One of the Basketball Super League teams and one of the teams that will represent our country in the FIBA Champions League, TOFAŞ has added Mexican scorer Pako Cruz to its staff as part of the new season transfer efforts.
Continuing its work for the 2021-2022 Season staff structure, TOFAŞ made its first transfer before the new season. The Blue Greens signed an agreement with Francisco “Pako” Cruz, who had a successful performance at HDI Sigorta Afyon Belediyespor last season. Pako, who also plays for the Mexican National Team, is the player who takes the longest time per match with an average of 34.05 minutes in the ING Basketball Super League in the 2020-2021 season; With averages of 19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.2 steals, he was the player who scored the most points per game in the minutes he played. Pako Cruz also ranked third in the list of players who scored the most three-pointers in the league with an average of 43.8 percent three-pointers.
Born in 1989 and 1.91 cm tall, the experienced player serves in the positions of point guard (1) and shooting guard (2).
Who is Pako Cruz?
Pako Cruz, born on October 3, 1989 and 1.91 cm tall, serves in the positions of point guard (1) and shooting guard (2).
Pako Cruz, who started basketball in Mexico, attended the Adidas Basketball Camp held in New Orleans, USA in 2007. Pako, who played at Western Nebraska Community College in the 2009-2010 Season, joined the University of Wyoming before the 2010-2011 season and competed for Wyoming in the American College Basketball League (NCAA) for 2 seasons.
Returning to his country before the 2012-2013 Season, Pako Cruz had Argentina experience in the 2014-2015 season after playing in Mexico for 2 seasons. The successful player, who had his first European experience by joining the VEF Riga team of Latvia before the 2015-2016 Season, wore the shirt of Montakit Fuenlabrada, one of the Spanish Liga Endesa teams, for 3 consecutive seasons after VEF Riga. Pako, who played with an average of 14.4 points-2.8 rebounds-2.8 assists in the Spanish League in his last season in the Spanish team, also displayed 13 points-2.4 rebounds-2.8 averages in the Basketball Champions League.
Pako Cruz, who was transferred to Lithuania’s Rytas Vilnius team before the 2019-2020 Season, 11.6 points-2.2 rebounds-2.6 assists in the Lithuanian league; In 7Days Eurocup, he averaged 12.7 points-2.3 rebounds-3 assists.
Transferring to our country before the 2020-2021 Season, Pako spent one of the most successful seasons of his career under the uniform of HDI Sigorta Afyon Belediyespor. Pako Cruz, who averaged 19.5 points (3PT: 43.8%, FT: 79.6%)-3.8 rebounds-5.4 assists-1.2 steals in the ING Basketball Super League, became the league’s top scorer per game within the minutes he took, with 43.8 percent. With an average of three points, he took the third place in the list of players who scored the most three-pointers in the league.
Pako Cruz, who has also played in the Mexican National Team since 2013, became the fourth top scorer of the organization with an average of 16.8 points-3 rebounds-3.2 assists in FIBA Americup, where they won the bronze medal in 2017. Pako, who struggled with averages of 20 points-4 rebounds-2.4 in 5 games in the FIBA 2019 World Cup qualifiers, recently scored 18 points-4.5 rebounds-4 assists-2 steals in the FIBA 2020 AmeriCup qualifiers.
