Getting to know BCL Americas' Group B: Biguá, Quimsa, Minas

MIAMI (United States) – Biguá (URU), Quimsa (BRA) and Minas (BRA) will make up Group B in Basketball Champions League America’s fourth season. This is how they will face the competition:

 Biguá (URU)

The club enters BCLA’s fourth season off a great year in their division. They won their seventh title, second in a row, in the Uruguayan first division basketball. Right now they lead the standings in their local tournament with a 8-2 record, in search of a third championship. The club also won two championships from Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes (1992 and 2008).

Participations (counting 2022-23): 3
In the inaugural 2019-2020 season, they said goodbye in the Group Phase after not being able to pick up a single victory, and then were not a part of Season 2. But they made an incredible comeback in Season 3 with a journey that led them all the way to the Final.

Coach: Diego Cal
The 30-year-old head coach led Biguá to the national league title last season, and became the youngest in the country's history to lift a trophy in the highest category. He also guided the club to the BCLA final in Season 3, knocking down heavy favorite opponents.

Players for the 2022-23 season:
Gonzalo Alvarez
Victor Rudd
Santiago Moglia
Santiago Vidal
Ivan Loriente
Donald Sims
Matias Espinoza
Juan Manuel Ortiz
Guillermo Jones
Luis Santos
Angel Arevalo
Guillermo Fernandez
Manuel Saavedra
Martin Rojas

Perspective
After their success at the local and international level, the team aspires to at least have a similar performance. They will enter the BCLA group stage with many of the same people that have taken the team to new heights including: Donald Sims, Victor Rudd and Luis Santos, Santiago "Pepo" Vidal, Martín Rojas and Iván Loriente.

 Quimsa (ARG)

Quimsa has established themselves in recent years as one of the most solid teams in Argentina. From 2009 to now, the club has a South American League title, a Basketball Champions League Americas title, a national league title and five other Argentine cups (Super 8, Super 20 and Super Cup). They finished their last local season with a Semi-Finals exit. Now they are in fifth place with a 10-4 record.

Participations (counting 2022-23): 4
Since the creation of the BCLA in the 2019-20 season, the Santiago del Estero club has participated in all editions. In fact, they were the first champions of the tournament and finished Season 3 in fourth place.

Coach: Juan Manuel Cordoba
Cordoba took charge of the club this season after a successful stint in the Chilean league where he won two national titles (2016 and 2019). He also has experience in the Colombian league.

Players for the 2022-23 season
Henry Dugat
Sebastian Acevedo
Franco Baralle
Emiliano Toretta
Rodrigo Sanchez
Agustin Perez
Eric Anderson
Brandon Robinson
Mauro Cosolito
Fabian Ramirez Barrios
Bryan Carabali
Kevin Hernandez

Perspective
The roster’s base players remain the same as well as adding a few strong pieces, so we can say that they have the elements to fight for the crown. Brandon Robinson returns, who was one of the strongest players of BCL Americas in 2019-20. Other very important reinforcements are Fabián Ramírez Barrios and Kevin Hernández.

 Minas (BRA)

The Belo Horizonte team has been developing good local and international seasons, which have led them very close to winning titles. In the last two NBB seasons they advanced to the Semi-finals, and did the same in BCLA Season 3. In the past they won a title in the South American Championship of Champion Clubs (2007) and in the current NBB season they are in fifth place with a record of 7-4.

Participations (counting 2022-23): 3
This will be the third time in a row that Minas will compete on the continent's most elite club competition. They only missed the first season in 2019-20 and in their two previous participations they had a very difficult opponent, and left with Bronze.

Coach: Leonardo Costa
Since Costa’s arrival in 2019, the team has been fighting at the top both in the NBB and in this international competition. In addition to the two Semi-finals in the last two years, both in Brazil and in the BCLA, he was able to lead the club to a Super 8 Cup title victory.

Players for the 2022-23 season
Lucas Faggiano
Alexey Borges
Joao Prado
Alexei Patrick
Isaac Hamilton
Felipe Vézaro
Lele Moura
Shaquille johnson
Novar Gadson
Renan Lenz
Wesley Ferreira
Alexandre Paranhos

Perspective
Grabbing two bronze medals in the tournament has been great for Minas but now is the time to step up and get to the Final. They will have Shaq Johnson, Alexey and Wesley as their main pieces, who together with Renan, Faggiano and Hamilton, could have the momentum to climb that next step.

FIBA