then found quick success in the newborn Euroleague. With a deep roster featuring Elmer Bennett, Saulius Štombergas, Victor Alexander, Fabricio Oberto and a young Luis Scola, Tau reached the 2000-01 Euroleague playoff final series before losing to Kinder Bologna in the fifth and final game on the road. With winning momentum and the additions of Dejan Tomašević and Andres Nocioni, Tau celebrated the next season with another Spanish King's Cup trophy and its first Spanish League title ever. Trophy lifting became a habit now. Tau snatched two more Spanish King's Cups, in 2004 and 2006, as Luis Scola and Pablo Prigioni played decisive roles, and success followed the team in the Euroleague. Tau’s arrival to its first Final Four in 2005 couldn’t have been louder, as the team upset favored host CSKA Moscow in the semifinals, but couldn’t overcome defending champ Maccabi in the title game. Back home, Tau again reached the Spanish League finals, only to lose in dramatic fashion. Tau returned to the Final Four in 2006 but once again Maccabi stood in its way, this time in the semifinal. The team also made it to the Spanish League finals, but was swept there. Last season, Tau won its Euroleague regular season and Top 16 groups before sweeping Olympiacos in the Quarterfinal Playoffs as Scola became the Euroleague’s top all-time scorer. Nonetheless, eventual champion Panathinaikos downed Tau in the semifinals and once home again in Spain, Tau lost in the playoff semifinals. Coming so close, but walking away without any trophies is sure to make Tau as hungry as ever going forward. With a solid track record for building some of the most competitive teams in the world, it is safe to say that Tau is always a top candidate for Euroleague greatness.

[edit] Honors

Panoramica

Spanish Championships: (2)
- 2002, 2008
Spanish Cups: (6)
- 1995, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009
Saporta Cup: (1)
- 1996
Spanish Supercups: (4)
- 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

[edit] Roster

Fernando Buesa Arena (former Araba Arena)

The numbers are established according to the official websites of the team (www.baskonia.com) and Spain's top professional league, the ACB (www.acb.com).

Saski Baskonia roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Ht.	Wt.
5.0 C	42	Croatia	Barać, Stanko	2.17 m (7 ft 1 in)	111 kg (245 lb)
4.0 PF	-	Israel	Eliyahu, Lior	2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)	102 kg (225 lb)
1.0 PG	10	Argentina	Nocedal, Matías	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	91 kg (201 lb)
2.5 G/F	19	Spain	San Emeterio, Fernando	1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)	98 kg (216 lb)
5.0 C	21	Brazil	Splitter, Tiago	2.12 m (6 ft 11 in)	111 kg (245 lb)
4.0 PF	12	BIH	Teletović, Mirza	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	111 kg (245 lb)
2.5 G/F	9	Spain	Vidal, Sergi	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	91 kg (201 lb)

Head coach

Dusko Ivanovic

Assistant coach(es)

Ibon Navarro
David Gil

Legend

(C) Team captain
(*) Playing only in Euroleague
Injured

Roster • updated 2009-07-11

[edit] Depth Chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Bench
C	Tiago Splitter	Stanko Barać
PF	Lior Eliyahu	Mirza Teletović
SF	Sergi Vidal	Ariel Eslava
SG	Uroš Tripković	Fernando San Emeterio
PG	Vlado Ilievski	John Lucas III	Matías Nocedal