Basketball club UNICS Kazan: history, achievements, composition

BC UNICS (Kazan) - Russian professional basketball club of Tatarstan, currently playing in the VTB United League. The home arena of the team is "Basket Hall", the stands of which are designed for 7,500 spectators.

History

Although officially a professional club was founded in 1991 (when it appeared at the lowest levels in the professional league), the history of UNICS originates from the team "Burevestnik" from the Kazan Federal University. She took part in the student championships of the USSR in 1957 and won the title of the best university team of the Soviet Union twice: in 1965 and 1970. Because of this, the UNICS name is an abbreviation: university, culture, sport.

In 1997, he reached the Russian basketball Superleague A, which is the highest echelon of domestic basketball. A year later, Evgeny Bogachev, chairman of the National Bank of the Republic of Tatarstan, became president of the club, as he is still.

The beginning of the way

The club went a long way to Super League A (Russian Basketball Championship), since it was established in 1991. In the period from 1994 to 1997 UNICS (Kazan) secured a place in the first Russian division, and then made a dizzying debut in the top league, finishing in the top five teams. Thanks to this, Kazan basketball players participated in European competitions already in 1997.

The beginning of the new millennium was destined to become a turning point for the club. The team took second place after CSKA Moscow in the Russian Basketball Superleague in 2001 and 2002. The team also reached the semi-final of the Saporta Cup, losing in the semi-final of "Maroussi" from Greece. BC UNICS (Kazan) won its first title, which became the Cup of Russia, in March 2003 with a score of 82-81, having won a strong-willed victory over CSKA.

Fans of UNICS did not have to wait long to see the team as a champion of Europe. In Kazan, the so-called Final Four FIBA Challenge Cup took place, in which UNICS defeated the same Greek "Maroussi" with a score of 87-64. After that, the whole Europe learned about such a club as UNICS. Basketball Kazan fell in love no less than football and hockey. The team began to move well-known players. The club signed a contract with Saulius Strombergas, Eurelius Zukauskas and Chris Anstei.

By the 2005/2006 season UNICS climbed one level up and debuted in the European Cup (the second most important club tournament in Europe). After a good start to the season, the team slowed down and unexpectedly dropped out of the tournament at the 1/8 finals stage. Over the next season, the team strengthened, retaining the main group of players from previous seasons and signing a contract with Dariusz Lavrynovych, who was reunited with twin brother Krzysztof Lavrynovych. The club made its way to the semifinals of the European Cup, where he lost to the future champion of the tournament Madrid "Real". UNICS (Kazan) also participated in the Super League final, losing to the long-time CSKA champions (Moscow).

The long-awaited success

In the 2010/2011 season UNICS still achieved success in the European Cup. Passing through all the sieve of the competition, in fact, without losses, both in the group stage and in the play-off stage, in the final, the Kazanians plunged the Spanish "Cachasol" (now called Sevilla). In addition, UNICS finished the regular season at the top of the standings with a solid reserve, after which, in a grueling fight with the main rivals, the basketball clubs CSKA and Khimki won. The team got tickets to the main basketball tournament of the Old World - the Euroleague. However, UNICS did not immediately get involved, and the team made their way through the group stage, eventually lost in the quarterfinals.

The modern UNICS

Following one of the greatest seasons in the history of the club, UNICS continued to perform in the Eurocup and the Euroleague, as well as in the new VTB United League. The team for a long time preserves the stability of its performances, strives to win every year not only on the domestic, but also in the international arena. One of the secrets of the club's success is that it has managed to keep the core of several players for several years. Players like Marco Popovic, Maciej Lampe, Terrell Laydey, Vladimir Veremeenko and Kelly McCarthy helped write a gold chapter in the history of the UNICS team (Kazan).

The basketball club in season 2013/2014 won group A of the regular season of VTB United League, having won in the end "bronze". In the European Cup the club reached the finals, where he lost to the Spanish "Valencia" on the basis of two matches (Kazan lost both matches of the final series). In the last season UNICS managed to take only 6 place in the VTB United League group, and in the playoffs they stopped at the ¼ finals stage. Unfortunately, in the Euroleague the club was eliminated at the stage of the group stage.

Command

The main coach of the team is the famous Russian athlete Eugene Pashutin, who worked with the Russian national basketball team and BC CSKA.

At the moment the team is fully staffed, there are no serious injuries to the players. We will hope, UNICS will be able to compete in this season for the highest places.