Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski Explained

BM Slam Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski
Color1:white
Color2:
  1. 3048A0
Color3:
  1. FCD318
Leagues:PLK
Folded:-->
Arena:Arena Ostrów
Capacity:3,086
Location:Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland
Colors:Blue, Gold, White
Sponsor:Arged
BM Slam
Miasto Ostrów Wielkopolski
President:Bartosz Karasiński
Vice-Presidents:Grzegorz Ardeli
Coach:Andrzej Urban
Captain:Damian Kulig
Ownership:Paweł Matuszewski
Marcin Napierała
Championships:1 Polish League
2 Polish Cups
1 Polish Supercup
1 ENBL
H Body:FCD318
H Pattern B:_bluebow
H Shorts:FCD318
H Pattern S:_bluesides
A Body:3048A0
A Pattern B:_yellowbow
A Shorts:3048A0
A Pattern S:_yellowsides

Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski, also known as BM Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Ostrów Wielkopolski. They play in the Polish Basketball League (PLK) since its promotion back in 2015. The club won the Polish national championship in 2021 and the Polish Cup in 2019 and 2022. Since then, Stal has also been active at the European stage in the Basketball Champions League and FIBA Europe Cup.

The home arena of the team is the Arena Ostrów.

History

In 2015, Stal promoted from the second-tier I Liga to the PLK. In its first season, the team finished 13th in the standings with a 12–20 record. In the 2016–17 season, Stal had a historic season as the team reached the semi-finals of the PLK after defeating MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza 3–0 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Stal lost to Stelmet Zielona Góra but won the third place series against Energa Czarni Słupsk.

In the 2017–18 season, Stal had an even more successful season as the team reached the PLK finals for the first time after defeating Polski Cukier Toruń. In the Finals, the team lost to Anwil Włocławek, 2–4.In 2019, Stal won the Polish Basketball Cup after defeating Arka Gdynia 77–74 in the final.[1] It was the first ever trophy for the club.

In the 2020–21 season, Stal played in the FIBA Europe Cup and reached the Final Four of the tournament. It reached the finals were it lost to Israeli club Ironi Ness Ziona. Later that season, Stal won the finals of the 2020–21 PLK season, winning its first Polish championship in club history.[2] Guard Jakub Garbacz was named the PLK Finals MVP.

New era started in 2022 when previous assistant Andrzej Urban was promoted the head coach. Team management reoriented its roster composition philosophy, focusing more on European foreigners. With players like Aigars Šķēle, Ojārs Siliņš and Nemanja Đurišić Stal hit the bullz-eye, winning its first Polish Supercup. By winning European North Basketball League, Stal won its first international title. Urban's debut season ended with bronze in the Polish league. Before his second season with the team, Latvian international Šķēle became the first ever current state Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski player in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Arenas

In the majority of its existence, the team played in the Hala Sportowa Stal, which had a capacity of 1,800 people. Since 2020, the club plays its home games in the Arena Ostrów, which has capacity for 3,000 people.[3] The arena costed 31 million and was built by local company Bud-Rem.[4]

Honours

Polish Basketball League
Polish Basketball Cup
Polish Basketball Supercup
FIBA Europe Cup
European North Basketball League

Sponsorship names

The team has also been known as:

Season by season

SeasonTierLeaguePolish CupEuropean competitions
2011–123 II Liga2nd
2012–132 9th
2013–149th
2014–151st
2015–161 13th
2016–173rd
2017–18bgcolor=silver2nd1–1
2018–195thbgcolor=goldChampions
2019–209th
2020–21bgcolor=gold1stSemi-finalistalign=left bgcolor=silverbgcolor=silverbgcolor=silver6–1
2021–225thbgcolor=gold align=leftChampionsalign=left 1–5
2022–233rdQuarter-finalistbgcolor=gold8–3
2023–243rdbgcolor=silver

European record

SeasonCompetitionRoundClubHomeAway
2017–18FIBA Europe CupQR1 Bnei Herzliya65–6474-84
2020–21FIBA Europe CupRS Szolnoki Olaj90-80
2020–21FIBA Europe CupRS Sporting85-83
2020–21FIBA Europe CupRS Ironi Ness Ziona93-86
2020–21FIBA Europe CupRO16 Heroes Den Bosch92-83
2020–21FIBA Europe CupQF Belfius Mons-Hainaut73-66
2020–21FIBA Europe CupSF CSM Oradea77-66
bgcolor=Silver align=left2020–21bgcolor=Silver align=leftFIBA Europe Cupbgcolor=Silver align=leftFinalbgcolor=Silver align=left Ironi Ness Zionabgcolor=Silver align=left bgcolor=Silver align=left 74-82bgcolor=Silver align=left
2021–22FIBA BCLRS Baxi Manresa75-8876-81
2021–22FIBA BCLRS Pinar Karşıyaka69-8677-80
2021–22FIBA BCLRS Hapoel Jerusalem76-6576-83
2022-23ENBLRS Ironi Ness Ziona92-76
2022-23ENBLRS King Szczecin56-72
2022-23ENBLRS Basket Brno80-59
2022-23ENBLRS Valmiera Glass VIA94-71
2022-23ENBLRS Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits84-65
2022-23ENBLRS BC Wolves75-85
2022-23ENBLQF Zielona Góra101-8094-97
2022-23ENBLSF Start Lublin86-74
bgcolor=gold align=left2022-23bgcolor=gold align=leftENBLbgcolor=gold align=leftFinalbgcolor=gold align=left BC Wolvesbgcolor=gold align=center70-66bgcolor=gold align=leftbgcolor=gold align=center

Players

Squad changes for the 2024–25 season

Out

Individual awards

AwardPlayers
PLK Most Valuable PlayerShawn King (2017)
Polish Basketball Cup MVPMateusz Kostrzewski (2019)
Jakub Garbacz (2021)
European North Basketball League Finals MVPDamian Kulig (2023)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Suzuki Puchar Polski dla Arged BMSlam Stali!. 17 February 2019. Koszykówka - Polska Liga Koszykówki. 7 June 2019.
  2. News: Wyborcza.pl . 24 June 2021 . poznan.wyborcza.pl.
  3. Web site: Arena Ostrów, Ostrów Wielkopolski . konferencje.pl . 6 August 2021 . pl.
  4. News: Szczepaniak . Paulina . Arena Ostrów. Jakie możliwości daje pierwsza w mieście hala? [WIDEO] ]. 6 August 2021 . wlkp24.info . 10 November 2020 . pl-PL.
  5. http://basketball.eurobasket.com/team/Poland/Intermarche_Bricomarche_BM_Slam_Stal_Os/152?Page=5 Team profile – Eurobasket.com