Joventut Badalona makes it back-to-back EuroCup seasons after not playing in the competition for a decade. Joventut was founded in 1930 and quickly built a reputation based on its faith in homegrown players. The long list of Joventut players brought up through its youth system features decades' worth of stars such as Jordi Villacampa, the Margall brothers, the Jofresa brothers, Nino Buscato, Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio. To its mine of local talent, Joventut integrated talented outsiders, among whom the names Moka Slavnic, Joe Galvin and Corny Thompson stand out. Joventut emerged as a national power by winning four Spanish Copas del Rey between 1948 and 1958 and its first league title in 1967 with Buscato as the star. It was not until Slavnic arrived that the team would claim its second league title in 1978. Joventut continued to progress, winning its first European trophy by lifting the Korac Cup in 1981. Joventut added a second Korac Cup in 1990 by sweeping the two-game total-points finals against Scavolini Pesaro. Soon after moving to Palau Olimpic, its current home court, Joventut won consecutive Spanish League titles in 1991 and 1992, the year in which the team lost the EuroLeague final against Partizan in dramatic fashion. Joventut only waited two more years to lift the crown, however. Villacampa and Thompson hit crucial three-pointers to beat Olympiacos 59-57 in Tel Aviv and win the EuroLeague in come-from-behind fashion. Joventut went on to add the Copa del Rey in 1997, but a downturn followed. Joventut started to shine again in the newborn ULEB Cup and reached the semifinals in 2003. Joventut had its breakout season in 2006, as it advanced to the Spanish League semifinals for the first time since 1997 and won a new European trophy, the 2006 FIBA EuroCup. The following season, Joventut returned to the Spanish League semifinals and made the EuroLeague Top 16, thrilling the entire continent with its fun-to-watch basketball in its first appearance in the top competition in more than a decade. In 2008, Joventut added the ULEB Cup to its roll of honors, losing just one game in the entire season and clinching the title with a 54-79 win against Akasvayu Girona in the final as Fernandez was named MVP. Joventut also won the Copa del Rey and reached the Spanish League semifinals to round out one of the best seasons in club history. Joventut reached the EuroCup Last 16 in 2010, but lost its competitiveness shortly thereafter. It bounced back in 2018-19, reaching the Copa del Rey semifinals and the Spanish League playoffs behind Spanish League MVP Nico Laprovittola. The club was undefeated at home and winless on the road in the EuroCup in 2019-20 before suffering elimination in the Top 16. Now, Joventut will look to build upon the things it learned last season.
Trophy Case
Euroleague: 1994 |
ULEB Cup: 2008
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Korac Cup: (2) 1981, 1990
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FIBA Eurocup: 2006
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Spanish National League: (4) 1967, 1978, 1991, 1992 |
Spanish National Cup: (8) 1948, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1969, 1976, 1997, 2008 |