Limoges CSP

Limoges CSP
Limoges CSP
Leagues	Pro A
Founded	1929
History	Limoges CSP; (1929–present)
Arena	Beaublanc
Capacity	6,506
Location	Limoges, France
Team colors	Green, white, gold;
Head coach	Alfred Julbe
Championships	1 EuroLeague; 1 Saporta Cup; 3 Korać Cups; 11 French Leagues; 2 French Leagues (Pro B); 6 French Cups; 2 Tournoi des As; 1 Match des Champions
Retired numbers	2 (7, 8)
Website	limogescsp.com

Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges.

History

The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became the first French club to win a major European-wide title in a team sport, by winning the FIBA European League (EuroLeague) in 1993.

In the 1999–2000 season, Limoges won its 9th top-tier level French League title, but it was relegated to the French second division LNB Pro B, after winning it, because of financial problems. The club didn't get back to its old state for a long time, as it spent the next 3 years in the Pro A, but was relegated again in 2004. Starting with the 2004–05 season, Limoges played in the NM1, the French third division. It took the club six seasons to eventually return to the Pro A.

In the 2013–14 season, Limoges returned to its old glory, as the team captured its 10th French League national championship, by beating Strasbourg IG 0–3 in the French League Finals.^[1] Alex Acker was named Finals MVP.

The club thus qualified for the 2014–15 EuroLeague by winning the French League championship, which would be their first appearance in the top European-wide league in 17 seasons. In the EuroLeague, Limoges lost 8 out of 10 games, managing to win against UNICS and Cedevita, before being relegated to the European-wide second tier level EuroCup. In the EuroCup Round of 32, Limoges was eliminated, after finishing 3rd in Group J. In the French Pro A, Limoges once again had a successful season. In the regular season, Limoges finished in 3rd place behind JSF Nanterre and Strasbourg IG, but in the French League playoffs, they made up for that. In the French League Finals, Limoges beat Strasbourg 1–3, to win back-to-back French League titles.^[2] Ousmane Camara was named Finals MVP.^[3]

Arena

Palais des Sports de Beaublanc, the home arena of Limgoes.

Limoges plays its home games at the Palais des Sports de Beaublanc, which has a seating capacity of 6,500 people.

Roster

Dacoury's retired number 7 jersey

Retired numbers

Limoges CSP retired numbers
No	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure
7		Richard Dacoury	SG/SF	1978–1996
8		Ed Murphy	SG	1981–1985

Current roster

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

Limoges CSP roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Age
F/C	0	Mbala, Benoit	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	104 kg (229 lb)	25 – 13 July 1995
G/F	1	Ginyard, Marcus	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	33 – 8 May 1987
PG	3	Beyhurst, Ludovic	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	76 kg (168 lb)	22 – 5 January 1999
PG	5	Crusol, Timothé	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)		19 – 5 April 2001
SF	10	Invernizzi, Hugo	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	28 – 7 January 1993
F/C	14	Paumier, Grismay	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)		22 – 12 July 1998
G/F	15	Lang, Nicolas	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	30 – 1 May 1990
C	16	Boutsiele, Jerry	2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)	94 kg (207 lb)	28 – 20 April 1992
G	23	Scrubb, Philip	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	28 – 27 November 1992
PF	24	Travis, Romeo	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	104 kg (229 lb)	36 – 10 December 1984
PG	44	Smith, Speedy	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	82 kg (181 lb)	28 – 28 January 1993

Head coach

Mehdy Mary

Assistant coach(es)

Romain Chenaud
Benjamin Villeger

Legend

(C) Team captain
Injured

Roster

Updated: December 28, 2020

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Jerry Boutsiele	Atoumane Diagne
PF	Benoit Mbala	Brian Conklin	Maxime Carène
SF	Marcus Ginyard	Hugo Invernizzi
SG	Philip Scrubb	Nicolas Lang
PG	Speedy Smith	Ovidijus Varanauskas	Timothé Crusol

Honours

Limoges fans celebrating on their home floor, after winning the 2015 LNB Pro A championship^[2]

The city hall of Limoges, decorated in the colours of the team

Domestic competitions

French League

Winners (11): 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1999–00, 2013–14, 2014–15

Runners-up (4): 1986–87, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1997–98

French Cup

Winners (1): 1999–00

Runners-up (2): 2010–11, 2011–12

Leaders Cup

Winners (2): 1988, 1990

Runners-up (2): 1991, 1992

French Super Cup

Winners (1): 2012

Federation Cup (defunct)

Winners (3): 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85

League Cup (defunct)

Winners (2): 1993–94, 1994–95

French League Pro B

Winners (2): 2000–01, 2011–12

European competitions

EuroLeague

Winners (1): 1992–93

3rd place (1): 1989–90

4th place (1): 1994–95

Final Four (3): 1990, 1993, 1995

FIBA Saporta Cup (defunct)

Winners (1): 1987–88

FIBA Korać Cup (defunct)

Winners (3): 1981–82, 1982–83, 1999–00

Runners-up (1): 1986–87

European Basketball Club Super Cup (semi-official, defunct)

Runners-up (1): 1985

Worldwide competitions

McDonald's Championship

3rd place (1): 1991

4th place (1): 1993

Other competitions

FIBA International Christmas Tournament (defunct)

4th place (1): 1990

Tournoi de Beaublanc

Winners (1): 2014

Tournoi de Bourge

Winners (1): 2014

Tarere, France Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2015

St. Chamond & St. Étienne, France Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2015

Individual club awards

Small Triple Crown

Winners (3): 1982–83, 1987–88, 1999–00

Successive shirts

1929–1992
1992–2004
2004–2011
2011

Supporters and rivalries

The club has a large fan-base, with a dedicated ultras group called Ultras Green.

Their biggest rival is another legendary French club Pau-Orthez, and they have been trading blows with one another for national supremacy on the hardwood, both figuratively and literally, since the early 1980s. In the 22 seasons between 1983 and 2004, the two clubs combined for 18 French League championships, and multiple games between the two teams resulted in fights among the players, including one that ended in a brawl between Élan supporters and Limoges players, at the old Orthez venue, La Moutète.

Season by season

Season by season results of the club in national league, national cup and European-wide competitions.

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	French Cup	Leaders Cup	European competitions
1997–98	1	Pro A	2nd			1 Euroleague	GS
1998–99	1	Pro A	7th			2 Saporta Cup	R32
1999–00	1	Pro A	1st^[a]	Champion		3 Korać Cup	C
2000–01	2	Pro B	1st
2001–02	1	Pro A	11th
2002–03	1	Pro A	14th
2003–04	1	Pro A	18th^[b]
2004–05	3	NM 1	3rd
2005–06	3	NM 1	2nd	Round of 32
2006–07	2	Pro B	7th	Round of 32
2007–08	2	Pro B	5th	Round of 32
2008–09	2	Pro B	3rd	Quarterfinalist
2009–10	2	Pro B	2nd	Semifinalist
2010–11	1	Pro A	16th	Runner-up
2011–12	2	Pro B	1st	Runner-up
2012–13	1	Pro A	13th	Quarterfinalist
2013–14	1	Pro A	1st	Round of 32	Quarterfinalist
2014–15	1	Pro A	1st	Semifinalist	Quarterfinalist	1 Euroleague	RS
2015–16	1	Pro A	10th	Quarterfinalist		1 Euroleague	RS
2015–16	1	Pro A	10th	Quarterfinalist		2 Eurocup	R16
2016–17	1	Pro A	10th	Round of 16
2017–18	1	Pro A	4th	Round of 64	Quarterfinalist	2 EuroCup	T16
2018–19	1	Pro A	7th	Round of 16	Semifinalist	2 EuroCup	T16

^ Relegated to Pro B due to financial problems.
^ Relegated one more league, until NM1, due to financial problems.

International record

Season	Achievement	Notes
EuroLeague
1983–84	Semi-final group stage	6th place in a group with FC Barcelona, Banco di Roma Virtus, Jollycolombani Cantù, Bosna and Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
1985–86	Semi-final group stage	6th place in a group with Cibona, Žalgiris, Simac Milano, Real Madrid and Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
1988–89	Quarter-finals	5th place in a group with Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, FC Barcelona, Jugoplastika, Aris, Scavolini Pesaro, CSKA Moscow and Nashua EBBC
1989–90	Final Four	3rd place in Zaragoza, lost to Jugoplastika 83–101 in the semi-final, defeated Aris 103–91 in the 3rd place game
1990–91	Quarter-finals	8th place in a group with FC Barcelona, Pop 84, Scavolini Pesaro, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, Aris, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Kingston Kings
1992–93	Champions	defeated Real Madrid Teka 62–52 in the semi-final, defeated Benetton Treviso 59–55 in the final of the Final Four in Athens
1993–94	Quarter-finals	eliminated 2–1 by Panathinaikos, 75–68 (W) in Limoges, 48–59 (L) and 73–87 (L) in Athens
1994–95	Final Four	4th place in Zaragoza, lost to Real Madrid Teka 49–62 in the semi-final, lost to Panathinaikos 77–91 in the 3rd place game
FIBA Saporta Cup
1987–88	Champions	defeated Ram Joventut 96–89 in the final of European Cup Winners' Cup in Grenoble
1991–92	Quarter-finals	3rd place in a group with PAOK, Glaxo Verona, Sunair Oostende, Maccabi Rishon LeZion and Alba Berlin
1995–96	Quarter-finals	3rd place in a group with Taugrés, Žalgiris, Partizan, Bnei Herzliya and Sunair Oostende
FIBA Korać Cup
1981–82	Champions	defeated Šibenka, 90–84 in the final of Korać Cup in Padua
1982–83	Champions	defeated Šibenka, 94–86 in the final of Korać Cup in West Berlin
1986–87	Final	lost to FC Barcelona, 86–106 (L) in Barcelona and 86–97 (L) in Limoges
1999–00	Champions	defeated Unicaja, 80–58 (W) in Limoges and 51–60 (L) in Málaga in the double finals of Korać Cup
McDonald's Championship
1991	3rd	3rd place in Paris, lost to Los Angeles Lakers 101–132 in the semi-final, defeated Slobodna Dalmacija 105–91 in the 3rd place game
1993	4th	4th place in Munich, lost to Buckler Beer Bologna 85–101 in the semi-final, lost to Real Madrid Teka 119–123 in the 3rd place game

In European and worldwide competitions

The road to the European Cup victories

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality 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.