BC Lietkabelis

Lietkabelis Panevėžys
Leagues Lithuanian Basketball League
EuroCup
Founded 1964
History Lietkabelis
1964–1996
Kalnapilis
1996–1999
Sema
1999–2000
Panevėžys
2000–2001
'Preventa-Malsena
2001–2002
Malsena
2002–2003
Aukštaitija
2003–2004
Panevėžys
2004–2007
Techasas
2007–2012
Lietkabelis
2012–present
Arena Cido Arena
Arena Capacity 5,656
Location Panevėžys, Lithuania
Team colors Burgundy, white, pale gold
              
President Alvydas Bieliauskas
Head coach Artūrs Štālbergs
Affiliation(s) Lietkabelis-2 (2015–present)
Championships
Website kklietkabelis.lt
Uniforms
Home
Away

BC Lietkabelis (Lithuanian: Krepšinio klubas Lietkabelis) is a Lithuanian professional basketball team based in Panevėžys, Lithuania, participating in the Lithuanian Basketball League and the Baltic Basketball League. BC Techasas had many financial problems at the 2011–2012 season start, they even boycotted a LKF Cup game.[1] Because of that Darius Gaudiešius sold the basketball club to Algirdas Kriščiūnas, Antanas Kazys Liorentas and Kazimieras Antanynas.[2] Due to the club owner changes, club got back his legendary name Lietkabelis.[3]

History

2012–2016 logo

Early years

Basketball club Lietkabelis history begins in 1964. The club’s name was not changing for straight 32 years. The home-court games were played in Aukštaitija Sports Palace, which was opened in 1965. The construction of the palace was initiated by V. Variakojis. Most of the team‘s players contributed with their own hands in the palace's construction process. At that period, the team was represented by such sports masters, like: S. Atraškevičius, J. Balakauskas, A. Butkūnas, V. Juchnevičius, E. Kuodys, A. Matačiūnas, R. Petrauskas, R. Sargūnas, V. Stalilionis, J. Zičkus, E. Žurauskas, V. Variakojis and others. Until the establishment of the Lithuanian Basketball League in 1993, Lietkabelis was among the country’s strongest basketball teams. During these times, Panevėžys club, trained by R. Sargūnas and V. Paškauskas from 1964 to 1996, became Lithuania’s champions twice (1985, 1988), won third place three times (1983, 1984 and 1991) and qualified into the Lithuania’s Cup competition finals two times (1985, 1986). Other performances are as follows: 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1989 – 5th places, 1966 and 1969 – 6th places, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1986 and 1993 – 7th places, 1973 and 1977 – 11-12 places, 1975 – 11th place, 1976 – 9-10 places, 1979 – 9th place, 1981 – 8th place and 1982, 1987, 1990, 1992 – 4th places.[4]

1978–1986: playing in USSR Division I

From 1978 to 1986, Lietkabelis represented Lithuania in USSR I division tournament (second-tier competition in the Soviet Union). In more than three decades, many notable basketball persons played for the Panevėžys’ team: Algimantas Baziukas, Algirdas Brazys, Raimundas Čivilis, V. Dambrauskas, A. Kairys, M. Karnišovas, Jonas Kazlauskas, Algirdas Kriščiūnas, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Vitoldas Masalskis, O. Moisejenka, Gintaras Leonavičius, Rolandas Penikas, Algimantas Pavilonis, A. Šidlauskas and others. Notable boarding sports school members, who later been a part of the Lithuania national basketball team, trained their skills in Lietkabelis. Such players are: Gintaras Einikis, Dainius Adomaitis, Alvydas Pazdrazdis, Romanas Brazdauskis, Gvidonas Markevičius and others. The team long-time was coached by V. Stankevičius, a Lietkabelis factory director. The factory was team’s main sponsor.[4]

1993: Creating the Lithuanian Basketball League

Dainius Šalenga as a Lietkabelis member in 2015.

In 1993, basketball club Lietkabelis was one of the eight Lithuanian Basketball League founders. From 1996, after three decades, Lietkabelis factory left basketball world. The team’s names were changing constantly: Kalnapilis (1996-1999), Sema (1999-2000), Panevėžys (2000-2001 ir 2004-2007), Preventa-Malsena (2001-2003), Aukštaitija (2003-2004) and Techasas (2007-2012). From January 2012, club’s name was reverted to the legendary one – Lietkabelis. In 20 LKL seasons the team’s jersey was worn by such notable Lithuanian basketball players: Gintaras Bačianskas (19,7 points per game in LKL), Gintaras Kadžiulis, Kęstutis Kemzūra, Mindaugas Lukauskis, Paulius Staškūnas, Žydrūnas Urbonas and others.[4] In 1999-2000 season, Panevėžys team (named Sema at that time) participated in international tournament – FIBA Korać Cup for the first time after the country’s independence. In 2004-2005 season and from 2007 to 2012, Panevėžys team participated in Baltic Basketball League’s second division (renamed to BBL Challenge Cup in 2007). They also played in the BBL Elite Division from 2005 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2014. During ten years in this league, the team achieved first place twice in the BBL Challenge Cup (in 2005 as Panevėžys and in 2012 as Lietkabelis), they also won bronze medals twice as well (in 2008 and 2011 as Techasas). They won the BBL Elite Division, they won the bronze medals in 2016. In the LKL, the highest the team achieved was the quarterfinals, though they did come close in 2007 to reaching the semifinals, losing a very tough series to BC Šiauliai 1:2. In 2016, they also had a tough series against BC Lietuvos rytas, fighting hard in a losing sweep, though only lost the two away games in Vilnius 74:79 and 78:83.[4]

In October 2008, the brand-new Cido Arena was opened in Panevėžys, which has 5656 seats for the basketball spectators. It became new Panevėžys basketball team home-hourt, replacing the Aukštaitija Sports Palace after 43 years.[4]

2015–present: participating in European competitions

On July 29, 2015, the club was invited to join the FIBA Europe Cup tournament, which is the alternative version of the 2nd tier European tournament Eurocup, organized by FIBA.[5] Although, just before the dawning ceremony, it was announced that 56 teams would participate instead of 64 and Lietkabelis was not one of these.[6]

On July 21, 2016, Lietkabelis was invited to play in the 2016–17 EuroCup season. The club previously registered again in the FIBA Europe Cup.[7] Following it, the team signed notable veterans: Mindaugas Lukauskis, Kšyštof Lavrinovič and Darjuš Lavrinovič who formed the core of the team.[8] The positive preseason resulted in record sales of over 700 season tickets just on the sales opening day.[9] The LKL season began historically by defeating Žalgiris Kaunas 90–86 for the first time after 16 years.[10] This season became the best one in club history - Lietkabelis had astonishing victories over Žalgiris, BC Lietuvos rytas and BC Neptūnas, the top teams in Lithuania. In the playoffs, Lietkabelis beat BC Vytautas in the quaterfinals 3:0, then shocked Lietuvos rytas 3:1 in the semifinals before losing to Žalgiris in the LKL finals 1:4.[11] Lietkabelis also reached the 2017 King Mindaugas Cup finals, also losing to Žalgiris 63:84.[12]

The debut EuroCup season performance was not less pleasant for the club. On October 12, 2016, Donatas Tarolis buzzer-beater guaranteed Lietkabelis first 89–88 Eurocup victory in the history of the club against KK MZT Skopje.[13] Lietkabelis continued their success in Zagreb, defeating the Croatian champions KK Cedevita 80–76. Another remarkable play was performed by Donatas Tarolis, whose put-back slam secured the victory with just 13 seconds remaining.[14] On November 23, the record of attendance was achieved, with 4427 spectators during the second game versus Cedevita, though Lietkabelis lost a tough rematch 68:69.[15] Lietkabelis qualified to the Eurocup Top16, with a 3-5 record in the group stage with another win against MZT Skopje, though lost both games to the top teams in the group - CB Gran Canaria and BC Nizhny Novgorod. Lietkabelis played in Group F against former tournament champion BC Khimki, and German giants FC Bayern München and ratiopharm Ulm. While Lietkabelis didn't manage to defeat Khimki and Bayern, they won both games against a powerful ratiopharm Ulm team, and finished the Eurocup Top16 phase with a respectable 2-4 record.[16]

On June 13, 2017, it was announced that in the 2017-2018 season Lietkabelis for a second straight time will participate in the EuroCup competition.[17] Consequently, the team successfully extended contracts with the Lavrinovič twins, signed former long-term Lithuania men's national basketball team member Simas Jasaitis and candidate of the national team Adas Juškevičius.[18][19][20]

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

BC Lietkabelis roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
PF 3 Lithuania Tarolis, Donatas 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 23 – (1994-04-30)30 April 1994
PG 5 United States Williams, Lorenzo 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 32 – (1984-11-08)8 November 1984
C 7 Lithuania Lavrinovič, Darjuš 2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) 110 kg (243 lb) 37 – (1979-11-01)1 November 1979
SG 9 Lithuania Leonavičius, Gintaras 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 33 – (1983-10-29)29 October 1983
PF 12 Lithuania Lavrinovič, Kšyštof 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 116 kg (256 lb) 37 – (1979-11-01)1 November 1979
PF 50 Lithuania Skučas, Žygimantas 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 103 kg (227 lb) 25 – (1992-03-18)18 March 1992
F/C 14 Lithuania Čepukaitis, Vaidas 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 104 kg (229 lb) 28 – (1989-05-16)16 May 1989
G/F 31 Latvia Peiners, Žanis 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 27 – (1990-08-02)2 August 1990
G 4 Lithuania Aukštikalnis, Lukas 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 21 – (1995-08-19)19 August 1995
G 8 Lithuania Juškevičius, Adas 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 28 – (1989-01-03)3 January 1989
SF 13 Lithuania Jasaitis, Simas 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 35 – (1982-03-26)26 March 1982
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Physiotherapist(s)
  • Lithuania Ramūnas Širvinskas

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Updated: 23 April 2016

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Darjuš Lavrinovič Vaidas Čepukaitis
PF Kšyštof Lavrinovič Donatas Tarolis
SF Žygimantas Skučas Žanis Peiners Simas Jasaitis
SG Adas Juškevičius Gintaras Leonavičius Lukas Aukštikalnis
PG Lorenzo Williams

Squad changes for/during the 2017/18 season

In

No. Position Player
14 Lithuania C Vaidas Čepukaitis (from BC Juventus)
Latvia G/F Žanis Peiners (from PAOK Thessaloniki)
Lithuania G Adas Juškevičius (from Basket Zaragoza)
Lithuania SF Simas Jasaitis (from Victoria Libertas Pesaro)

Out

No. Position Player
1 Australia SG Ben Madgen (to BC Lietuvos Rytas)
19 Lithuania PG Žygimantas Janavičius (to Basketball Löwen Braunschweig)
8 Lithuania SF Mindaugas Lukauskis (to BC Lietuvos Rytas)
6 Lithuania SG Tadas Rinkūnas (to)
21 Lithuania C Simas Galdikas (to)

Club achievements

Evaldas Žabas was named LKL All-Star in 2015.
Jurica Žuža previously played for Panathinaikos before joining Lietkabelis.
Egidijus Dimša was one of Lietkabelis team leaders in 2015.
Season League Pos. Baltic League Pos. Cup European competitions
1993–94 LKL 9th
1994–95 LKL 9th
1995–96 LKL 10th
1996–97 LKL 9th
1997–98 LKL 10th
1998–99 LKL 6th
1999–00 LKL 6th 3 Korać Cup GS
2000–01 LKL 7th
2001–02 LKL 9th
2002–03 LKL 9th
2003–04 LKL 7th
2004–05 LKL 8th Challenge Cup 1st
2005–06 LKL 7th Elite Division 11th
2006–07 LKL 5th Challenge Cup 11th
2007–08 LKL 9th Challenge Cup 4th
2008–09 LKL 9th Challenge Cup 7 Eighth-finalist
2009–10 LKL 6th Challenge Cup 3rd
2010–11 LKL 6th Challenge Cup 3rd Second round
2011–12 LKL 11th Challenge Cup 1st Withdrew
2012–13 LKL 9th Top 16 Quarterfinalist
2013–14 LKL 9th Top 16 Fourth round
2014–15 LKL 8th Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist
2015–16 LKL 7th Third place Quarterfinalist
2016–17 LKL 2nd Runner-up 2 EuroCup T16
Detailed information of former rosters and results.[21][22][23]

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must be either:

References

  1. Techasas boycotted LKF Cup game (Lithuanian)
  2. Algirdas Kriščiūnas, Antanas Kazys Liorentas and Kazimieras Antanynas bought BC Techasas (Lithuanian)
  3. Techasas renamed to Lietkabelis (Lithuanian)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Istorija : KK Lietkabelis (in Lithuanian)
  5. "FIBA Europos taurės dalyvių sąraše – penki Lietuvos klubai". BasketNews.lt. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  6. "FIBA paskutinę akimirką iš turnyro dalyvių sąrašo išbraukė "Lietkabelį" ir "Vytautą"". BasketNews.lt. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  7. "Oficialu: "Lietkabelis" varžysis Europos taurėje". BasketNews.lt. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  8. Pulkovskis, Edgaras. ""Lietkabelio" aukštaūgių tandemą sudarys broliai Lavrinovičiai". Krepsinis.net. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  9. "Pirmąją prekybos abonementais į "Lietkabelio" varžybas dieną – rekordas". JP.lt. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  10. "LKL starte košmaras favoritams: "Žalgiris" krito Panevėžyje". Krepsinis.lt. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  11. "Lietkabelis (LKL 2016-17 season)". LKL.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  12. "Karaliaus Mindaugo taurę iškovojo antroje finalo pusėje „Lietkabelį“ palaužęs „Žalgiris“". Krepsinis.lt. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  13. "20-ies taškų persvarą išbarstęs "Lietkabelis" Europos taurėje laimėjo paskutinę sekundę". 24sek.lt. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  14. "K. Lavrinovičiaus ir Ž. Skučo tandemas atvedė "Lietkabelį" į dramatišką pergalę Zagrebe". Krepsinis.lt. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  15. "Panevėžyje – naujas lankomumo rekordas". Krepsinis.net. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  16. "Lietkabelis Panevezys (EuroCup 2016-17 Games)". www.EuroCupBasketball.com. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  17. "Oficialu: „Lietkabelis“ – Europos taurėje, jau žino varžovus". Krepsinis.lt. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  18. "Broliai Lavrinovičiai lieka Panevėžio „Lietkabelyje“". 24sek.lt. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  19. Sarapas, Jaunius. "Ispaniją į Lietuvą iškeitęs A. Juškevičius: kitos komandos nenusvėrė „Lietkabelio“ privalumų". Krepsinis.lt. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  20. "Grįžta į Lietuvą: „Lietkabelis“ prisiviliojo S. Jasaitį". Krepsinis.lt. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  21. "Lietkabelis | Lietuvos krepšinio lyga". LKL.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  22. "PANEVEZYS". BBL.net.
  23. "Lietkabelis Panevezys". www.eurocupbasketball.com.
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