BC Žalgiris

BC Žalgiris
Leagues Lithuanian Basketball League,
VTB United League,
Euroleague
Founded 1944
History BC Žalgiris
(1944–present)
Arena Žalgiris Arena
(capacity: 15,442)
Location Kaunas, Lithuania
Team colors Dartmouth green and white
         
President Arvydas Sabonis
Team Manager Jonas Stadalninkas
Head coach Aleksandar Trifunović
Championships Euroleague: 1
Saporta Cup: 1
Intercontinental Cup: 1
Soviet Union championship: 5
Soviet Union Cup: 1
NEBL: 1
Profbasket: 1
Lithuanian League: 13
LKF Cup: 3
Baltic League: 4
BBL Cup: 1
Website zalgiris.lt
Uniforms
Home
Away

BC Žalgiris (Basketball Club Žalgiris) is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania. It is one of the oldest teams in the Euroleague and plays domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL), and regionally in the VTB United League. Žalgiris is one of 14 European clubs that currently hold ULEB A Licenses, which provide their holders with a guaranteed place in the regular-season phase of the Euroleague.

Since the 2011/12 season, Žalgiris plays its home games in the new Žalgiris Arena, built just before the EuroBasket 2011.

Logo design: A green and white shield with the sign "BC Žalgiris", a basketball, and the letter "Ž". The club's name commemorates the victorious Battle of Žalgiris (Battle of Grunwald) (both names: Žalgiris and Grunwald are translated as "green grove").

Contents

History

1944–1982: Early dominance

Since 1944, BC Žalgiris is the main Lithuanian basketball team to produce top-flight talents for European basketball, such as the Olympic champions Modestas Paulauskas, Arvydas Sabonis, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Valdemaras Chomičius, and many others. The club was first formed from KKI Kaunas players and they won the first Soviet Union title with that name. Club at that time was led by Steponas Butautas, Kazys Petkevičius, Justinas Lagunavičius, Vincas Sercevičius later came Stanislovas Stonkus, Arūnas Lauritėnas. They won the second Soviet Union championship in 1951 and had to wait for 34 years to do it again. Modestas Paulauskas, Romualdas Venzbergas, Algirdas Linkevičius later Sergėjus Jovaiša, were the stars of the team in the 1970s but they only managed to finish third couple of times in the Soviet Union championship.

1983–1987: The True Fame

Žalgiris became the dominant force in Soviet Union and in Europe when they added new talents to the team: first came Valdemaras Chomičius then Rimas Kurtinaitis and Vladas Garastas became the new team coach. But everything changed when the team noticed a talented young kid named Arvydas Sabonis, who was 17 years old 209 cm and he debuted in the club in 1981. He grew about 12 more cm in the next couple of years and could do everything on the court: play defence, assist his teammates with all kind of passes, shoot 3 pointers, dominate inside the paint and was like player from another planet. In the mid-1980s, the finals between BC Žalgiris Kaunas and CSKA Moscow (Central Sports Club of Army) served as a major inspiration for Lithuanian national revival that contributed to the emergence of the Sąjūdis national movement and re-establishment of state independence.

During the 1980s, Žalgiris was competing in the top competitions with top clubs in Europe, such as FC Barcelona Bàsquet, KK Partizan and Cibona Zagreb. Stars Sabonis, Kurtinaitis, Chomičius and Jovaiša led the team to three consecutive Soviet Union National League championships from 1985 till 1987, beating CSKA Moscow in the finals. In 1985 the four stars led the team to the Saporta Cup final, but Žalgiris lost to FC Barcelona. Despite the loss, Žalgiris participated in Euroleague the next year as the Soviet Union champions, reaching the finals and losing to the rival Cibona Zagreb. In 1986, Žalgiris won the William Jones Intercontinental Cup, defeating Dražen Petrović's Cibona Zagreb in the semifinals and Ferro Carril Oeste in the finals. Žalgiris was emerging as one of the top clubs in Europe at the time.

1987–1989: Setbacks

In 1987, however, Žalgiris suffered a setback. Biggest star of the club, Arvydas Sabonis, suffered a torn achilles tendon. Three months later, he tore it again, causing him to miss most of the 1987-88 season. That season, Žalgiris won a silver medal, losing to CSKA Moscow in the Soviet League finals. The next season, Sabonis came back, and the club managed to reach European Cup Winners Cup semifinals and win a silver medal in Soviet League, losing a dramatic finals to BC Budivelnik Just before the start of 1989-90 season, Žalgiris lost all of its leaders and half of its team: Sabonis, Kurtinaitis, Jovaiša, Chomičius and head coach Garastas all left the club, free from the Iron Curtain that barred Lithuanian basketball talent from becoming international.

1989–1997: New generation

Following the mass emigration, Žalgiris renewed their roster with youngsters such as Gintaras Einikis, Darius Lukminas, Arūnas Visockas. Žalgiris, led by Einikis and Lukminas, won their first LKL title in 1994, cruising past Atletas Kaunas 3-1 in a four game series. For Next two years, Žalgiris again dominated LKL tournament and had success participating in the Saporta Cup for the 1995-96 season when Rimas Kurtinaitis returned to play for his home team. After finishing with a 9-3 record in the regular season, Žalgiris advanced to the semifinals, but fell to PAOK in the two games series.

1998–1999: Biggest success

Žalgiris enjoyed the biggest success as a club during 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. Led by a new generation of great Lithuanian talents Saulius Štombergas, Dainius Adomaitis, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Tomas Masiulis, Mindaugas Žukauskas and experienced foreign players Franjo Arapović and Ennis Whatley and coached by Jonas Kazlauskas they defeted Olimpia Milano 82:67 in the Saporta Cup final in Belgrade in 1998. Saulius Štombergas scored 35 points in the final.

In 1998-99 season they surprised all Europe. Again coached by Jonas Kazlauskas and led by former NBA players Tyus Edney, Anthony Bowie, George Zidek and great Lithuanian talents they went through FIBA Euroleague with 18-4 record and defeted Kinder Bologna 82:74 in the final in Munich. Tyus Edney was named Euroleague Final Four MVP. Žalgiris allso won LKL and NEBL titles that same season. After these two great seasons best players of the club went to the richest European clubs and Žalgiris tried to duplicate that feat ever since.

2003–2004: Sabonis comes back

Sabonis became the principal owner of the club in 2003, after having played for many years in the Spanish ACB League and the NBA. He also came back to play for the club for one last season in 2003-04. He again dominated European competition winning ULEB Euroleague regular season and Top-16 MVP. Žalgiris almost made it to the Euroleague Final Four, but were stopped by Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., who tied Žalgiris on Derrick Sharp's last second three-pointer at the end of regulation and went on to win in overtime.

2009–present: V. Romanov becomes the new owner of the club

Before the 2008–2009 season Žalgiris had a lot of financial difficulties and were looking for the new investor, in 2009 Sabonis sold most of his stake to a local investment group, Ūkio banko investicinė grupė (ŪBIG) which is headed by Vladimir Romanov, which now holds a 75% interest in the club. Sabonis retained a 21.5% stake in the club; 3% is owned by a minority group, and the remaining 0.5% is owned by the Kaunas City municipality. Since the 2011/12 season, Žalgiris plays its home games in the new Žalgiris Arena, built just before the EuroBasket 2011. Close to 16 000 people can watch basketball games in this new modern gym.

Roster

Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G 6 Popović, Marko 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 82 kg (181 lb) &1000000000000002900000029
G 7 Lipkevičius, Vytenis 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 93 kg (205 lb) &1000000000000002200000022
PG 9 Kalnietis, Mantas 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 92 kg (203 lb) &1000000000000002500000025
G 10 Delininkaitis, Tomas 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 80 kg (176 lb) &1000000000000002900000029
C 11 Raković, Milovan 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 125 kg (276 lb) &1000000000000002700000027
PF 12 Klimavičius, Tadas 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 107 kg (236 lb) &1000000000000002900000029
PF 13 Jankūnas, Paulius (C) 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 107 kg (236 lb) &1000000000000002700000027
PF 14 Butkevičius, Povilas 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 97 kg (214 lb) &1000000000000002400000024
C 15 Javtokas, Robertas 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 117 kg (258 lb) &1000000000000003100000031
SF 19 Kuzminskas, Mindaugas 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 98 kg (216 lb) &1000000000000002200000022
SF 20 Šalenga, Dainius 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 93 kg (205 lb) &1000000000000003400000034
PF 22 Nelson, Reeves 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 107 kg (236 lb) &1000000000000002000000020
G/F 24 Weems, Sonny 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 93 kg (205 lb) &1000000000000002500000025
PG 42 Collins, DeJuan 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 85 kg (187 lb) &1000000000000003500000035
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Athletic trainer(s)
  • Sigitas Kavaliauskas
Legend
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: December 29, 2011

Depth Chart

Pos. Starter Bench Bench Reserve Inactive
C Robertas Javtokas Milovan Raković
PF Paulius Jankūnas Reeves Nelson Tadas Klimavičius
SF Sonny Weems Mindaugas Kuzminskas Dainius Šalenga
SG Marko Popović Tomas Delininkaitis Vytenis Lipkevičius
PG Mantas Kalnietis DeJuan Collins

Squad Changes before the 2011/12 season

In

No. Position Player
15 C Robertas Javtokas (from Valencia BC)
24 G/F Sonny Weems (from the Toronto Raptors)
11 C Milovan Raković (from Montepaschi Siena)
4 PG Ty Lawson (from the Denver Nuggets)
6 G Marko Popović (from UNICS Kazan)
7 G Vytenis Lipkevičius (from BC Baltai)
14 F/C Povilas Butkevičius (from BC Rūdupis)
22 PF Reeves Nelson (from UCLA Bruins)
20 F Dainius Šalenga (from the BC Rūdupis)

Out

No. Position Player
6 PG Aleksandar Ćapin (to Union Olimpija)
35 F/C Travis Watson (to)
44 C Trent Plaisted (to)
22 C Boban Marjanović (to BC Nizhny Novgorod)
7 G/F Martynas Pocius (to Real Madrid)
5 SG Marcus Brown (retired)
50 C Omar Samhan (to)

Out on Loan

No. Position Player
10 G Žygimantas Janavičius (to Aisčiai (January, 2010); Šiauliai (before 2010/11); Baltai (before 2011/12))
13 PF Mario Delaš (to Cibona (before 2010/11); Šiauliai (December, 2011); Baltai (before 2011/12))
8 G Adas Juškevičius (to Rūdupis (before 2010/11); Baltai (before 2011/12); Rūdupis (09-2011))
4 G Šarūnas Vasiliauskas (to Techasas (before 2010/11))
22 SF Siim-Sander Vene (to Kaunas Triobet (before 2010/11); EnBW Ludwigsburg (December, 2010); Baltai (before 2011/12))
– C Vaidas Čepukaitis (to Techasas (before 2011/12))
– G Vytenis Čižauskas (to Baltai (before 2011/12))
– F/C Adomas Drungilas (to Techasas (before 2011/12))
– G Vytas Šulskis (to Triobet (before 2011/12))
– SF Edgaras Ulanovas (to Baltai (before 2011/12))
– F/C Gediminas Žylė (to Baltai (before 2011/12))
– G Kaspars Vecvegars (to Baltai (before 2011/12))
– F/C Uros Petrovic (to Baltai (before 2011/12))
– G Augustas Pečiukevičius (to Sakalai (before 2011/12))
– F Osvaldas Matulionis (to Techasas (before 2011/12))
– C Mindaugas Kupšas (to Baltai (before 2011/12))
– G/F Paulius Sorokas (to Baltai (before 2011/12))
– G Mantas Kadzevičius (to Sakalai (before 2011/12))

Honours

Domestic competitions

League

1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011
1947, 1951, 1985, 1986, 1987

Cup

2007, 2008, 2011
1953

European competitions

Official titles

1999
Runners-up (1): 1986
1998
Runners-up (1): 1985

Worldwide competitions

1986

Regional competitions

1999
2005, 2008, 2010, 2011
2009
2009–10 3rd place

Friendly competitions

2008

Season-by-season

Season League LKF Cup Regional Competitions Europe Coach Roster
1992/93 Champion No tournament No tournament Euroleague
Preliminary Round		 Henrikas Giedraitis Gintaras Einikis, Gintautas Šivickas, Erikas Bublys, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Arūnas Visockas, Saulius Štombergas, Darius Lukminas, Darius Maskoliūnas, Algirdas Brazys, Vaidas Jurgilas, Tauras Stumbrys, Aurimas Tomas Palšis
1993/94 Champion No tournament No tournament European Cup
Last 24		 Jaak Salumets Gintaras Einikis, Romanas Brazdauskis, Erikas Bublys, Adnan Cansin, Arūnas Visockas, Gert Kullamäe, Darius Lukminas, Darius Maskoliūnas, Algirdas Brazys, Vaidas Jurgilas, Tauras Stumbrys
1994/95 Champion No tournament No tournament European Cup Last 24 Jonas Kazlauskas Gintaras Einikis, Kęstutis Šeštokas, Tomas Masiulis, Arūnas Visockas, Nerijus Karlikanovas, Darren Henrie, Darius Lukminas, Darius Maskoliūnas, Algirdas Brazys, Tauras Stumbrys, Michael Coleman
1995/96 Champion No tournament No tournament European Cup
Semifinal		 Jonas Kazlauskas Torgeir Bryn, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Kęstutis Šeštokas, Tomas Masiulis, Arūnas Visockas, Miloš Babic, Darius Lukminas, Erikas Bublys, Darius Maskoliūnas, Tauras Stumbrys, Darius Sirtautas
1996/97 Champion No tournament No tournament EuroCup
Last 16		 Jonas Kazlauskas Franjo Arapović, Tomas Masiulis, Kęstutis Šeštokas, Gintautas Šivickas, Dainius Adomaitis, Erikas Bublys, Darius Maskoliūnas, Anthony Miller, Veljko Mrsic, Andre Reid, Tauras Stumbrys, Darius Sirtautas
1997/98 Champion No tournament No tournament EuroCup
Champion		 Jonas Kazlauskas Franjo Arapović, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Tomas Masiulis, Kęstutis Šeštokas, Saulius Štombergas, Dainius Adomaitis, Virginijus Praškevičius, Darius Maskoliūnas, Ennis Whatley, Tauras Stumbrys, Darius Sirtautas
1998/99 Champion No tournament NEBL Champion Euroleague
Champion		 Jonas Kazlauskas George Zidek, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Tomas Masiulis, Kęstutis Šeštokas, Saulius Štombergas, Dainius Adomaitis, Anthony Bowie, Darius Maskoliūnas, Tyus Edney, Giedrius Gustas
1999/00 Finalist No tournament - Euroleague
Last 24		 Jonas Kazlauskas George Zidek, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Ivan Grgat, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Mindaugas Timinskas, Tauras Stumbrys, Tomas Masiulis, Kęstutis Šeštokas, Donatas Slanina, Darren Henry, Corey Beck, Mitchell Butler, Christopher Garner
2000/01 Champion No tournament NEBL Finalist Euroleague
Last 16		 Algirdas Brazys Grigorij Khizhnyak, Artūras Masiulis, John White, Martynas Andriukaitis, Andrius Jurkūnas, Dainius Šalenga, Tomas Masiulis, Steve Woodberry, Donatas Slanina, Giedrius Gustas, Kęstutis Marčiulionis
2001/02 Finalist No tournament - Euroleague
Last 32		 Algirdas Brazys Grigorij Khizhnyak, Artūras Masiulis, Rolandas Matulis, Andrius Jurkūnas, Dainius Šalenga, Tomas Masiulis, Steve Woodberry, Donatas Slanina, Giedrius Gustas, Sherman Hamilton, Kęstutis Marčiulionis, Vidas Ginevičius
2002/03 Champion No tournament - Euroleague
Last 24		 Antanas Sireika Gintaras Einikis, Tanoka Beard, Darius Šilinskis, Artūras Masiulis, Tadas Klimavičius, Saulius Štombergas, Dainius Šalenga, Kornel David, Mindaugas Timinskas, Chris Carrawell, Giedrius Gustas, Ed Cota, Vidas Ginevičius
2003/04 Champion No tournament No tournament Euroleague
Last 16		 Antanas Sireika Tanoka Beard, Darjuš Lavrinovič, Arvydas Sabonis, Paulius Jankūnas, Artūras Javtokas, Miroslav Beric, Dainius Šalenga, Simonas Serapinas, Mindaugas Timinskas, Ainars Bagatskis, Giedrius Gustas, Ed Cota
2004/05 Champion No tournament BBL Champion Euroleague
Last 16		 Antanas Sireika Tanoka Beard, Darjuš Lavrinovič, Paulius Jankūnas, Martynas Andriuškevičius, Dainius Šalenga, Simonas Serapinas, Jonas Mačiulis, Mindaugas Timinskas, Ainars Bagatskis, Vidas Ginevičius, Robert Pack
2005/06 Finalist No tournament BBL Finalist Euroleague
Last 16		 Antanas Sireika Tanoka Beard, Darjuš Lavrinovič, Paulius Jankūnas, Darius Šilinskis, Reggie Freeman, Simonas Serapinas, Jonas Mačiulis, Mantas Kalnietis, Ed Cota, Vidas Ginevičius, Larry Ayuso, Kenny Anderson
2006/07 Champion Winner BBL Finalist Euroleague
Last 24		 Rimantas Grigas Tanoka Beard, Darius Šilinskis, Hanno Mottola, Paulius Jankūnas, Marcelo Machado, Kirk Penney, Jonas Mačiulis, Vladimir Štimac, Artūras Milaknis, Mantas Kalnietis, DeJuan Collins, Marko Popović, Vidas Ginevičius
2007/08 Champion Winner BBL Champion Euroleague
Last 16		 Rimantas Grigas Eurelijus Žukauskas, Tanoka Beard, Paulius Jankūnas, Goran Jurak, Dainius Šalenga, Jonas Mačiulis, Marcus Brown, Artūras Milaknis, Mantas Kalnietis, DeJuan Collins, Marko Popović, Damir Markota, Mamadou N'Diaye, Donatas Motiejūnas
2008/09 Finalist Finalist BBL Finalist Euroleague
Last 24		 Gintaras Krapikas Eurelijus Žukauskas, Loren Woods, Paulius Jankūnas, Tomas Masiulis, Tadas Klimavičius, Dainius Šalenga, Jonas Mačiulis, Darius Šilinskis, Artūras Milaknis, Mantas Kalnietis
2009/10 Finalist Finalist BBL Champion Euroleague
Last 16		 Darius Maskoliūnas Mirza Begić, Travis Watson, Paulius Jankūnas, Tadas Klimavičius, Mario Delaš, Dainius Šalenga, Martynas Pocius, Artūras Milaknis, Marcus Brown, Aleksandar Ćapin, Mantas Kalnietis, Siim-Sander Vene
2010/11 Champion Winner BBL Champion Euroleague
Last 16		 Ilias Zouros Mirza Begić, Boban Marjanović, Travis Watson, Omar Samhan, Paulius Jankūnas, Tadas Klimavičius, Trent Plaisted, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Dainius Šalenga, Martynas Pocius, Artūras Milaknis, Marcus Brown, Aleksandar Ćapin, Tomas Delininkaitis, Mantas Kalnietis, DeJuan Collins
2011/12 LKL VTB United League Euroleague Aleksandar Trifunović Robertas Javtokas, Milovan Raković, Paulius Jankūnas, Tadas Klimavičius, Sonny Weems, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Marko Popović, Tomas Delininkaitis, Mantas Kalnietis, DeJuan Collins, Reeves Nelson, Dainius Šalenga

Players of note

Head coaches

  • Mykolas Ziminskas: 1944/46
  • Vytautas Kulakauskas: 1946
  • Mykolas Ziminskas: 1947/48
  • Janis Grinbergas: 1949
  • Valerijus Griešnovas: 1950
  • Vincas Sercevičius: 1952
  • Vytautas Kulakauskas: 1952
  • Vincas Sercevičius: 1953/56
  • Valerijus Griešnovas: 1957/58
  • Kazys Petkevičius: 1959/62
  • Vytautas Bimba: 1962/75
  • Stepas Butautas: 1975/78
  • Algimantas Rakauskas: 1978/79
  • Ignas Antanaitis: 1979

External links
Teams
Baltai  • Juventus  • Kėdainiai Triobet  • Lietuvos rytas  • Naglis  • Neptūnas  • Pieno žvaigždės • Rūdupis  • Sakalai  • Šiauliai  • Techasas  • Žalgiris
Annual events
Other
Still in competition
Group A
Astana · Budivelnik · Kalev/Cramo · Khimki · Nizhny Novgorod · UNIKS · VEF Rīga · Žalgiris
Group B
First qualifying round
Group A
Group B
Still in competition
Eliminated in Regular Season
Eliminated in Third Qualifying Round
Eliminated in Second Qualifying Round
Eliminated in First Qualifying Round