Kataja Basket Club

Joensuun Kataja
Leagues	Korisliiga Basketball Champions League
Founded	1949
Arena	Joensuu Areena
Capacity	2,500
Location	Joensuu, Finland
Team colors	Blue and White
Championships	1 Finish League 3 Finnish Cups
Retired numbers	11
Website	katajabasket.fi
Uniforms
Home Away

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.

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 taem 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 (1): 2015

Runners-up (6): 2003, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014

Third place (4): 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013

• Finnish Cup

Champions (3): 2002, 2011, 2012

Current roster

As of 13 September 2016.^[2]

Kataja Basket Club roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. G 0 Mullings, Daniel 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) G 1 Seppala, Ilari 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) PF 3 Makalainen, Vesa 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) SF 4 Niemi, Jesse 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) PF 7 Perttu, Atte 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) F/C 8 Huolila, Tommi 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) PG 9 Rannikko, Teemu (C) 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) G/F 22 Wesley, Byron 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) PF 24 King, Joey 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) G 40 Lasaroff, Johannes 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Head coach Greg Gison Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster

Season by season

Season	Domestic competitions				Finnish Cup	European competitions
	Tier	League	Pos.	Postseason		Tier	League	Result
2010–11	1	Korisliiga	3	Runner-up	Champion	N/A
2011–12	1	Korisliiga	1	Runner–up	Champion	N/A
2012–13	1	Korisliiga	2	Third–place		3	EuroChallenge	QF
2013–14	1	Korisliiga	3	Runner–up	–	3	EuroChallenge	RS
2014–15	1	Korisliiga	3	Champions	–	3	EuroChallenge	RS
2015–16	1	Korisliiga	1	Quarterfinalists	–	3	FIBA Europe Cup	R32

Notable players

• Andre Foreman
• Martti Kuisma
• Sami Laaksonen
• Jyri Lehtonen
• Pekka Markkanen
• Jukka Toijala
• Eero Oksava
• Sami Lehtoranta
• Petri Virtanen
• Teemu Rannikko

References

1. "Kataja Basket Club History". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
2. "Joukkue". Katajabasket.fi. Retrieved 13 September 2016.

External links

• Official site