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.
Because of the SuperCup game on Tuesday our next home game will take place at an unusual time, on Friday from 6 pm, in which we host BKG PRIMA NATURA Szigetszentmiklós
A jövő keddi Szuper Kupa mérkőzés miatt szokatlan időpontban, pénteken 18 órakor kerül sor a következő hazai bajnoki mérkőzésünkre, melyen a BKG PRIMA NATURA Szigetszentmiklóst fogadjuk
The board of our club has great experience in managing difficulties, but we are facing an especially huge challenge in terms of functioning due to the energy crisis, as well as on a professional level, since Courtney Vandersloot is for now unable to join our team due to personal reasons
Klubunk vezetésének nagy tapasztalata van már a nehézségek menedzselése terén, de most különösen nagy kihívások elé nézünk a működés tekintetében az energia-válság miatt, illetve szakmai vonalon is, miután személyes okok miatt Vandersloot Courtney egyelőre nem tud csatlakozni a keretünkhöz