Club

History

The history of the most titled basketball team of Belarus dates back to 2006. When the club was founded, it was named "Minsk-2006" and differed from other sports teams in the country not only by high ambitions, but also by the unprecedented unification of three divisions under one roof — men's and women's teams, as well as a children's and youth school. The latter is the former Sport School-10, founded back in 1972.

The men's team "Minsk-2006" already showed itself brightly in its debut season: it finished in fifth place in the Cup of Belarus, and in the national championship it reached the semifinals, however, it did not reach the medals.

The composition of the first game convocation looked like this: guards — Pavel Gabrusevich (captain), Aleksey Patsevich, Dmitry Akulich, Sergei Volk, forwards — Dmitry Shilovich, Aleksandr Golovskoy, Aleksei Maystruk, Ilia Salsanov, centers — Vladimir Karankevich, Evgeni Skripko, Mikhail Fakhreev (Russia). The head coach is Alexander Popkov, the coach is Igor Korneenkov.

The next championship for the team ended with a similar result. But the 2008/09 season was a turning point in its history. It was then that Minsk residents seriously optimized the squad, including by inviting American legionnaires Dante Stiggers, Carlos Hurt and Henry Harrison, Lithuanian center Sharunas Velus. Point reinforcements of domestic performers eventually allowed  "Minsk-2006 " to confidently pass the "smooth" championship, and in the final of the playoffs dry with a score of 3:0 beat the capital's  "Vitalur ", which for four years hasn't conceded the championship title to anyone. The first gold medals of the Belarusian championship in the club's history were won by: guards — Vladimir Sharko (captain), Aleksei Pyntikov, Dante Stiggers, Carlos Hurt (both USA), Rostislav Vergun, Pavel Yakovitsky, forwards — Aleksei Trostinetsky, Denis Korshuk, Aleksandr Verenich, Dmitry Shilovich, centers — Aleksandr Kul, Henry Harrison (USA), Sharunas Velius (Lithuania). The head coach is Andrei Krivonos, the coach is Igor Kornienkov.

The victory in 2009 marked the beginning of the long—term triumph of our club — during this time we won 15 gold medals and won the Cup of Belarus 14 times - a record in Belarusian basketball.

In 2021, forward Aleksei Trostinetsky achieved the highest achievement: he won the 14 gold award of the Belarusian championship (he became a champion four times as part of "Vitalyur"). Vladimir Sharko, the long-time captain of our team, has one less gold medal.

The 2010/11 season was remarkable for "Minsk-2006": the team played for the first time in the VTB United League, where it still performs. Initially, the strongest teams from Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and other countries participated in this tournament. However, since 2013, the league has actually replaced the Russian Championship, which, in turn, has increased the prestige and level of the competition. Now the league is considered the second on the continent in terms of its level — after the Spanish championship.

The composition of "Minsk-2006" in the debut championship of the VTB United League looked like this: guards — Vladimir Sharko (captain), Tiwayne McKee, Larry Hall (both USA), Nenad Pistolevich (Serbia), Rostislav Vergun, Aleksandr Kudryavtsev, Dmitry Kuzmin, Pavel Yakovitsky, forwards — Denis Korshuk, Aleksei Trostinetsky, Dmitry Shilovich, Melvin Sanders (USA), centers — Aleksandr Kul, Oleg Kozhenets, Aleksey Lashkevich, Sean King (USA). The head coach is Andrey Krivonos.

In September 2012, the "Minsk-2006" team was renamed "Tsmoki-Minsk" in order to increase its marketing attractiveness and draw attention to Belarusian culture. After all, Tsmok is a character of Belarusian mythology, which is mentioned in the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of 1588. The justification of the rebranding was confirmed by the 2012/13 season: the Dragons became one of the leaders of the VTB United League in terms of match attendance.

Unfortunately, over the past championships, our team failed to make it to the playoffs, each time it finished outside the top eight. The most remarkable for Minsk residents was the 2015/16 season, in which the team under the leadership of head coach Igor Grischuk won nine victories. Literally a step away from the cherished goal, "Tsmoki-Minsk" turned out to be in 2018: at the finish of the regular season, our team with the same indicators (8 wins in 24 games) shared the "passing" eighth place with the Latvian VEF, but had to concede to the residents of Riga a ticket to the knockout round based on the results of personal meetings. We hope that in the coming seasons, the Dragons will still be able to break the unpleasant tradition and make it to the playoffs.

The annual triumph at the national level pushed Minsk residents to bring Belarusian basketball out of international isolation. The first attempt to master the European land was made by the team in 2009. Then in the Eurochallenge, we won two victories in six matches and took third place in the group. Since then, the capital club has been participating in continental competitions every year.

The Dragons achieved significant success in the Eurochallenge 2013/14, when they made it to the quarterfinals. The following season, the team took part in a new tournament — the FIBA Europe Cup. Belarusians easily passed to the second stage, where, unfortunately, they finished their performance. They were literally two points short: at home in the last match of the second stage.

In 2016, "Tsmoki-Minsk" debuted in the qualifying round of the Champions League. Igor Grischuk's wards passed the first stage without any problems, knocking out the Bulgarian "Rilski", but they failed to beat the Israeli "Nagaria": both in Minsk and on the road, the dragons lost by four points and were forced to continue the season in the FIBA Europe Cup. There they passed the first group stage, earning five wins, but unexpectedly stumbled before the playoff stage - they literally lacked one successful game. It should be noted that Minsk residents confidently beat the future Cup winner — the French "Nanterre" on their site.

In March 2017, Igor Grischuk was replaced as head coach by Aleksandr Krutikov. Under his leadership, the Dragons made it to the top 16 of the FIBA Europe Cup, which at that time was the highest club achievement.

Our team began to make even greater progress in the international arena when Rostislav Vergun turned out to be at the head of the team. In 2020, she achieved the right to play in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Europe Cup, but there she lost twice to the Danish club "Bakken Bears". But in the 2020/21 season, "Tsmoki-Minsk" stepped the furthest: for the first time in club history, the team broke through to the group round of the FIBA Champions League. Unfortunately, almost simultaneously the injuries of the centers Vladimir Veremeenko and Klavs Cavars, as well as the departure to the clubs of the Spanish league Maksim Salash and Artem Parakhovsky significantly weakened the team, and it had to slow down on the border of the playoffs.

Serious tasks and ambitious goals pushed to increase the club's awareness and create an up-to-date and presentable brand. Entering a new stage of development and renewal, on August 1, 2022, the club introduced a new name – “MINSK". The update involved all the structures of the club: the men's team “MINSK”, “MINSK”-reserve, and the women's team “MINSK". The specialized children's and youth school of the Olympic Reserve in basketball received the same name.

Head coaches of the main team "Tsmoki-Minsk"

2006-07 — Aleksandr Popkov.

2007-08 — Igor Korneenkov.

2008-13 — Andrey Krivonos.

2013-14 — Donaldas Kairys (Lithuania).

2014 — Andrey Krivonos.

2014-17 — Igor Grischuk.

2017-19 — Aleksandr Krutikov.

Since 2019 — Rostislav Vergun.

Captains of the main team "Tsmoki-Minsk"

2006-07 — Pavel Gabrusevich.

2007-09 — Aleksei Pyntikov.

2009-12 — Vladimir Sharko.

2012-17 — Aleksei Lashkevich.

2017-19 — Aleksandr Kudryavtsev.

2019-20 — Branko Mirkovic.

2020-21 — Vladimir Veremeenko.

2021-23 — Aliaksei Trastsinetski.

 

Women's team

Unlike the men's, the women's club team, which then bore the name "Minsk-2006" -ROHP-RSOR and was the base for the youth national team of Belarus before the European Championship, already in its debut season ascended the podium of the national championship — won silver medals. This squad entered the club's history as the first:

guards — Aleksandra Tarasova, Victoria Garelchik, Nadezhda Yakovits, Olga Podobed, Aleksandra Gudkova, Ekaterina Kondratenko, Larisa Latysheva, Victoria Makarenko, Svetlana Trukshanina,

forwards — Nadezhda Nadezhko, Alla Muravskaya, Anna Butyanova, Diana Pavlovskaya, Anna Turukina,

centers — Olga Vashkevich, Tatiana Zhuravleva, Ekaterina Sharkova. The head coach is Andrei Vavlev, the coach is Semyon Khalipsky.

In 2007, Nikolai Buzlyakov took the helm of the team and in three seasons under his leadership, "Minsk-2006" won three awards — silver and two bronze. His replacement Sergei Svetnik, who took over as head coach in 2010, managed to improve his medal achievements: two silver and a bronze. But the goal of the club, of course, was the championship title. And finally, in the 2013/14 season, the dream came true. In the middle of the season, the team was headed by the most experienced Russian specialist Vladimir Koloskov, who was assisted by Sergei Svetnik and Aleksei Pyntikov. The line-up was reinforced by American women Chantal Alford and Kristen Morris, as well as Serbian Bilyana Stepanovic. Minsk women surpassed the Grodno "Olympia" in the semifinal stage — 3:2, and in the final defeated "Horizont" — 3:1.

"Minsk-2006" gold clip: guards — Zhanna Gorodetskaya, Olga Zyuzkova, Nadezhda Yakovits, Chantal Alford (USA), Tatiana Tsiruleva, forwards — Bilyana Stepanovich (Serbia), Victoria Pantyukh, Ekaterina Urbanovich, Diana Sizonova, centers — Olga Vashkevich, Kristen Morris (USA), Victoria Gasper. The head coach is Vladimir Koloskov (Russia), the coaches are Sergei Svetnik and Aleksei Pyntikov.

By the way, at one time our women's team was considered the unluckiest team in the championship. It's no joke, at the turn of decades, Minsk women reached the final of the championship three times, but lost each time. However, in the 2013/14 season, the black stripe finally changed to white. A year later, the team repeated its success with the new head coach Andrei Vavlev.

In addition, in the 2014/15 season, the Baltic League also surrendered to the Dragons.

By the way, they won the first trophy back in 2010 - then the Belarusian Cup filled the team's piggy bank.

In the summer of 2016, the life of the women's team changed dramatically: the club's management made a bet on young basketball players. There are only two experienced players left - Alla Muravskaya and Victoria Gasper, and the only legionnaire - Rachel Terriot - has just completed her performance at the NCAA student school. There are 7 new basketball players in the team, the eldest of whom - Violetta Kivlyak - was only 20 years old.

Despite the almost new squad with young basketball players, the coaching staff led by Andrei Vavlev managed to lead the team to the final of the Belarusian Cup in September. And in November 2016, the Dragons took the Cup for the first time since 2010, beating "Horizont" in the decisive match. The young team led by experienced leaders looked great in the Baltic and Eastern European leagues, but the main gift to the club was made in April. Then the girls literally left no chance to the same "Horizont", dryly beating him in the final series of the championship of Belarus - 3: 0. Thus, in one season, the Dragons collected all the trophies of basketball Belarus. The women's team repeated this success in the 2017/18 season.

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