Anwil Wloclawek – a hell of a team
Anwil Wloclawek – a hell of a team
Another team that got my attention this summer is Polish league champions, Anwil Wloclawek. Last year they won another Polish title, second in a row after beating Torun 4-3, winning game 7 away. In Basketball Champions League they were eliminated in the regular season, finishing on the 7th place with a 4-10 record.
This year they are back in Basketball Champions League but now they add two very interesting names in their squad, Tony Wroten and Ricky Ledo. But let`s see all the changes they have made. First, they parted ways with some good players from last season in Valery Likhodey, Ivan Almeida, Josip Sobin, Aaron Broussard, Aleksander Czyż, Kamil Łączyński, Jarosław Zyskowski and Michał Michalak. They maintain only a few players but the addition list is very long.
The first player brought in is Chris Dowe (27 years-old, 1.91m, G). He played last season for Nes-Ziona where he averaged 13.9 points in the league and 13.8 points in FIBA Europe Cup. The next player came from another Polish team, Trefl Sopot and his name is Milan Milovanovic (27 years-old, 2.05m, PF). The Serbian averaged last season 12.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. At the rebounds category, he was the second-best of the league. Then Rolands Freimanis (31 years-old, 2.08, PF) was another big man added to the squad. He played for Ifestos in Greece where he averaged 10.7 points and 4.6 rebounds. Those two big men will protect the paint for Anwil in the next season.
Anwil turns their attention to the Polish players and they added 3 players with great numbers last season. The first one is Michal Sokolowski (26 years-old, 1.96m, F), the best Polish player in PLK in the last two seasons. Last season he averaged 12.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists for Stelmet Enea. He played before for Anwil between 2011 and 2014. The other Polishadded are Jakub Karolak from Legia (14.9 ppg.) and Krzysztof Sulima from Polski Cukier Toruń (6.6 ppg.)
Last, but the most important thing, they managed to acquire two guns with games in the NBA. First, Ricky Ledo (26 years-old, 2.01m, F/G). He played for Beijing in Chinese League where he posted 32.3 points, 9,9 rebounds and 5.4 assists. He also played for Reggio Emilia, but after some games, he was fired from the Italian club, despite having 23.5 points per game. He`s a natural scorer, but maybe the discipline represents his low point. The next star added was Tony Wroten (26 years-old, 1.98m, G). He has over 150 NBA games under his belt and last season he played for Kalev/Cramo in Estonia. He averaged 13.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game in Estonian league, helping his team to win the trophy. In VTB league he averaged 15.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 15 games.
In conclusion, Anwil has a hell of a team. They brought in some very good players, with very good numbers last season. They will surely aim another Polish title and to get through the first stage of Basketball Champions League. I will keep an eye on them from the very first match. I am curious to see how Tony and Ricky will play together and how many points this, very offensive team, will score. For sure, defense won`t be their strength, looking at the roster. Good Luck, Anwil. You`ve got my attention.
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
