EXCHANGE OF OPINIONS

Rimas Kurtinaitis:

– ASVEL is a good team, but in Eurocup there are no weak squads. Of course, they lost their first Last-16 game to BC Donetsk at home but it is nothing to say about – it’s a very tough opponent and I suppose it will be not easy for us as it was last week in Greece with ARIS BSA 2003. French championship is strong, but ASVEL currently ranks eight – it’s not its true place. Our advantage is ASVEL’s short bench – they usually play 6-7 guys. A key factor is Edwin Jackson, a great scorer and tough player. It’s a very young team and their energy and desire to win may overcome skills and experience.

Vitaly Fridzon:

– For sure, we expect to win. It will be great if we win all the games, it’s our goal. ASVEL is a good team but I don’t know quite well French squads. It shows fast basketball, plays well in defense, but better in the offense. There are couple of guys who throw triples well. BC Khimki plays at home and it’s a big margin for us. We are in a good shape right now, last meeting with ARIS BSA 2003 proved it. The most important thing is that we are back to our optimal pre-New Year conditions.

ASVEL BASKET Lyon-Villeurbanne (France)

Founded in 1948
Team colors: Light-green, white and black
Arena: L'Astroballe (5800 seats)
Honors: French Championchip-17 (1949, 1950, 1952, 1955-1957, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 2002, 2009), French Cup-8 (1953, 1957, 1965, 1967, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2008), Euroleague Final Four-2 (1976, 1997), Semaine des As Cup-1 (2010), Saporta Cup Finalist-1 (1983)
Official web-site: www.asvelbasket.com

HISTORY

The club, located in the city of Villeurbanne (suburb of Lyon), was founded in 1948 with the merger of two multi-sport clubs in Lyon and vicinity. ASVEL is an acronym combining the names of the predecessor clubs – Association Sportive Villeurbanne and Éveil Lyonnais. ASVEL Basket is one of the best teams in French basketball history and it now looks to leave its mark on the Eurocup.

Asvel was one of the first powers in the French League with 15 championships between 1949 and 1981 and has remained among its country's elite clubs for the past few decades. In the 2002-03 Euroleague season Asvel advanced to the Top 16. French powerhouse played the Euroleague for several seasons before making its ULEB Cup debut in 2005-06, when it reached the quarterfinals. In 2007-08, Asvel missed the ULEB Cup Last 16 by a single point and fell a victory short of reaching the French League title game.

Last season Asvel played well, but came up a little short in the Eurocup and reached the semifinals in the French playoffs and Cup. Now with a hungry young team and a dash of experience at key spots, this could be a special season in Villeurbanne.

SEASON 2011/2012

In Eurocup 2011/2012 regular season ASVEL Basket played in Group D, eventually ranked first with 4 wins and 2 losses (to Lukoil Academic and Valencia Basket). The French club entered Eurocup Last-16 where will face BC Khimki, ARIS BSA 2003 and BC Donetsk. First meeting with the Ukrainians (on Tuesday, January 17 2012) was unsuccessful for ASVEL – at home suffered a painful defeat.

Eurocup. Last-16

January 17, 2012

ASVEL Basket – BC Donetsk – 75-86 (20-19, 21-24, 16-22, 18-21)

ASVEL: Armstrong (21 + 5 rebounds), Thompson (16 + 4 assists), Goss (10 + 5 assists)

In French National League (Ligue Nationale de Basket, LNB) after 14 games ASVEL currently ranks eight with 6 wins and 8 losses.

ROSTER

In the beginning of October, 2010 during NBA lockout a San-Antonio Spurs top-star, best French player, Tony Parker signed a contract with the club. Moreover, Parker turned to be ASVEL joint owner and vice-president. He agreed to play for the symbolic salary of 1500 euros per month. Also the club was joined by Timofey Mozgov’s New York Knicks ex-teammate Ronny Turiaf.

The leaders of the club are French guard Edwin Jackson (13.0 ppg), Americans Phillip Goss (10.4 ppg, 1.5 steals per game) and Hilton Armstrong (9.4 ppg, 6.9 rebounds per game). Dijon Thompson spends 31.0 min at the court approx.

№	Player	Position	Height	Birthday	Nationality
5	Hilton Armstrong	C	208	1984	USA
6	Paul Lacombe	G	190	1990	France
7	Leo Westermann	G	196	1992	France
8	Livio Jean-Charles	F	204	1993	France
10	Bangaly Fofana	C	212	1989	France
11	Edwin Jackson	G	190	1989	France
12	Dijon Thompson	F	201	1983	USA
13	Jamie Skeen	F	205	1988	USA
14	Kim Tillie	F	210	1988	France
15	Phillip Goss	G	186	1983	USA
19	Theo Leon	G	180	1992	France
20	Lambert Diacono	G	196	1992	France
22	Rudy Deal	F	202	1992	France
–	Gide Noel	F	198	1993	France

Head coach: Pierre Vincent (France)