13.09 | Nac. And Int. Basketball
It is 25 years since the first match of Students in the LNB against its namesake from Bahia, with Manu Ginobili. The memory of Bruno Crivelli.
The Sunday edition of EL POPULAR, in the section “From 25 years ago” (week of September 12 to 18, 1996), offered readers great information for the sport of Olavarría: Students made their debut in the National League Basketball.
At the age of 22 and in his third season at Estudiantes, point guard Bruno Crivelli – a native of Pergamino – was part of the Albinegro squad that debuted on September 13, 1996 in the National Basketball League. At the Carlos Guerrero Park Max Gymnasium, Bataraz beat Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca by 103 to 81, before an impressive audience that witnessed the historic entry into the highest category.
“I remember from that game the enormous anxiety to play because it was the beginning of Estudiantes in the National League, on top of that we came from an extraordinary previous season in TNA. We won with the majority of national players and as an anecdote I have left to have converted four points against two from Manu Ginobili “, indicates Crivelli of that moment.
Basketball made him stay in the city where he enjoys his three children: Lautaro (18), Luca (16) and Benjamin (6) who attend the Club weekly because all three “play soccer in Estudiantes”, he says proudly.
For Bruno, September 96 ‘meant being back in the National League. “At the age of 17 I made my debut in the League in Pergamino Gymnastics. I did three years and then I came to Estudiantes where I played two seasons in TNA and one in the League. The expectation was enormous because it was about fulfilling the dream of being at the highest level of basketball, “he says.
When asked about his sporting level, Pergamino’s point guard defined it as “a good learning experience in my short career. I had several good games where I felt better than others, but the best ones were the ones we won because they were enjoyed by all of us. And among the players he admired were Miguel Cortijo and Marcelo Milanesio “.
His time at Estudiantes left him “many important things. It was my first departure from home, everything new and a great learning from the human point of view as well as from the sport. It was three years from junior to senior. I have many known people at the Club and the best of memories”.
Then he spoke again about Ginobili and that first match of Estudiantes in the National League against Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca. “Everything that happened afterwards with Manu in the national team as in the NBA is incredible. 25 years ago I was very young. I don’t remember if at some point we were both on the court together, but I have the privilege of having played against Manu. And if you look at the synthesis of that game, I did four and he did two because a friend from Pergamino sent me a newspaper clipping some time ago, so I can’t have a better anecdote, “he said with a smile to close.