EUROCHALLENGE: Group C Previev »
BK Pardubice and BK Prostejov should know each other well by the time they run onto the court and meet in Group C of the EuroChallenge.
The two sides compete in the Czech Republic's Mattoni NBL and have already met once this season, on 19th October.
The game didn't make for pleasant viewing for the travelling Pardubice fans as their team fell, 83-68.
Pardubice big man Marcus Arnold was nine of 16 from the floor and a perfect eight of eight at the free-throw line.
He finished with game highs in points (26) and rebounds (11), but when a team loses, that output counts for nothing.
"Certainly I'm much more frustrated by being on the losing team than feeling any satisfaction from my own performance," he said.
"If I'd scored five points, got two rebounds and we'd won, I definitely would have felt better on the bus ride home.
"But basketball is a team sport and you count the wins, not individual statistics."
After opening their EuroChallenge campaign on 8th November against Roanne Basket, a team that reached the Final Four in 2010, Pardubice will again travel to Prostejov the following week to meet in Group C.
They will have a home date with the representatives from Ukraine, BC Goverla.
Leadership is something that Arnold will have to provide for Pardubice, especially following the early retirement of 31-year-old power forward Martin Marek several days ago because of an ailing back.
"My back problems came out of nowhere a year ago, last October," he said.
"I dropped out of training and went through an intense rehabilitation process and then I rejoined the training.
"Although I have to improve my status constantly working with our physiotherapist, around Christmas time the problem returned and persisted until the end of last season."
Marek came into this season looking for better health after spending some time at the Kladruby Rehabilitation Institute this summer.
"After the first month of preparations for the new season came a huge disappointment because in the first preliminary game in Nymburk, the pain came back," he said.
Pardubice are coached by Jan Slowiak.
As for Prostejov, they already have two European games under their belt after taking on Lukoil Academic in the Eurocup Qualifying Round and falling 70-65 in Bulgaria and 87-77 at home.
It won't be easy when the Czech teams face each other, or when they go up against Roanne Basket and BC Goverla.
Roanne power forward Dylan Page is proving to be quite a handful for the team's opponents in France.
He had 32 points in their 119-90 victory over Hyeres-Toulon.
Despite the 30-point victory, Alarm bells were ringing in Roanne.
"Conceding 90 points against Hyeres-Toulon, we could have done a little better," Page admitted.
BC Goverla, meanwhile, are leading the Ukraine top flight with seven victories in eight games.
One of the players that everyone is buzzing about in Ivano-Frankivsk is Brian Greene, a shooting guard/small forward who can hit the three-pointer but also score with powerful moves to the basket.
Greene is a long way from home but he treasures the opportunity to earn a living by playing basketball.
He likes to talk about his upbringing and how it has shaped his outlook on life.
"I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, in America," Greene said.
"Like most kids growing up, it was hard. My mother, she didn't have a lot of money so I was forced to become a man at an early age.
"Just the basic, typical American upbringing for kids growing up in poverty."
CURRENT FORM
• BK Pardubice may have lost to Prostejov but they are flying high in the Czech Republic. Their latest result was an 83-80 road triumph at Bovinae Svitavy on Saturday. The sixth victory in eight games has the team top of the domestic table.
• BK Prostejov have rebounded from a 76-73 defeat at Bovinae Svitavy by winning two straight, downing Pardubice and this weekend, USK Prague (86-81). They have a game in hand and are second in the Czech top flight with a 6-1 mark. Prostejov, whose coach is Zbynek Choleva, have already been through the European wars, losing their two hard-fought games to Lukoil.
• Roanne, who are led by boss Jean-Denys Choulet, are fifth in the 16-team French LNB with two wins in three games. They began the campaign with a 79-76 win over ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne but were then hammered by Gravelines, 91-69.
• BC Goverla are among the early-season pace-setters in Ukraine's domestic league with seven victories in eight games. Their 87-75 win over Kryvbasbasket was a seventh in a row for Murzin Evgeni's team.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
• If Arnold was the one to step up against Prostejov for Pardubice, Maurice Hampton came up trumps against Bovinae Svitavy. Teams cannot afford to leave the 27-year-old open because he buried three of his six shots from long range in his best performance of the season.
• Prostejov's Travis Peterson has hit double digits in scoring in five of the team's seven Mattoni NBL games this season. He is averaging 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds. A 2.08m power forward, Peterson knows what it takes to win in the EuroChallenge because he played in a Lukoil Academic team in 2010-11 that reached the Quarter-Finals and fell to eventual champions KRKA Novo Mesto.
• Page is in his third season with Roanne and experienced the high of reaching the EuroChallenge Final Four in 2010. Page, 29, was a solid player in that side, averaging 13.8 points and 5.1 boards per contest.
• BC Goverla's Eric Coleman has been a terrific contributor for the club so far. For three weeks running in Ukraine, the 2.0m forward has been named among the top five players.
DID YOU KNOW?
Roanne center Travis Peterson has hit double digits in scoring in five of the team's seven Mattoni NBL games this season. He is averaging 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds. A 2.08m power forward, Peterson knows what it takes to win in the EuroChallenge because he played in a Lukoil Academic team in 2010-11 that reached the Quarter-Finals and fell to eventual champions KRKA Novo Mesto.
• Page is in his third season with Roanne and experienced the high of reaching the EuroChallenge Final Four in 2010. Page, 29, was a solid player in that side, averaging 13.8 points and 5.1 boards per contest.
• BC Goverla's Eric Coleman has been a terrific contributor for the club so far. For three weeks running in Ukraine, the 2.0m forward has been named among the top five players.
DID YOU KNOW?
Roanne center Uche Nsonwu-Amadi is well travelled. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, the 2.08m center went to the United States and ended up playing college basketball for the University of Wyoming. The 33-year-old has had stops in Poland, Turkey, Belgium, Israel and Ukraine. Nsonwu has played professional basketball in France since the 2006-07 season, when he was on the books of Gravelines.
HISTORY LANE
• It's been a while since BK Pardubice played in a FIBA Europe competition. In 1993-94, they competed in the Radivoj Korac Cup and the following season, they took part in the European Cup for Men's Clubs. Pardubice made it to the Mattoni NBL Semi-Finals the last two seasons and three of the last four.
• Prostejov, runners-up in the Mattoni NBL to Nymburk the past two years, took part in the EuroCup Challenge in 2006 and '07, and the EuroChallenge in 2008, '09 and '11. Last season, Prostejov more than held their own in Europe, winning nine of their 14 games.
• Roanne competed in the EuroChallenge two seasons ago and made it all the way to the Final Four in Germany where they finished third. Roanne prevailed in 13 of their 18 games. The club has played a lot in Europe. By winning the French title in 2007, they competed in the following season's Euroleague and won four of their 14 games. They also played in the Eurocup in 2008-09 and again last season.
• BC Goverla are making their European bow. Most of the headlines made by the club came last season when they reached the Semi-Finals.
Source: http://www.fibaeurope.com
