Several Ukrainian teams have been compelled to go outside of the country in order to play their matches. Budivelnyk Kiev, a basketball team from the Ukrainian capital created in 1945, is practising in Rome this season and using the Veroli building in the province of Frosinone as its "home" field for the two European championships in which it is competing. In September of last year, Budivelnyk's best players and staff relocated to Italy. Stella Azzurra, a basketball team from Rome that competes in the Serie A2 men's and women's championships and is most renowned for its junior program, has chosen to make its facilities open to Ukrainians. There, Budivelnyk alternates on the field with the various Blue Star teams. "Our foreign players do not want to remain in Kiev due of the war's effects. Thus, we chose to go to Rome. Our mission is not only to play, but also to provide the Ukrainian community in Italy and the rest of Europe with positive emotions " stated Gediminas Navikauskas, the Lithuanian general manager of Budivelnyk, who had lived in Kiev for many years and is now in charge of the team's management. There are several players of international caliber on the Ukrainian squad. The most well-known of them is the American Archie Goodwin, a former NBA player for the Phoenix Suns. Then there is Jerai Grant, nephew of Horace Grant, four-time NBA champion, and brother of Jerian, who played for Olimpia Milano till the previous season.
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