BC Zenit Saint Petersburg

BC Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russian: БК Зенит Санкт Петербург), formerly known as BC Dynamo Moscow Region (2003–2007) and BC Triumph Lyubertsy (2007–2014), is a Russian professional basketball team that is located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, since 2014. The club competes domestically in the VTB United League, and competed in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1]

Zenit Saint Petersburg
Zenit Saint Petersburg logo
LeaguesVTB United League
EuroLeague (suspended)
Founded2014; 10 years ago (2014)
History
List
  • BC Dynamo Moscow Region
    (2003–2007)
    BC Triumph Lyubertsy
    (2007–2014)
    BC Zenit Saint Petersburg
    (2014–present)
ArenaKSK Arena
Capacity7,120
LocationSaint Petersburg, Russia
Main sponsorGazprom
General managerAlexander Tsirkoniy
Head coachXavi Pascual
OwnershipGazprom
Championships1 VTB League
1 Russian Cup
2 VTB League Supercup
Websitebc-zenit.com

Their home court is Sibur Arena. The club is sponsored by Gazprom. Since the team moved to Saint Petersburg in 2014, the team is a part of the multi-sports club Zenit, of which the football club FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, is also a part.[2] Alexander Tserkovny is a general manager of the club since July 16, 2018.

History edit

Dynamo Moscow edit

The club was originally established in 2003, under the name BC Dynamo Moscow Region, and registered into the Russian Superleague A.[citation needed]

Triumph Lyubertsy edit

In 2007, the basketball club of Dynamo Moscow Region disbanded and became the newly reformed club of BC Triumph Lyubertsy Moscow Region. Triumph Lyubertsy retained all the records of the Dynamo Moscow Region club, through the acquisition of the club's rights.[citation needed] In the 2013–14 season, Triumph reached the final of the EuroChallenge, in which it lost to Reggio Emilia by a score of 65–79.[3]

Zenit edit

2014-2019 edit

In July 2014, the club announced it was relocating from Lyubertsy to Saint Petersburg, and was changing its name to BC Zenit Saint Petersburg. The club retained the rights of BC Triumph Lyubertsy,[4] and also its place in both the VTB United League and the EuroCup.[5] Meanwhile, the club tried to retain a second club in Lyubertsy, that would compete in the Russian Super League 1.[6] As a result, the basketball club became a section of the Zenit sports club, which already contained Zenit FC, a football club.[citation needed]

The team finished fifth in the 2014–15 season, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In 2016, Zenit moved from the Sibur Arena to the Yubileyni Arena. In the following four seasons, Zenit qualified for the semi-finals every time, but never reached the league finals.[citation needed]

On 27 June 2019, EuroLeague Basketball awarded Zenit a wild card for the 2019–20 EuroLeague.[7] This would mark Zenit's debut in the highest European tier.[citation needed]

2020-present edit

In early 2022, in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, American-Puerto Rican Shabazz Napier left the team.[8] Also leaving the team were Americans Billy Baron, Alex Poythress, Conner Frankamp, Tyson Carter, Jordan Mickey, and Jordan Loyd, as well as Lithuanians Arturas Gudaitis and Mindaugas Kuzminskas, and Polish player Mateusz Ponitka.[9]

On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1]

On June 5, 2022 BC Zenit has become VTB United League champion beating CSKA Moscow in 7 games.[10]

Arenas edit

The Yubileyny Sports Palace

When the club moved to St. Petersburg, they first played their home games at the 7,120 seat Sibur Arena.[11] They then moved to the newly renovated 7,000 seat[12] Yubileyni Arena.[13] When the club was previously based in Lyubertsy, they played their home games at the 4,000 seat[14][15] Triumph Sports Palace arena.

Arenas
ArenaCityCapacityTenure
Triumph Sports PalaceLyubertsy4,0002003–2014
KSK ArenaSaint Petersburg7,1202014–present
Yubileyny Sports PalaceSaint Petersburg7,0002016–present

Honours edit

Domestic competitions edit

European competitions edit

Other competitions edit

Season by season edit

SeasonTierLeaguePos.Russian CupEuropean competitions
Dynamo Moscow Region
2003–041Superliga A6th
2004–051Superliga A7th
2005–061Superliga A6th
2006–071Superliga A6th
Triumph Lyubertsy
2007–081Superliga A4th2 ULEB CupRS
2008–091Superliga A5th3 EuroChallenge3rd
2009–101Superliga А6thQuarterfinalist2 EurocupRS
2010–111PBL10th3 EuroChallengeQR
2011–121PBL3rdQuarterfinalist3 EuroChallenge3rd
2012–131PBL5th2 EurocupEF
2013–141United League5thQuarterfinalist3 EuroChallengeRU
Zenit Saint Petersburg
2014–151United League5thSecond qualifying round2 EurocupEF
2015–161United League3rdRunner-up2 EurocupEF
2016–171United League3rd2 EuroCupQF
2017–181United League3rd2 EuroCupQF
2018–191United League4thFirst round2 EuroCupT16
2019–201United League6th1 EuroLeague18th place
2020–211United League3rd2021–211United League1st1 EuroLeagueQF
2021–221United League1stSupercup Runner-up1 EuroLeagueSP

Players edit

Current roster edit

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

Zenit Saint Petersburg roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
PG0 Frazier, Trent1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 25 – (1998-09-08)8 September 1998
SG3 Zakharov, Denis1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 30 – (1993-08-06)6 August 1993
PG5 Gerasimov, Timofey1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 27 – (1997-05-15)15 May 1997
G/F7 Karasev, Sergey2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 30 – (1993-10-26)26 October 1993
SF8 Volkhin, Igor1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 26 – (1997-10-30)30 October 1997
SG11 Zhbanov, Georgy1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 26 – (1997-10-10)10 October 1997
C12 Klimenko, Artem2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) 30 – (1994-01-10)10 January 1994
PG13 Heurtel, Thomas1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 35 – (1989-04-10)10 April 1989
F/C14 Dubljevic, Bojan2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 32 – (1991-10-24)24 October 1991
PF18 Moerman, Adrien2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 35 – (1988-08-07)7 August 1988
F/C20 Zubkov, Andrey2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 32 – (1991-06-29)29 June 1991
PF21 Toropov, Sergey2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 34 – (1989-10-15)15 October 1989
G/F24 Kuric, Kyle1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 34 – (1989-08-25)25 August 1989
F/C32 Hunter, Vince2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 29 – (1994-07-05)5 July 1994
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Iñigo Zorzano
  • Diamantis Panagiotopoulos
  • Sergey Voznyuk
Team manager
  • Manos Papadopoulos

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Updated: July 25, 2023

Depth chart edit

Pos.Starting 5Bench 1Bench 2Bench 3
CBojan DubljevićVince HunterArtem Klimenko
PFAdrien MoermanAndrey ZubkovSergey Toropov
SFSergey KarasevIgor Volkhin
SGKyle KuricDenis ZakharovGeorgy Zhbanov
PGThomas HeurtelTrent FrazierTimofey Gerasimov

Notable players edit

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

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Head coaches edit

Head coaches
NameNationalityTenureTrophies
Evgeny Kovalenko 2003—2005
Aleksandr Vasin 2005
Rūtenis Paulauskas 2005—2007
Dmitry Shakulin 2007
Stanislav Yeryomin 2007—2010
Valdemaras Chomičius 2010–2012
Vasily Karasev 2012–2018
Joan Plaza 2018–2020
Xavi Pascual 2020–present

References edit

  1. ^ a b "EuroLeague suspended Russian teams". basketnews.com.
  2. ^ "What does Zenit's new basketball team mean for the football club?". russianfootballnews.com. 21 November 2014.
  3. ^ Triumph Lyubertsy - BC Emilia : 65:79 (Match report) ScoresPro.com
  4. ^ "Club profile: Zenit St Petersburg". EuroCup Basketball. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014.
  5. ^ "Triumph Lyubertsy becomes Zenit St Petersburg". Welcome to 7DAYS EuroCup.[dead link]
  6. ^ «Триумф» будет выступать под названием «Зенит» в Санкт-Петербурге; Championat.ru, 18 July 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2014
  7. ^ "ECA Board approves proposed team lists for 2019-20, discusses future". Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  8. ^ Cohen, Alexander (February 28, 2022). "Shabazz Napier returns to U.S. from Saint Petersburg". www.basketballnews.com.
  9. ^ "Guerre en Ukraine : ces joueurs étrangers qui n'ont pas quitté les équipes russes engagées en Euroleague | Basket Europe". March 11, 2022.
  10. ^ "Zenit beats CSKA in Game 7 and wins its first VTB League title". eurohoops.net. 2022-06-05. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  11. ^ "ГЛАВНАЯ АРЕНА {{in lang|ru}}". Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  12. ^ "Спортивный комплекс "Юбилейный"". www.yubi.ru.
  13. ^ "Баскетбольный клуб "Зенит"". Zenit Basketball Club.
  14. ^ "Triumph Sports Palace". bgbasket.com.
  15. ^ Triumph Sports Palace Capacity: 4 000.

External links edit