Liège Basket

Liège Basket is a Belgian professional basketball club from Liège. The club competes in the BNXT League. Founded in 1967, the team plays at 5,600 seat Country Hall Ethias Liège.[1]

Liège Basket
Liège Basket logo
LeaguesBNXT League
Founded1967 (1967)
HistoryFléron Basket Club
1967–2000
Liège Basket
2000–present
ArenaCountry Hall Liège
Capacity5,000
LocationLiège, Belgium
Team colorsBlack, White, Red
     
Main sponsorVOO
PresidentErnie Cambo
Head coachBrad Greenberg
OwnershipErnie Cambo
Championships1 Belgian Cup
2 Belgian Supercups
Websiteliegebasket.be

The club is one of the traditional clubs in Belgian basketball, having played in the top flight division since 2001. Liège Basket's accolades include one Belgian Cup (in 2004) and two Belgian Supercups (in 2004 and 2009).

History

The club was founded in Fléron as the Fléron Basket Club in 1967. After being an amateur league for its first years, the team hired its first professional coach in 1975. In 1977 and 1981, the Fléron promoted to the first regional league. In 1983, the club made its debut on the national level as it promoted to the Fourth National Division. In 2000, the club decided to merge with BC Hannut and Essor Hannut, relocating to the city of Liège.

After the move to Lìege, the club quickly promoted to the First National League. In 2001, the club's debut in Europe was made after it qualified as 7th in the previous season. In the 2001–02 FIBA Korać Cup, the team lost to French side Racing Paris in the first round. Three years later, in 2004, the team wins its first silverware when it captures the Belgian Basketball Cup for the first time.

In the 2008–09 season, the team had its best European campaign when it reached the Top 16 of the 2008–09 FIBA EuroChallenge. In 2010, Liège played in the championship playoffs for the first time, but loses to Spirou Charleroi.

Since the 2021–22 season, Liège plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.[2] After the 2020s were characterised mainly by financial problems for Liège, the club was purchased by an American investors group in 2022. The Mickael Sports Group, owned by Ernie Cambo, purchased all shares in the team.[3] Following the acquisition, head coach Lionel Bosco was sacked and replaced by Brad Greenberg.

On October 3, the club announced that they will be boycotting the away-game against Antwerp Giants on October 28 because of "partisan" refereeing in away-games, also saynig that "Belgian players get better calls then foreigners. The BNXT League responded by saying that if they actually pull through, Liège will be refused access to the playoffs on top of a €2500 fine. The League put the deadline for the decision on October 10. On October 9, they announced that the will play against the Antwerp Giants.

Honours and titles

Logos and names

  • TEC Liège (2000–2001)
  • Dexia Liège (2001)
  • Euphony Liège (2001–2004)
  • Liège Basket (2004–2015)
  • betFirst Liège Basket (2015–2017)
  • VOO Liège Basket (2017–present)

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Liège Basket roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
PG 0 Belgium Malu, Jaden 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 21 – (2002-01-22)22 January 2002
PG 4 Belgium Potier, James 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 24 – (1998-12-31)31 December 1998
SG 6 Belgium Lemaire, Brieuc 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 31 – (1992-08-05)5 August 1992
F/C 7 Belgium Iarochevitch, Ioann 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 34 – (1989-05-31)31 May 1989
SG 8 Belgium Moons, Jarno 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 22 – (2000-12-26)26 December 2000
F 9 Belgium Bogaerts, Bram 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 25 – (1998-01-30)30 January 1998
SG 10 Belgium Depuydt, Maxime 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 30 – (1992-12-30)30 December 1992
F 11 Belgium Bruwier, Romain 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 21 – (2001-12-19)19 December 2001
PF 13 Slovenia Fifolt, Žiga 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 30 – (1993-10-09)9 October 1993
SF 17 Belgium Noterman, Moussa 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 23 – (2000-05-11)11 May 2000
PF 19 Belgium Dupperoy, Édouard 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 22 – (2001-01-23)23 January 2001
SF 21 Slovenia Dragan, Nik 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 23 – (2000-05-06)6 May 2000
PF 24 Belgium Tumba, Kevin 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 32 – (1991-02-23)23 February 1991
PG 99 Belgium Van Den Eynde, Niels 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 22 – (2000-12-27)27 December 2000
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • United States Daniel Gutt
  • United States Eric Rodriguez

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured

Updated: December 30, 2021

Season by season

Season Tier League Pos. Belgian Cup Other cups European competitions
2009–101 BLB 2nd SupercupC 3 EuroChallengeT16
2010–111 BLB 8th 3 EuroChallengeRS
2011–121 BLB 8th
2012–131 BLB 7th Quarterfinalist
2013–141 BLB 5th Semifinalist
2014–151 BLB 7th Runner-up
2015–161 BLB 8th Round of 16
2016–171 BLB 10th Round of 16
2017–181 BLB 9th Quarterfinalist
2018–19 1 BLB 10th Round of 16
2019–20 1 PBL 10th
2020–21 1 PBL 9th Play-in Round
2021–22 1 BNXT 17th

European record

Season Tier Competition Round Club Home Away
2001–02
2
FIBA Korać CupFirst RoundFrance Racing Paris
62–83
74–88
2004–05
2
ULEB Cup
2006–073FIBA EuroCupFirst RoundEstonia BC Kalev ? ?
Ukraine BC Kyiv ? ?
Second RoundSpain Estudiantes ? ?
Cyprus AEL Limassol ??
Lithuania Šiauliai ? ?
2008–093FIBA EuroChallengeFirst Qualifying RoundDenmark Bakken Bears97–6467–55
Second Qualifying RoundFrance JA Vichy74–6780-70
Regular SeasonSpain Cajasol69–6279–78
Latvia Ventspils89–8473–54
Poland Czarni Słupsk89–6493–91
Top 16Netherlands EiffelTowers Den Bosch81–6858–67
Germany Bonn59–6764–79
France Cholet70–8078–71
2009–10
3
FIBA EuroChallenge

Players

Individual awards

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

References

  1. "La Salle" (in French). Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  2. "Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. "Eerste Belgische basketbalclub in buitenlandse handen: Amerikaanse investeringsgroep neemt Luik Basket over". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). 13 December 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
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