Olympique Antibes

Antibes Sharks
Leagues LNB Pro A
Founded 1933
History 1933 – present
Arena Azur Arena Antibes
Arena Capacity 5,249
Location Antibes, France
Team colors Navy, Gold, Azure, White
                   
Championships 3 French Championships
Website www.antibes-basket.com
Uniforms
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Olympique Antibes Juan-les-Pins Côte d'Azur, or OAJLP, or Antibes Sharks, is a basketball club from the city of Antibes, France. The club's men's senior team currently plays in LNB Pro A, the French first division.

History

The basketball team rose to prominence in the years 1950–60. In 1970, the team won the championship of France thanks to players of exception like Jean-Claude Bonato, Dan Rodriguez and Jacques Cachemire.

At the beginning of the Eighties, Antibes suffered several disappointing seasons, but improved throughout the decade, and eventually won the LNB Pro A title in 1991. At the beginning of the Nineties, Antibes regularly contended for titles alongside Limoges and Pau-Orthez.

In 1995, the club won a third national title before being plagued by financial problems. In 2002, in spite of finishing in a position that would have kept them safe from relegation, the club was dropped to LNB Pro B for lack of financial guarantees. Antibes then went through difficult years in Pro B. Then, in 2006–07, the club were relegated from Pro B to the nominally amateur Nationale 1. Although their 16th-place finish that season would normally have kept them safe from relegation, that season saw three teams relegated instead of the normal two because of a decision to reduce the number of teams in the top Pro A league. They would return to the professional ranks at the first opportunity, winning the Pro B crown in 2008.

For the 2013 season, Antibes has new ambitions in a Pro B league where the other favourites are clubs like Pau-Orthez, Hyères Toulon, two teams coming from Pro A, and Bourg-en-Bresse. They end up in fifth place at the end of the regular season and win the play-offs against Champagne Châlons Reims, synonym with a spot in the Pro A championship from next season. Yet in the following year, they finish bottom of the league with 6 wins and 24 defeats, and returned once more to the Pro B.

During the 2014-2015 season, they finish 6th of the regular season, and win also the Leaders Cup, a victory that, as a matter of fact, guaranteed them a playoff spot. They win the playoffs against Denain after having defeated Nantes and Le portel on their way to the final. Just one year after leaving the Pro A championship they earned the right to go back to the elite tier.

Honours

Top performances in European & Worldwide competitions

Season Achievement Notes
EuroLeague
1970–71 Quarter-finals 4th place in a group with Ignis Varese, Slavia VŠ Praha and AŠK Olimpija
FIBA Saporta Cup
1994–95 Semi-finals eliminated 2-1 by Benetton Treviso, 95-88 (W) in Treviso, 93-99 (L) and 83-87 (L) in Antibes
FIBA Korać Cup
1972 Semi-finals eliminated by OKK Beograd, 72-99 (L) in Belgrade and 65-61 (W) in Antibes
1983–84 Semi-finals eliminated by Orthez, 68-75 (L) in Orthez and 71-69 (W) in Antibes
1985–86 Semi-finals eliminated by Banco di Roma Virtus, 69-78 (L) in Antibes and 75-83 (L) in Rome
1993–94 Quarter-finals eliminated by Recoaro Milano, 85-98 (L) in Milan and 95-88 (W) in Antibes

Current roster

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

Antibes Sharks roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
PG - United States Gaines, Kenny 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 22 – (1994-01-28)28 January 1994
SG - United States Simmons, Tre 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 34 – (1982-07-24)24 July 1982
PG 5 United States Solomon, Will 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 38 – (1978-07-20)20 July 1978
C - Nigeria Otule, Chris 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 125 kg (276 lb) 26 – (1990-01-04)4 January 1990
PF 4 United States Blue, Tim 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 32 – (1984-07-10)10 July 1984
PF - Mali Diarra, Nianta 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 23 – (1993-05-18)18 May 1993
SG - France Cordinier, Isaia 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 20 – (1996-11-28)28 November 1996
C - France Tornato, Jonathan 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 27 – (1989-06-01)1 June 1989
SF - France Galliou, Charles 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 20 – (1995-12-26)26 December 1995
Head coach
  • France Julien Espinosa
Assistant coach(es)
  • France Marc Berjoan
Team manager
  • France Vincent Bérard
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: August 15, 2016

See also

Season by season

Season Tier League Pos. Postseason French Cup
2008–09 2 LNB Pro B 11 – Round of 16
2009–10 2 LNB Pro B 16 – Quarterfinalist
2010–11 2 LNB Pro B 14 – Quarterfinalist
2011–12 2 LNB Pro B 11 – Round of 32
2012–13 2 LNB Pro B 5 Promoted (Playoffs) Round of 16
2013–14 1 LNB Pro A 16 Relegated Round of 64
2014–15 2 LNB Pro B 6 Promoted (Playoffs)

Famous players

To appear in this section a player must have either:

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

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