Ural Great Perm do not have a big center, and new coach Drazen Anzulovic is a long way from his homeland of Croatia.

But don't think for a minute that he's unhappy.

In life, he says, one needs challenges and sometimes that means sacrifices have to be made.
 
For Anzulovic, who will lead Ural Great in this year's EuroCup, it meant moving to Russia.
 
"I have a wife and three children," the former Cibona Zagreb coach said.
 
"My older sons go to school, my wife is taking care of the youngest daughter.
 
"They have to stay in Zagreb. But we plan them come to visit me in Perm in December."
 
At Cibona, Anzulovic was in one of Europe's basketball heartlands and he could have stayed for another season at least.
 
But now, Anzulovic is in one of the toughest leagues in Europe, the Superleague, one that in his opinion is second only to Spain's ACB.
 
"I came to such point in my life that I realised I needed to try something new," he said.
 
"At this time, I received the offer from Ural Great.
 
"I talked to the Perm club's top managers and their plans seemed interesting and serious to me.
 
"This is a new challenge, new opportunities for me."
 
Ural Great suffered a defeat in their first game, a heartbreaking 77-75 setback to fellow EuroCup side Lokomotiv Rostov who won with a late Sergey Vorotnikov three-pointer.
 
They followed that up with a 101-81 defeat to Dynamo Moscow Region.

But Anzulovic's men hit back to win convincingly over both Spartak VGUES Primorie and Spartak St Petersburg, another EuroCup side.
 
Against a powerful UNICS Kazan on Wednesday, however, they lost 90-69.

And it won't get any easier next time out with a game at the weekend against CSKA Moscow, arguably the best team in Europe.
 
Even before the season began, Anzulovic spoke with a sense of realism about what Ural Great could achieve in an interview published on the club's website.
 
"We plan to bring the team back to the leading positions in Russia but to do this, we need more than two years," he said.
 
"Looking at their (other Superleague teams') rosters, I would suggest that CSKA is in the first place, then come Dynamo Moscow and Khimki. After them, UNICS Kazan and Triumph Moscow Region.

"Ural Great is in the next level together with Lokomotiv Rostov and Spartak Vladivostok.
 
"However, we still bear responsibility for our performance and will do our best to take the highest spot possible in the Russian championship qualifications."