Jump to content

Angelo Cruz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Misterfrisky (talk | contribs) at 01:03, 23 September 2010. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Angel "Monch" Cruz
Canóvanas Indios
PositionPoint Guard
LeagueBSN
Personal information
Born(1958-09-20)September 20, 1958
NYC
Nationality Puerto Rico
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
CollegeBethany Nazarene College
Essex County College
Angelo Cruz
Medal record
Representing  Puerto Rico
Men's Basketball
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place San Juan 1979 Team Competition
Bronze medal – third place Ind'polis 1987 Team Competition
Tournament of the Americas
Silver medal – second place Montevideo 1988 Team Competition

Angel "Monch" Cruz is a Puerto Rican former basketball player. He was born in New York, New York. Coming out of the Patterson Projects in the Bronx, "Monchito" was a New York City Playground legend by the time he finished High School at DeWitt Clinton High School. After playing at Bethany Nazarene College (OK) and Essex (NJ) County College, he moved on to play professionally in Puerto Rico. [1]

Career

Career in Puerto Rico

In 1977, when he was 18 years old, he began his Baloncesto Superior Nacional, basketball career with the Canóvanas Indios for whom he played for 13 seasons. Nicknamed "Angelo" in Puerto Rico, he was soon thereafter selected to represent Puerto Rico, and would continue to do so in many International Tournaments around the world. In the BSN, Puerto Rico's Pro League, he led Canóvanas to back-to-back championships in 1983 and 1984 and recorded his 1,500th assist in 1988. His Canóvanas Indios battles with perennial powerhouses Bayamón, Guaynabo and San Germán are still famous in BSN lore.[2] After 16 years in the league averaging 14.8 points and 4.8 assists per game, he retired after the 1993 season.[3]

International Career

At the age of 20, he was part of the 1979 Pan American team that earned a silver medal in San Juan in a memorable PR-USA showdown against the Isiah Thomas/Bobby Knight led USA team. He would go on to play in two more Pan Am Games in 1983 in Caracas, Venezuela and 1987 in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1990 he played at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, Washington.

Career in The Olympics

In 1988 he helped qualify Puerto Rico to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, at the 1988 Tournament of the Americas Olympic Qualifier in Montevideo, Uruguay. At that time, Puerto Rico had been absent from the Summer Olympics since 1976. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Korea he led the Puerto Rican National Basketball Team in assists and was second in scoring with a 12.375 scoring average[4]. Against Yugoslavia, He scored the winning shot at the buzzer to beat the eventual Silver Medalist, which was led by soon-to-be NBA players Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac 74-72.[5]

FIBA World Tournaments

He played in two FIBA World Tournaments, 1986 in Spain and 1990 in Argentina. In 1990, in Buenos Aires, he helped Puerto Rico earn a Fourth Place at the 1990 FIBA World Championship. The team arrived undefeated at 7-0 to the semi-finals, only to lose its last two games in the medal round to the Soviet Union and Team USA. That was his final participation in International Competition.

References

  1. ^ http://www.slamonline.com/online/other-ballers/streetball/2010/08/original-old-school-missing-the-point/
  2. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lXux-QkKuc
  3. ^ http://www.bsnpr.com/jugadores/jugador.asp?id=117&e=
  4. ^ http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/cr/angel-cruz-1.html
  5. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onx9DKuGrMk&feature=related
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Angelo_Cruz&oldid=386442643"