CSU Asesoft Ploiești

CSU Ploiesti
Leagues	Romanian Second League
Founded	1998
Arena	Olimpia Sports Hall
Location	Ploiești, Romania
Team colors	Blue, White
President	Ionuț Georgescu
Team manager	Alexandru Iacobescu
Head coach	Vladimir Arnautović
Championships	11 Romanian Leagues 6 Romanian Cups 1 Romanian Supercup 1 EuroCup Challenge
Website	csuasesoft.ro
Uniforms
Home Away

CSU Asesoft is a Romanian professional basketball club, based in Ploiești, Romania. The club competes in the Liga Națională, and is the most successful club of the last decade, winning ten consecutive championships between 2004–2010 and 2012-2014 and six Romanian cups. In 2005, the team won FIBA EuroCup Challenge.

Few teams have dominated their domestic competitions in recent years like CSU Asesoft, the perennial Romanian League champion. Now the club returns to the Eurocup more than five years after its debut season in the competition looking to make a splash. Asesoft has won ten Romanian League titles in 11 years and is undeniably the team to beat in its country.

History

Founded in 1998, Asesoft soon established itself as an emerging power with appearances in the Liga Națională finals in 2001 and the semifinals in 2002 and 2003. Asesoft European debut came in the 2003–04 EuroChallenge. That season the team made history by beating Dinamo București for its first Romanian League title. Asesoft then became the first and only Romanian team to win a European title, the 2005 FIBA EuroCup Challenge, edging Lokomotiv Kuban 74-75 in the title game at home with Vladimir Kuzmanović scoring 28 points, including game-winning free throws with 8 seconds left. Its first Eurocup experience came in 2007-08, when they beat Spirou Charleroi and eventual finalist CB Sant Josep, but did not get past the regular season.

Back at home, however, Asesoft has been on a roll the entire decade, conquering seven straight Liga Națională titles from 2004 until 2010. Last season in its Eurocup opener, Asesoft shocked Khimki Moscow 89-97 on the road, but finished the regular season with a 3-7 record. In the Liga Națională, the team won its third consecutive title after making full use of its home-court playoff advantage, winning the deciding Game 5`s of both the semifinal series against U Mobitelco Cluj, and in the finals against CSM Oradea. Back in the Eurocup, expect Asesoft to be even more competitive this season, especially in front of its fans.^[1]

After the 2014–15 season, Asesoft Ploiești was thrown back to the Romanian Second Division, because the team didn't have the finances to play in the highest league.^[2]

Trophies

• 11 Romanian Championships:

2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

• 6 Romanian Cups:

2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

• 1 Romanian Supercup

2014

• 1 EuroCup Challenge

2005

Current roster

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

Asesoft Ploiești roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age C 10 Burlacu, Cătălin (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 253 lb (115 kg) 38 – 3 July 1977 G/F 21 Flowers, Jonte 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 30 – 12 April 1985 F 25 Movileanu, Adrian 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 22 – 4 September 1993 G/F 6 Szijarto, Levente 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 33 – 15 June 1982 C 12 Negoitescu, Vlad 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 24 – 15 May 1991 SG 7 Pelekanos, Michalis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 34 – 25 May 1981 PG 14 Dogaru, Vlad 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 31 – 21 February 1985 PF 20 Cooper, Chris 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 26 – 17 January 1990 SG 22 Runkauskas, Marius 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 29 – 20 May 1986 SG 1 Avramov, Bozhidar 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 216 lb (98 kg) 26 – 8 March 1990 PG 46 Pot, Stefan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 191 lb (87 kg) 21 – 15 July 1994 C 31 Žigeranović, Ivan 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 31 – 14 August 1984	Head coach Vladimir Arnautović Assistant coach(es) Saša Ocokoljić Team manager Alexandru Iacobescu Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: February 20, 2015

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Ivan Žigeranović	Cătălin Burlacu	Vlad Negoitescu
PF	Chris Cooper	Adrian Movileanu
SF	Michalis Pelekanos	Levente Szijarto
SG	Jonte Flowers	Marius Runkauskas	Bozhidar Avramov
PG	Alhaji Mohammed	Stefan Pot	Vlad Dogaru

Sponsorships

Official Shirt Sponsor	Asesoft
Official Shirt Sponsor	România TV
Official Shirt Sponsor	TeamNet
Official Sport Clothing Manufacturer	Spalding
Official Pharmaceutical Sponsor	Farmacia Bratu
Official Sport Drink	Apa Talea
Official Broadcaster	Prahova TV
Official Shirt Sponsor	Idilis

Notable players

Antonio Alexe Virgil Stănescu Virgil Căruţaşu Arvydas Čepulis Vladimir Kuzmanović Nikola Bulatović Vladimir Arnautović Nikola Ilić

Bojan Obradović Saša Ocokoljić Kevin Burleson Reggie Elliot Rashard Griffith Reggie Elliott Darius Hargrove Alhaji Mohammed

External links

• Official website

References

1. Asesoft in Europe; http://www.eurocupbasketball.com/, 23 October 2014