Baschet Club Mureș | |||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname |
Tigrii (The Tigers) |
||
Leagues |
Liga Națională FIBA Europe Cup |
||
Founded | 2004 | ||
History |
BC Mureș (2004–present) |
||
Arena | Sala Sporturilor | ||
Capacity | 2,000 | ||
Location | Târgu Mureș, Romania | ||
Team colors | White, Blue |
||
President | Cornel Lungu | ||
Head coach | Barnabás Szászgáspár | ||
Website | Official website | ||
Uniforms | |||
|
BC Mureș (Baschet Club Mureș) is a Romanian professional basketball team that is based in Târgu Mureș, Romania. The club is a member of the Liga Națională. They are often referred to as 'The Tigers"; their home arena is nicknamed "The Jungle" due to the loud crowd and the pressure they can create on visiting teams.
After reaching the playoffs four times but never advancing the first round BC Mureș went all the way to the finals in the 2012–13 LNBM season, but lost 4–2 in a seven-game series in front of CSU Asesoft Ploiesti. In 2013, BC Mureș debuted in Europe in the EuroChallenge.
BC Mures in its first season (2004–05) started out in the B Division but quickly moved up to the A Division in only one season where they hold their position to this day. In the 2005–06 season they finished 13th, thus were expected to be demoted to the B Division but the league decided to extend the number of teams to 14, therefore BC Mures could keep their position in the A Division.
Taking advantage of this opportunity in the 2006–07 season coached by Mihai Corui, BC Mures put together a team that relied mostly on USA players and with the whole city behind their back they fell only one game short from reaching the playoffs. Following the successful previous season in 2007–08 the team brought back, the already crowd favorites JuJuan Cooley, Bryan McCullough and added more important pieces to the roster. The team performed very well at home struggling away from "The Jungle" but they managed to secure the first playoff appearance in the club's history. BC Mures finished 8th and had to duel in the first round of the playoffs with the multiple champions and heavy favorite CSU Asesoft Ploiesti, but even though they fought hard they were swept 2–0 in a three-game series.
In the 2008–09 season the expectations were high for BC Mures and the fans were ecstatic for a new successful season but things didn't go as they hoped. After only 5 games head coach Mihai Corui stepped down from his position, which was occupied by Lithuanian Audrius Prakuraitis. The season was a disappointing one although the team played a more organized basketball but in the end didn't manage to enter the playoffs. The ownership was satisfied with Audrius Prakuraitis as head coach and brought him back for another year in the 2009–10 season. BC Mures this time relied mostly on European players, the only USA presence being the returning team captain JuJuan Cooley. The season was a fairly successful one for a well coached team that surprised a few top teams and in the end locked down the last spot to the playoffs. Here they would go head to head with U Mobitelco Cluj Napoca forcing the would-be champions that year into the decisive game in a 5-game series, where BC Mures was eliminated after a hard fought game.