Santurce Crabbers (basketball)
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The Santurce Crabbers are a BSN basketball team from the San Juan area of Santurce.
The team has included name players such as Teofilo Cruz, Piculin Ortiz, and Rafael Valle. Teo Cruz, #13, played for 25 seasons being MVP in 4 seasons and leading the BSN in points per game 2 times. He was the starting center of the PR national basketball team in the times when Puerto Rico and Brazil where the two most dominant teams in the Americas outside the USA. Rafael Valle, #5, arguably the best power forward in BSN history, played actively in 8 seasons finishing MVP and first in points per game in 1956. He was active in 2 Olympic games, where he led Puerto Rico in scoring both times.
Piculin Ortiz, who currently wears jersey number 4 on the team, has played in 21 seasons, being the league's MVP in 2002. Has led the Puerto Rican national basketball team to many international medals. He has actively played in Spain, Greece and in the NBA. According to Juan Pachin Vicens, an all time starting five should include himself as point guard, J. Frontera as shooting guard, Raymond Dalmau as light forward, Rafael Valle as strong forward and Jose Piculin Ortiz as the center.
From 1998 to 2001, the Crabbers won four BSN titles in a row. In 2003, they returned to the championship. Although his future with the team is uncertain as it depends on a pending decision by the Utah Jazz, point guard Carlos Arroyo is still, officially, a member of the Crabbers, which was his first professional team.
Their namesakes, the Santurce Crabbers of Baseball are also a famous team with whom Roberto Clemente played for many years.