Cangrejeros de Santurce (basketball)

Cangrejeros de Santurce
Leagues	Baloncesto Superior Nacional BCL Americas
Arena	Roberto Clemente Coliseum
Capacity	12,500
Location	Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Team colors	Sunset orange, blue, vivid orange, white
Team manager	René Morales
Ownership	Bad Bunny Noah Assad Jonathan Miranda
Championships	8 (1962, 1968, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007)
Retired numbers	7 (4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 54)
Website	Official website
Home Away Third

Cangrejeros de Santurce is the name of several franchises sanctioned by the professional basketball league Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) of Puerto Rico. Named after Santurce, all versions have played out of San Juan. The first franchise was founded in 1918 and began active play in the BSN in 1956, winning titles in 1962 and 1968 before folding.

The second iteration of the Cangrejeros played their home games at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum under the ownership of music industry executive Angelo Medina, winning five championships in a six-year span (including four consecutive) and another in 2007. This version remained active for another decade after winning its last championship. In 2021, a new franchise was approved under the name of Cangrejeros under the ownership of artist Bad Bunny and urban music entrepreneurs Noah Assad and Jonathan García. Teams bearing the name of Cangrejeros have won 8 championships and appeared in 14 BSN finals.

History

The first years (1918–1976)

Founded in 1918, the team has included name players such as Teófilo Cruz, and Rafael Valle. Cruz, #13, played for 25 seasons being MVP in 4 seasons and leading the BSN in points per game 2 times. He was the starting center of the PR national basketball team in the times when Puerto Rico and Brazil where the two most dominant teams in the Americas outside the USA. Valle, #5, arguably the best power forward in BSN history, played actively in 8 seasons finishing MVP and first in points per game in 1956. He was active in 2 Olympic games, where he led Puerto Rico in scoring both times. After 2 championships, and several finals, the Santurce Crabbers played their last season in 1976.

The return (1998–2016)

Logo during the Medina administration.

On 1998, Angelo Medina acquired the Tiburones de Aguadilla and the Capitalinos de San Juan, merged them and acquired other free agents (in a time where there was no Free Agency in the BSN) to revive the Cangrejeros, who started playing in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum. The team featured players like: Jose "Piculin" Ortiz, Carlos Arroyo, Orlando "Guayacan" Santiago and Jeffrey Aubry. Besides those players, Santurce featured as a coach Julio Toro, who was the coach of the national team and had previously won a championship in the league. The team went on to defeat the Leones de Ponce in the final.

Rolando Hourruitiner would join the Cangrejeros in 1999. Santurce won the BSN championship in 1999, 2000, 2001 (completing a rare, back-to-back-to-back-to-back four titles in a row run) and 2003. In all those championships the team was led by Ortiz, Arroyo and Horrutinier, the 3 then members of the national team. In 2007, the Cangrejeros won their eighth league championship.

Move from the Roberto Clemente Coliseum

In 2005, the mayor of San Juan, Jorge Santini, decided that the Cangrejeros could no longer play in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum because the assistance was low and it was not worth playing there and offered them the Pedrín Zorrilla Coliseum, which is used for volleyball. The mayor of Guaynabo, Héctor O'Neill, offered Medina use of the Mario Morales Coliseum, located in Guaynabo, and Medina decided to split home games between there and the recently opened Puerto Rico Coliseum. The games at the Puerto Rico Coliseum averaged an attendance of 10,000. Santini and the municipality of San Juan insisted that the Pedrín Zorrilla Coliseum should be used, and even had a giant billboard in front of the coliseum that read “We want this (the Pedrín Zorrilla) to be the new home of the Cangrejeros”. The use of the "Quijote" Morales Coliseum contributed to the return of the Conquistadores de Guaynabo.

In 2007, the Cangrejeros advanced to the league's round robin, following a 73–70 victory over Fajardo. ^[1] In this game Robert Traylor scored the first triple-double in the season with 17 points, 15 rebounds and ten blocks. ^[1] This total established a new record in blocks for a single game, breaking the previous record of nine. ^[1] With less than a minute remaining Orlando Santiago scored a free throw and subsequently stole a ball to secure a win. ^[1] The Cangrejeros would reach the finals and face the Capitanes de Arecibo, defeating them in the series to win the league's championship. ^[1]

During this time frame, the team remains played its home games in Guaynabo and the Puerto Rico Coliseum. The José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum was used in playoffs and regular season games against teams that attract a large crowd such as the Capitanes, Leones de Ponce and Vaqueros de Bayamón.

In 2008, the Cangrejeros advanced to the league's "Super 6" semifinals. They began a series against the Capitanes on June 5, 2008. ^[2] Santurce won the first game, but lost the second. ^[3] This was followed by a series against the Gigantes de Carolina, winning the first game. ^[4]

In 2015, former Cangrejeros player and former NBA player Carlos Arroyo returned to the team after ending his music career, an endeavor in which he had briefly engaged.

Inactivity (2016–2020)

In 2017, the team recessed.

In 2018, the Cangrejeros were acquired by businessmen Ricardo García and Camilo Domínguez. Ricardo Garcia who is the owner of Havoc Media Group and Camilo Domiguez owner of Reydom Sports and entertainment group both entrepreneurs of Orlando Florida.

After some controversy and some allegedly fraud in the part of Ariel Rodriguez who was the owner previous to Ricardo Garcia and Camilo Dominguez both are no longer owners of the team. During the exchange Rodriguez failed to provided accurate information of the debts owned to vendors, team staff, third parties, agents, coaches and players. After the team was taken over by Mr. Garcia and Mr. Camilo Dominguez many issues came to light. In one of the issues there was some controversy of misuse of money needed to pay debts passed on by Angelo Medina. Now the team has been recessed once again and Ariel Rodriguez continues to be the team owner and liable for over 400k + in debt.

Expansion franchise (2021–present)

In April 2021, the league approved the return of the Cangrejeros under the ownership of Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda, who were joined by urban artist Bad Bunny the following month. ^{[5] [6]} Veteran point guard José Juan Barea served as the cornerstone of a roster that had begun construction with the purchase of shooting guard Isaac Sosa’s contract from the Atléticos. ^{[7] [8]} The staff was composed by Néstor García, with former players Elías Ayuso and Carla Cortijo as assistants and Daniel Seoane as scout. ^[9] More roster acquisitions, including import players Dante Cunningham and Thomas Robinson, as well as a return to the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum were announced during the off-season. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Throughout the 2021 season the veteran roster of the Cangrejeros faced several difficulties, including recurrent injuries on Barea. ^[13] While still in contention García was released from his contract, becoming the new head coach of the Argentina national baseball team. ^[14] Assistant Larry Ayuso took over the staff and lead it in a second half that saw the team fell to the fourth place of the B Division to close the regular season. ^[15] Before the postseason began, the administration left José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum and moved to Roberto Clemente Coliseum. ^[16] Cangrejeros faced Capitanes de Arecibo in their first round matchup, being eliminated in the series 2-4. ^[17]

During the off-season, Cangrejeros acquired guard Gian Clavell in a trade, signed imports Skal Labissière and Tyler Hansbrough and free agents forwards Ramón Clemente, Gilberto Clavell and Ángel Matías. ^{[18] [19] [20] [21] [22]} The team also brought Iván Ríos as an assistant coach, ultimately taking over the full role when Ayuso left to join the Piratas in March 2022, with Luis Armando Cancel and Cortijo completing the staff. ^{[23] [24]}

International performance

FIBA Americas League

As champions of the 2007 BSN season the Cangrejeros were one of two teams selected to represent Puerto Rico in the first edition of the FIBA Americas League, the other team representing the island in this event were the league's runner-up the Capitanes de Arecibo. ^[25] The Cangrejeros qualified to the tournament's second round, finishing the first with a record of 2-1. Santurce lost a one point game to Soles de Mexicali (74:75) and defeated the PBL All-Stars (97:73) and Metros de Santiago (91:62) as part of the Group A games hosted at the Mario Morales Coliseum. After advancing they were matched against the Miami Tropics in three game hosted by them at Florida International University's basketball court. Santurce won the first game of this round with a score of 102:94. ^[26] However, they lost the remaining games to the home team with scores of 64:91 and 83:91 and were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

FIBA Basketball Champions League Americas

In September 2021, Cangrejeros became the first BSN team to participate in the Basketball Champions League Americas (which replaced the Americas League in 2019) by joining the participating clubs for the 2021-22 tournament. ^[27] In the first window that took place at Nicaragua, Santurce defeated the Edmonton Stingers 89:68 and Real Estelí Baloncesto 91:88. ^[28] The Cangrejeros were selected to host the second stage of its group, with the Roberto Clemente Coliseum serving as their home court. ^[29] However, local venue capacity restrictions introduced to curve the proliferation of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant led to the postponement and relocation, with Managua hosting again. ^[30] In the second window, Cangrejeros lost to Real Estelí (78:82) and defeated Stingers (93:55). ^{[31] [32]} Santurce dropped both of the games in the third window played at Calgary, first to Stingers (93:87) and to Estelí (96:83) in the closer.

By finishing first, the Cangrejeros were matched against Quimsa in the quarterfinals.

Other media

The Cangrejeros are featured in Season 5 of NBA 2K24’s MyTEAM and MyCareer game modes, in which the team’s court, uniform and owner Benito Martínez are included as part of the Bad Bunny Spotlight challenge. ^{[33] [34]} In February 2024, the team announced a collaboration with Santurce Brewery to market a limited edition beer, the Cangrejeros Blonde Ale. ^[35] The product was unaffiliated with the BSN and not made available in Roberto Clemente Coliseum during seasonal games, instead being offered as a promotional item in certain San Juan establishments. ^[35]

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Cangrejeros de Santurce roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 0 Palermo, Isaiah 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 24 – (2000-06-13)June 13, 2000 PG 6 Betancourt, Carmelo 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 31 – (1993-02-28)February 28, 1993 G 10 Maldonado, Emmanuel 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 22 – (2002-07-18)July 18, 2002 G 14 Carattini, Victor 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 32 – (1992-06-27)June 27, 1992 F 17 Guitián, José 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 37 – (1987-01-03)January 3, 1987 F/C 20 Hernandez, Dewan 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 27 – (1996-12-09)December 9, 1996 PF 21 Clemente, Ramón 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 38 – (1985-12-11)December 11, 1985 PG 24 Clavell, Gian 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 30 – (1993-11-26)November 26, 1993 SF 35 Matías, Ángel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 32 – (1992-07-16)July 16, 1992 F/C 74 Pardon, Dererk  (I) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 28 – (1996-10-01)October 1, 1996 G 89 Durán, Cliff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 35 – (1989-10-01)October 1, 1989	Head coach Brad Greenberg Assistant coach(es) Carlos Calcano Carla Cortijo Mandy Cancel Legend (C) Team captain (DC) Dual citizenship (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: April 11, 2023

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Dewan Hernandez	Dererk Pardon
PF	Ángel Matías	José Guitián	Ángel Daniel Vassallo
SF	Isaiah Palermo	Ramón Clemente	Emmanuel Maldonado
SG	Cliff Durán	Victor Carattini	Carmelo Betancourt
PG	Emmanuel Mudiay	Alfonso Plummer	Gian Clavell

Retired numbers

Cangrejeros de Santurce retired numbers
No	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure
4		José Ortiz	C	1998–2005
7		Carlos Arroyo	PG	1998–2003; 2015
10		René "Chiqui" Dávila	PG	1957–1959
13		Teófilo Cruz	C	1957–1976
54		Robert Traylor	PF / C	2007–2008

Honours

Domestic competitions

League

• BSN Championship (8):

1962, 1968, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007

Head coaches

• Fufi Santori
• Lou Rossini
• Skip Wilson
• Julio Toro
• Tony Ruiz
• Paco Olmos (2013–2015)
• Eddie Casiano (2016)
• Nestor García (2021)
• Larry Ayuso (2021-2022)
• Iván Ríos (2022-2023)
• Brad Greenberg (2024-present)

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• Teófilo Cruz
• Rafael Valle
• Cachorro Santiago
• Quijote Morales
• José Ortiz
• Rolando Hourruitiner
• Carlos Arroyo
• J. J. Barea
• Danny Santiago
• Larry Ayuso
• René "Chiqui" Dávila
• - Walter Hodge
• Édgar Sosa
• Johan Petro
• Olumide Oyedeji
• Robert Traylor
• - Leon Williams
• Michael Sweetney
• Damion James
• James Nunnally
• Michael Beasley
• Thomas Robinson

References

1. Raúl Álzaga Sánchez-Bretón (2007-06-15). "Acción". El "Tractor" clasifica (in Spanish). Puerto Rico: Primera Hora. p. 88.
2. Lester Jiménez (2008-06-06). "Ayuso fue puro veneno" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
3. Raúl Álzaga Sánchez-Bretón (2008-06-07). "Arecibo sigue vivito" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
4. Lester Jiménez (2008-06-13). "¡Están vivos!" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
5. "Los Cangrejeros de Santurce regresan al BSN de la mano de Noah Assad, manejador de Bad Bunny" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Día. 2021-04-06. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
6. Jessica Ruiz (2021-05-18). "Bad Bunny Is Now the Co-Owner Of Puerto Rican Basketball Team Los Cangrejeros de Santurce". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
7. Giovanni Vega (2021-05-19). "José Juan Barea se une a los Cangrejeros de Santurce" (in Spanish). El Vocero. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
8. Jorge Figueroa Loza (2021-05-14). "Isaac Sosa pasa a los Cangrejeros de Santurce en cambio con los Atléticos" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Día. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
9. Giovanny Vega (2021-05-25). "Che García: firmar con los Cangrejeros "es lo mejor que me podía pasar"" (in Spanish). El Vocero. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
10. "Los Cangrejeros anuncian a Anthony Bennett, primera selección del draft de la NBA de 2013, como refuerzo". 28 May 2021.
11. "Cangrejeros de Santurce jugarán en el Choliseo".
12. "Anthony Bennett no reforzará a los Cangrejeros de Santurce y es sustituido por Dante Cunningham". 6 July 2021.
13. "Sigue la "macacoa" para J.J. Barea: Otra vez lesionado y en duda para el inicio de los playoffs ante Arecibo". 5 October 2021.
14. "Néstor García, exdirigente de los Cangrejeros, suena para dirigir la selección de Argentina". 7 September 2021.
15. "Los Brujos relegan a los Cangrejeros al cuarto lugar de la División B del BSN". 25 September 2021.
16. "Cangrejeros de Santurce oficializan su mudanza al Roberto Clemente".
17. "Los Capitanes eliminan a los Cangrejeros y pasan a las semifinales del BSN". 21 October 2021.
18. "Los Cangrejeros obtienen a Gian Clavell vía cambio desde Guayama". El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). 2022-01-08. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
19. "Ramón Clemente firma como agente libre con los Cangrejeros de Santurce". El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
20. Giovanni Vega (2022-02-15). "Los Cangrejeros de Santurce firman al alero Ángel Matías" (in Spanish). El Vocero. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
21. "Gilberto Clavell pasa a los Cangrejeros de Santurce en el BSN". El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
22. "Santurce contrata a Tyler Hansbrough como uno de sus importados" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2022-03-23. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
23. Vega, Giovanny. "Iván Ríos se une como asistente técnico a los Cangrejeros de Santurce" (in Spanish). El Vocero. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
24. "Iván Ríos reemplazará a Larry Ayuso en la dirección de los Cangrejeros en el BSN" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Día. 2022-03-09. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
25. Raúl Álzaga Sánchez-Bretón (2007-12-04). "Cangrejeros arrancan en la Liga de Las Américas" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. Retrieved 2007-12-04.^{[ dead link ‍]}
26. Raúl Álzaga Sánchez-Bretón (2008-01-17). "Santurce sacó una victoria dorada ante los Tropics". Primera Hora. Retrieved 2008-01-17.^{[ dead link ‍]}
27. "Los Cangrejeros representarán a Puerto Rico en la Liga de Campeones de las Américas". 21 September 2021.
28. "Los Cangrejeros de Santurce terminan invictos en la primera ventana de la Champions League | Baloncesto | elvocero.com".
29. "El coliseo Roberto Clemente será la casa de los Cangrejeros en la Champions League".
30. "Se posterga la segunda etapa de BCL Americas en San Juan, Puerto Rico" (in Spanish). FIBA. 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
31. "El Real Estelí dominó el duelo boricua ante los Cangrejeros" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2022-03-04. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
32. "El rolo cangrejero le pasó por encima a los Stingers de Edmonton" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2022-03-05. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
33. "NBA® 2K24 SEASON 5: GET FIRED UP FOR THE PLAYOFF PUSH STARTING FEBRUARY 23". EA. February 21, 2024. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
34. "Season 5 of NBA 2K24 is heating up! Team up with Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and deliver scintillating performances to earn all-new rewards this Season". EA. February 21, 2024. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
35. "Cangrejeros lanzan cerveza oficial". Primera Hora. February 13, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.

External links

• Baloncesto Superior Nacional official website (in Spanish)