| Intro | Professional basketball player | ||||
| Is |
Athlete Basketball player |
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| From | Central African Republic | ||||
| Type | Sports | ||||
| Gender | male | ||||
| Birth |
2 March 1981, Bimbo, Central African Republic, Ombella-M’Poko Prefecture, Central African Republic |
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| Age | 39 years | ||||
| Stats |
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Romain Guessagba-Sato-Lebel (born March 2, 1981), generally known as Romain Sato, is a Central African professional basketball player who plays for Valencia Basket of the Liga ACB. Standing at 6 ft 4.75 in (1.95 m), he plays as a swingman.
Amateur career
Sato played high school basketball at Dayton Christian High School while living in Moraine, Ohio, in the United States. He graduated from Xavier University in 2004, having majored in French, after playing college basketball with the Xavier Musketeers.
Professional career
Sato was selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2004 NBA Draft, and was subsequently waived on February 24, 2005. After being drafted by the Spurs, Sato played in the Italian Second Division with Sicc Cucine Jesi. He was the league’s second-leading scorer in the 2005–06 season, averaging 25.5 points per game, and also adding 7.5 rebounds per game.
In Romain’s three playoff games that season, he averaged 35 points and 14.6 rebounds. From there, he went to FC Barcelona to play in the 2006 Spanish ACB League playoffs. Sato then returned to Italy to play in the top Italian League with Montepaschi Siena for the 2006–07 season. In his first season with Siena, he helped Montepaschi to win the Scudetto (Italian Championship), and he then went on to win three more Scudetti with Siena. He was named the Italian League MVP in 2010.
In July 2010, he signed a three-year contract with Panathinaikos. In the summer of 2012, he signed a two-year contract with Fenerbahçe Ülker. He left them after one season. In August 2012, he signed a one-year deal with the Spanish team Valencia Basket. On July 1, 2014, he re-signed with Valencia Basket for two more years.
Central African Republic national team
Sato played with the senior men’s Central African Republic national basketball team at the 2009 FIBA Africa Championship. He averaged 21.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game at the tournament, and was named to the All-Tournament First Team.
Career statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | ||
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | ||
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | ||
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating | ||
| Bold | Career high | ||||||
Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.
| † | Denotes seasons in which Sato won the Euroleague |
Euroleague
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Montepaschi | 23 | 22 | 28.0 | .442 | .347 | .731 | 4.9 | 1.0 | 1.8 | .1 | 11.6 | 12.7 |
| 2008–09 | Montepaschi | 20 | 19 | 25.8 | .462 | .400 | .814 | 3.9 | .7 | 1.8 | .1 | 10.1 | 10.8 |
| 2009–10 | Montepaschi | 16 | 16 | 28.0 | .490 | .396 | .855 | 5.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | .0 | 13.6 | 16.3 |
| 2010–11† | Panathinakos | 21 | 16 | 26.2 | .413 | .388 | .813 | 3.9 | 1.1 | .7 | .1 | 9.0 | 10.1 |
| 2011–12 | Panathinakos | 23 | 20 | 26.0 | .410 | .347 | .712 | 4.7 | 1.0 | .7 | .4 | 7.1 | 8.6 |
| 2012–13 | Fenerbahçe | 23 | 23 | 27.0 | .408 | .341 | .810 | 4.2 | 1.3 | .7 | .1 | 7.3 | 8.2 |
| 2014–15 | Valencia | 9 | 6 | 27.3 | .362 | .292 | .800 | 4.8 | 1.1 | .9 | .6 | 6.3 | 6.7 |
| Career | 126 | 122 | 26.8 | .433 | .364 | .789 | 4.4 | 1.1 | 1.2 | .2 | 9.4 | 10.6 |