Marcelo Patricio Nicola Virginio (born May 12, 1971) is an Argentine-Italian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and a current coach. A very versatile

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

, he was a regular member of the

Argentine national basketball team The Argentina men's national basketball team (Spanish: ''Selección de baloncesto de Argentina'') represents Argentina in men's international basketball officially nicknamed ''The Argentine Soul'' (Spanish: ''El Alma Argentina''), and it is co ...

, and competed many years in the EuroLeague.

Professional career

Nicola was selected 50th overall in the

1993 NBA draft The 1993 NBA draft took place on June 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Allan Ho ...

, but remained in Europe and won the

Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

in 1996 with Taugrés, the team in which he made his debut in the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

. He played his best basketball for Benetton Treviso, with which he lifted another

trophy in 1999, and he was selected to the

All-EuroLeague The All-EuroLeague Team is an EuroLeague awards, award for European professional club basketball system, Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 se ...

Second Team for the Euroleague 2001–02 season. He also made it to the Euroleague 2002–03 final game.

National team career

Nicola was a member of the

. With the junior national team of Argentina, he played at the 1993

FIBA Under-21 World Cup The FIBA Under-21 World Championship was a men's under-21-only basketball competition organized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). It was known as the FIBA 22 & Under World Championship before FIBA lowered the age limit to 21 year ...

. With Argentina's senior men's national team, he played at the

1994 FIBA World Championship The 1994 FIBA World Championship was the 12th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. The tournament was hosted by Canada from August 4 to 14, 1994. The tournament was held at SkyDome and Maple L ...

, the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, and the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 n ...

Coaching career

In 2012, Nicola started his coach career as assistant coach in

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

team

UCAM Murcia UCAM Universidad Católica de Murcia Club de Baloncesto, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as UCAM Murcia, is a professional basketball team based in Murcia, Spain. It plays their home games at Palacio de Deportes. History Founded in 1985 u ...

. In 2014, after the sacking of Óscar Quintana, he was named the head coach of the team. In February 2015, he became the head coach of Lietuvos rytas Vilnius team (Lithuania) after Virginijus Šeškus release. On November 16, 2015, it was announced that Nicola was fired from Lietuvos rytas Vilnius due to poor results. In the beginning of 2016–17 season he joined his former coach

Simone Pianigiani Simone Pianigiani (born 31 May 1969) is an Italian professional basketball coach currently acting as a team consultant for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association. Coaching career Pro clubs Pianigiani was appointed the head coa ...

at the Israeli club

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

. On 8 September 2017, Nicola came back to

Baskonia Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D., commonly known as Saski Baskonia (), also known as Cazoo Baskonia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the ...

, where he played six years, for being the coordinator of the youth teams of the club.

References

External links

Euroleague.net Profile
*
NBA Draft ProfileSpanish League Profile

Italian League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicola, Marcelo 1971 births Living people Argentine basketball coaches Argentine emigrants to Italy Argentine expatriate basketball people in Italy Argentine expatriate basketball people in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Greece Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Argentine men's basketball players Argentine people of Italian descent Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics BC Kyiv players FC Barcelona Bàsquet players Greek Basket League players Houston Rockets draft picks Italian basketball coaches Italian expatriate basketball people in Spain Italian men's basketball players Liga ACB head coaches Liga ACB players Mens Sana Basket players Olympic basketball players of Argentina Pallacanestro Reggiana players Pallacanestro Treviso players Panathinaikos B.C. players People from Rafaela Power forwards (basketball) Saski Baskonia players Small forwards 1994 FIBA World Championship players 1998 FIBA World Championship players United States Basketball League players Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province