BC UNICS

BC UNICS
Leagues VTB United League
Eurocup
Founded 1991
History 1991–present
Arena Basket-Hall Kazan
Arena Capacity 7,500
Location Kazan, Russia
Team colors Green, White
         
President Yevgeny Bogachev
Head coach Evgeniy Pashutin
Championships 3 Russian Cups
2003, 2009, 2014
1 North European League
2003
1 EuroChallenge
2004
1 Eurocup
2011
Website unics.ru
Uniforms
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BC UNICS (Russian: БК "УНИКС") is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia playing in the VTB United League. Their home arena is Basket Hall Arena.

Though officially the professional club was founded in 1991 (when began its appearance at the lowest of pro leagues), UNICS traces its origin back to KSU's college team Burevestnik which participated in USSR student championships since 1957 winning all-Soviet college title twice - in 1965 and 1970. Because of this the name 'UNICS' is quite an abbreviation - UNI(versity), C(ulture), S(port).

In 1997 it was promoted to the Russian Basketball Super League 'A', the top Russian league. A year later Yevgeny Bogachev, the chairman of the National Bank of the Republic of Tatarstan, became the president of the club.

History

The club has gone a long way towards helping Russian basketball since the club was established in 1991. Between 1994 and 1997, UNICS secured a berth in Russia's first division, and then made a smashing debut, establishing itself among the top five teams in the country. UNICS already played European competitions in 1997, but the new millennium happened to be a turning point for the club. The team placed second to CSKA in the Russian Basketball Super League in 2001 and 2002, the year in which it also reached the Saporta Cup semifinals, losing against Maroussi in the semifinals. UNICS first title was the Russian Cup in March 2003, with an electrifying 81-82 overtime victory over CSKA. UNICS fans did not have to wait long to see their team win a European title, too. Kazan hosted the FIBA Europe League final four, named now FIBA EuroCup, in April 2004 and UNICS made sure of its opportunity. UNICS signed Saulius Štombergas, Eurelijus Žukauskas or Chris Anstey, won its regular season group and advanced to the final four on its own floor, where it was crowned the FIBA Europe League champion as MVP Martin Müürsepp scored 22 points in an 87-63 win over Maroussi in the title game. By 2005-06, UNICS went one level up and made its ULEB Cup debut, tying the best regular season record in the competition's history. Things turned south quickly, as it lost at home against Roma for the only time all season in the eighth finals’ second leg and crashed out earlier than expected. UNICS got stronger for last season, keeping the core group of the previous seasons side while adding Darjuš Lavrinovič to reunite with twin brother Kšyštof Lavrinovič in a twin towers set full of talent. The team made it to the ULEB Cup semifinals before losing to eventual champs Real Madrid. It also returned to the Russian League finals, losing against perennial champion CSKA. UNICS is back in the ULEB Cup with the only goal to reach even higher and make the city of Kazan proud of its mighty basketball team.

In 2007-08, UNICS made it to the ULEB Cup Final Eight, but fell to Akasvayu Girona in the quarterfinals. Last season UNICS broke through in the Eurocup, winning its regular season and Last 16 groups before sweeping its quarterfinal series against Pepsi Caserta. Once in Finals, Unics thrashed KK Cedevita 87–66 in the semifinals behind 27 points from Lyday and registered a no-doubt-about-it 92–77 win against Cajasol Sevilla in the title game. Popovic had 18 points and a Eurocup final record 11 assists to lead UNICS to the title. In the Russian League, UNICS marched to a 21–6 record to finish the regular season atop the standings with room to spare, but then went out in the playoff semifinals after a grueling five-game duel against BC Khimki. Now this blossoming club enters new waters eager to prove it belongs among the continent’s best in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague.

On the heels of one of the greatest seasons in club history, UNICS looks to continue Its rise to greatness as it makes its Euroleague debut. The reigning Eurocup champion was a force to be reckoned with last year, not only marching through the Eurocup, but also making noise in the Russian League, where it finished first at the end of the regular season and reached the playoff semifinals. One of the secrets to the club’s success is that it has managed to keep a core of star players for several years. Players like Marko Popović, Maciej Lampe, Terrell Lyday, Vladimir Veremeenko and Kelly McCarty have helped write a golden chapter in UNICS history. Before that, UNICS put Kazan, Russia, on the European basketball map and became the perfect ambassador for the sports-crazy Republic of Tatarstan in the Russian federation.

Season by season

Season Tier Division Pos. Postseason Cup competition European competitions Regional competitions
1997–98 1 Superleague A 5 Seventh place 3 Korać Cup – Group stage
1998–99 1 Superleague A 5 Fifth place 2 Saporta Cup – Eightfinals
1999–00 1 Superleague A 3 Third place 3 Korać Cup – Eightfinals
2000–01 1 Superleague A 2 Runner-up 2 Saporta Cup – Semifinals
2001–02 1 Superleague A 2 Runner-up 2 Saporta Cup – Quarterfinals
2002–03 1 Superleague A 3 Third place Winner 3 FIBA Champions Cup – Quarterfinals NEBL – Winner
2003–04 1 Superleague A 2 Runner-up Third place 3 FIBA Europe League – Winner
2004–05 1 Superleague A 3 Third place Runner-up 3 FIBA Europe League – Quarterfinals
2005–06 1 Superleague A 4 Fourth place Third place 2 ULEB Cup – Eightfinals
2006–07 1 Superleague A 2 Runner-up Runner-up 2 ULEB Cup – Semifinals
2007–08 1 Superleague A 3 Sixth place Semifinals 2 ULEB Cup – Quarterfinals
2008–09 1 Superleague A 4 Third place Winner 2 Eurocup – Top 16
2009–10 1 Superleague A 3 Third place Runner-up 2 Eurocup – Top 16 VTB League – Runner-up
2010–11 1 PBL 1 Third place 2 Eurocup – Winner VTB League – Third place
2011–12 1 PBL 6 Fifth place 1 Euroleague – Quarterfinals VTB League – Runner-up
2012–13 1 PBL 6 2 Eurocup – Quarterfinals VTB League – Quarterfinals
2013–14 1 VTB United League 1 Semifinalist Champion 2 Eurocup – Runner-up

Roster

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

BC UNICS Kazan roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
SG 5 United States Langford, Keith 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 32 – (1983-09-15)15 September 1983
SF 7 Russia Ponkrashov, Anton 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 29 – (1986-04-23)23 April 1986
C 9 Belarus Parakhouski, Artsiom 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 122 kg (269 lb) 28 – (1987-10-06)6 October 1987
PG 10 Spain Colom, Quino 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 27 – (1988-11-01)1 November 1988
SF 11 Russia Likhodey, Valeriy 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 29 – (1986-10-23)23 October 1986
F/C 13 Croatia Banić, Marko 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 113 kg (249 lb) 31 – (1984-08-31)31 August 1984
PF 15 Russia Gubanov, Petr 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 105 kg (231 lb) 29 – (1987-04-03)3 April 1987
F 19 Russia Fidii, Evgenii 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 24 – (1991-11-01)1 November 1991
G/F 20 Russia Panin, Vadim 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 32 – (1984-02-10)10 February 1984
PF 21 Greece Kaimakoglou, Kostas 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 113 kg (249 lb) 33 – (1983-03-15)15 March 1983
F/C 22 United States Williams, Latavious 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 27 – (1989-03-29)29 March 1989
G/F 24 Lithuania Milaknis, Artūras 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 29 – (1986-06-16)16 June 1986
G 33 Russia Khabirov, Ruslan 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 25 – (1991-03-05)5 March 1991
F 77 Russia Yevstafev, Vladislav 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 110 kg (243 lb) 22 – (1993-04-09)9 April 1993
G 99 Russia Nezvankin, Dmitriy 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 22 – (1993-10-11)11 October 1993
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Italy Emanuele Molin
  • Russia Alexandr Zryadchikov
  • Russia Roman Pashutin
Team manager
  • Russia Valery Kolesnikov

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: August 2, 2015

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Kostas Kaimakoglou Artsiom Parakhouski
PF Latavious Williams Marko Banić Petr Gubanov Evgenii Fidii
SF Valery Likhodey Vadim Panin Vladislav Yevstafev
SG Keith Langford Artūras Milaknis
PG Quino Colom Anton Ponkrashov Ruslan Khabirov Dmitriy Nezvankin

Notable Russian players

bold - FIBA World and FIBA Europe champions and medalists

  • Russia Ruslan Avleev (1997-01, 04-06) - 301 games, 19.2 ppg;
  • Russia Victor Kurilchuk (1997-00) - 201 games, 8.9 ppg;
  • Russia Eduard Soobtsokov (1997-00) - 204 games, 7 ppg;
  • Russia Petr Samoylenko (1998-07, 08-13) - 774 games, 5.8 ppg;
  • Russia Andrey Sepelev (1998–99) - 53 games, 11 ppg;
  • Russia Anton Yudin (1999-03, 04-06) - 243 games, 10.7 ppg;
  • Russia Alexander Petrenko (1999-00) - 58 games, 13.2 ppg;
  • Russia Andrey Kornev (1999-01) - 76 games, 6.1 ppg;
  • Russia Aleksandr Gutorov (1999-00) - 35 games, 8.4 ppg;
  • Russia Evgeniy Pashutin (2000–02) - 86 games, 8.5 ppg;
  • Russia Igor Grachev (2000–02) - 74 games, 8.6 ppg;
  • Russia Valentin Kubrakov (2000–02, 03-04) - 121 games, 8.5 ppg;
  • Russia Igor Zamansky (2001–03, 08-13) - 246 games, 5.3 ppg;
  • Russia Igor Kudelin (2002–03, 06-07) - 35 games, 8.1 ppg;

Notable foreign players

bold - former NBA players; Olympics, FIBA World and FIBA Europe champions and medalists

USA
Australia

Europe

Serbia Milan Gurović (2004) and Turkey Hüseyin Beşok (2005) shortly were under contract with UNICS Kazan, but never played a single game for the team.

(*) former NBA champions

Coaches

bold - Olympics, FIBA World and FIBA Europe champions and medalists

References

External links

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