UNICS Kazan

Infobox Basketball club
color1 =#ffc322
color2 =#336600
name =UNICS Kazan
nickname =
logo =Basketball club UNICS(Kazan) logo.gif
imagesize =100px
leagues =Russian Basketball Super League,
ULEB Eurocup
founded =1991
history =1991 - present
arena =Basket Hall Arena
(capacity: 7,500)
location =Kazan, Russia
colors =Green and White
president =Yevgeny Bogachev
coach =Aco Petrovič
assisting coach
championships = 1 Russian Cup (2003)
1 FIBA Europe League (2004)
h_pattern_b =
h_body =336600
h_shorts =336600
a_body =ffffff
a_shorts =ffffff
a_pattern_b =
website = [http://www.unics.ru/ www.unics.ru]

UNICS Kazan is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia playing in the Russian Basketball Super League. Their home arena is Basket Hall Arena.The Club was founded in 1991 and began its appearance at the lowest of leagues.In 1997 it was promoted to the Russian Basketball Super League 'A', the top Russian league.A year later Yevgeny Borisovich Bogachev, the chairman of the National Bank of the Republic of Tatarstan, became the President of the club.

The Club

UNICS Kazan 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 Stombergas, Eurelijus Zukauskas 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 Muursepp 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 eighthfinals’ 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 Darjus Lavrinovic 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.

Achievements

*1997-98 - Superleague A - 5th; Korac Cup - preliminary round;
*1998-99 - Superleague A - 5th; Saporta Cup - 1/16 finals;
*1999-00 - Superleague A - 3rd; Korac Cup - 1/16 finals (lost to the Cup finalist);
*2000-01 - Superleague A - 2nd; Saporta Cup - 1/2 finals (lost to the Cup winner);
*2001-02 - Superleague A - 2nd; Saporta Cup - 1/4 finals (lost to the Cup winner);
*2002-03 - Superleague A - 3rd; Russian Cup - Winner; FIBA Champions Cup - 1/4 finals; NEBL - Winner;
*2003-04 - Superleague A - 2nd; Russian Cup - 1/2 finals; FIBA Europe League - Winner;
*2004-05 - Superleague A - 3rd; Russian Cup - Finals; FIBA Europe League - 1/4 finals;
*2005-06 - Superleague A - 4th; Russian Cup - 1/2 finals; ULEB Cup - 1/8 finals;
*2006-07 - Superleague A - 2nd; Russian Cup - Finals; ULEB Cup - 1/2 finals (lost to the Cup winner);
*2007-08 - Superleague A - 6th; Russian Cup - 1/2 Finals; ULEB Cup - 1/4 finals (Final Eight);

Current Roster

Notable Russian Players

*Ruslan Avleev (1997-01, 2004-06);
*Petr Samoylenko (1998-07);
*Anton Yudin (1999-03, 2004-06);
*Evgenii Pashutin (2000-02);
*Valentin Kubrakov (2000-02, 2003-04);
*Igor Kudelin (2002-03, 2006-07);
*Sergei Chikalkin (2002-03, 2005-07);
*Andrei Fetisov (2002-03);
*Alexander Miloserdov (2003-05; 2006-07);
*Viktor Keirou (2003-05; 2007-08)
*Sergei Toporov (2004-06);
*Vadim Panin (2006-07);
*Dmitriy Sokolov (2006-07);

Notable Foreign Players

*Anthony Bonner (2001-02)
*Damir Mršić (2002-03)
*Dickey Simpkins (2002-03)
*Eurelijus Žukauskas (2002-04)
*Kebu Stewart (2002-03)
*Chris Anstey (2003-05)
*Martin Müürsepp (2003-04; 2005-06)
*Saulius Štombergas (2003-04; 2005-07)
*Kaspars Kambala (2004-05)
*Paul Shirley (2004-05)
*Shammond Williams (2004-05)
*Travis Best (2005-06)
*Kšyštof Lavrinovič (2005-07)
*Jarod Stevenson (2005-07)
*Samaki Walker (2005-06)
*Mateen Cleaves (2006-07)
*Joseph Forte (2007-08)
*Marko Tušek (2007-08)

External links

* [http://www.unics.ru/ Official Site]
* [http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=RUS&Team=1846 Eurobasket.com Team Info]