BC Astana

BC Astana
Leagues	Kazakhstan Championship VTB United League FIBA Europe Cup
Founded	2011
History	BC Astana (2011–present)
Arena	Saryarka Velodrome
Arena Capacity	9,270
Location	Astana, Kazakhstan
Team colors	Gold, Teal
President	Valeri Tikhonenko
Head coach	Ilias Papatheodorou
Championships	4 Domestic Titles 4 Domestic Cups
Website	bcastana.kz
Uniforms
Home Away

Basketball Club "BC" Astana (Kazakh: Астана баскетбол клубы; Russian: Баскетбольный клуб "БК" Астана) is a Kazakhstani professional basketball club that is based in the capital city of Astana, in Kazakhstan.

Founded in 2011, it has competed in the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship and the VTB United League since, obtaining a slew of domestic titles in the process.

History

BC Astana was created in March 2011, with the aim of competing in the VTB United League, Valery Tikhonenko was chosen as the general director. There were doubts expressed by other clubs in the league, due to the lack of basketball tradition in Kazakhstan, but the side answered all the admission requirements, including their budget, stadium (a revamped Saryarka Velodrome) and the proximity of hotels, and an international airport. The side received the totality of its funding from the Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund.^[1][2]

They would sign a number of Kazakhstani players from successful side Astana Tigers, also recruiting their coach Vitaly Strebkov to serve as assistant coach.^[3][4]

2011–2012 season

In their first season in the VTB United regional league, the team from Kazakhstan won 7 games out of 16 during 2011–12 season, including against strong sides such as Žalgiris and holders Khimki, nearly reaching the playoffs.^[5] They had more success on the domestic front, winning the Kazakhstani championship and the Kazakhstani cup.

The team became a part of the Astana Presidential Sports Club multi-sports club, when it was formed in December 2012.

Arenas

BC Astana vs. BC Azovmash, VTB United League regular season game in 2014, at Saryarka Velodrome.

BC Astana plays its home basketball games at the Saryarka Velodrome.

Roster

BC Astana roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age 2.5 !G/F Error: – This is not a valid number. Please refer to the documentation at {{number table sorting}} for correct input. KAZ ! Klimov, Dmitry 2.5 !G/F Error: – This is not a valid number. Please refer to the documentation at {{number table sorting}} for correct input. KAZ ! Gavrilov, Dmitry 3.5 !F Error: – This is not a valid number. Please refer to the documentation at {{number table sorting}} for correct input. GRE ! Kaselakis, Leonidas 7000202000000000000♠2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 7002109000000000000♠109 kg (240 lb) 7001260000000000000♠26 – (1990-06-01)1 June 1990 1.5 !G Error: – This is not a valid number. Please refer to the documentation at {{number table sorting}} for correct input. USA ! Miller, Ian 7002190000000000000♠190 m (623 ft 4 in) 7001840000000000000♠84 kg (185 lb) 7001250000000000000♠25 – (1991-09-28)28 September 1991 3.5 !F Error: – This is not a valid number. Please refer to the documentation at {{number table sorting}} for correct input. USA ! Odom, Rod 4.5 !F/C Error: – This is not a valid number. Please refer to the documentation at {{number table sorting}} for correct input. USA ! Krubally, Ousman 7002201000000000000♠201 m (659 ft 5 in) 7002102000000000000♠102 kg (225 lb) 7001280000000000000♠28 – (1988-03-13)13 March 1988	Head coach Ilias Papatheodorou Assistant coach(es) Vitaly Strebkov Andrey Novikov Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 25 February 2015

Championships

Kazakhstan Basketball Championship:

• 4x Champions: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Kazakhstan Basketball Cup:

• 4x Winners: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Season by season

Head coaches

• Matteo Boniciolli 2011–13
• Aleksandar Trifunović 2013–15
• Ramūnas Butautas 2015–present

References and notes

External links