MBC Mariupol (, formerly BK Azovmash) was a Ukrainian professional basketball club. It was founded in 1990 in the city of Mariupol in South-Eastern Ukraine.
Mariupol was one of the strongest teams in Ukraine along with Kyiv, Khimik, and Cherkasy. The team's performance peak was an appearance in the EuroCup Final of 2007, against Akasvayu Girona.
History The club was founded in 1990. Azovmash moved up from the Ukrainian third to first division by 1999. Azovmash won the 2002 Ukrainian SuperLeague title. Azovmash added another Ukrainian title in 2004 and following the arrival of point guard Khalid El-Amin, won the domestic championship again in 2006 and 2007.
In 2007, with players like Kenan Bajramović, Panagiotis Liadelis, Serhiy Lishchuk and El-Amin, Azovmash reached the FIBA EuroCup Final Four, defeating Italian Serie A club Virtus Bologna by a point in the semis before falling to Spanish Liga ACB club Akasvayu Girona in the title game. In 2008, Azovmash reached the elimination rounds ULEB Cup and won the Ukrainian domestic championship and cup.
After leaving the Ukrainian Basketball Superleague in 2014, the club did not join any competition until 2016, when the club joined the Higher League, the Ukrainian second division.
Season by season SeasonTierLeagueUkrainian CupUnited League European competitions2008–09 1 SuperLeague 1stWinner 2 Eurocup 2009–10 1 SuperLeague 1st Semifinalist 2 Eurocup 2010–11 1 SuperLeague 4thRunner-up Fourth place 2 Eurocup 2011–12 1 SuperLeague 2nd Regular season 2 Eurocup 2012–13 1 SuperLeague 2nd Regular season 2 Eurocup 2013–14 1 SuperLeague Regular season
Honours Ukrainian SuperLeague: Gold - 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Silver - 2005, 2012, 2013 Bronze - 2001, 2002 Ukrainian Cup: Gold - 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009 Silver - 2007 FIBA EuroCup: Gold Conference North - 2003 Finalist of the EuroCup 2006-07
Notable players
Oleksandr Rayevsky Serhiy Lishchuk Alexander Lokhmanchuk Kyrylo Fesenko Maksym Pustozvonov Denys Lukashov Vyacheslav Bobrov Ihor Zaytsev Oleksandr Kol'čenko Thomas Van Den Spiegel Kenan Bajramović Nemanja Gordić Ratko Varda Slaven Rimac Robert Archibald Panagiotis Liadelis Nikola Radulović Sandis Valters Tomas Delininkaitis Simonas Serapinas Vladimir Golubović Aleksandar Ćapin Radoslav Rancik Miroslav Raduljica Ivan Paunić Tadija Dragićević William Avery Rodney Buford R. T. Guinn Tyus Edney Khalid El-Amin Junior Harrington Jermaine Jackson Kris Lang Carlos Powell Marc Salyers Dijon Thompson Joe Crispin
Head coaches Vitaliy Lebedintsev (2002) Andriy Podkovyrov (2002–2004) Rimas Girskis (2004–2007) Algirdas Brazys (2007–Dec. 2007) Sergiy Zavalin (Dec. 2007–Feb. 2008 ) Memi Bečirovič (Feb.–Nov. 2008) Rimas Girskis (Nov. 2008– Nov. 2009) Andriy Podkovyrov (Nov. 2009–Feb. 2010) Sergiy Zavalin (Feb.–Nov. 2010) Rolandas Jarutis (Nov. 2010–Jun. 2011 ) Aleksandar Petrović (Jun.–Dec. 2011) Gintaras Krapikas (Dec. 2011–Feb. 2012) Luca Bechi (Feb.–Jun. 2012) Aleksandar Kesar (Jul.–Nov. 2012) Sergiy Zavalin (Nov. 2012) Sergiy Zavalin (Jun. 2013–Jan. 2014) Zvezdan Mitrović (Jan.–May 2014)
References
External links Eurocup team profile Eurobasket.com team profile