CB Breogán facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Río Breogán
Nickname	Breo, O equipo de Galicia
League	Liga ACB
Founded	1966; 59 years ago (1966)
History	CB Breogán (1966–present)
Arena	Pazo dos Deportes
Capacity	5,310
Location	Lugo, Spain
Team colors	Sky blue and white
Main sponsor	Río de Galicia, Estrella Galicia
President	José Antonio Caneda
Head coach	Veljko Mršić
Championships	3 LEB Oro championship 3 Copa Princesa 14 Copa Galicia
Website	Official website: http://www.cbbreogan.com/
Uniforms
Home Away

Río Breogán is a professional basketball team from Lugo, Spain. They play in Spain's top basketball league, the Liga ACB. The club started in 1966, created by the Varela-Portas brothers. They first played in the top Spanish league in 1970. Their name comes from a legendary Galician king, Breogán.

Río Breogán is the most popular basketball club in Galicia. They've played more seasons and games in the top Spanish league (Liga ACB) than any other Galician team. They've also appeared in European competitions and the Copa del Rey. Because of this, fans proudly call them O equipo de Galicia, which means 'Galicia's team'.

Their jerseys are usually sky blue with white or dark blue details. Their shorts are also often sky blue, but sometimes they've been white. They play their home games at the Pazo dos Deportes in Lugo, which can hold 5,310 fans. This arena is known for having many fans attend games, especially compared to the city's size. The team's president is José Antonio Caneda. Many famous players have played for Breogán, like Charlie Bell, Pete Mickeal, Velimir Perasović, Džanan Musa, Ethan Happ, and Justus Hollatz.

History of Breogán Basketball

Breogán fans celebrating the promotion to Liga ACB in April 2018.

CB Breogán was founded in 1966. It took them only five years to reach Spain's top basketball league, the Liga Nacional. They played there from 1971 to 1977, except for one season. Alfredo Pérez was the league's top scorer in 1970-71 and 1972–73. For a while, another Lugo team, La Casera, also played. Even though La Casera had more local players, Breogán was the city's favorite team. La Casera later disappeared, and some of their players joined Breogán.

Breogán often moved between the top division and lower leagues. They returned to the top league, now called Liga ACB, in the 1983–84 season. They even qualified for the Korać Cup in 1984-85 after finishing sixth. In that European competition, they played against famous teams like Red Star Belgrade. Manel Sánchez, a player from Lugo, was the star of the team back then.

The club was relegated in the 1986–87 season due to a controversial game. The referees allowed the other team to score winning free throws even after the game clock had run out. This incident led to Breogán's arena being closed. The team had to play its remaining games in A Coruña, about 100 km away. Despite this, Lugo fans traveled in huge numbers to support their team. Manel Sánchez was the league's top scorer that season.

Breogán returned to the Liga ACB in the 1988–89 season and stayed until 1995. In 1992–93, Velimir Perasović, an Olympic medalist, joined the team. This was also their first season in their new home, the Pazo dos Deportes.

In 1999, the club made it back to the Liga ACB again, staying for seven years. Great players like Anthony Bonner and Nikola Lončar played for the club during this time. They earned a spot in a European competition, the ULEB Cup, in the 2003–04 season. However, the organizers invited Real Madrid instead, even though Real Madrid finished lower than Breogán.

The 2004–05 season saw the arrival of Charlie Bell, one of the most talented players in the Liga ACB. His amazing performances for Breogán led him to move to the NBA the next season. In the 2005–06 season, Breogán finished last and was relegated to LEB Oro. This was the longest time the club spent out of the top league – 12 years.

The club faced serious financial problems in the early 2010s and was almost shut down. This got worse when their former chairman, Raúl López, left to become chairman of Obradoiro CAB. This move started a big rivalry between the two Galician teams. Obradoiro had only been in the Liga ACB for two seasons before this happened.

After many years of trying, Breogán finally won the LEB Oro championship in 2017-18 and got promoted. However, they were relegated again in 2018–19. In 2021, Breogán was promoted to the top league once more after beating Granada in the final. They won the last two games, including the deciding one away from home.

Breogán had a fantastic start to the 2021–22 season. They won the Galician Cup against their rivals, Obradoiro CAB. They then won their first two Liga ACB games and even visited FC Barcelona Bàsquet as league leaders. They had a great first half of the season, qualifying for the Copa del Rey de Baloncesto for the first time in over 30 years. There, they lost a close game to finalists Real Madrid Baloncesto. In January, head coach Paco Olmos left the club and was replaced by Veljko Mršić. Breogán's chances of making the play-offs were hurt when star player Džanan Musa got injured. Trae Bell-Haynes also got injured a week later. Even so, Breogán was never in danger of being relegated. Džanan Musa became one of Breogán's most famous players in the 2021–22 season. He won the Liga ACB's MVP award and then moved to Real Madrid.

In the 2022–23 season, Breogán had another successful year, even though they kept only three players from the previous season. Coach Veljko Mršić led the team. New players like Ethan Happ and Justus Hollatz (who later became a World Champion with Germany) helped them finish 10th in the Liga ACB. This earned them a direct spot in the 2023-24 Basketball Champions League. They also beat their Galician rivals Obradoiro CAB twice and had a big win against Real Madrid.

Current Season (2023-24)

For the 2023–24 season, Breogán had to rebuild their team again. Coach Veljko Mršić stayed, along with team captains Erik Quintela and Sergi Quintela. New players joined, but the team faced many challenges. Key players got injured or left early in the season. On December 22, 2023, the club signed Ben McLemore, a player with 9 years of experience in the NBA.

In the Basketball Champions League, Breogán played against Bursaspor Basketbol, Hapoel Holon B.C., and Telekom Baskets Bonn. They won all three of their home games but lost all three away games. They finished 3rd in their group and moved on to the play-in stage. On May 10, 2024, they secured their spot in the Liga ACB for the next season by defeating MoraBanc Andorra.

Team Names Over the Years

Club Baloncesto Breogán has had different names over the years because of its sponsors:

• Breogán Lugo 1966–69
• Breogán Fontecelta 1969–73
• Breogán Lugo 1973–75
• Breogán La Casera 1975–76
• Breogán Lugo 1976–79
• Breogán Deportes Bourio 1979–80
• Breogán Stilton 1980–81
• Breogán Internacional de Seguros 1981–82
• Breogán Caixa Galicia 1982–86
• Leche Río Breogán 1986–89
• DYC Breogán 1989–94
• DYC Lugo 1994–95
• Leche Río Breogán 1995–98
• Breogán Universidade 1998–2001
• Leche Río Breogán 2001–12
• CB Breogán Lugo 2011–13
• Ribeira Sacra Breogán 2014–2015
• Cafés Candelas Breogán 2015–2019
• Leche Río Breogán 2019–21
• Río Breogán 2021–present

Team Rivalries

Breogán has had different rival teams throughout its history. In its early years, CB OAR Ferrol was their biggest rival, but that team disappeared in 1996. Club Ourense Baloncesto also became a rival, especially in the 2014–15 season. Básquet Coruña was another team they often played against when Breogán was in the second division.

However, Obradoiro CAB, based in Santiago de Compostela, is now Breogán's strongest rival. This rivalry started in the early 2010s. Raúl López, a former Breogán chairman, left the club when it was in financial trouble to become Obradoiro's chairman. Breogán fans saw this as a betrayal. Before this, there wasn't much rivalry because Breogán had a much longer and better history. Now, with Breogán doing well again, both teams are in the Liga ACB. Their games are known as the Galician Derby, one of the biggest rivalries in Spanish basketball.

A small rivalry also started between Breogán and San Pablo Burgos fans when former Breogán coach Paco Olmos left for Burgos in January 2022. But this rivalry faded after San Pablo Burgos was relegated in May 2022.

Players

Current Roster

Río Breogán roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age SG 0 Davis, Jordan 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 28 – (1997-06-06)6 June 1997 PG 2 Moore, Charlie 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 27 – (1998-02-03)3 February 1998 F 4 Vila, Eric 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) 27 – (1998-05-15)15 May 1998 SF 7 Atić, Edin 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 28 – (1997-01-19)19 January 1997 C 8 Apić, Dragan 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 29 – (1995-10-03)3 October 1995 SG 11 Hilliard, Darrun 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 32 – (1993-04-13)13 April 1993 G/F 17 Aranitović, Aleksandar 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 27 – (1998-01-24)24 January 1998 C 18 Sakho, Jordan 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 28 – (1997-04-04)4 April 1997 PG 23 Quintela, Erik 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 33 – (1991-08-17)17 August 1991 PG 30 Somogyi, Ádám 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 24 – (2000-06-30)30 June 2000 F/C 35 Onu, EJ 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 25 – (1999-07-31)31 July 1999 PF 99 Nakić, Toni 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 26 – (1999-06-01)1 June 1999	Head coach Veljko Mršić Assistant coach(es) Fernán Varela Enrique Fernández Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Transactions Updated: August 26, 2024

Depth Chart

Trophies and Awards

Trophies

• 2nd division championships: (4)
  • 2ª División: (1) 1975
  • LEB Oro: (3) 1999, 2018, 2021
• Copa Princesa: (3)
  • 2008, 2018, 2021
• Copa Galicia: (14)
  • 1986, 1987, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2018, 2021, 2022

Records

• 23 seasons in the top division
  • 6 in Primera División
  • 17 in Liga ACB
• 1 participation in Korać Cup
  • 1985–86 season: eliminated in quarterfinals group stage
• 2 participations in Basketball Champions League
  • 2022–23 season: eliminated in the qualifying rounds
  • 2023–24 season: group stages.

Individual Awards

ACB MVP

• Džanan Musa – 2021–22

All-ACB Team

• Charlie Bell – 2004–05
• Džanan Musa – 2021–22

ACB Top Scorer

• Alfredo Pérez – 1971 (27,1)
• Alfredo Pérez – 1973 (23,2)
• Bob Fullarton – 1976 (30,3)
• Velimir Perasović – 1993 (24,5)
• Charlie Bell – 2005 (27,0)
• Džanan Musa – 2022 (20,1)

ACB Three Point Shootout Champion

• Jacobo Odriozola – 2002
• Nebojša Bogavac – 2005

All-LEB Oro Team

• Anthony Winchester – 2013
• Álex Llorca – 2015
• Jeff Xavier – 2016

Notable Players

Images for kids

• 

  Breogán fans celebrating the promotion to Liga ACB in April 2018.

See also

In Spanish: Club Baloncesto Breogán para niños