After 34 years, the “Tatengue” achieved the passage to the LNB and will face the best teams in the country in the 2021/22 season. His statistics as champion of the Argentine League guarantee the award.
Liga Nacional Unin and the numbers of a well-deserved return to the basketball elite After 34 years, the “Tatengue” achieved the passage to the LNB and will face the best teams in the country in the 2021/22 season. His statistics as champion of the Argentine League guarantee the award. After 34 years, the “Tatengue” achieved the passage to the LNB and will face the best teams in the country in the 2021/22 season. His statistics as champion of the Argentine League guarantee the award.
More than three decades passed, a new stadium, players emerged from the inferiors with international success, visits from the Argentine national team, an exciting ascent to the former National Tournament and a youth World Cup, among various achievements and moments in the history of “Tatengue” basketball since its descent in 1987. 34 years later, Unión was crowned champion of the Argentine League and consummated its return to the top flight of the country.
After competing for eight seasons among the best teams in the division, in a peculiar Argentine League 2021 crossed by the context of a coronavirus pandemic and with a new format of mini venues that emulated the famous NBA bubbles, the “rojiblanco” reached the goal and got into the basketball elite.
After a regular phase where the candidate’s nickname was earned, the team led by Juan Francisco Ponce beat Estudiantes de Tucumán, Ameghino and Villa San Martín in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the North Conference, respectively. This gave him access to the “very final” against Villa Miter de Bahía Blanca, who was awarded the Southern Conference.
Matías Borsatti, despite his youth, is one of the most experienced of the team.
Photo: El Litoral Archive
With great authority, Unión took the first point by 72 to 62. Where Gastón Bertona’s six triples paved the way in the first instance. In the second game, he further demonstrated the differences between the two teams, winning 86-73 with an inspired Leonardo Lema who enforced his arrival on the squad prior to the playoffs. The only setback of the series was in the third game. The 27 points of the pivot “Villero” Franco Amigo stained the definition with suspense.
The fourth will be the most remembered of all, not because it is the defining one, but because of its tight definition. A triple by Harina that left Villa Miter 2 points up with 0.4 seconds to play seemed to end the game, but Andrés Jaime’s millimeter serve for the play designed in the time-out and Lema’s subtle touch on the side of the ring forced the supplementary one.
The exact moment of Lema’s double.
Photo: El Litoral Archive
With a score and development no less tight, the 5 extra minutes went to Unión, which sealed the final 82 to 79 and in this way was crowned champion of the Argentine Basketball League.
Ponce, the strategist of the ascent
With a great sense of belonging for his journey in the institution, coach Juan Francisco Ponce was one of the most important pieces of the champion team. The DT highlighted in the press conference organized by the rojiblanca institution: “All the players had great respect and commitment, in a very complex year; with a structure and a competition system that nobody knew what the pandemic could bring. None were infected, since there was a very professional personal care, which was undoubtedly key ”.
When asked if Unión was the best team, he replied: “In the long run, yes; I think that during the season there was no doubt if we were, but there were difficult moments that helped us improve and be better in the defining stage” .
Juan Francisco Ponce.
Photo: El Litoral Archive
In relation to the next National League that will begin on November 1 and will be played in two fixed venues with a dozen clubs in each of them, Ponce said: “In terms of sports, there is a leap in quality in terms of some players; we too We have them, but it is another type of formation of the squad, there are already eight majors. We have come running a little behind with the assembly, but hopefully we can maintain a team base to continue working as we have been doing and that the adaptation process of the new is really important as it was this year. “
The road to the title
With a solid start of eight victories in the first ten games, Ponce’s men maintained a firm ride at the top of the Northern Conference. A negative streak in early 2021 with four losses in five games (three of them in a row) meant a slight setback that took him down the table. But always located in playoff positions.
The seven straight wins in the final clean and jerk allowed him to regain the lead and establish himself as the first seed with a 21-7 record, ahead of Villa San Martín and Echagüe, his closest pursuers.
Playoffs game by game
NORTH CONFERENCE FINAL QUARTERS
Game 1: Union 82 – Students 88
Game 2: Students 70 – Union 85
Game 3: Union 89 – Students 72
SEMIFINAL OF THE NORTH CONFERENCE
Game 1: Union 85 – Ameghino 83
Game 2: Ameghino 72 – Union 75
END OF CONFERENCE NORTH
Game 3: Union 89 – Villa San Martín 82
Game 3: Villa San Martín 72 – Union 63
Game 3: Union 87 – Villa San Martín 76
ARGENTINE LEAGUE FINAL
Game 1: Union 72 – Villa Miter 62
Game 2: Villa Miter 73 – Union 86
Game 3: Union 68 – Villa Miter 77
Game 4: Villa Miter 79 – Union 82
The champion’s numbers
Throughout the 40 games played in the 2020/21 season, Unión scored 3,249 points with an average of 81.2 per game. He took 1590 rebounds, averaging 30 defensive and 9.8 offensive. While the team distributed a total of 643 assists, with 16.1 per game. The shooting percentages were 52.9% in doubles, 32.5% in triples and 68.6% in free. In addition, he had 7.5 recoveries, 12.8 losses and 1.7 caps.
A rich track record
You have to go back to 1987 to see the last presentation of “Tate” and a city club in the National Basketball League. That was the third consecutive season that the team played after its promotion in 1984 with the title of the First National Classification Tournament “A”.
In Unión’s debut in 1985, and in the competition created by León Najnudel, the group led by Justo Reynoso and with players Howard Lee McNeil, Antonio Ferrari, Luis Loro, Carlos Delfino, John Hegwood, Héctor Degrave, Daniel Guglielmone, Fernando Pretti, Gustavo Casermeiro, Alejandro González, Miguel Rosano, Oscar Acosta, achieved the sixth position with 19 victories and 15 defeats.
La Tecnológica packed to see the best basketball in the country.
Photo: El Litoral Archive
However, despite being tenth and not meeting sporting expectations, the 1986 season is the most remembered by Santa Fe since at that time, a basketball revolution was generated. With the arrival of Puerto Rican coach Flor Meléndez and national team players such as Carlos Romano, Gabriel Milovich and Esteban Camisassa, the National Technological University stadium was the protagonist of a unique audience in history.
Finally, in 1987, with names like Sebastián Uranga and Hernán Montenegro, the “rojiblanco” ranked fourteenth and descended to the second division, where he participated in ’84, ’88 and ’89, absent until 2013.
