Dairis Bertāns
| No. 9 – Bilbao Basket | |||||||||||||
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| Position | Guard | ||||||||||||
| League | Liga ACB | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born |
September 9, 1989 Valmiera, Latvia | ||||||||||||
| Nationality | Latvian | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| Pro playing career | 2005–present | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | BK Valmiera | ||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | ASK Rīga/Juniors | ||||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | ASK Rīga | ||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | BK Ventspils | ||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | VEF Rīga | ||||||||||||
| 2013– | Bilbao Basket | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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Medals
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Dairis Bertāns (born 9 September 1989)[1] is an Latvian professional basketball player who is currently playing for Bilbao Basket and Latvia national basketball team.[1]
Professional career
He started his career with hometown team SK Valmiera. Before 2006/2007 season Dairis and his family moved to Riga, where he joined ASK Riga. At the beginning Bertāns played for ASK Riga's junior squad, but gradually was inserted in their first team. During 2007/08 season he made his debut with ASK Riga first team, where he played till March 2009. Then for the final months of the season Bertāns joined one of the biggest ASK Riga's rivals BK Ventspils, signing two-year contract.
In summer of 2010 Bertāns returned to capital city of Latvia, signing contract with BK VEF Rīga. At-the-time-coach Rimas Kurtinaitis saw potential in Bertāns as a point guard even though before he was mostly used as a shooting guard. So, during season 2010/2011 Dairis developed point guard skills to a different level, and was one of the key factors for VEF to win its first ever Latvian Championship. Next season Bertāns won another Latvian League title with VEF Rīga. In summer of 2012 Bertāns re-signed with contract with VEF Rīga. He signed a 3-year contract with Bilbao Basket in June 2013, although he almost signed for Partizan in january 2014.
Latvian national team
Dairis has been member of the Latvian U-16, U-18 and U-20 National Team as well as the Senior National Team. Dairis led Latvia to bronze medals in 2007 U18 European Championship in Madrid, Spain. Bertans was also named to all-tournament team.
Dairis made his Latvian National Team debut in summer of 2010. He has represented Latvia national team in EuroBasket 2011.[2] Dairis was the leading scorer (14.1ppg) for National Team in 2012, when he helped Latvia to earn a spot in EuroBasket 2013.
Due to his explosive style of play Dairis has earned nickname Latvian Rocket.
Personal life
Dairis' brother is Dāvis Bertāns. Their father Dainis Bertāns was a professional basketball player and is a youth coach at the moment. Their mother is a sports teacher and a former high level rower.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Cīņa par ceturto vietu un papildu kvalifikāciju" (in Latvian). sportacentrs.com. 2010-08-29. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ↑ "Latvia Roster". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
External links
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