Wikipedia - BC Astana
Astana Basketball Club (Kazakh: Astana Basketbol Kluby), commonly referred to as BC Astana, is a Kazakh professional basketball club that is based in Astana, Kazakhstan. Founded in 2011, it has competed in the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship and the VTB United League since, obtaining many 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 team's general director. There were doubts expressed by other clubs in the VTB United League, about whether or not the club would be a good addition to the competition, 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.
They would sign a number of Kazakhstani players from successful side Astana Tigers, also recruiting their head coach, Vitaly Strebkov, to serve as the team's assistant coach.
In their first season in the VTB United regional league, the team from Kazakhstan won 7 games out of 16 during 2011–12 regular season, including games against strong sides, such as Žalgiris and the defending title holders, Khimki, nearly reaching the playoffs. They had more success on the domestic front, winning the Kazakhstani national domestic league championship, and the Kazakhstani Cup.
The team became a part of the Astana Presidential Club multi-sports club, when it was formed in December 2012.
BC Astana grundades 2000 och blev snabbt ett av de bästa lagen i Kazakstan. Laget har vunnit den kazakiska basketligan 10 gånger, inklusive de senaste fem säsongerna i rad. BC Astana har också vunnit VTB United League Cup två gånger och har deltagit i EuroCup flera gånger.
Lagets hemmaarena är Saryarka Velodrome med en kapacitet på 9 270. BC Astanas huvudtränare är Zvezdan Mitrović och lagets kapten är Anton Ponkrashov.
Några av de mest kända spelarna som har spelat för BC Astana inkluderar:
* Anton Ponkrashov
* Rustam Murzagaliyev
* Evgeniy Voronov
* Dmitry Gavrilov
* Alexandr Zhigulin