BC Avtodor Saratov

Avtodor Saratov
Leagues VTB United League
Eurocup
Founded 1960
History Spartak Saratov
1960-?
Avtodorozhnik Saratov
?-1996
Avtodor Saratov
1996-present
Arena Sports Palace Kristall
Sports Palace Zvezdny
Arena Capacity 6,100 (Kristall)
2,046 (Zvezdny)
Location Saratov, Russia
Team colors Black and White          
President Vladimir Rodionov
Championships 2 Russian Super League
2009, 2014
Website www.avtodor.ru
Uniforms
Home
Away

Avtodor Saratov (Russian: Автодор Саратов) is a Russian professional basketball club based in Saratov. It plays in the VTB United League as of the 2015-16 season.

It is renowned for helping produce promising players (see notable players) and the enthusiasm of its fans.

History

Establishment and growth (1960–1992)

Founded in 1960 as Spartak Saratov, the club took off when former player Vladimir Rodionov became its head coach in the 1982. The club was later by renamed new owner Rodionov into Avtodorozhnik (road engineer) - shortened to Avtodor in 1996 - in reference to a late benefactor.[1][2]

Scaling the heights (1992–2004)

Joining the Russian League at its creation in 1992, the club competed with CSKA Moscow (being the first club to defeat them in the league) for national supremacy during the rest of the decade, finishing in second place four times between 1994 and 1999.[3] It would even win the regular season in both 1997 and 1998,[4] but lost both finals series against CSKA 2-3,[5] and 1-3 respectively.[6]

The Russian outfit regularly took part in European competitions during that period, reaching the semifinals of the 1998 second-tier EuroCup and playing in the 1999 top-tier Euroleague (exiting at the first group stage).[7] Avtodor defeated CSKA in the 2001-02 playoff quarterfinals,[8] the only team to have prevented the Army men from reaching the top four in Russian basketball history to this day.[9]

Demise and rebuilding (2004–2014)

After threatening to do so for years because of disputes with the local administration, especially regarding the lack of a convenient arena,[10] Rodionov moved the organisation to Saint Petersburg during the 2004 summer. He would form Dynamo Saint Petersburg, transferring some of Avtodor's best players such as Vladimir Veremeenko,[11] and its place in the Super League.[12] Meanwhile, a cash-strapped Avtodor voluntarily relegated itself to the second division for 2004-05, fielding an uncompetitive side made of youngsters,[12] before moving down to the third division in 2005.[3] Avtodor would win the second division in 2009 but did not have the financial means to return to the Super League. It did return to the Super League in 2012 but by that time the league had become the domestic second division. Winning that league in 2014, in large part thanks to the play of league MVP Courtney Fortson and promising youngster Artem Klimenko, the club received an invitation to play in the top-tier VTB United League and the European third-tier EuroChallenge for 2014-15.[8] The club was able to fund its participation thanks to increased support from the local administration, who reduced the funding of the city's ice hockey club Kristall Saratov to compensate.[13]

Back at the top (2014–present)

After losing seven of its first nine VTB League games, Avtodor regrouped with the help of November acquisition Kyrylo Fesenko and the play of December league MVP Fortson (who had no problem adapting to the league) to contend for a playoffs place.[9] Despite three coaching changes, with Vladimir Antsiferov replaced by his assistant Sergey Mokin in late October before Rodionov fired Mokin and took the coaching reins himself on 3 March 2015, the club reached the EuroChallenge quarterfinals where they lost to Trabzonspor.[14] In the league, Avtodor beat major sides CSKA Moscow, Khimki Moscow Region, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and Unics Kazan to reach the playoffs,[3] though they lost three contested games against Khimki to exit at the quarterfinal stage.[15]

Arena

Avtodor formerly played in the Yunost arena, seating only a few hundred and unable to accommodate television broadcasts,[16] which meant the side had to play its European games in Moscow.[10] During the 1997-98 season, the club played its regular-season games in the Yunost arena before moving for its playoffs games to an indoor-football arena whilst a new arena was being refurbished.[5] It moved to the newly reopened 1,500 seater Zvezdny Sports Palace in May of that year,[17] though this arena also proved too small as 2,000 fans packed the venue during a 21 May 1998 game against CSKA (albeit the league title decisive game), with some hanging from the balcony.[6]

Calls for the club to move in the larger Kristall Arena (an ice hockey arena built in 1969),[16] were finally heeded in 2014. Avtodor remodeled the arena for basketball play, which also raised the capacity from 5,450 to 6,100 seats,[13] playing their first game there on November 11.[18]

Honours

Domestic competitions

Season by season

Season Domestic competitions Russian Cup European competitions
Tier League Pos. Postseason Tier League Result
1993–94 1 Super League ? Runner-up Not held
3
Korać Cup 2R
1994–95 1 Super League 4 Semifinals Not held
2
Saporta Cup 1R
1995–96 1 Super League 3 Semifinals Not held
3
Korać Cup 16F
1996–97 1 Super League 1 Runner-up Not held
2
Saporta Cup 8F
1997–98 1 Super League 1 Runner-up Not held
2
Saporta Cup SF
1998–99 1 Super League 2 Runner-up Not held
1
Euroleague 1GS
1999–00 1 Super League 8 Quarterfinals Withdrew
2
Saporta Cup GS
2000–01 1 Super League 5 Semifinals Not held
3
Korać Cup 8F
2001–02 1 Super League 5 Semifinals Not held
3
Korać Cup 8F
2002–03 1 Super League 6 Quarterfinals Quarterfinals
4
Europe Cup CGS
2003–04 1 Super League 10 Not qualified Round of 16
4
Europe Cup QF
2004–05 2 Super League 10 None played DNP –
2005–06 3 Higher League 8[lower-alpha 1] Not qualified DNP –
2006–07 3 Higher League 8[lower-alpha 1] Not qualified Group stage –
2007–08 3 Higher League 8[lower-alpha 1] 8th[lower-alpha 1] Group stage –
2008–09 2 Super League 1 Champion DNP –
2009–10 3 Higher League 7[lower-alpha 1] 12th DNP –
2010–11 3 Higher League 3[lower-alpha 1] 9th Group stage –
2011–12 3 Higher League 1[lower-alpha 1] 5th Round of 16 –
2012–13 2 Super League 5 Semifinalist Round of 16 –
2013–14 2 Super League 1 Champion Quarterfinalist –
2014–15 1 VTB 7 Quarterfinalist Group stage[lower-alpha 2]
3
EuroChallenge QF
2015–16 1 VTB TBD TBD TBD
2
Eurocup TBD

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Avtodor Saratov roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
PG 5 Mexico Stoll, Paul 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 79 kg (174 lb) 30 – (1985-12-14)14 December 1985
SF 11 Russia Bekkiev, Tamirlan 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 24 – (1992-02-11)11 February 1992
C 12 Russia Klimenko, Artem 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) 112 kg (247 lb) 22 – (1994-04-10)10 April 1994
SG 21 United States Chappell, Jeremy 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 28 – (1987-06-10)10 June 1987
PG 23 Russia Rusetskiy, Ivan 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 22 – (1993-09-25)25 September 1993
SG 24 Russia Kolesnikov, Evgeny 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 30 – (1985-12-26)26 December 1985
SF 32 United States Brooks, Jeff 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 26 – (1989-06-12)12 June 1989
C 35 Russia Zabelin, Artem 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) 115 kg (254 lb) 28 – (1988-01-15)15 January 1988
PF 42 United States Peterson, Travis 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 103 kg (227 lb) 30 – (1985-05-18)18 May 1985
PF 61 Russia Nesterov, Alexei 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 106 kg (234 lb) 28 – (1988-05-04)4 May 1988
C 77 Russia Makiev, Alan 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 110 kg (243 lb) 25 – (1991-03-20)20 March 1991
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: 26 August 2015

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Artem Zabelin Artem Klimenko Alan Makiev
PF Travis Peterson Alexei Nesterov
SF Jeff Brooks Tamirlan Bekkiev
SG Evgeny Kolesnikov Jeremy Chappell
PG Paul Stoll Ivan Rusetskiy

Notable players

2010's

2000's

1990's

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Position in group as league divided in groups
  2. ↑ Avtodor sent its B squad

References

  1. ↑ Map of the league - Avtodor Saratov. VTB United League. 18 February 2015. Event occurs at 2:40. Retrieved 25 August 2015. The man who ran the Avtodor company died in the 1990's. He was an amazing man. He'd won medals: was very distinguished. We became friends in the end and when he died we named the club in his honor. We took the word "Avtodorozhnik" [road engineer] and shortened it to Avtodor
  2. ↑ "Astana meets Avtodor". BCAstana.kz. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "Club profile: Avtodor Saratov". EurocupBasketball.com. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Fyodorov, Gennady (11 April 1998). "Avtodor beats CSKA 98-87, grabs regular-season title". TheMoscowTimes.com. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  5. 1 2 Fyodorov, Gennady (8 May 1998). "Russian League final set despite arena problems". TheMoscowTimes.com. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  6. 1 2 Fyodorov, Gennady (21 May 1998). "CSKA takes crown with road win". TheMoscowTimes.com. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "Avtodor Saratov - team history". FIBAEurope.com. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Vladimir Rodionov: Avtodor is going to be the League's fastest team". VTB-League.com. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Game of the Week. Khimki takes on Saratov; Monia returns home". VTB-League.com. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Russia starts cup drive with 116-73 stunner". TheMoscowTimes.com. 28 November 1997. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  11. ↑ Kazankov, Andrei (26 January 2009). "Vladimir Veremeenko, Unics Kazan". EurocupBasketball.com. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  12. 1 2 Snastin, Kiril (12 October 2004). "Саратов остался без большого баскетбола" Русский [Saratov left without elite basketball]. Kommersant.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  13. 1 2 Anfinogentov, Andrey; Bezjazychny, Aleksey; Rustamov, Timur (7 December 2014). "Автодор уже обещает Бой ЦСКА" Русский [Avtodor already takes aim at CSKA]. Sport-Express.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Avtodor's bumpy season finds reward". FIBAEurope.com. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  15. ↑ "Quarterfinals. Recap". VTB-League.com. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  16. 1 2 Fyodorov, Gennady (25 April 1997). "Avtodor downs CSKA 109-107 for 1-0 lead". TheMoscowTimes.com. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "CSKA heads to Saratov leading 2-1". TheMoscowTimes.com. 16 May 1998. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  18. ↑ "Week 6. Recap". VTB-League.com. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2015.

External links

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