ASTANA (FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017) - BC Astana did not do so well at the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2016, but they are hoping to bounce back this year as they are led by several national team players.

Six players from the Kazakhstan national team that saw action in the recent FIBA Asia Cup 2017 are back to suit up for Astana and represent their country in the top international club tournament in Asia: Denis Degtyarev, Maxim Marchuk, Rustam Murzagaliev, Anton Ponomarev, Rustam Yargaliev and Alexandr Zhigulin.

Murzagaliev, Ponomarev and Yargaliev were among the most productive players for the Kazakhs in the Asia Cup, where they crashed out of the first round after losing all three group games. They are out for redemption this time around, though, and they are surely going to leave everything on the floor as they push for a place on the podium. If they do succeed, it would be a first for a Kazakh club.

BC Astana, champions of the 2016-2017 Kazakhstan Basketball Championship (KBC), are regarded as the most storied club team in Kazakhstan. They have won the KBC eleven times (six as the Astana Tigers and five as BC Astana) and are mainstays in the highly competitive VTB United League.

BC Astaba were drawn into Group A together with Thailand's Mono Vampire, Iran's Petrochimi, Palestine's Sareyyet Ramallah and the recently announced Chooks To Go team from the Philippines. Defending champions China Kashgar are in Group B together with squads from the United Arab Emirates, India, Lebanon and Chinese Taipei. The top four teams in each group will move on to the knockout Quarter-Finals, where the victors will advance to the Semi-Finals. The winners in the Semi-Finals will dispute the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017 crown in the Final.

FIBA