Kapfenberg Bulls (basketball)

Kapfenberg Bulls
Club data
Address:	Kapfenberg Bulls Office K. H. Waggerl Weg 6 8605 Kapfenberg
Website:	www.ece-bulls.com
Founding year:	1976
President / Chairman:	currently vacant
Executive Director:	Oliver friend
Venue:	Walfersam sports hall
Dress colors:	Home games: white Away games: green
Home game info sheet:	Bulls Insider
Title won
Master :	2001 , 2002 , 2003 , 2004 , 2017 , 2018 , 2019
Cup :	2007, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Supercup :	2002, 2003, 2014, 2017, 2018
European Cup participation
Korać Cup :	1994/95 (1S-3N), 1995/96 (1S-1N), 1996/97 (1S-1N), 1997/98 (2S-6N), 1998/99 (2S-2N), 1999/00 (1S -1N), 2000/01 (0S-2N), 2001/02 (0S-2N)
ULEB Cup :	2003/04 (1S-9N), 2004/05 (0S-10N)
FIBA EuroCup Challenge :	2002/03 (4S-6N), 2005/06 (0S-4N)
CEBL European Cup :	2008/09 (6S-0N, 3rd place in the Final Four)

Kapfenberg Bulls is a basketball club from Kapfenberg in Styria . The club has played in the Austrian basketball league since 1991 . The club achieved its greatest successes in 2001-2004 with four championship titles in a row and three victories in the Supercup . This made the Bulls the first Austrian basketball champion who did not come from Vienna or Lower Austria . The team also won the cup three times . The Bulls achieved their greatest international success in the 2008/09 season with a third place in the Central European Basketball League , which is the best placement of an Austrian basketball team in a European competition.

The club was founded in 1976 as a division of the Aflenz gymnastics club . In 1996 the club was moved to a branch of the Kapfenberg Sports Association and the club's headquarters were relocated to Kapfenberg, after the Bundesliga team had played their games in the Kapfenberg Walfersamhalle in previous years. The club has been called Kapfenberg Bulls since 2004, after having previously been known as “TV Sparkasse Aflenz”, “Basketball Club Sparkasse Aflenz” and “Basket Bears”. The Kapfenberg Bulls ice hockey team has been part of the club since 2009 . The team is the successor to the insolvent Icetigers .

The team's coach until the end of December 2017 was Michael Stepwieser , who was involved in all of the Bulls' titles in this position and thus became the most successful Austrian basketball coach.

history

1974 to 1985 (founding period)

In 1974 a basketball group was set up around Adolf "Adi" Stepwieser and Günther Agath in Aflenz , which played in the gymnasium of the Aflenz Provostry . The team did not take part in any championship, but played a few friendly matches. The leader and first team captain of this group was Gerhard Trost. Adi Stepwieser described this early period in his diary as follows:

“In the old gym in the Propsteig building, Gerhard Trost trained: Zechner Hermann, Srb Sepp, Kornton Gust, Schmied Walter, Leitner Hans, Seitner Manfred, Winterheller Sigi and a few others. This so-called gymnasium is approx. 12 m × 6 m and has baskets that are much too low. We don't know much about the rules, but we play with all the harder! "

- Adi Stepwieser : quoted from Basket Bears. Chronicle 1976-2001.

In 1976 this group officially founded a club as a division of the Aflenz gymnastics club in order to be able to take part in the Styrian championship. Since the Styrian association for the promotion of young talent required its own youth team, stepwieser set up a youth team consisting of his son Michael stepwieser and his classmates from the elementary school. At this time, the club was training and playing in the newly built gymnasium of the Thörl secondary school . In their first season, the youth team reached seventh place out of eight teams in the Styrian championship. In the second season (1978) the boys were runner-up. The first training camp was held in Hintermoos in 1979.

In 1980 the club provided two youth teams. This year a free space was set up in Aflenz, which (in addition to subsidies from the municipality of Aflenz) was largely financed by the members of the association.

In 1981, three youth teams took part in the Styrian championships. In addition, Aflenz was promoted to 1st class this year. For this reason, Pavel Trupl, the club's first legionnaire , was signed in 1982 .

The first sponsor was won in 1983 with the Sparkasse Aflenz. The club was called TV Sparkasse Aflenz , later the Sparkasse Aflenz basketball club . In 1985, the first team that was still coached by Adi Stepwieser rose to the state league, the highest Styrian league, for the first time. In addition, the association won two Styrian championship titles in the age groups “pupils” and “boys”.

The interest in basketball in the Aflenzer area increased steadily, and some young players of the first generation carried out the training of the youth teams. Michael Stepwieser took over the overall management of the junior staff in 1985.

1986 to 1993 (The Ascent)

10 years after the club was founded, the first team played in the national league for the first time in the 1986/87 season. With the rise, the club's work became more professional. With Boris Cerpes from Marburg, the club signed a foreign coach for the national league team for the first time.

The youngsters achieved successes in Austrian championships: the juniors reached the quarter-finals, the youth the runner-up title and the students became Austrian champions. At that time, the club took part in championships with a total of six teams.

After a narrow qualification for the promotion games in Steyr, the team fixed promotion to the Bundesliga B for the first time in the 1987/88 season. Despite the commitment of the first US legionary Dwayne Texas, the club rose again to the national league in the following season. Although the five best players were intensely courted by the Graz Bundesliga clubs, none of the players migrated. In March 1989 Fery Kienesberger took over the team, in 1990 the immediate promotion as a national league champion was achieved.

In the 1990/91 season, the club engaged the native Californian John "Johnny" Griffin . With him, the team dominated the regular season in Bundesliga B. 15 years after the club was founded, the team achieved promotion to Bundesliga A in 1991 . Since then, the club has been an integral part of the top Austrian league.

At this time, the association expanded in the field of youth work. The first training units for children and young people from Kapfenberg were carried out under the direction of Roland Korntheuer . Since there was no suitable hall for Bundesliga basketball in Aflenz, the championship games were also held in Kapfenberg, 15 km away, in the Walfersam sports hall.

In the first Bundesliga season, the club was able to take fifth place after a weak initial phase. In the following season, the team had to let go of some top performers. The search for legionnaires turned out to be difficult, a total of nine US legionnaires were deployed in the season. At the end of the season, the club finished 11th in a relegation zone. Only by increasing the league did the team avoid relegation.

1993 to 2000 (on the way to becoming a top club)

In 1993 Michael Stepwieser ended his playing career and instead became the new coach of the men's team as a “cheap solution”. With the exception of an interruption in the 2002/2003 season, he was supposed to fill this position up to the present and, through his later successes with the club, would become the most successful Austrian basketball coach.

In the 1993/94 season , the team finished fifth in the championship and qualified for the first time for a European competition. The club set up a marketing group that designed a logo and used a bear as the club's mascot. In the course of this action, the club name was changed to Basket Bears .

In 1994 the center Helmut Moschik and assistant trainer Midhat “Mido” Kamenica joined the Bears. With the tribe around the legionaries Johnny Griffin, Mike Coffin and Sean Allen , the club slowly worked its way to the top of the Bundesliga and was able to celebrate some respectable successes in European competitions.

In 1996 the men's team reached third place. The team remained undefeated for 55 weeks (across all seasons). Michael Stepwieser was named Coach of the Year for his achievements this season, Johnny Griffin was named Player of the Year and Jürgen Kogler was named Newcomer of the Year by the Bundesliga.

In that year the club officially relocated its headquarters to Kapfenberg and became a branch of the Kapfenberg Sports Association after the cooperation with the city of Kapfenberg had been intensified in the previous years. The move to Kapfenberg was received negatively by some club members and fans from Aflenz.

In 1997 a new main sponsor was found with the company Montan, whose managing director Karl Thaller became president of the association. Against Székesfehérvár (Hungary) the promotion to the main round of the Korac Cup succeeded for the first time , in the league, as in the previous year, the third place was achieved. The team took this place in 1998 : After a very good regular season with 14 wins in 18 games, the Bears lost to the later champions St. Pölten in the semifinals .

In 1999 Kapfenberg failed in the final series of the playoffs at St. Pölten. With second place, the best position in the championship since the club was founded was achieved.

In the 1999/2000 season, the Bears once again pushed their youth work and were able to sign the talents Armin Woschank , Aleksandar "Aco" Djuric and Samuel Knabl as young players. In January 2000 Kapfenberg was in the cup final for the first time, but lost the cup game against Traiskirchen with 66:87. Also in the league final, which was broadcast live on TV on TW1 for the first time in league history , the Bears Traiskirchen lost.

2001 to 2004 (the master years)

In the 2000/01 season , the Bears played again in the Cup against Traiskirchen and suffered a bitter defeat. Despite a 22-point lead, Traiskirchen was able to turn the final game with the strong ex-Kapfenberger Sean Allen and secure the title with a 72:66 victory.

But the Bears were all the more successful in the league. After a semi- final victory against Basket Clubs Vienna , Kapfenberg played in the final against the Wörthersee Piraten . After two wins each for Kapfenberg and Klagenfurt, the decisive game took place in the Kapfenberg Walfersamhalle. In front of 1,100 spectators, the then 18-year-old Armin Woschank made the preliminary decision with a three-point throw from nine meters three minutes before the end. As a result, the Bears took the lead and subsequently did not give it up. With a 78:74 victory, the Bears celebrated their first championship title in the top Austrian league 25 years after the club was founded and three third and two second places in a row. This made the Bears the first Austrian basketball champion who did not come from Vienna or Lower Austria . The title win was also the starting signal for a series of four championship titles.

In 2002 , the Styrian local rivals Fürstenfeld Panthers were defeated in the final, in which the Bears were only able to bring about the decision in the fifth and all-important game with a 109:10 away win after double overtime. The referee at the time, Andreas Roth, caused discussions, who indicated a foul on a Fürstenfelder player with the final siren, but did not enforce the free throws to be imposed because the Kapfenberg fans who had traveled with them stormed the field. Rasheed Brokenborough from Kapfenberg , who fixed an 89-87 win in game four with a 2-point throw in the final second, scored 33 points in the decisive game.

In the fall of 2002 Michael Stepwieser resigned as a trainer and instead became the sports director of the Bears. He was replaced by Toni Vujanic, who left the club for family reasons that same autumn. The new coach Stefan Koch , who previously worked for the German first division team Skyliners Frankfurt , among others , led the Bears to good performances in the international Champions Cup and the league finals.

In the final series, the Bears were already 0-2 behind against cup winner Allianz Swans Gmunden after games. Before the third final game, Michael Stepwieser took over as coach again. The Bears were able to win all three remaining games and are thus the only team in the Austrian basketball league to date that has been able to catch up such a deficit. In the 2003/04 season , the hedge fund Superfund became the new main sponsor. Since the bear stands for falling prices in the stock exchange language , the association renamed itself Kapfenberg Bulls at the instigation of Superfund . In the ULEB Cup , the Bulls celebrated a respectable success with an 80:71 win against KK Atlas, the remaining nine games were lost. In the regular season, the Bulls won 16 of 18 games, but in the spring the team suffered the longest series of defeats in the club's history with six defeats in a row. Nevertheless, Kapfenberg went into the playoffs as first in the table and defeated Traiskirchen in the quarterfinals and Wels in the semi-finals with 3-0 each. In the final, the Bulls met Gmunden again and secured with a 94:86 away win the 3-1 in the final series and the fourth championship title in a row, which should remain the last so far.

The top performers in the championship years were legionnaires, led by Rasheed Brokenborough and Mike Coffin, as well as self-made players such as Armin Woschank, Samuel Knabel and Aleksandar Djuric.

Since 2005 (the first cup win)

In the following years, Kapfenberg had to let some of these top performers go. Although the Bulls were still represented in the playoffs, they couldn't get past the semi-finals.

In 2005 Kapfenberg failed in the semifinals to Oberwart and did not reach the league finals for the first time since 1998. In 2006 the Bulls lost 3-0 in the semi-finals against Wels.

The team won their last Austrian title in 2007 when they won their only cup. In their fourth final appearance, the Bulls were able to defeat Fürstenfeld 73:69. The title of Most Valuable Player went to Shawn Ray from Kapfenberg , who scored 19 points.

In the 2008 season , the Bulls reached the semi-finals of the play-offs after finishing fourth in the regular season. After four games, the Gunners from Oberwart were the final destination.

The 2008-09 season was an up and down for the Bulls. In the main round 1 , the team was able to secure fourth place. In the following quarter-finals against the fifth-placed Traiskirchen Lions, the Bulls had to admit defeat 3-1 after winning games despite their home advantage, with the first and fourth games only being lost in extra time.

In the 2009/10 season, the team reached the semi-finals of the play-offs despite a 6th place in the regular season and was eliminated after three defeats against Allianz Swans Gmunden. This result was repeated in the 2010/11 season. This time they lost to the same opponent in five games. In the 2011/12 season, the team achieved a good third place in the regular season. Again, the Bulls were only eliminated in four games in the semifinals against eventual champions Xion Dukes Klosterneuburg.

In 2014 the cup competition and the Supercup were won.

The Kapfenberger won the 2017 cup in the final 77:60 against the Gunners Oberwart. The Bulls celebrated their third cup win after 2007 and 2014. They also triumphed in the Supercup and in the championship, so that the 16/17 season was concluded with three titles.

At the end of 2017, successful coach Michael Stepwieser resigned and moved to the Austrian Basketball Association as Secretary General. Mike Coffin was his successor . Kapfenberg won the Supercup at the beginning of October 2017 under Stepwieser's direction. Coffin led the team to the 2018 championship title and cup victory. At the end of July 2018, President Heribert Krammer , who had headed the association since 2012, resigned. He also announced that his company ece would be leaving as the main financier after the end of the 2018/19 season.

In March 2019, the team won the cup competition for the third time in a row. A few months later the championship title was added.

Bundesliga team 2017/18

Squad of the Kapfenberg Bulls in the 2017/2018 season
Attention: The squad information is out of date! (current season: 2020/2021)
player No. Nat. Surname birth size info Last club Guards ( PG , SG ) 4th Kareem Jamar 10/16/1992 194 cm 5 Bogic Vujosevic 08/05/1992 190 cm 6th Lukas Hahn 08/02/1999 186 cm 7th Marvin Riedl 12/10/1998 195 cm 8th Kushtrim Dvorani 03/15/1999 185 cm 14th Tobias Stepwieser 10/14/1996 186 cm 15th Marck Coffin 09/27/1991 193 cm Forwards ( SF , PF ) 9 Filip Chandler 01/01/1992 202 cm UBC St. Pölten 10 Ian Moschik 01/03/1996 203 cm 11 Milan Stegnjaic 04/05/1981 204 cm 12 Brian Oliver 09/05/1990 201 cm 17th Willi Emiohe 03/19/2001 198 cm Center ( C ) 13 Jozo Rados 08/05/1993 210 cm	Trainer Nat. Surname position Mike Coffin Head coach Tatiana Gallova Ace coach Legend Abbr. meaning Team captain No. Jersey number Nat. nationality swell Team homepage League homepage Status: February 24, 2018

Participation in international competitions

Since 1994 Kapfenberg has taken part in international competitions a total of 13 times. Eight participations in the Korać Cup followed two participations each in the FIBA EuroCup Challenge and the ULEB Cup , the second most important European basketball competition, in which the club was the first Austrian basketball team to take part. In these competitions the Bulls could celebrate some respectable successes, but not compete for the title. In the following two years, the Bulls did not take part in any European competition for the first time since 1994.

In the 2008/09 season, Kapfenberg represented Austrian basketball together with the Xion Dukes Klosterneuburg and Arkadia Traiskirchen Lions in the Central European Basketball League . In the group stage, the Bulls played against teams from the Czech Republic and Slovakia and were the only CEBL participants to win all six games. In the subsequent Final Four, the Bulls lost the semi-finals against eventual tournament winner Székesfehérvár. With a 74:67 win against Nový Jičín in the game for third place, the Bulls still achieved the best result of an Austrian basketball club in an international competition.

Youth work

Since they were founded, the Bulls have relied heavily on their own youth work. In the period up to promotion to Bundesliga A, the team consisted predominantly of self-made players. In the following years some legionnaires were hired, but young players were also introduced to the team and used as service providers. The Bulls regularly provide some players for the Austrian national team.

With the Big Men Academy , the club focused specifically on great basketball players. Aleksandar Djuric , Samuel Knabl , Martin Kohlmaier and Heinz Kügerl were trained in the course of this project. Thanks to the youth model and the team sports academy , youth work is carried out for both popular and top-class sports, with boarding school places available. A cooperation with the upper level of the BRG Kapfenberg enables the young players to have a Matura in addition to their athletic training.

Club structure

The Bulls have been a branch of the Kapfenberg Sports Association since 1996 . In that year the club merged with the KSV basketball section , which had been active in Kapfenberg since 1965 and reached the state league as the top division.

In 1998 the club's founder, Adi Stepwieser, was replaced as chairman of the club by Karl Thaller. Thaller is also the managing director of Montan Spedition, a long-term sponsor of Kapfenberg Bulls.

In the summer of 2009, an ice hockey team was added as the successor to the insolvent Kapfenberg Icetigers as a division of the club. The team plays in the big leagues . See also Kapfenberg Bulls (ice hockey) .

Venue

The Bulls have played their home games in the Walfersamhalle in Kapfenberg since 1988. The Walfersamhalle was originally the gym of the Dr. Franz Jonas elementary school and was built in 1973. It has an area of ​​980 m² and can accommodate around 1000 visitors. In addition to its function as a game and training facility, the hall is also used for events. In 1999 a joint-friendly parquet floor was installed.

Fan culture

The Aufoahn fan club has existed since 2009 , which as an official club aims to support basketball in Kapfenberg and the Kapfenberg Bulls in particular. The name derives from the battle cry “Ans, zwa, drei, Aufoahn!” (High German: “One, two, three, start up!”), Which was already shouted by the fans at the start of the game just before the jump ball . The hallmarks of this fan club include t-shirts in club colors and - alluding to the name "Bulls" - the use of cowbells as an acoustic signal.

In addition, there has been a fan group since the late 1990s that supports the team with drums.

Placements in Bundesliga and Cup

Since 1996 the club has been able to achieve the following placements:

season	Bundesliga	Cup
2016/17	master	Cup winner
2015/16	8th place (quarter-finals)	Semifinals
2014/15	3rd place (semifinals)	Semifinals
2013/14	Runner-up	Cup winner
2012/13	3rd place (semifinals)	Quarter finals
2011/12	3rd place (semifinals)
2010/11	6th place (quarter finals)	Quarter finals
2009/10	6th place (semifinals)	final
2008/09	4th place (quarter finals)	Quarter finals
2007/08	5th place (semifinals)	Round of 16
2006/07	4th place (quarter finals)	Cup winner
2005/06	3rd place	Quarter finals
2004/05	3rd place	final
2003/04	master	Final Four
2002/03	master	Final Four
2001/02	master	Quarter finals
2000/01	master	final
1999/2000	Runner-up	final
1998/99	Runner-up	Final Four
1997/98	3rd place	Quarter finals
1996/97	3rd place	Final Four
1995/96	3rd place	Quarter finals

Former players

A selection of former players (in alphabetical order):

• Rasheed Brokenborough
• Mike Coffin
• Aleksandar Djuric
• Markus Fritz
• John Griffin
• Martin Kohlmaier
• Sean McCaw (Sean Allen, 1995-1999)
• Shawn Ray
• Gerald Wasshuber
• Jasmon Youngblood

literature

• Inge Stepwieser, Michael Stepwieser and Reinhard Pöllendorfer: Basket Bears. Chronicle 1976-2001. Self-published, Kapfenberg 2001.
• Helga Papst: Sport in Kapfenberg. 1898–2008 , pages 46 to 50. Stadtgemeinde Kapfenberg, Kapfenberg 2009
• Ernst Weiss (Ed.): Basketball Guide 2008/09 , pages 60 to 66, self-published, Vienna 2008.
• History of the Kapfenberg Bulls, www.kapfenberg-bulls.com (accessed on July 22, 2009)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.ece-bulls.com/de/23031?entry=37503
2. ↑ Masters from the "Graben" , Kleine Zeitung, December 2, 2001
3. ↑ The literature contradicts itself here. The Chronik Sport in Kapfenberg mentions a second promotion to the Bundesliga in 1993, but does not describe when a possible relegation should have occurred. The 2008/09 basketball guide says that the team has been playing in the top Austrian league since 1991 , and the placements for the 1991 and 1992 seasons can also be found in the history of the Kapfenberg Bulls . Since sport in Kapfenberg is inconclusive on this point and the two other sources correspond, these were given preference here.
4. ↑ 55 great weeks - but now the Aflenz series broke , Kleine Zeitung, March 25, 1996
5. ↑ Basket Bears: Successful debut with a new name , Kleine Zeitung, August 27, 1996
6. ↑ New sponsor, new player: This year the title is inside , Kleine Zeitung, August 28, 1997
7. ↑ The slow motion did not work - neither on live TV nor on Coffin & Co. , Kleine Zeitung, May 17, 2000
8. ↑ Masterful Bear Party , Kleine Zeitung, May 26, 2001
9. ↑ With suit, tie and trophy in the master pool , Kleine Zeitung, May 26, 2001
10. ↑ Panthers see red (h) , sportnet.at (accessed on August 9, 2009)
11. ^ Sieg, Sekt, New Year's Eve Rocket , Kleine Zeitung, May 29, 2002
12. ↑ Der Matchwinner , Kleine Zeitung, June 4, 2002
13. Jump up ↑ "Bären": stepwieser abdicated , Kleine Zeitung, June 22, 2002
14. ↑ Tom's model company , Kleine Zeitung, August 6, 2003
15. ↑ All good things come in four! , Kleine Zeitung, May 18, 2004
16. ↑ Kapfenberg wins Cup Final Four  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   , sport.orf.at (accessed on August 7, 2009)
17. ↑ Christopher Käferle: ece bulls Kapfenberg are cup winners 2017. (No longer available online.) In: www.oebl.at. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017 ; accessed on March 26, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ The ece bulls are cup winners 2016/17. In: www.ece-bulls.com. Retrieved March 26, 2017 . 
19. ↑ http://www.ece-bulls.com/de/23031?entry=37503
20. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated December 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
21. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOMG0udY4dw
22. ↑ https://www.sn.at/sport/mixed/kapfenberg-holte-sich-nach-krimi-in-gmunden-den-abl-titel-29120698
23. ↑ https://www.ece-bulls.com/2018/03/25/titel-verteidigt-die-ece-bulls-sind-cupsieger-2018/
24. ↑ https://www.ece-bulls.com/verein/geschichte/
25. ↑ https://www.skysportaustria.at/basketball-at/kapfenberg-bulls-muessen-sich-bald-neuen-hauptsponsor-suchen/
26. ↑ https://www.basketballliga.at/abl/news/?id/14258/81433
27. ↑ https://www.basketballliga.at/abl/news/?id/14258/85067
28. ↑ Results Central European Basketball League  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , cebl.sk (accessed August 7, 2009)  
29. ↑ The cops are now in top form , Kleine Zeitung (Mürz Valley), January 14, 2009
30. ↑ On the joys of fathering and real labor pains ( memento from September 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) , Kleine Zeitung, September 9, 2009

Web links

• official homepage of the Kapfenberg Bulls
• Kapfenberg Bulls fan club (Aufoahn)
• Homepage of the young model Kapfenberg
• ABL Basketball Bundesliga (current table, match results and statistics)

Coordinates: 47 ° 26 ′ 49.5 "  N , 15 ° 18 ′ 29.7"  E