JWSport Jacek Waszak – Sport journalist
Poles triumphed twice at home and away Anwil Wloclawek – Cholet Basket 81:77 then in the second return match Cholet Basket – Anwil Wloclawek 78:80
Przemyslaw Frasunkiewicz’s team won at home against French Cholet Basket 81:77 (28:22, 21:31, 15:12, 17:12) in the first FIBA European Cup final match.
Anwil did their homework . The rematch was won for Anwil Wloclawek and they check in with the FIBA Cup in Poland .
Before we go to the final match I would like to mention the match to the final, how they got to the final and how they won this match so important to open the entrance to the finals.
Anwil Wloclawek is in the FIBA Europe Cup final. Polish team defeated Finnish Karhu Basket for the second time. Already in the first game, the team from Kujawy achieved a 19-point advantage. Now it added to it with a 67:63 victory.
The first final game against Cholet Basket will take place on Wednesday in Wloclawek, with the rematch a week later in France. Anwil’s rival has a balance of 17-11 in the strong French league and is currently in fifth place.
A chance for a historic success . For the Wloclawians, winning the FIBA European Cup final would undoubtedly be their biggest success ever. Besides, no Polish club has won this trophy so far. The team from France does not have it in their collection either, but they will want to repeat the achievement of another team from that country – Nanterre, who won the cup in the 2016-2017 season.
“The key in the competition against Cholet will be to stop the exploits of American Dominic Artis. He is a player who can single-handedly decide matches. He is playing a great season, he is aggressive not only in attack, but also in defence. The French team’s undercourt players are very tall and can catch the ball at an incredible height. Cutting them off from passes over the basket will be extremely important,” – said Łączyński.
Anwil, as it has become accustomed to this season, will look for its advantages in the combination exchange of the ball, non-standard solutions in attack, but above all in strong and physical defence.
Łączynski emphasises how important the defensive game will be
“The key in the game itself will also be the defensive return and the defensive rebounding. We feel we are facing a historic opportunity. We are going quite well this season and in Europe we are playing at a very good level both at home and away. We are not satisfied with just advancing to the final. We want to win the cup,” – emphasised Łączyński.
In the semi-finals of the competition Anwil was twice better than Finnish Karhu Kauhajoki – in their own hall 90:71, and on Wednesday away 67:63. The very promotion is the biggest success of the club in its history. In 2002, the team from Kujawy reached the semi-finals of the Saporta Cup (losing to Pamesa Valencia 65:77 away and 53:58 in Włocławek). In spring 2022, it won the North European League (NEBL), beating Lithuanian team Siauliai 90:79 in the final of the Final Four tournament in Włocławek.
“For Polish club basketball, winning this cup would be a great achievement. Perhaps then we would start to count more on the basketball map of Europe.” – added the Anwil playmaker. You have to build an advantage .
“We did it in the semi-final and now it would also be beautiful to build a lead before the rematch. We will impose a correspondingly high tempo. In my opinion, our rival is currently the third force of the French league – a strong league – so it won’t be that easy. However, the fans in Włocławek will definitely help. Everyone is mobilising for this match. The hall is expected to be filled to the brim and everyone will be dressed in white. No wonder, because Wloclawek is alive with basketball,” emphasised Łączyński.
Last season, Legia Warsaw reached the FIBA PE quarter-finals, but had to acknowledge the superiority of Italy’s UNAhotels Reggio Emilia in the two-match series. In 2021, Arged BM Slam Stal Ostrów Wlkp. checked into the PE final, but succumbed to the Ironi Ness Ziona team 74:82 in Israel.
In this final deciding match, it was Anwil Wloclawek who won the FIBA European Cup . The Poles triumphed
Anwil’s victory is an international achievement without precedent in Polish club basketball. The closest was 20 years ago Prokom Trefl Sopot in the FIBA European Cup, created as a result of the reorganisation of the competition and the merger of the Saporta Cup and the Korac Cup. At the time, however, it lost by one point in the final to Aris in Thessaloniki.
Anwil Wloclawek won the FIBA Europe Cup final. In the match against French Cholet Basket, the team from Włocławek won 80:78, thus Anwil accomplished something that no Polish team has managed to do so far.
Such a huge victory is combined with emotions that are difficult to describe. The final itself demanded commitment from the players
Anwil Wloclawek fans did not disappoint during the game against Cholet Basket during the FIBA Europe Cup 2023 final.
The Wloclawek players travelled to France with a four-point advantage from the first meeting.
The match was extremely intense and the hosts – especially in the first half – were at times the better team. After the break, however, the visitors gave a real performance and it was they who lifted the European trophy. The team of coach Przemysław Frasunkiewicz showed in many moments an extremely impressive, combinational basketball and successfully defied a rival from the French league, stronger on paper.
Kamil Łączyński also played a great game on Wednesday evening. Experienced playmaker led very smartly the game of Wloclawek. In the second half – especially in the nervous ending – he distributed the ball in such a way that his colleagues were fouled in convenient situations. Sanders confidently used personal shots and the hosts missed desperation attempts from very far away. They were not even helped by a very good performance by Dominic Artis, who scored 23 points.
The Wloclawians hit 13 three-pointers on Wednesday against seven accurate attempts from distance by their rivals. The hosts were marginally better on the boards, but it was Anwil who was able to stop Cholet’s attacks in the most important actions and take over the balls after missed three-point shots.
The Polish team was better in the two-match series and won the European competition deservedly. Noteworthy is the very good tactical preparation of coach Frasunkiewicz’s charges. Poles used very cleverly the fact of slightly lower mobility of very high undercourt players of Cholet. At times they spread the ball around in attack so quickly that a good team from the French league was very lost.
The President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda. congratulated the club on this historic success of Anwil “Anwil Wloclawek basketball players have won the FIBA European Cup! Bravo! Congratulations! Thank you! Anwil is the first Polish club to win the continental competition in this sport”.
The cup was lifted up by team captain Kamil Łączyński. It is also a special moment for him, as he returned to Anwil in 2021 to be successful with the team again. After all, he was one of the architects of two national championships for the team from Włocławek in 2018 and 2019. After that, the paths of the club and the Polish representative diverged, but no one surely regrets the renewed cooperation now.
Cholet Basket – Anwil Włocławek 78:80 (18:20, 24:17, 15:21, 21:22)
Cholet: Dominic Artis 23, Perry Ellis 17 (12 zb), T.J. Campbell 11, Neal Sako 10, Boris Dallo 9, Hugo Robineau 2, Enzo Goudou-Sinha 6, Lucas Dufeal 0, Naoll Balfourier 0.
Anwil: Victor Sanders 20, Malik Williams 16, Phil Greene 11, Lee Moore 10, Josip Sobin 8, Luke Petrasek 7, Michał Nowakowski 4, Kamil Łączyński 4, Maciej Bojanowski 0, Dawid Słupiński 0
