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The Club Scene: Benetton Fribourg Olympics
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  Just four weeks into its first ULEB Cup, Benetton Fribourg Olympics has already registered what is arguably the biggest European win club history, downing Triumph Lyubertsy of Russia last week for the team's second victory in Group E. It is a fitting start for a team linked to Swiss basketball since the sport arrived in the country. In fact, basketball started in Fribourg in 1935 when Club Athletique de Fribourg was founded. Two more clubs, Fribourg Basket and Olympic Basket, were created in the late 1940s. Those teams became archrivals over the years, but it was Olympic who won the battle when it was promoted to the Swiss first division in 1955. On April 27, 1961, both teams merged to become Fribourg Olympic and since that day, the newborn squad has always belonged to the Swiss first division, for as many as 44 consecutive seasons. Its first Swiss League title came in 1966, followed by a Swiss Cup trophy in 1967. Coaches like Celestin Mrazek, Robert Koller, Ed Miller and Joe Whelton or players like Greg Howard, Tom Lockhart, Cornel Warner and Billy Ray Bates helped the team to win eight Swiss League titles and reach four other finals between 1971 and 1985.
 The club made its European debut in the 1966-67 season, right after its frist Swiss League title, losing in the Euroleague preliminary round against ASK Vorwarts of Germany. The club tried its luck in the Saporta Cup in the 1967-68 season right after winning the club, but GTS Wisla stood in the way to the second round. The team kept trying to access to the Euroleague group stage without any success and even though Fribourg could not reach it, some historical games took place. European basketball giant Real Madrid visited Fribourg in 1973, with the hosts staying close in an exciting first half, but losing eventually by 73-100. In 1974, Fribourg lost twice against Panathinaikos. It wasn't until the 1975-76 season when Fribourg registered its first win in European competition, downing ABC Soma Wien of Austria 79-67 in the first leg of the Euroleague's first eliminatory round. Soma rallied from that 12-point deficit in the second leg to win the series, however. In the 1982-83 season, Fribourg survived that first eliminatory round, downing Murray BC of Scotland on point difference. Defending Euroleague champion Cantu stood in the way to the group stage, however, and stopped Fribourg on the way to its second consecutive title.
 The team failed to lift another league title until 1992 and soon stopped being a regular European competitions participant. Olympic overcame several down years until veteran superscorer Dusko Ivanovic, a three-time Euroleague champion with Jugoplastika Split, arrived to the team. He singlehandedly helped Fribourg to reach three consecutive Swiss League finals from 1994 to 1996. Ivanovic was player-coach in 1995-96 and his complete move to the bench, plus the emergence of home-grown star Harold Mrazek, coincided with Fribourg again winning both the Swiss League and Swiss Cup titles in 1997. It marked the start of a new golden age as Ivanovic coached the team to two more consecutive Swiss League titles, in 1998 and 1999, as well as a Swiss Cup trophy in 1998. In Europe, Olympic reached the Korac Cup group stage in 1999 . Fribourg overcame Zalaegerszegi TE KK of Hungary, as Mrazek had 37 points in the first leg on the road for a 79-86 win, while Olympic swept the series with a 88-70 win behind 23 points from James Hamilton. Once in the group stage, Fribourg lost 69-68 against Panionios, then thrashed Keravnos Keo of Cyprus 79-53 behind 21 points from Mrazek but lost its remaining four games to stay out of the road to the title. Fribourg also took part in the 2000 and 2001 Korac Cup without reaching the group stage.
Fribourg has kept its name among the very best in Swiss basketball, reaching the league finals in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The team has been taking part in European competitions this decade, too. With Matt Baniak, Patrick Koller and Sebastian Borter, Olympic took part in the 2003 FIBA EuroCup Challenge, finishing the group stage with a 2-8 record.  Fribourg did way better in the 2005 FIBA EuroCup Challenge, making it to the Conference West and Central final four, held at the club's home court. Delmonte Madison, Dave Esterkamp and Slaven Smiljanic allowed Fribourg to survive the group stage and win its quarterfinals series with Keflavik SC of Iceland to reach the final four. BC Boncourt of Switzerland stood on the way to success, downing Olympic 91-82 in the semifinals despite 24 points from Madison and 16 from Esterkamp in front of 1,800 fans. No more titles came until last season. Fribourg conquered a triple crown by winning the Swiss League, Swiss Cup and Swiss League Cup titles in an historic 2006-07 season. With Mrazek back on the team and players like Lorenzo Orr and Esterkemp leading the way, Fribourg celebrated its biggest success ever.
Fribourg's ULEB Cup debut has been dramating. Its very first game at home was a 106-102 double-overtime victory over Antwerp Giants behind 29 points from Mrazek, including a critical basket at the end of regulation. Shot-blocking ace Ken Johnson added 25 points and Esterkamp 23. Last week, Olympic bounced from back-to-back losses with a resounding 78-77 home win against mighty Triumph Lyubertsy of Russia. Fribourg rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit, as Johnson's late heroic efforts on defense allowed Pascal Perrier-David to score a buzzer-beater basket to win the game in shocking fashion. Fribourg not only is beating the expectations, but is also putting Switzerland on the European basketball map again.
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Monday, December 03, 2007
Javier Gancedo, ULEBCup.com
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