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October 6th, 2008
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Taking history to court

Luring record crowds, Nymburk readies for ULEB Cup showdown

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
February 13th, 2008 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Nymburk's star player Radislav Rančík has helped drive his team to a ULEB Cup series against Poland's Turow Zgorzelec.
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ULEB Cup

Round of 32

Feb. 19: Turow at Nymburk
Feb. 26: Nymburk at Turow
Times TBD

Nymburk in ULEB group play
Belgrade 94 Nymburk 87 (OT)
Bologna 82 Nymburk 71
Nymburk 75 Athens 65
Nymburk 81 Oostende 75
Moscow 94 Nymburk 83
Nymburk 96 Belgrade 74
Nymburk 82 Bologna 70
Nymburk 86 Athens 77
Oostende 83 Nymburk 81
Moscow 88 Nymburk 83

Drawing crowds
Visitors Attendance
Red Star Belgrade 4,560
Athens 5,720
Oostende 5,130
Bologna 7,120
Dynamo Moscow 9,875

The same clichés keep popping up in conversations about Nymburk basketball, words and phrases like “historic,” “can’t underestimate,” and, mostly, “opportunity.”
It’s as if the team’s members, on the brink of international recognition, have no idea how to properly define their upcoming ULEB Cup elimination series with Poland’s Turow, or to explain the record-breaking crowds that began turning up midway through the group phase of the tournament.
Nothing in the team’s existence, in the national league’s recent past or in the town’s memory has prepared them for this kind of success.
“This is a huge milestone,” said star forward Radislav Rančík.
Although the ULEB Cup rates as a second-tier tournament compared with the prestigious Euroleague, it brings together powerhouse teams from across the continent: Dynamo Moscow, Pamesa Valencia and the like — 54 in all. Nymburk, a small town northeast of Prague, is the country’s first representative on the international circuit.
Sort of. By a strange quirk, its ostensibly Polish rival, Turow Zgorzelec, jaunts across the border to Liberec, north Bohemia, for home games.
Turow features a dangerous small forward in Thomas Kelati. Guard David Logan averaged 18.4 points — and induced an unknown number of headaches — per game in tournament play. And the team cruised through its group schedule with an 8-2 record.
Nymburk, meanwhile, failed to gain a top spot in the group, earning admission to the tournament’s finals based on a wild-card seeding. They struggled starting the tourney, dropping their first two games before squeaking out a win against bottom-dwelling Panellinios Athens.
“We were trying to get a feel for the fact that we could win,” said guard Arthur Lee.
Once the team notched that first victory, however, it went on a winning rampage that lasted until the final two contests — and fans began to notice. By the time the team faced Bologna at home in late December, 7,120 showed up, a Czech record for basketball. When Dynamo Moscow arrived to close out the group schedule, 9,875 raucous supporters packed the stands.
“It’s a big advantage,” Rančík said of Nymburk’s popularity. “You’re going up against some team, you’re tired and the fans pick you back up.”
Nymburk’s surge of popularity clearly concerns Turow’s Logan.
“We play our home games in the Czech Republic,” he said at a press conference. “And that will be strange for us because they will bring a lot of fans to our home.”
Otherwise, the rivals match up well. Rančík averaged 20.5 points per game over the tournament’s first 10 games. Lee, Monty Mack, Blake Schilb, Ladislav Sokolovský and Petr Benda are all capable of double-digit scoring.
Countering this offensive firepower, Turow boasts one of the ULEB Cup’s top defensive units. The clubs faced each other twice during last fall’s preseason schedule, each winning at home.
“We just have to dictate our own tempo and eliminate mistakes,” Rančík said. “Do what we’ve been doing all year.”
Nymburk hosts Turow Feb. 19 before making the short trip to Liberec Feb. 26. Whichever team survives will square off against the winner of Kyiv and Oostende. Nymburk split their series with Oostende in the ULEB Cup group phase.
If this small-town squad advances into the next round, it will be a historic moment — both on the court and in those increasingly crowded seats.
“It’s a real opportunity,” Lee said, leaning on the o-word. “It’s here, it’s seizable. They have to come here first. We have a great shot.”

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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