Basketball. Illustrative photo.
Prague – Děčín basketball players celebrate a historic triumph in the Czech Cup. In the final in Prague at Královka, they defeated the current league leader Brno 87:74. Bronze was won by Kolín, which defeated Ústí nad Labem 92:89 in the match for 3rd place.
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Děčín became the sixth club to win the Czech Cup. So far, Nymburk has triumphed fifteen times, which this time was eliminated in the quarter-finals with Brno, Opava six times, Nový Jičín five times, Pardubice twice and Prostějov once. The winner of the cup received 80,000 crowns, and the other teams in the order always received 20,000 less.
Děčín's greatest achievements in the cup so far were three silver medals from 2012, 2015 and 2016. The latter was also four times in the league (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019).
“The feeling that I can be a coach at the first big trophy for the Děčín club is beautiful. Behind everything that can be won is a huge amount of hard work, sweat, tears and renunciation. Both matches here were extremely difficult, but we they hid the best possible performances over the weekend,” said coach Tomáš Grepl. “For me this is a huge success, but our general manager Lukáš Houser deserves it the most, who has been with the club for over twenty years and he will be very happy today,” he added.
He led North Bohemia to victory in the final in front of 1365 spectators, 27 points, the best scorer of the match, Matěj Svoboda. The most valuable player of the Final Four was American Ty Nichols from the winning team, who scored 18 points and added eight assists against Brno. Not even Randy Culpepper's 23 points were enough for the losers.
After a drawn-out start to the final, Děčín sent Svoboda into the lead 14:12 with a three-pointer in the 5th minute, and the North Bohemians did not let go of the lead. At the turn of the first and second quarter, they controlled the passage of the game 15:2 and had 16 points to their credit. By the end of the first half, they increased their lead to 45:27, Svoboda scored a third of Děčín's points.
In the 22nd minute, Igor Josipovič moved the third team in the league table to a 19-point lead with a converted free throw. Brno came closest in the third quarter after Richard Bálint's smash to 60:69. Děčín has already watched the end of the match.
Basket Brno was attacking for its first triumph since the club was founded in 2012. Last year, it won bronze in the league and finished fourth in the cup. “I don't know if we were the favorite. It was the first final for us,” said coach Lubomír Růžička. “We didn't manage the first half in our heads. We were too tied up. We didn't play our game. Děčín rebounded perfectly offensively, we were very weak in defensive rebounding. In addition, we lack our quick transition phase and simple points. Děčín was better, and that's why they're celebrating,” he said.
Kolín reached the podium in the cup for the second time, losing to Nymburk in the final in 2021. Game leading scorer Rashard Odomes led the Bears to bronze with 28 points. In addition to the American support, Adam Číž also made his mark with 24 points and Slovak pivot Jakub Petráš completed a double double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
The Ústecké Slunet, which already led by 10 points in the third quarter, was not enough even with the performances of American Tony Hicks (23 points) and Kris Martin (21). Džiugas Slavinskas from Lithuania gave Kolín a decisive 88:85 lead 70 seconds before the end.
“It's great, because otherwise we're not experiencing the best period. This is such a perfect patch for how we feel and what form we're in,” said Číž. “We worked it out today. It was a huge boulder. I think they can hear it as far as Holešovice,” added the quarterback of the eighth team in the league table.
“Individual performances were decisive. Odomes played very well in the first half. I he hit some shots, in the end Slavinskas scored an important three. Today was not about big systems. It was decided by the heart. Not that Ústí didn't have it, but in the end we were just a little more lucky,” added Číž.
Final tournament of the Czech Basketball Cup in Prague:
Finals:
Brno – Děčín 74:87 (18:23, 27:45, 50 :62)
Most points: Culpepper 23, Chatman 17, Bálint 11 – Svoboda 27, Nichols 18, Pomicálek 12.
For 3rd place:
Ústí nad Labem – Kolín 89:92 (22:20, 50:49, 72:69)
Most points: Hicks 23, Martin 21, Svejcar 19 – Odomes 28, Číž 24, Petráš 13.
