Śląsk Wrocław (basketball)
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WKS Śląsk Wrocław is a Polish professional basketball club based in Wrocław. Founded in 1948, Śląsk is the most decorated Polish basketball club, with 18 Polish League and 14 Polish cup championships. The club plays in the Polish Basketball League (PLK), the highest-tier level in Polish men's basketball. The home court is Hala Orbita, but many games are played in Centennial Hall.
| WKS Śląsk Wrocław | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Nickname | WKS Wojskowi (Military) | |||
| Leagues | PLK Champions League | |||
| Founded | 1948; 76 years ago | |||
| History | Śląsk Wrocław (1948–present) | |||
| Arena | Hala Orbita, Centennial Hall | |||
| Capacity | 3,000, 5,800 | |||
| Location | Wrocław, Poland | |||
| Team colors | Green, white, red | |||
| President | Michał Lizak | |||
| Head coach | Miodrag Rajković | |||
| Team captain | Ángel Núñez | |||
| Championships | 18 Polish Championships 14 Polish Cups 3 Polish Supercups | |||
| Website | wks-slask | |||
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Since the basketball section was founded in 1948, Śląsk Wrocław has been the most decorated and most recognizable club in Polish basketball. The team has won the Polish league championships 18 times so far. Most recognized period of Śląsk's history is the "Great Śląsk Era" when the team won five championship titles in a row (1998–2002).
Most of those successes where achieved with coach Andrej Urlep. The notable players playing for Śląsk Wrocław over the years were: Mieczysław Łopatka (1960s), Edward Jurkiewicz (1970s and 1980s), Jerzy Binkowski (1980s, 1990s), Dariusz Zelig (1980s, 1990s), Maciej Zieliński (1980s, 1990s, 2000s), Adam Wójcik and Dominik Tomczyk.
In 2008 the club has gone into serious financial difficulties, which resulted in withdrawing the team from Polish Basketball League. After years of rebuilding attempts, the club is now back playing in the Polish Basketball League top division.[1][2]
In the 2020–21 PLK season, the team finished third. Śląsk defeated Legia Warszawa 86:85 in overtime of the decisive game 3 of the bronze medal series. The result exceeded expectations as it was the club's first league podium finish in 11 years. Key players of that team included Aleksander Dziewa, Kyle Gibson, Elijah Stewart and Strahinja Jovanović.[3]
The following season the club returned to the top of the domestic competition becoming Polish champions, twenty years after the last championship won in 2002. Travis Trice won MVP awards for both the regular season and the finals.
Season by season (since 1990)
| Season | Tier | League | Pos. | Polish Cup | European competitions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 | 1 | PLK | Champion | 2 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup | 0-2 | ||
| 1991–92 | 1 | PLK | Champion | Winner | 1 FIBA European League / 2 European Cup | 1-3 | |
| 1992–93 | 1 | PLK | Champion | 1 FIBA EuroLeague | 2-2 | ||
| 1993–94 | 1 | PLK | Champion | 1 FIBA EuroLeague | 0-2 | ||
| 1994–95 | 1 | PLK | 5th | 1 FIBA EuroLeague | 0-2 | ||
| 1995–96 | 1 | PLK | Champion | 3 FIBA Korać Cup | 1-1 | ||
| 1996–97 | 1 | PLK | 4th | Winner | 2 FIBA EuroCup | 9-7 | |
| 1997–98 | 1 | PLK | Champion | 2 FIBA EuroCup | 9-6 | ||
| 1998–99 | 1 | PLK | Champion | 2 FIBA Saporta Cup | 5-7 | ||
| 1999–00 | 1 | PLK | Champion | 2 FIBA Saporta Cup | 10-6 | ||
| 2000–01 | 1 | PLK | Champion | 1 FIBA SuproLeague | 7-13 | ||
| 2001–02 | 1 | PLK | Champion | 1 Euroleague | 4–10 | ||
| 2002–03 | 1 | PLK | 3nd | 1 Euroleague | 5–9 | ||
| 2003–04 | 1 | PLK | 2nd | Winner | 1 Euroleague | 6–8 | |
| 2004–05 | 1 | PLK | 5th | Winner | 2 ULEB Cup | 6–6 | |
| 2005–06 | 1 | PLK | 5th | 3 FIBA EuroCup | 6–6 | ||
| 2006–07 | 1 | PLK | 3rd | ||||
| 2007–08 | 1 | PLK | 3rd[a] | Runner-up | 2 ULEB Cup | 5–7 | |
| 2008–09 | 3 | II Liga | 11th | ||||
| 2009–10 | 3 | II Liga | 12th | ||||
| 2010–11 | 3 | II Liga | 12th | ||||
| 2011–12 | 3 | II Liga | 1st | ||||
| 2012–13 | 2 | I Liga | 1st | ||||
| 2013–14 | 1 | PLK | 9th | Winner | |||
| 2014–15 | 1 | PLK | 5th | Quarterfinalist | |||
| 2015–16 | 1 | PLK | 14th[b] | 3 FIBA Europe Cup | 4–8 | ||
| 2016–17 | 3 | II Liga | 1st | ||||
| 2017–18 | 2 | I Liga | 9th | ||||
| 2018–19 | 2 | I Liga | 2nd | ||||
| 2019–20 | 1 | PLK | 7th[c] | ||||
| 2020–21 | 1 | PLK | 3rd | Quarterfinalist | |||
| 2021–22 | 1 | PLK | Champion | Semifinalist | 2 EuroCup | 3–14 | |
| 2022–23 | 1 | PLK | 2nd | Quarterfinalist | 2 EuroCup | 1–17 | |
| 2023–24 | 1 | PLK | 3rd | 2 EuroCup | 2–16 | ||
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| Śląsk Wrocław roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: September 11, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Śląsk Wrocław retired numbers | ||||
| N° | Nat. | Player | Position | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Maciej Zieliński | F | 1987–1992, 1995–2006 | |
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| Criteria |
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To appear in this section a player must have either:
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- Mieczysław Łopatka
- Dariusz Zelig
- Maciej Zieliński
- Dominik Tomczyk
- Adam Wójcik
- Alan Gregov
- Raimonds Miglinieks
- Roberts Štelmahers
- Dainius Adomaitis
- Gintaras Einikis
- Tomas Pačėsas
- Andrius Giedraitis
- Andrey Fetisov
- Sean Marks
- Keith Williams
- / Joe McNaull
- LaBradford Smith
- Harold Jamison
- Charles O'Bannon
- Michael Hawkins
- Michael Wright
- Lynn Greer
- Dean Oliver
- Travis Trice
- Polish League (18):
- 1 Liga (1):
- Winner (1): 2012–13
- Polish Cup (14):
- 1957, 1959, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2014
- Polish Supercup (3):
- 1999, 2000, 2024
- ^ "Jak to było?" (in Polish). WKS Śląsk Wrocław. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ "Slask Wroclaw". 7DAYS EuroCup. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ EBL: Aleksander Dziewa: To nieopisana radość. Nikt w Polsce na nas nie stawiał Mariusz Hawryszczuk (Polsat Sport), 25 April 2021. Accessed 20 May 2021.(in Polish)