Hours of taking trains helps Kovar reach Final 8 with Nymburk

To encourage the development of more young local talents, the Basketball Champions League requires its teams to register at least 5 Home Grown Players on the game score sheet (if 11 or more players listed, otherwise 4 if the roster has 10 or fewer players). Many of these players are considered top level talents in their respective countries and I will be taking a look at some of them over the course of the season.

NYMBURK (Czech Republic) - Ask Lubos Kovar about the train connection between Svitavy and Nymburk and he just might cringe. After all, the ERA Nymburk talent spent an entire season going back and forth between those cities. But those hundreds of hours crisscrossing the Czech Republic were part of the sacrifice that has turned him into one of the club's next top young stars.

The season was 2018-19 and the 18-year-old was splitting his time playing in the Czech top flight for Svitavy and for Nymburk in the country's U19 league.

"Traveling between those two cities was very demanding. I mostly took the train, which was two hours. Sometimes we played with Svitavy on Saturday and I played in Nymburk the next morning," Kovar recalled.

The 6ft 8in (2.03m) center sometimes could catch the train early in the morning on Sunday, but quite often he would have travel to Nymburk after the Svitavy game and not arrive until around midnight.

"Even though it was challenging, I always liked to go and play against guys of the same age and collect experience," Kovar said.

There are no direct train routes between Svitavy and Nymburk - something all too clear to Kovar, who had to switch trains in Kolin and usually wait about 15-30 for the next connection. For a while, he probably could have listed by memory the departing and arrival times for each of the lines.

When asked what he did during all the train rides, Kovar said: "Mostly for school. I did homework and everything I didn't have time for during the week. If I was tired, I just watched some movies or listened to music and tried to rest."

The season was definitely productive for Kovar on the court for both teams. Having only turned 18 in November of the season, he ended up averaging 8.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 23 minutes per game for Svitavy in the Czech NBL. He collected two double-doubles and topped out with 21 points against Olomoucko. Kovar also got to appear in two FIBA Europe Cup games, picking up 2 points, 1 rebound and 2 steals in a combined 28 minutes against Istanbul BBSk in the First Qualifying Round.

On top of that, despite the late-night or early-morning travel to play for Nymburk, Kovar was a real force in the U19 league, averaging 20.9 points, 14.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.8 blocks in 31 minutes a game.

 
Kovar spent the 2019-20 season predominantly with Svitavy, collecting 7.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists in nearly 23 minutes. He also played for Polabi in the country's second division and picked up 18.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

Last season of course was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic and after three seasons with Svitavy, Kovar felt it was time for him to return to Nymburk, where he was ready for his first go-around with the team in the country.

"Most of all, in (my time with Svitavy) I started to believe in myself, because I really got a lot of minutes on the court, and I was one of the main players in the rotation. The fact that I played gave me the most confidence," said Kovar, who then signed a multi-year deal with the 17-time reigning Czech league champs. "I wanted to try to go play in the best team in the Czech Republic and show everyone that I have the ability to play on this level."

Czech league debut at 16

Kovar had already gotten a lot of chances to prove that. He joined Svitavy in 2017 and made his debut in the Czech league before his 17th birthday.

"When I moved to Svitavy, I was a little nervous, because it was my first year in the highest competition and I was also the youngest. But everyone took me in greatly, helped me with everything and I learned a lot from the most experienced players," Kovar said.

The center hails from Tachov, where he played football before finding basketball.

"I played football, but I wasn't the best at it. So when I was about 8 years old and I was quite tall, my mother told my dad and sister that I could start playing basketball. So my dad and sister decided to start basketball in Tachov and train me," he said.

Kovar said his parents both played a bit of basketball at school and his father played a lot of tennis. His sister played a lot of basketball but had to stop playing due to a knee injury.

Initial move to Nymburk, Czech national team

Kovar's development in the game at Lokomotiva Plzen's youth ranks was quick and caught the eyes of the Czech federation. He debuted in a Czech jersey at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2016 Division B. The following summer he made the jump and played a year younger at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017 Division B - averaging 8.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists.

 
One of Kovar's first real disappointments came in 2018 at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018 Division B. The Czechs lost to Slovenia in the Quarter-Finals to miss a chance for promotion to Division A.

"Just before the Quarter-Finals, two key players were injured. It was a big disappointment for me and the whole team. But I was glad that I traveled to the European Championship, because some 20 days before the start, I underwent an appendectomy and no one knew if I would be able to play. It was very difficult for me," said Kovar, who averaged 11.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists.

Disappointment was followed by joy the following summer as Kovar collected 9.9 points and 5.7 rebounds in helping Czech Republic finish second at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2019 Division B. That meant the Czechs would return to Division A for the first time since going down in 2017.

"Every year we played the European Championships that was our goal. Until then, we did not succeed. It was a great success for us and also a success for the whole of Czech basketball," he said.

Kovar also called facing hosts Portugal in the U20 Division B Final in 2019 his favorite basketball memory to this point in his career.

 
"The Final was crazy. The hall was full of  Portuguese, who of course cheered for the locals," said Kovar, who had 7 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in the 73-57 loss to Portugal.

Covid-19 disappointment

Kovar helping the Czechs to Division A in 2019 meant that he could finally play in the top flight in Europe in 2020 with his generation at the U20 level. But the Covid-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 youth European Championship calendar - and with it Kovar's chance to face the likes of Spain, Serbia and Lithuania.

"I was very much looking forward to that opportunity, and when I learned that it was canceled, I was very disappointed. We would have been able to compare ourselves with the best players from all over Europe and show that we were in Division B by mistake," Kovar said.

The cancellation also came after Kovar had made his debut with the Czech senior national team in February 2020 at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers.

"It was an incredible experience, and I am very happy that the coach continued to trust me and let me on the floor," said Kovar, who played 1:40 minutes against Denmark.

Czech head coach Ronen Ginzburg called Kovar back to the national team for the February 2021 window and the youngster scored his first points to go along with 1 rebound in 9:13 minutes against Lithuania.

 
"I will remember that game for the rest of my life, because those were my first points in the senior national team," Kovar said.

The Czech team for the February 2021 window also included fellow 2000-born Vit Krejci and 22-year-old Radek Farsky. And Kovar said it was good to begin taking the next step with them into the senior team for the future.

"It's great that we got on the team and gained some valuable experience. Both are big prospects and I like to play with them," he said.

Kovar's role with the Czech national team is still a minor one, but his meaning to the the Nymburk team is becoming more important.

He made his Basketball Champions League debut on November 3, 2020 against JDA Dijon.

"I was ready, as for every match, to give everything and help the team as much as possible. I remember I wasn't even nervous," said Kovar, who had 2 points.

In the Gameday 2 Play-Offs contest against Dinamo Sassari, Kovar collected 8 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist.

 
"Petr Benda, one of our most experienced players, was injured, and the coach told me before the game to be ready to play and told me what he wanted from me and I think I did it," said Kovar, who played 18 minutes in the game. "I am glad that I succeeded in that game, and I helped the team to a valuable victory."

All told, Kovar averaged 1.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7 minutes in 10 games through the Regular Season and Play-Offs. And he is happy with his performance thus far.

"I'm only in Nymburk for my first year, and I didn't even think about playing the BCL at all this year. Every practice and game, I try to show what I can do and I hope that with it the minutes will increase," he said.

Nymburk are back at the Final 8 for a second time after losing to hosts AEK Athens in the Quarter-Finals last season. Kovar is excited about his team's chances in Nizhny Novgorod.

"We are all very happy that we succeeded for the second time in a row. Personally, I am very much looking forward to it. It's a big event and a huge opportunity for the whole team. We want to achieve what we failed to do last time. We want to advance from the Quarter-Finals and fight for medals," he said.

A medal for Kovar would definitely be a reward for those countless of hours crisscrossing through the Czech Republic by train.

(photo credit: Basketball Nymburk)