Going for the win even with an incomplete roster

This week we are preparing for a Euroleague game again. We are hosting Gdynia who have returned to the most prestigious tournament from 6 pm on Thursday.

The Polish who belonged to the outstanding teams of the early 2000's are old acquaintances for us. So much so, that the team called LOTOS which is a giant oil company have played in the Euroleague final in 2002 and 2004. They had players like Tamika Catchings, Katie Smith, Ticha Penicheiro, or the 218 cm tall player Malgorzata Dydek who tragically passed away at a very young age on their roster. The 11-time Polish champions lost the support of their major sponsor in 2014 but with the appearance of Arka in 2018 they were able to look to bigger goals again.

Last year they got the bronze medal in their domestic championship, and since the teams that finished ahead of them wouldn't take on the responsibility of competing in the Euroleague they took the chance. In the qualifiers they got two easy wins against Turkish side Botas, and so they were able to re-enter the international stage after eight years.

The team's head coach Latvian Gundars Vetra is a renowned name in the field. He sat on the opposing bench against us many times, for example in the 2009 FINAL4 as the head coach of Ekaterinburg. When creating the roster they tried to keep the core together, and strengthen the team's weaker points. So Australian national team member Allen, Slovakian international Bálintová, the trustworthy German center Greinacher and two Polish basketball players with valuable minutes on court, Morawiec and Podgórna have all stayed in Gdyina. They acquired Slovakian national team member Angelika Slamova, Polish guard Marissa Kastanek, German Marie Gülich, and Maryia Papova from Belarus in the summer. All of them became integral parts of the team's game.

Even though they started the season with three losses, they fell just short against BLMA and Schio. On the home court of Turkish side Fenerbahce there was not much for them to do, but in the last round before the break they got their long anticipated first victory! In a real thriller ending they beat massive side Girona 71-69.

Our team has gone of an opposite road in the first four games, however, Briann's injury also played a part in us falling short in Girona and Lyon. Unfortunately we cannot compete with a full roster this time either. Jeca has gone through a successful hand surgery, but her rehab will take a couple of weeks. Others are also not completely healthy, which is making the preparation more difficult, but as our head coach says in the pre-game interview, even with this great challenge we still have a good chance to win.



Tickets can be purchased at the venue for 1500 HUF. Entry to the game is free of charge below the age of 14 and above 70!

The game that tips off at 6.00 pm can be followed via live online statistics at the FIBA website, and via live video streaming on the Euroleague YouTube channel.

- 2019-11-27

A decision has been made about closing this season's international tournaments at the FIBA Board's online meeting

Török Zoltán: Mese is lehetne címû könyve most már nem csak online rendelhetõ, hanem személyesen is megvásárolható hétköznapokon klubunk sportirodáján (Novomatic Aréna, Lackner K

Új szakvezetõvel, tovább fiatalított csapattal vágtunk neki az idei szezonnak, melynek kezdete minden várakozásunkat felülmúlta

We got into this season with a new head coach and a roster that was even younger than before, and the beginning of it was above all expectations

Who would have thought back in 2018 that a year later we would be able to host the Euroleague FINAL4 again? Well, the world set their eyes on Sopron again, because the decision-makers at FIBA thought that only the experience staff of our club would be able to organize the event on a high level within three weeks

Ki gondolta volna 2018-ban, hogy egy év múlva ismét mi rendezhetjük az Euroliga négyes döntõjét? Már pedig ismét Sopronra szegezte tekintetét a nagyvilág, miután a FIBA döntnökei úgy gondolták, egyesül a mi klubunk tapasztalt stábja tudja három hét alatt megszervezni magas színvonalon az eseményt

It is generally thought that it is always easier to get to the top than to stay there

Általános vélekedés, hogy a csúcsra mindig könnyebb felérni, mint ott maradni

Regarding the 2018 Euroleague Final every basketball enthusiast was preparing for celebration

A 2018-as FINAL4 döntõje kapcsán ünnepre készült minden magyar kosárlabda barát! Elõször léphetett pályára magyar csapat az Euroliga elsõségért! A túloldalon egy kisebb világválogatott sorakozott fel, mely érvényre is juttatta nagyobb erejét a remekül küzdõ csapatunkkal szemben

Our center Betti Határ has been suffering from pain in her ankle, and has finally decided to undergo operation

Centerünk, Határ Betti a szezon utolsó másfél hónapjában sokszor kínlódott a bokájával, és végül úgy döntött, hogy aláveti magát az operációnak

Our club has completed the creation of the roster for the 2020/2021 season

Klubunk befejezte a 2020/21-es kosárlabda szezon csapatának kialakítását

Even making it to the FINAL4 in 2018 was an incredible performance, not to mention that for the first time in club history we were able to host the top clubs of Euroleague and many important personalities of the basketball world

Már az is elképesztõ teljesítmény volt, hogy 2018-ban ott lehettünk a FINAL4-ban, arról nem is beszélve, hogy fennállásunk során elõször láthattuk vendégül rendezõként az Euroliga top csapatait és a kosárlabda világ számos neves személyiségét

Két éve, március idusán felfoghatatlan siker kapujába érkeztünk

Two years ago at the ides of March we have come to the gates of an incomprehensible success

Gáspár Dávidot kértük fel, hogy értékelje elsõ soproni szezonját

The league finals brought a county rivals’ series, in which we had control over three games that we had won we put the golden star representing the 10th championship title in our crest