Team Focus: Akasvayu Girona
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2007-2008 Games
Regular Season
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at Galatasaray Cafe Crown
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Nov. 06
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vs KK Hemofarm
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Nov. 13
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vs Hanzevast Capitals
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Nov. 20
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at Spirou Charleroi
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Nov. 27
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vs CSU Asesoft
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Dec. 04
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vs Galatasaray Cafe Crown
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Dec. 11
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at KK Hemofarm
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Dec. 18
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at Hanzevast Capitals
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Jan. 08
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vs Spirou Charleroi
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Jan. 15
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at CSU Asesoft
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Jan. 22
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One on the fastest-rising teams in European basketball, Akasvayu Girona, makes its ULEB Cup debut as a legitimate contender to reach the Final Eight. Akasvayu is never short on ambition and will dive into the competition with a deep roster consisting of many talented newcomers and key returnees Arriel McDonald and Marc Gasol. Its mix of experience and depth could pay off right away. It is safe to say that Akasvayu is not an ordinary ULEB Cup newcomer. Coach Pedro Martinez joined the club this summer and soon made some major moves to upgrade the frontcourt. Akasvayu managed to land center Predrag Drobnjak, who comes off a great Euroleague season with Partizan, as well as big man Jackson Vroman, a mobile forward with ULEB Cup experience with Gran Canaria last year. Branko Cvetkovic also knows the competition well after reaching the semis last season with FMP. The scoring ace will mesh with streak shooter Roman Montañez and another Euroleague vet in Antonio Granger to give the club a plethora of options on the wings. Moreover, McDonald and Fernando San Emeterio ensure that Akasvayu will always have multiple three-point shooters on the floor. With Gasol and everlasting forward Darryl Middleton back with the team, Akasvayu has no limits in this year's ULEB Cup.
 2006-07 | FIBA EuroCup | | Season | (12-0) | | Playoffs | (2-1) | | Final 4 | Champion | SPAIN | | Season | (21-13) | | Playoffs | Quarterfinal |
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As one of the fastest-rising teams in European basketball, Akasvayu Girona may be the best team on the continent to have never played in a ULEB competition. But that changes this season with its first ULEB Cup appearance. Founded in 1962 under the name of C.B. Sant Josep, the club became Club Basquet Girona in 1989, whortly after reaching the top Spanish League (ACB) in 1987 and Girona has been a steady ACB team since that then. Even though it was relegated to the second division after its first season, Girona managed to return that very same summer because two other Catalonian teams, Espanyol and Granollers, merged and left a free spot in the competition. The team consolidated its name in the ACB throughout the next decade, but never ranked higher that 11th. That changed in the 1998-99 season, when players like Frankie Solana, Rafa Jofresa, Danya Abrams and Larry Stewart took the then-called Girona Gavis to the Spanish League playoffs. That allowed Girona to make its debut in European competitions the following season, making it to the 2000 Korac Cup semifinals in which it lost to eventual champ Limoges. The team kept fighting to make the ACB playoff over the next five years, but it all changed when Akavasvyu took over as its main sponsor. Some of the best European players started to arrive to Girona in summer 2005, including Raul Lopez, Fran Vazquez, Dainius Salenga and former Euroleague champ Arriel McDonald. With stars like these, the team managed to make it to the playoffs, losing its quarterfinals series against Tau Ceramica. That resulted in Akavasvyu returning too European competitions last season and it did so in style, with the likes of coach coach Svetislav Pesic and or players like Marko Marinovic, Marc Gasol, Gregor Fucka and Fernando San Emeterio helping to win the 2007 Fiba EuroCup by downing Azovmash Mariupol 79-72 behind 25 points from McDonald. The club followed that by taking a best-ever fifth place in the Spanish League. Now Akasvayu is ready to shine in the ULEB Cup.
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Sunday, September 02, 2007
ULEBCup.com
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