2008-09 club profile: Ural Great
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 One of the original ULEB Cup teams returns to the competition after a long absence, as Ural Great tries to repeat the success it found earlier in this decade. Basketball is considered one of the oldest sports in the Ural region. The first games were played in the twenties. In 1928, the first international game took place in Perm and the local team beat their rivals from France.
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Ural Great Roster 2008-09
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| Name |
Pos.
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Height
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| Christian Dalmau |
G
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1.94
|
| Jumaine Jones |
F
|
2.03
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| Aleksandr Ryndin |
C
|
2.13
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| Vanja Plisnic |
F
|
2.07
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| Ralph Biggs |
F
|
2.00
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| Aleksandr Bashminov |
C
|
2.11
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| Aleksey Surovtsev |
F
|
2.02
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| Fedor Likholitov |
C
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2.10
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| Patch Morlende |
G
|
1.90
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| Vitaly Ionov |
F
|
2.01
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| Roman Khamitov |
F
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1.98
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| Sergei Varlamov |
C
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2.10
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| ADmitriy Khomyakov |
F
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1.98
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| Sergei Chernov |
G
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1.85
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| Maxim Dybovsky |
G
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1.94
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| Roman Dvinyaninov |
Head Coach |
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The highest achievement of the Perm region basketball team in Soviet times was sixth place in 1975. In 1995, Ural Great Games Support Fund was founded in Perm. Its founders were the Perm basketball players who took part in the regional championship: Sergey Kushchenko, Vladislav Isaev, Alexander Antonov and Vladimir Martynenko. In 1997, Ural Great already reached the Russian Superleague to stay. The team finished 10th in 1998 and reached the Russian League playoffs in 1999 for the first time, finishing fourth overall. By the end of the century, Ural Great had the infrastructure and a nice mix of youth and experience to compete with the big names in Russian basketball.
It all paid off in 2001, when Perm hosted the Northern European Basketball League final four. Not only did Ural Great win the 2001 NEBL title, but it also lifted its first Russian League trophy with players like Sergei Chikalkin, Sergei Panov and Mikhail Mikhailov downing Unics Kazan 3-0 in the finals. Ural Great qualified for the 2001-02 Euroleague and made it to the Top 16, as well as defending its Russian League title. The team took part in the first-ever ULEB Cup in 2002-03, losing in the eighthfinals against Caprabo Lleida, while Ural lost its Russian League crown to mighty CSKA Moscow. Ural Great has never been back to the Russian League finals, even missing the playoffs in the 2006-07 season. The team kept playing European club competition, reaching the FIBA Europe League final four in 2004 and winning the FIBA EuroCup Challenge in 2006. Ural comes off its best season in recent history, as it was one win away from reaching the FIBA EuroCup final four, as well as returning to the Russian League semifinals, where it lost against Khimki. Ural Great is set to start a new era in its first ULEB Cup appearance in more than five years.
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Thursday, August 14, 2008
Eurocupbasketball.com
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