Away from Ukraine: Ηow Russian threat moved Prometey to another country / News - Basketnews.com

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Over the last weeks, Ukraine has been at the forefront of political attention worldwide.

Chris Dowe

MIN:28.32PTS:11.55 (45.95%)REB:5.18As:3.45ST:0.73BL:0.09TO:1.55GM:11ProfileBCL2021/2022

The United States has warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent, with the West accusing Russia of having massed more than 100,000 soldiers near its borders with its neighboring country.

U.S. officials ordered most of the U.S. embassy personnel in Kyiv to evacuate on Monday, February 12, as they warned that a Russian invasion could come any day. American President Joe Biden cautioned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of the "swift and severe" costs of any such invasion.

In the face of such a dramatic turn of events, the Ukrainian first-division basketball club Prometey have decided to re-locate their men's and women's teams to the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, respectively.

For the time being and as club president Volodymyr Dubinsky announced via his Facebook page, the re-location period is expected to last two weeks. At this time, the men's team will be preparing for Basketball Champions League games, while the women's team for EuroCup contests.

Following Prometey's league game against BK Cherkasy Monkeys last Sunday, team members started preparing for resettlement, whose duration is still unclear. The team, coached by Israeli tactician Ronen Ginzburg, flew out to Prague on Monday afternoon.

Ginzburg, who's the head coach of the Czech Republic's NT in addition to having guided Nymburk, the country's basketball powerhouse, for seven years (2010-17), knows perfectly the ins and outs of the Ukrainian champs' new whereabouts. The 58-year-old acquired Czech citizenship in October 2020.

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Sean Evans

Team:Prometey KamianskePosition:PFAge:33Height:203 cmWeight:105 kgBirth place:United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

Prometey use Nymburk's gym for practice but are staying in Podebrady, a spa town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It's 20 minutes from the gym and about 45 minutes drive from Prague.

"Coach has ties here, from being able to get us the gym, the stay, and the food. That's why the transition was easier for us," center Sean Evans tells BasketNews.

"We wake up, have breakfast, lunch, some downtime, and then we get ready for practice," guard Chris Dowe describes. "I guess you can say it's pretty normal."

Normality is a word that can be void of meaning when it comes to experiencing situations like the one Prometey team members are going through right now. The enheartening part is that conditions are more than decent.

"They're good, actually," Sean Evans adds. "Our president has taken good care of us. We're staying in an apartment-style hotel. Our organization is top of the line. From the president to the GM, coaching staff. Everything is run amazingly," the 33-year-old big man adds.From the outside looking in, nothing could prepare Prometey players and staff for what's about to come. Referring to the overall situation in Ukraine, forward D.J. Stephens notes that everything looked normal, everybody was living life, and it was business as usual.

Schools and restaurants across the country were still open. However, there were some indications that a war might break out any minute now. Receiving conflicting information certainly didn't help.

"Every day, we'd be getting this news from family and friends, saying that the war could possibly start on Wednesday," Stephens says.

"So, you're hearing from everyone in Ukraine that it's alright, but from the outside, everyone is telling you that it's not. You don't really know what to expect."

Club president Volodymyr Dubinsky revealed that he presided over a meeting on Saturday night in the presence of the head coach, the captain, and the GM.

One of the main topics of discussion was whether the six non-domestic players (Evans, Stephens, Dowe, DJ Kennedy, D'Angelo Harrison, and Croat Miro Bilan) would stay with Prometey for what's left of the season, or they would return to their home countries.

"We're reading messages left and right about what people think it's going to happen," Chris Dowe says.

"All we can do is just monitor what our president is saying and do what's best for ourselves. He had a meeting with the whole team to assure everyone that he would do what was best for us. He tried to keep everyone calm."D.J. Stephens has played one season in Russia with Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2014-15. In 2017, he won the Ukrainian SuperLeague championship with Budivelnyk Kyiv. The 31-year-old former NBA player recalls that the situation was similar when he lived in the Ukrainian capital.

"The beginning of the season was fine, but around February or March, they started mentioning that Russia may invade. Even last year, it was a similar situation. Russia was in talks of possibly invading Ukraine. So, every year that I've been there, they said the same thing."

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However, things were different this time. Russia has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine over the past several months. The U.S. has responded by sending several thousand troops to two of Ukraine's neighboring countries: Poland and Romania.

In mid-January, Russia began moving troops into Belarus, a country bordering both Russia and Ukraine, in preparation for joint military exercises in February.

"It's the most severe that it's ever been," Stephens continues.

"I don't think they've ever sent so many troops to the border. It has never gotten this media coverage, to the extent that our president is urging us to leave the country."Evans says he didn't get to feel the threat because the club made sure that nothing would get in the player's way and distract them.

"Our president assured us that we had nothing to worry about. I didn't feel any threat, but you can't be naive about the situation either," he concedes.

Chris Dowe's previous experience with war-like environments was instructive as it was unforgettable. Playing for Maccabi Haifa in 2020-21, he witnessed incidents of violence, including stoning, clashes, arson, and attacks on stores. But most of all, he saw missiles flying in the air.

In the spring of 2021, the Middle East saw extreme acts between Israelis and Palestinians. The rockets that were thrown from the Gaza Strip to Israel and the subsequent bombardment of Palestinians by the Israeli army in retaliation is not part of a basketball player's job description.

Maybe that's why Dowe maintains that he's a little calmer this time around.

"Now, I feel like everyone was ahead of the situation. Last year, the war caught everyone off-guard. When it happened, there was nothing that anyone could do because airports were shut down. We could only go to bomb shelters," he explains.

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Evans says that although Dubinsky didn't believe that a war was imminent, some players had concerns and were uneasy about it.

"He's staying in Ukraine because he doesn't feel anything serious will happen. He made some arrangements so that we could leave the country and be at ease. The fear was getting under some players' skin. They were getting calls from their agents. Once people start getting concerned about the war, he made the decision to move the team."At the same time, the US Embassy was sending e-mails, urging American citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.

"Every government official was moved to Western Ukraine," D.J. Stephens points out.

"I guess that's closer to the border. So, if anything should happen, it would be easier to evacuate. It's been a little nerve-wracking, but our president is trying to take everything under consideration."

At the same time, the Americans are trying to extract some information from the Ukrainian guys on the team feedback from Ukrainian players.

"We ask them their opinion," Dowe affirms. "Some say they don't think anything will happen and that they've had this going on for years. Some say it might actually happen... At the end of the day, it's just guessing."

"For some of them, it's normal to hear the rumblings about a possible war," Sean Evans adds. "Some of them don't believe it at all, some think it might happen. The overall sentiment of the team is that it won't happen. That's how the Ukrainian guys feel."

One of three St. John's graduates currently on the roster (DJ Kennedy and D'Angelo Harrison are the other two), Evans admits that the main reason he moved to Ukraine last year was Oleksandr Lypovyy, with whom he had played together with Promitheas Patras in Greece.

"He called me and gave me a rundown about the situation. It seemed like a good fit. When we got a new coach, he wanted to re-sign me for another year," he explains.

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Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Chris Dowe might get the chance to visit his hometown during the upcoming national team break.

"We've been reading about players going home for good or until things calm down - or even thinking about it. I've taken all my stuff with me because I wanted to be safe. We have a break coming up, so I'll get to see my family. That's another reason why I've packed everything," he stresses.Prometey's American players have talked to their fellow countrymen competing with other Ukrainian teams. However, it looks like not everyone is in the same position.

"I don't think there are many Americans left on other teams. For the most part, they're gone," Evans reveals.

Dowe argues that everyone's situation depends on the city they live in. Some teams are closer to the borders, while Dnipro, for instance, is close to the center of Ukraine.

"It's like a big family. Everyone is texting each other, trying to keep them up-to-date," he says.

D.J. Stephens holds that there's a big disparity between Prometey and other teams in their treatment of players. To a large extent, those who have stayed in Ukraine had to choose between getting the rest of their money and foregoing everything for personal safety.

"It's like the complete opposite of what our situation is. They're pretty much telling them that nothing's going to happen. They just want them to keep going to practice and keep playing as if they're not hearing all these things going on," Stephens claims.

He adds:

"I've heard situations where they've been getting threats that if they leave, the teams will sue them. I feel bad for other Americans because that's a hard decision to make."

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As far as the duration of the re-location period goes, players are ready to stay in Nymburk for more than two weeks.

"My guess is that it will be at least two weeks, but I'm not sure," Evans says.

"If something happens in Ukraine, we'll stay. If it doesn't, we'll stay for a couple of weeks."

"It's like a day-to-day thing. We're just playing the waiting game right now," Dowe contends.Prometey are hosting Cluj-Napoca for the BCL TOP 16 on March 3. As of now, the most probable scenario is that the game will be held in the Czech Republic.

"I think they have the best record in the entire BCL - and that's not an accident. They've had a great season so far. They're a really good team. It will be a great game," Dowe acknowledges.

So far, Prometey have been doing exceptionally well in both Ukraine and the BCL. Evans says he expected the team to make it thus far and explains that it all goes down to chemistry.

"We put the right pieces together. Bringing back most of our players from our championship team last year was a big help for making us qualify for the BCL. And then, pieces like Miro Bilan, DJ Kennedy, D'Angelo Harrison, and Chris Dowe were seamless. They fit perfectly.

Coach Ginzburg is great because he let us play our game. We put the work in, and it's showing."

Chris Dowe offers a similar view.

"We started from the BCL qualifiers in the Sofia bubble, and then we were thrown in an extremely tough group with Ludwigsburg, Tenerife, and Sassari. We ended up making it to the play-ins, where we faced Hapoel Jerusalem, who are first in Israel. Our team is full of unselfish guys, led by a great coach."

Nevertheless, Prometey are out of the Ukrainian League right now. Being away from the country for the foreseeable future means that the club's youth team will need to face much more experienced opponents. After a 21-game-winning streak, BC Kharkiv Sokoly forced Prometey to their first domestic loss last Wednesday.

Budivelnyk Kyiv are second in the standings with an 18-4 record. In any case, all three American players share the opinion that the re-location will not hinder the team's future.

"I don't think it will affect this team at all," Sean Evans categorically states.

"Other teams will be affected, for sure. The Ukrainian League has been able to give players very good money. If something like that was to happen, those teams would crumble. There are not too many teams that can withstand something like that."D.J. Stephens points to the team's accomplishments in the BCL, which is Prometey's biggest goal this season.

"We're unsure of what's going to happen to Ukraine," he says.

"But we still have the BCL. Our goals are the same, wherever we are. Right now, we're 2-3 games away from the TOP 8 of the BCL. These are great accomplishments for a club that's only 3-4 years old."

Chris Dowe believes that this unpleasant situation won't slow down the team's momentum.

"I don't think it will affect anything since we're all here, and we're still practicing. We don't know what's going to happen with the Ukrainian league. We'll have more time to prepare for the next game."

Regarding their day-by-day routine, Stephens notes that little -if anything- has changed since they moved.

"It was kind of crazy for me when I sat back and thought about it. My family was worried about me, and everyone was talking about a war possibly happening. At night, I'm sleeping like a baby. I wake up in the morning well-rested."

He goes on to point out that making sure family members are at ease is also very important for players' mindset.

"Just the way everything was going in Ukraine, you wouldn't have thought that if you didn't see the news. When our families found out that we were on a flight heading out of the country, they could finally relax because they knew we weren't in imminent danger at the moment. That was big - our families."Evans notes that he was feeling fine in Ukraine, although in the grand scheme of things, there's less to worry about here.

Dowe says the difference is striking because they would be stuck there if anything should happen in Ukraine.

"My biggest fear would always be to be able to leave if the war happens. If they're talking about missiles and airstrikes, and you're away from your family, you don't want to be feeling stuck."

People in the United States are probably more exposed to media stories coming out from Ukraine. That's why their level of concern can be disproportionate to what's really happening.

"It's night and day from here. It's the complete opposite of how the Ukrainian people feel about the situation," Evans argues.

"From home, they ask every day, 'When you're leaving?', 'What's going on?', 'How's everything?'. And all you're saying is: 'I'm at the restaurant eating.' It's kind of crazy because, on that side, they think there are missiles in the air right now, while on this side, we're getting ready for practices and games."

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The Spanish national team, which was about to travel to Ukraine for the next FIBA ​​Qualifying Window ahead of the 2023 World Cup, received a strong recommendation from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to avoid the trip. On Monday, FIBA decided that the February 27 game in Kyiv will be suspended for security reasons.

"A lot depends on the Ukrainian NT. If they don't get the opportunity to play their game in Kyiv against Spain and go to a neutral site, that will be a big indication that we'll continue to stay here," D.J. Stephens suggests.

"I've seen war," Chris Dowe repeats. "Even through war, we had to stay in Israel and play. I just want to make sure that any decision made is for everyone's best interest so that we can focus on basketball."

For the time being, there's nothing else that Prometey players can do.

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