Is It the Beginning of the End for Asseco Prokom?
By Rafal Juc
There was not a better club in the Polish League over the last decade than Asseco Prokom Gdynia, which won the last seven straight domestic championships and reached the EuroLeague’s Quarterfinals as the first Polish club ever.
But the 2011-2012 season has been disappointing for the powerhouse so far, making us wonder whether this is the beginning of the end for Asseco Prokom.
It is impossible to find a Polish club in modern history with more success than Asseco Prokom. Their dominance started in 2004 when under head-coach Eugeniusz Kijewski, the club win its first Polish championship. Asseco hasn’t lost its hegemony yet but it looks like after seven straight titles, it will be really difficult for them to remain atop.
Asseco also managed impressive results in the EuroLeague, reaching the TOP 16 in its first, third and fifth seasons among Europe’s elite. In the 2009-2010 season, Prokom made history, grinding through the TOP 16 and into the quarterfinals for the first time ever, even taking a game off of eventual finalist Olympiacos Piraeus before bowing out. It is worth adding that in that season, David Logan and Qyntel Woods were both named one of the best players in all EuroLeague.
But all of it changed in the 2009-2010 season, when the club, which was called Prokom Trefl Sopot, took apart the team with the coaching staff and Prokom as the sponsor and moved to Gdynia. But in Sopot stayed the Trefl firm, with team-president Kazimierz Wierzbicki, who decided to continue the tradition at that market, but under a new name and new staff as well. Surprisingly, both clubs got faculty to use the history of the merged club. No one was shocked when Prokom, with Asseco in the name, and the newly born Trefl started a rivalry. And it was something comprehensible because it is hard to find someone who thinks that in the conurbation of three cities, two big basketball clubs are needed.
Even though Asseco Prokom remains the Polish champion and Trefl haven’t gotten impressive results, the latter can be judged the winners of the battle so far. Trefl, which plays their league games in the modern Ergo Arena, where there are more than 10 thousand sits, has an amazing PR machine. The club from Sopot impresses not only for their great relationships with fans but also putting on the roster Polish players and local stars like Filip Dylewicz, Łukasz Koszarek, Adam Waczyński, Marcin Stefański or Łukasz Wiśniewski.
This year, Asseco Prokom Gdynia has been on a losing streak and there is strong word on the street that the club will stop existing at season’s end. Tomas Pacesas’ team started the season on a really fateful way. Because of its appearance in the private VTB United League and in the EuroLeague, Asseco has asked the Polish league to get laid off from the first part of the regular season. After a few weeks of debate, the league did allow them a bye but the decision was very controversial and many experts pointed to corruption. Why? Because at the same time, the club’s title sponsor (Asseco) has decided to become the new sponsor of the Polish national team too and paid two million Zlotys to the basketball federation, which allowed league management to undertake the decision.
But it was only the start. Asseco Prokom has serious problems with budget. There is a lack of big stars on the roster and head-coach Pacesas has provided too big of roles to former NBA stars Alonzo Gee and Devin Brown, as well as young Lithuanian prospect Donatas Montiejunas. The effect? Asseco currently owns an 0-3 record in the EuroLeague and is 1-3 in the VTB United League.
And to make matters worse, Gee, the team’s best player, who was averaging 18.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in the VTB as well as 11 points and 6.3 rebounds in the EuroLeague, unexpectedly escaped from Poland. The swingman was playing really well but in his first game in Poland, Gee cost his team a Supercup game against Polpharma Starogard Gdanski due to a dumb personal foul.
But the funniest part of this story is that Gee informed his head-coach and teammates he was bolting by sending them a text message.
According to Polish media, the text said: “I would like to thank you for everything, especially for frequent discussions. I’m sorry everything didn’t work out as we planned, but I have to leave the club. The lockout in the NBA is coming to an end and I think it would be great to come back home and help my family before the season starts. I hope that the club won’t give me problems about the dissolution of the contract”
In effect, Prokom, with a really limited budget, is now without its leader and three more gaps in the roster. It cannot be a successful year for them, so it looks like the only goal will be to avoid humiliation.
“We don’t know what to do, we are shocked. We have to sit out and calmly think about this situation. Surprisingly, we are now without a clutch player” – said team-president Przemysław Sęczkowski.
Misery loves company and president Sęczkowski has problems to deal with. A couple of days ago, coach Pacesas started writing a private blog and in his first two posts, he was highly critical not only of the Polish federation’s management but of Polish officiating too. Pacesas didn’t wait too long for the reaction as he was already fined. It only made the public perception of Pacesas worst. The Lithuanian head-coach is not popular in Poland, especially because of his behavior during games.
The reasons why Pacesas decided to open his own blog with political posts are unknown but there are many rumors. One says that Pacesas is a really strong brand in the East and would be looking for a new job due to Asseco’s financial problems. Another is more shocking as it states club owner Ryszard Krauze intends to finish the club’s activity at season’s end and is allowing Pacesas to blog, so he could have a reason to fire him. According to known proverb, there is truth to every rumor.
Every single year, Krazue gets less money for the basketball team and in addition to it, before the 2011-2012 season, he decided to create a new team - Start Gdynia, which plays on Poland’s second division, where his son Aleksander is in the starting lineup. There is also strong word that in 2012, Trefl and Asseco could merge. The main reason behind the rumor is that the fact that Trefl wants to compete in the international scenario, especially the EuroLeague, and would be using Asseco Prokom because of their license. On the other hand, Trefl plays in a modern venue, which is designed to be used not only for games of the National team but also by Asseco Prokom, which has been pressed by FIBA Europe to find a bigger venue to host its continental games.
So, how is this opera going to end? Opinions are split. Some, who thinks that “money talks”, want a single big club in Spot, Gdynia, Gdansk tri-state area.
Maybe in 2012, we will realize much ado was made out of nothing.
Editor's Note: Rafal Juc is a featured blogger for 'the Basketball Post', providing insight on Polish basketball and European prospects. More of his work can be found here or on polishhoops.pl and he can be found of twitter @rafjuc
There was not a better club in the Polish League over the last decade than Asseco Prokom Gdynia, which won the last seven straight domestic championships and reached the EuroLeague’s Quarterfinals as the first Polish club ever.
But the 2011-2012 season has been disappointing for the powerhouse so far, making us wonder whether this is the beginning of the end for Asseco Prokom.
It is impossible to find a Polish club in modern history with more success than Asseco Prokom. Their dominance started in 2004 when under head-coach Eugeniusz Kijewski, the club win its first Polish championship. Asseco hasn’t lost its hegemony yet but it looks like after seven straight titles, it will be really difficult for them to remain atop.
Asseco also managed impressive results in the EuroLeague, reaching the TOP 16 in its first, third and fifth seasons among Europe’s elite. In the 2009-2010 season, Prokom made history, grinding through the TOP 16 and into the quarterfinals for the first time ever, even taking a game off of eventual finalist Olympiacos Piraeus before bowing out. It is worth adding that in that season, David Logan and Qyntel Woods were both named one of the best players in all EuroLeague.
But all of it changed in the 2009-2010 season, when the club, which was called Prokom Trefl Sopot, took apart the team with the coaching staff and Prokom as the sponsor and moved to Gdynia. But in Sopot stayed the Trefl firm, with team-president Kazimierz Wierzbicki, who decided to continue the tradition at that market, but under a new name and new staff as well. Surprisingly, both clubs got faculty to use the history of the merged club. No one was shocked when Prokom, with Asseco in the name, and the newly born Trefl started a rivalry. And it was something comprehensible because it is hard to find someone who thinks that in the conurbation of three cities, two big basketball clubs are needed.
Even though Asseco Prokom remains the Polish champion and Trefl haven’t gotten impressive results, the latter can be judged the winners of the battle so far. Trefl, which plays their league games in the modern Ergo Arena, where there are more than 10 thousand sits, has an amazing PR machine. The club from Sopot impresses not only for their great relationships with fans but also putting on the roster Polish players and local stars like Filip Dylewicz, Łukasz Koszarek, Adam Waczyński, Marcin Stefański or Łukasz Wiśniewski.
This year, Asseco Prokom Gdynia has been on a losing streak and there is strong word on the street that the club will stop existing at season’s end. Tomas Pacesas’ team started the season on a really fateful way. Because of its appearance in the private VTB United League and in the EuroLeague, Asseco has asked the Polish league to get laid off from the first part of the regular season. After a few weeks of debate, the league did allow them a bye but the decision was very controversial and many experts pointed to corruption. Why? Because at the same time, the club’s title sponsor (Asseco) has decided to become the new sponsor of the Polish national team too and paid two million Zlotys to the basketball federation, which allowed league management to undertake the decision.
But it was only the start. Asseco Prokom has serious problems with budget. There is a lack of big stars on the roster and head-coach Pacesas has provided too big of roles to former NBA stars Alonzo Gee and Devin Brown, as well as young Lithuanian prospect Donatas Montiejunas. The effect? Asseco currently owns an 0-3 record in the EuroLeague and is 1-3 in the VTB United League.
And to make matters worse, Gee, the team’s best player, who was averaging 18.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in the VTB as well as 11 points and 6.3 rebounds in the EuroLeague, unexpectedly escaped from Poland. The swingman was playing really well but in his first game in Poland, Gee cost his team a Supercup game against Polpharma Starogard Gdanski due to a dumb personal foul.
But the funniest part of this story is that Gee informed his head-coach and teammates he was bolting by sending them a text message.
According to Polish media, the text said: “I would like to thank you for everything, especially for frequent discussions. I’m sorry everything didn’t work out as we planned, but I have to leave the club. The lockout in the NBA is coming to an end and I think it would be great to come back home and help my family before the season starts. I hope that the club won’t give me problems about the dissolution of the contract”
In effect, Prokom, with a really limited budget, is now without its leader and three more gaps in the roster. It cannot be a successful year for them, so it looks like the only goal will be to avoid humiliation.
“We don’t know what to do, we are shocked. We have to sit out and calmly think about this situation. Surprisingly, we are now without a clutch player” – said team-president Przemysław Sęczkowski.
Misery loves company and president Sęczkowski has problems to deal with. A couple of days ago, coach Pacesas started writing a private blog and in his first two posts, he was highly critical not only of the Polish federation’s management but of Polish officiating too. Pacesas didn’t wait too long for the reaction as he was already fined. It only made the public perception of Pacesas worst. The Lithuanian head-coach is not popular in Poland, especially because of his behavior during games.
The reasons why Pacesas decided to open his own blog with political posts are unknown but there are many rumors. One says that Pacesas is a really strong brand in the East and would be looking for a new job due to Asseco’s financial problems. Another is more shocking as it states club owner Ryszard Krauze intends to finish the club’s activity at season’s end and is allowing Pacesas to blog, so he could have a reason to fire him. According to known proverb, there is truth to every rumor.
Every single year, Krazue gets less money for the basketball team and in addition to it, before the 2011-2012 season, he decided to create a new team - Start Gdynia, which plays on Poland’s second division, where his son Aleksander is in the starting lineup. There is also strong word that in 2012, Trefl and Asseco could merge. The main reason behind the rumor is that the fact that Trefl wants to compete in the international scenario, especially the EuroLeague, and would be using Asseco Prokom because of their license. On the other hand, Trefl plays in a modern venue, which is designed to be used not only for games of the National team but also by Asseco Prokom, which has been pressed by FIBA Europe to find a bigger venue to host its continental games.
So, how is this opera going to end? Opinions are split. Some, who thinks that “money talks”, want a single big club in Spot, Gdynia, Gdansk tri-state area.
Maybe in 2012, we will realize much ado was made out of nothing.
Editor's Note: Rafal Juc is a featured blogger for 'the Basketball Post', providing insight on Polish basketball and European prospects. More of his work can be found here or on polishhoops.pl and he can be found of twitter @rafjuc
Posted by Rafael Uehara at Wednesday, November 09, 2011 9:52:57 AM 
Categories: PLK, EuroLeague
Tags: Rafal Juc
Categories: PLK, EuroLeague
Tags: Rafal Juc
"Even though Asseco Prokom remains the Polish champion and Trefl haven’t gotten impressive results, the latter can be judged the winners of the battle so far."
Nice joke
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