It's not easy melding a strong team from several new players and matching the kind of success that BC Kyiv had last season. 

But the Ukrainian giants have returned to the EuroCup this season - and look just as strong as they did reaching the 2005 final.

After losing in the FIBA Europe League title game to Dynamo St Petersburg, Kyiv coach Renato Pasquali made like a mechanic and rebuilt his engine.

		Michael Harris is one of several newcomers who has made an impact this season with BC Kyiv

Some parts remained, like sweet-shooting American guard LaMarr Greer and veteran Andrii Lebediev. 

New into the squad came rookie forward Michael Harris, Leonid Yailo, along with Goran Nikolic, Dusan Kecman, Ratko Varda and Dragan Lukovski.

And the new players took quickly to Pasquali's approach. 

Kyiv breezed through the first round of the EuroCup, finishing with a 5-1 record in Group G - with only a loss at Russian side Lokomotiv Rostov. 

Injury meant Pasquali had to do without Greer for most of the first round and Kyiv's first encounter in Group I - against rivals Dynamo St Petersburg.

Going into the second group stage, Pasquali and the Ukrainians pulled off a major coup when they added Brazilian international Guilherme Giovannoni, who had spent the last three seasons in Italy - two with Italian giants Benetton Treviso.

Ironically, the man that engineered their downfall last season, former Dynamo St Petersburg coach David Blatt, could not work Giovannoni into his line-up and that paved the way for the South American to join the Russian team's big rivals.

The key to his arrival, though, was Pasquali who knew Giovannoni from his time as an assistant at Benetton under former Treviso boss Ettore Messina.  

"It was easy to adopt for me because I know Renato Pasquali's philosophy while he knows my abilities," Giovannoni said. 

The move paid off immediately as Giovannoni scored 12 points in 17 minute as Kyiv avenged their 2005 final defeat to St Petersburg with a 90-63 romp to start their Group I action - and snapping Dynamo's 26-game winning streak.

Greer returned the next game against Fenerbahce, but Kyiv fell behind 15 points in the first quarter at home and couldn't come back in a 71-69 loss. 

Alarm bells then started to ring as Pasquali saw his troops collapse in the final five minutes at CEZ Nymburk. The Czechs went on a 23-4 tear to close the game, winning 87-84 on an Adam Hess three-pointer at the buzzer.

Kyiv collected a sweep of Dynamo, with Greer scoring all 12 of his points in the second half as the Ukrainians came back from a 10-point second-half deficit to hold on for a 63-61 home victory.
 
And the Ukrainians grabbed first place in the group thanks to an overtime victory at Fenerbahce before finishing off the  phase with a narrow triumph against a brave Nymburk team.

Pasquali added another important piece to the puzzle just before the quarter-final showdown, bringing in Israeli national team guard Afik Nissim from EuroCup rivals Lokomotiv Rostov to replace an injured Lebediev.  

In the quarters, Greer's two free throws at the end of overtime gave Kyiv the first game  against German outfit RheinEnergie Koln.

Pasquali's team failed to find an answer for Koln's Michael Hakim Jordan, who scored 21 points as RheinEnergie evened the series with a home victory in Game Two.

In the third and final game in Kyiv, the Ukrainians proved too balanced for the young German squad. Five Kyiv players scored in double figures while a sixth had nine points in a 71-64 victory.

Kyiv fought back from a horrible first half, in which they scored just 24 points. Pasquali's team tallied 29 alone in the fourth quarter.   

"I am glad to coach a team with such a great will for the victory," said the coach.

Pasquali hopes his team has two more victories in them this season.