BC Dynamo Saint Petersburg

BC Dynamo Saint Petersburg was a Russian professional basketball club based in Saint Petersburg, that existed for two seasons. The club was founded in 2004 and dissolved in 2006. In the 2004–05 season, the club won the FIBA Europe League.

Not to be confused with FC Dynamo Saint Petersburg.
For the defunct bandy club, see Dynamo Leningrad (bandy club).
Dynamo Saint Petersburg
Founded2004
Dissolved2006
HistoryDynamo Saint Petersburg
(2004–2006)
ArenaYubileyny Sports Palace
Capacity7,700
LocationSaint Petersburg, Russia
Championships1 FIBA Europe League

History

2004–05 season

Dynamo Saint Petersburg was created during the 2004 summer when Vladimir Rodionov, owner of Avtodor Saratov, transferred Saratov's place in the first-tier Russian Super League to the club, along with some of its best players such as Vladimir Veremeenko.[1][2] The ambitious club - which had the aim of entering the Super League top four and qualifying for European competitions such as the ULEB Cup and EuroLeague - recruited coach David Blatt and players like Kelly McCarty, Ed Cota, Ognjen Aškrabić, Jón Stefansson and David Bluthenthal (who left after two months).[3][4] It finished the European third-tier 2004–05 FIBA Europe League unbeaten to win the competition after downing BC Kyiv in the final with 24 points from Final Four MVP McCarty.[4] Domestically the club, at one point second in the league, finished fifth in the regular season before losing in the playoff quarterfinals to BC Khimki, a team they had beaten in the Europe League semifinal.

2005–06 season

The 2005–06 season saw a roster overhaul as Blatt left for Italians Benetton Treviso, Fotis Katsikaris was brought in to replace him and Cota and Stefánsson were substituted by Jerry McCullough, Damir Miljković and veteran Darryl Middleton.

Defending their title in the FIBA EuroCup (the renamed FIBA Europe League), Dynamo was on the brink of elimination at the second group stage after three defeats in four games. But the Russians rallied to first beat CEZ ČNymburk and then Fenerbahçe by the 3 points needed to squeeze through to the quarterfinals on overall points difference. In the quarterfinals, they easily swept Maroussi thanks to McCarthy's good form to reach the Final Four again.[5] They could not repeat the previous year's achievement however as they lost their semifinal rematch to Khimki before falling to BC Kiev in the third place game.

In the Russian Super League, Dynamo beat holders CSKA Moscow 62–61 in January,[6] and rivals Khimki 81–69 in March,[7] on their way to the second place in the regular season but were again foiled by Khimki in the playoffs, at the semifinals stage.

Dissolution in 2006

The club started preparations for the 2006–07 season, nominating Yuri Selikhov as coach to replace the departing Fotios Katsikaris,[8] and registering for the ULEB Cup, but it unexpectedly withdrew from all competitions and folded on 6 October 2006. Despite announcing a budget of $6 million for 2005–06,[9] Dynamo and its president reportedly made the decision after the city authorities stopped funding the club to the tune of more than $5 million (wanting a merger with Spartak Saint Petersburg). With their other major sponsor (one of the largest banks in Russia) poised to follow, the club used the bankruptcy to get out of its onerous player contracts.[10]

Season by season
Season Tier League Pos. Russian Cup European competitions
2004–05 1 Super League 5th Quarterfinals 3 Europe League
C
2005–06 1 Super League 3rd Quarterfinals 4 FIBA EuroCup
4th

Honours

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Head coaches

Notes
  1. Due to the club folding, never played an official game for Dynamo

References
  1. Snastin, Kiril (12 October 2004). "Саратов остался без большого баскетбола" Русский [Saratov left without elite basketball]. Kommersant.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  2. Kazankov, Andrei (26 January 2009). "Vladimir Veremeenko, Unics Kazan". EurocupBasketball.com. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  3. Burlund, Martin (11 April 2006). "Foreigners power high- stake game at Dynamo". TheMoscowTimes.com. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  4. Taylor, Jeff (29 April 2004). "The amazing year of Dynamo St. Petersburg". FIBAEurope.com. Press Association. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  5. "Final four team preview: Dynamo return to the Final Four". FIBAEurope.com. 7 April 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  6. "CSKA lost in St.Petersburg once again". CSKAbasket.com. 21 January 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  7. "Russia: Dynamo St. Petersburg win important clash against Khimki". FIBAEurope.com. 14 March 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  8. Zimmerman, Sergei (30 September 2006). "Питерского "Динамо" остаётся в элите" Русский [St. Petersburg's "Dynamo" remain in the elite]. Sport-Express.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  9. Schreck, Carl (30 March 2005). "Rising payouts for playing hoops". TheMoscowTimes.com. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  10. Givony, Jonathan (6 October 2006). "The ugly side of European basketball- DSP collapse". DraftExpress.com. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.