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The Club Scene: Unics Kazan
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In just its second decade of existence, Unics Kazan has gone a long way towards helping Russian basketball return to the forefront of European sports. Though Kazan is some 800 kilometers from Moscow and its traditional Russian basketball powers, CSKA and Dynamo, the club from the capital city of Tatarstan has played a big role in promoting local talent and bringing big names from surrounding countries to boost itself and the reputation of the Russian League as a whole. The club's impact can be seen at nearly every major basketball championship, with Unics players taking part in all the recent European and world championships as well as the Olympics. As the easternmost club in either ULEB competition, Unics has already stretched the geographical boundaries of competitiveness in elite European basketball, and now it is ready for its biggest stage yet: a matchup with Europe's most-decorated team, Real Madrid of Spain, in the two-game semifinals of the ULEB Cup. To put it clearly, Unics Kazan has really arrived, now.
It all started in 1991 when the club was established in the Russian minor leagues. Within three short years Unics, had already begun the climb to its current elite status. Between 1994 and 1997, Unics achieved promotion season after season until it secured a berth for the first time in Russia's first division. Showing itself to be a club that seizes the moment, Unics made a smashing debut in the Russian Suproleague, quickly establishing itself among the top five teams in the country. With the President of the National Bank of the Republic of Tatarstan, Yevgeny Borisovitch Bogachev, aboard as club president, Unics embarked on its first taste of continental competition, too. Ruslan Avleev was the star in those early days, scoring at will as the team missed advancing past the group stages in the 1998 Korac Cup. A year later, with Avleev still scoring and point guard Petr Samoylenko having joined the team, Unics reached the second round of the Saporta Cup before losing against BK Ventspils in the first elimination round.
As the club gained experience, even better results started to come. Unics returned to the Korac Cup in 2000, with players like Andrei Trushkin, Anton Yudin or the late Alexander Petrenko, who died last year in a car crash, joining forces with Avleev and Samoylenko, but the eventual champs of the competition, Limoges of France, stood on the Russian club's way to the group stage. It happened to be a turning point for Unics, however. The team placed second to CSKA in the Russian League in both 2001 and 2002. By then, the name Unics was known in all of Europe as well, thanks to a remarkable run through the Saporta Cup. Led by Leonid Iailo, Evgeni Pashutin, Michael Meeks and Glen Whisby, Unics stormed its way through the competition, beating long-established teams like Aris, Besiktas or Hapoel Galil Elyon before running out of steam against eventual winner Maroussi Athens in the semifinals. It would take only two years for Unics to get its revenge, however.
 Unics continued as a regular contender in all European competitions. In 2002, the team improved its roster by bringing players like Acie Earl, Michael McDonald and Martin Muursepp for a new edition of the Saporta Cup. Once again, the team registered prestigious wins against Telekom Baskets Bonn and Lietuvos Rytas in the group stage, and then downed Iraklis to lose against Montepaschi Siena, another team that would go on to win the title, in the quarterfinals. Even when Unics beat Siena 73-70 in the first leg in Kazan behind 31 points from Muursepp, Montepaschi sealed the outcome at home. Unics did not get revenge until this year's ULEB Cup quarterfinals. The first title to work its way into the club's trophy case was the Russian national cup in March 2003, with an electrifying 81-82 overtime victory over CSKA, not only the standard-setting team in Russian basketball, but a Euroleague Final Four participant that season. Unics also took part that year in the FIBA Champions Cup with players like Kebu Stewart, Sergei Chikalkin, Valeri Daineko, Andrei Fetisov, Damir Mrsic, Dickey Simpkins or Samoylenko. Unics won its regular season group but once again lost in the quarterfinals against Ventspils.
Unics fans did not have to wait long to see their team win a European title, too. Kazan hosted the FIBA Europe League final four in April 2004 and again made sure of its one-of-a-kind opportunity. Unics signed two former Euroleague champions in Saulius Stombergas and Eurelijus Zukauskas, as well as players like Chris Anstey, Lamarr Greer or Aleksander Milosserdov. Unics won its regular season group and then took its playoff series against both Vojvodina and Hemofarm to advance to the final four on its own floor Kazan. In front of a devoted crowd, Unics thrashed Ural Great 93-68 behind 29 points from Stombergas and then was crowned the champion as MVP Muursepp scored 22 points in an 87-63 win over Maroussi in the title game. The team was the top candidate to win the 2005 FIBA Europe League, as it was back with two major additions, Shammond Williams and Kaspars Kambala. Unics did not reach the final four, however, as BC Khimki stood in the way and won their three-game quarterfinal playoff. The team did better in the Russian League, making it to the semifinals before losing against Dynamo Moscow.
 By 2005-06, it was time for Unics to step up a level and the team took part in the ULEB Cup for the first time. Management built a worthy team, bringing back many stars of the past, including Avleev, Muursepp, Stombergas and Chikalkin, as well as big-name newcomers like Travis Best, Yahor Meshcharakou and Ksistof Lavrinovic. The squad was a hit under veteran coach Stanislav Eremin, scoring at a high level and winning eight straight games to start the ULEB Cup season. Unics finished 9-1 in winning Group C, tying the best regular season record in ULEB Cup history. When Unics advanced to the eliminations rounds to face Lottomatica Roma in the first round, however, things turned south quickly. A fourth-quarter collapse in the first game against Roma haunted the club as it lost at home for the only time all season in the second leg and crashed out earlier than expected.
Instead of sulking over the shock defeat, Unics got stronger for this season. It retained the core group of the previous season's side, but upgraded where possible. Dusko Savanovic and Jarod Stevenson both joined, while all-Euroleague second-team selection Darjus Lavrinovic signed on to reunite with twin brother Ksistof in a twin towers set full of talent. Former European national champion coach Antanas Sireika was brought in to run the show and things couldn't have gone much better. Heading into the ULEB Cup semifinals for the first time, Unics is the top-scoring club in the competition and the only one to take out a regular season group winner by eliminating Montepaschi Siena in the quarterfinal stage.
A key to the club's success at this level has been its near-perfect play at home. Unics is undefeated this year at the 7,000-seat Basket Hall. The club is 12-1 all-time in ULEB Cup games in Kazan and has gone 38-3 in European home games on its floor in the last five seasons. Next up, it's Unics against the European team with the most trophies ever. Opportunity knocks again for Unics Kazan.
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ULEBcup.com
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