BC UNICS

BC UNICS
Leagues VTB United League
EuroLeague
Founded 1991
History 1991–present
Arena Basket-Hall Kazan
Arena Capacity 7,482
Location Kazan, Russia
Team colors Green, White
         
President Yevgeny Bogachev
Team manager Valery Kolesnikov
Head coach Evgeniy Pashutin
Championships 1 EuroCup
3 Russian Cups
1 North European League
1 EuroChallenge
Website unics.ru
Uniforms
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BC UNICS (Russian: БК УНИКС) is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League and EuroLeague. Their home arena is Basket-Hall Kazan.

Though officially the club's men's professional club was founded in 1991, (when it first began to play in the lowest level of the national pro leagues), UNICS traces its origins back to KSU's college team Burevestnik, which participated in the USSR student championships from 1957, and won the 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, UNICS was promoted to the Russian Basketball Super League A, which was the time, the top-tier level 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

UNICS 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 had already played in 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 the Greek club 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, which was eventually named the FIBA EuroChallenge, in April 2004, and UNICS made sure of its opportunity. UNICS signed Saulius Štombergas, Eurelijus Žukauskas, and Chris Anstey, and then won its regular season group, and advanced to the final four, which was held on its own floor, and where the club was crowned the FIBA Europe League champions. The MVP of the tournament's final four, Martin Müürsepp, scored 22 points, in an 87–63 win over Maroussi, in the title game. By the 2005–06 season, UNICS went one level up, and made its ULEB Cup (later named EuroCup) debut, where they tied the best regular season record in the competition's history. However, things turned south quickly, as UNICS lost at home against Roma, for the only time all season, in the tournament's eighth finals’ second leg, and crashed out earlier than expected. UNICS got stronger for the next season, keeping the core group of the previous season's side, while adding Darjuš Lavrinovič to reunite with his twin brother Kšyštof Lavrinovič, in a twin-towers set full of talent. The team made it to the ULEB Cup semifinals, before losing to the eventual league champs Real Madrid. It also returned to the Russian League finals, losing against perennial champion CSKA.

In the 2007–08 season, UNICS made it to the ULEB Cup (now called EuroCup) Final Eight, but fell to Akasvayu Girona in the quarterfinals. UNICS finally broke through in the EuroCup in the 2010–11 season, by winning its regular season and Last 16 groups, before sweeping its quarterfinal series against Pepsi Caserta. Once in the finals, UNICS thrashed KK Cedevita 87–66, in the semifinals, behind 27 points from Terrell Lyday, and registered a no-doubt-about-it 92–77 win against Cajasol Sevilla, in the title game. Marko Popović had 18 points and a EuroCup Finals record of 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. The club then entered into new waters, eager to prove that it belonged among the European continent’s best, as it would compete in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague in the following season.

On the heels of one of the greatest seasons in club history, UNICS looked to continue its rise to greatness, as it made its EuroLeague debut in the 2011–12 season. The reigning EuroCup champion was a force to be reckoned with in the previous season, as it not only marched through the EuroCup, but also made 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 was that it had managed to keep a core of star players for several years. Players like Marko Popović, Maciej Lampe, Terrell Lyday, Vladimir Veremeenko, and Kelly McCarty helped write a golden chapter in UNICS' club history. Before that, UNICS had put Kazan, Russia, on the European basketball map, and became the perfect ambassador for the sports-crazy Republic of Tatarstan in the Russian federation.

Honours

Domestic competitions

Champions (3): 2003, 2009, 2014

European competitions

Champions (1): 2011
Champions (1): 2004
Champions (1): 2003

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
2014–15 1 VTB United League 6 Quarterfinalist 1 Euroleague – Group stage
2 Eurocup – Semifinals
2015–16 1 VTB United League 2 Runner-up 2 Eurocup – Eightfinals

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
G 1 United States Johnson, Orlando 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 27 – (1989-03-11)11 March 1989
F 2 Russia Antipov, Pavel 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 105 kg (231 lb) 25 – (1991-09-19)19 September 1991
F 4 United States Clarke, Coty 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 24 – (1992-07-04)4 July 1992
SG 5 United States Langford, Keith 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 33 – (1983-09-15)15 September 1983
G/F 7 Russia Ponkrashov, Anton 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 30 – (1986-04-23)23 April 1986
C 9 Belarus Parakhouski, Artsiom 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 122 kg (269 lb) 29 – (1987-10-06)6 October 1987
PG 10 Spain Colom, Quino 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 28 – (1988-11-01)1 November 1988
F/C 13 Croatia Banić, Marko 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 113 kg (249 lb) 32 – (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
SG 18 Russia Voronov, Evgeny 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 30 – (1986-05-07)7 May 1986
SG 19 Russia Karpukhin, Aleksandr 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 26 – (1990-05-06)6 May 1990
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) 102 kg (225 lb) 27 – (1989-03-29)29 March 1989
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) 23 – (1993-04-09)9 April 1993
G 99 Russia Nezvankin, Dmitriy 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 23 – (1993-10-11)11 October 1993
PG Mexico Stoll, Paul 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 79 kg (174 lb) 30 – (1985-12-14)14 December 1985
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 Artsiom Parakhouski Latavious Williams
PF Kostas Kaimakoglou Marko Banić Pavel Antipov
SF Coty Clarke Vadim Panin Ruslan Khabirov Vladislav Yevstafev
SG Keith Langford Orlando Johnson Evgeny Voronov Aleksandr Karpukhin
PG Quino Colom Paul Stoll Anton Ponkrashov 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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