Jānis Strēlnieks

Jānis Strēlnieks
Olympiacos
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
League Greek Basket League
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1989-09-01) September 1, 1989
Talsi, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality Latvian
Listed height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Listed weight 195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2011 / Undrafted
Playing career 2007–present
Career history
2007–2011 Ventspils
2011–2013 Spartak Saint Petersburg
2013–2014 Budivelnyk
2014–2017 Brose Bamberg
2017–present Olympiacos
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing Latvia Latvia
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
2007 Spain

Jānis Strēlnieks (born September 1, 1989) is a Latvian professional basketball player who plays for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League and EuroLeague. He also represents the Latvian national basketball team. Standing at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, he plays at both the point guard and shooting guard positions.

Professional career

Strēlnieks started his professional career in 2007, with Latvian team Ventspils, where he played for four years. In 2010, he was pursued by the EuroLeague club Union Olimpija, which was then head coached by Jure Zdovc. However, Ventspils didn't let him go to Slovenia. After all, in November 2011, he finally got a chance to play for coach Zdovc, as he was at the time coaching the Russian team Spartak Saint Petersburg,[1] that had bought out Strēlnieks' contract from Ventspils. He spent the next two seasons with Spartak. One of the highlights of his time in Spartak, was making the EuroCup's 2012 Final Four.

In August 2013, Strēlnieks joined the EuroLeague team Budivelnyk, signing a two-year contract with them.[2] Strēlnieks enjoyed a successful season with Budivelnyk, that included winning the Ukrainian Super League championship, and playing in the EuroLeague for the first time. However, after the season ended, he had to opt out of his contract, due to the unstable political situation in Ukraine at the time.[3]

In July 2014, he signed a one-year deal with the German club Brose Bamberg.[4] In the following three seasons, Strēlnieks won the German Basketball Bundesliga championship with Bamberg.[5] In the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, Strēlnieks also played in the EuroLeague with Brose.

On June 20, 2017, Strēlnieks signed a two-year contract with Olympiacos, of the Greek Basket League and EuroLeague.[6]

Latvian national team

In 2007, Strēlnieks was a part of the Latvian Under-18 junior national team that won the bronze medal at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, which was held in Madrid, Spain. He made a game-winning basket in the last seconds of regulation against Lithuania's Under-18 junior national team, in the bronze medal game.[7]

Strēlnieks is a member of the senior Latvian national basketball team. With Latvia, he played at the EuroBasket 2011, the EuroBasket 2013, the EuroBasket 2015, and the Belgrade 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2013–14 Budivelnyk 10 6 22.5 .509 .464 1.000 1.4 2.6 .9 .0 8.1 8.4
2015–16 Bamberg 24 4 24.1 .558 .404 .913 2 3.3 .7 .1 9.8 10.7
2016–17 22 5 25.0 .581 .459 .892 2.2 3.5 .6 .1 11.7 12.8
Career 56 15 ? .568 .436 .914 2.0 3.3 .7 .0 10.3 ?

Personal life

His older brother, Artūrs, is also a professional basketball player.

References

  1. ↑ "Jānis Strēlnieks pāriet uz Sanktpēterburgas 'Spartak'" (in Latvian). Delfi.lv. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  2. ↑ "BUDIVELNIK brings in playmaker Strelnieks". Euroleague.net. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "Janis Strelnieks opts out of his contract with Budivelnyk". Sportando.com. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Brose Baskets puts Strelnieks at point". Eurocupbasketball.com. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Strēlnieks ar Brose Baskets kļūst par Vācijas čempionu basketbolā". Diena.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Olympiacos lands playmaker Strelnieks". Euroleague.net. 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  7. ↑ Lithuania 72-74 Latvia FIBA Europe
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