Kataja BC

Kataja Basket Club is a professional basketball club of sports club Kataja from Joensuu, Finland. The team plays in the Korisliiga, the highest tier of Finnish basketball. In 2015, Kataja won its first national championship, after it beat Bisons Loimaa 3–2 in the Finnish Finals.

Kataja
Leagues	Korisliiga
Founded	1949 (1949)
Arena	Joensuu Areena
Capacity	2,500
Location	Joensuu, Finland
Championships	2 Finnish Leagues 3 Finnish Cups
Retired numbers	1 (11)
Website	katajabasket.fi
Home Away

History

The basketball activity of the club started in 1955. In 1961, the team started playing in the Joensuu Sports Hall. The team started in provincial competitions, but quickly promoted to the national level in the 1960s. From 1976 till 1980, the team played continuously in the highest Finnish division. In the 2001–02 season, the team won its first trophy when it won the Finnish Cup. In 2015, the first championship of Kataja was realized after a 3–2 Finals series win against Bisons Loimaa. In the 2012–13 season, Kataja started participating in European competitions when it entered the EuroChallenge. The team immediately reached the quarterfinals of the competition, and has played in Europe every season since.[1]

Achievements

• Korisliiga

Champions (2): 2014–15, 2016–17

• Finnish Cup

Champions (3): 2002, 2011, 2012

Players

Retired numbers

Kataja Basket Club retired numbers
No.	Player	Position	Tenure
11	Eero Oksava	G	1963–1980

Current roster

Kataja BC roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 5 Mervola, Valtteri 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 67 kg (148 lb) 18 – (2002-01-12)12 January 2002 F/C 12 Vanttaja, Samuli 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 105 kg (231 lb) 29 – (1991-04-22)22 April 1991 SF 28 Alanen, Aapeli 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 24 – (1996-03-05)5 March 1996 PG 31 Wilson, Jamar 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 36 – (1984-02-22)22 February 1984 SG 34 Pihlajamäki, Valtteri 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 23 – (1997-03-26)26 March 1997 G Mattila, Niko 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 26 – (1994-02-16)16 February 1994 G/F Lommi, Tomi 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 85 kg (187 lb) 23 – (1996-12-04)4 December 1996 C Fayne, Phil 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 23 – (1997-04-15)15 April 1997	Head coach Petri Virtanen Assistant coach(es) Petri Velling Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: July 29, 2020

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.

• Daniel Mullings
• Andre Foreman
• Rion Brown
• Antti Kanervo
• Martti Kuisma
• Sami Laaksonen
• Jyri Lehtonen
• Pekka Markkanen
• Jukka Toijala
• Eero Oksava
• Sami Lehtoranta
• Petri Virtanen
• Teemu Rannikko

Season by season

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Finnish Cup[lower-alpha 1]	European competitions
2010–11	1	Korisliiga	2nd	Champion
2011–12	1	Korisliiga	2nd	Champion
2012–13	1	Korisliiga	3rd		3 EuroChallenge	QF	6–8
2013–14	1	Korisliiga	2nd	N/A	3 EuroChallenge	RS	2–4
2014–15	1	Korisliiga	1st		3 EuroChallenge	RS	0–6
2015–16	1	Korisliiga	5th		3 FIBA Europe Cup	R32	5–7
2016–17	1	Korisliiga	1st		3 Champions League	RS	6–8
					4 FIBA Europe Cup	R16	0–2
2017–18	1	Korisliiga	6th		3 Champions League	QR3	1–1–2
					4 FIBA Europe Cup	R2	4–8
2018–19	1	Korisliiga	3rd

1. The Finnish Cup competition was dissolved after 2013.

References

1. "Kataja Basket Club History". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved 14 September 2016.

External links

• Official site (in Finnish)