On Wednesday, U-BT Cluj-Napoca will make history when it welcomes Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana to BTArena for the first 7DAYS EuroCup home game in club history. The two-time reigning Romanian League champions will be led onto the floor by team captain Nandor Kuti, who hopes to see a full house. After all, the Cluj faithful have already filled the arena to the brim for big games before and, after last week's agonizingly narrow road loss in France in Round 1, the home fans could make plenty of difference.
Kuti knows the club in the city of about 300,000 residents in northwestern Romania like no other player on the team. Despite being 25 years old, this is his 11th season with the "U" - as the club is affectionately known.
"Cluj is a city where people love sports and the fans expect us to win and to give everything on the court. The symbol of 'U' is a lifestyle for the majority of the people. Their love for the club is tremendous," Kuti said. "Fans will always be by our side, but I think the good results in the BCL helped us build a bigger fanbase and we will continue to build more to try to sell out the arena more often."
With Cluj being a sports city, Kuti said he is confident the club's fans will come out in strong numbers for EuroCup games: "I think if we will play quality basketball and have good results, people will come to support us in big numbers. Hopefully, we will sell out the arena again. That would help us a lot for sure. Fans are the sixth player on the court for us, we love them," he added.
"This club is like my family, I spent half of my life here. I have the 'U' symbol in my heart. I think it's so much different when you play for the club that you have loved since you were a child," said Kuti, a native of Sfantu Gheorghe. "We have come a long way. I love to see how the team is getting better and better every year."