Andris Biedriņš

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Andris Biedriņš

Andris Biedriņš warming up before a Warriors/Lakers game on March 23, 2008
Position	Center
Height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Team	Golden State Warriors
Jersey	#15
Born	April 2, 1986 (1986-04-02) (age 22) Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR
Nationality	Latvian
Draft	11th overall, 2004 Golden State Warriors
Pro career	2002–present
Former teams	BK Skonto (2002–2004)

Andris Biedriņš (pronounced [ˈɐndris ˈbiædriɲʃ]; born April 2, 1986 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR) is a Latvian professional basketball player who plays the power forward and center positions for the NBA's Golden State Warriors. He was drafted by the Warriors with the 11th overall selection in the 2004 NBA Draft.

[edit] FIBA career

Biedriņš's professional career started at the Latvian team BK Skonto in the 2002-03 season, when he joined at age 16. He soon established himself as an impact player, appearing in 41 LBL games, averaging 2.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.32 blocks, while shooting 59.8% from the field. For his feats, he was named Latvian League Newcomer of the Year. In eleven games for the FIBA European league (2003-2004), he averaged 18.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.82 blocks. In his second year, Biedriņš appeared in 28 LBL games, averaging 18.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.86 blocks, while shooting 61.5% from the field.^[1] After that season, Biedriņš made himself eligible for the 2004 NBA Draft.

[edit] NBA career

Biedriņš was drafted at the 11th position by the Golden State Warriors. In his rookie season (2004-05), Biedriņš got little playing time, and often quickly got into foul trouble (3.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 2.9 fouls in 12.8 minutes, total 30 games).^[2] He also was the youngest player in the league during his rookie year.^[3] In his second year, the 2005-06 season, Biedriņš played in 68 games, posting 3.8 points and 4.2 rebounds, with 14.1 minutes per game. However, he failed to improve much, and was ridiculed for his poor free throw percentage (.306)^[4] and his inability to stay out of foul trouble, committing 190 fouls in exactly 1,000 minutes of playing time.^[4] The Golden State fan base was not kind to the sophomore; he was called "The One Minute Man" by the Golden State Warriors blog for his alleged inability to play without a foul for longer than these 60 seconds.^[5] Biedriņš made some news when he was involved in a car accident on his way to a home game on the 880 freeway in Oakland. His Porsche Cayenne Turbo was totalled in the accident, and he missed that night's game and the next game due to back spasms.^[6]

[edit] 2006-2007

In his third year, Biedriņš got a lucky break when the Warriors decided to replace coach Mike Montgomery with ex-Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson, elected one of the NBA's "Greatest Coaches of All Time." Nelson needed just five games to bench the consistently underperforming Warriors' center Adonal Foyle and give Biedriņš the starting spot at center, calling him "the best big man I've got." Biedriņš thrived in his new role, posting impressive averages of 10.3 points on an incredible .621 field goal percentage (1st in the NBA), 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game and earning himself 28.9 minutes of playing time.^[7] His breakthrough game came in November 2006, when the Warriors beat the title favorites San Antonio Spurs 119-111. In this game, Biedriņš asserted himself against Spurs superstar Tim Duncan, only being narrowly outscored 18-22 and outrebounded 15-16,^[8] but did block six shots, including three straight shot attempts by Duncan in the third quarter.^[9] During this season he set career highs in points (31 vs Denver 24 November 2006), rebounds (18 vs Charlotte 2 March 2007), blocks (7 vs Denver 22 November 2006), assists (5 vs Washington 23 March 2007) and steals (5 vs Lakers 22 January 2007). He also finished fifth in Most Improved Player voting, losing to teammate Monta Ellis.

[edit] International career

Biedriņš has been active for his native Latvia since his teenage days. In 2001, the 15-year old Biedriņš was a member of the Latvian National Team at the Euro Cadet Championship, where he finished 4th in scoring (16.3 ppg) and 3rd in rebounding (8.5 rpg). In 2002, Biedriņš participated in the Euro Junior Championship, where he averaged 6.6 points and 7.3 rebounds. He then competed in the 2004 Under-18 European Championship, averaging 21.8 points, 14.4 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and 3.8 steals. In a match against France, he played against fellow future NBA player Johan Petro, and Biedriņš scored 21 points and 16 rebounds. Other notable games were against Georgia (28 points, 11 rebounds) and Italy (26p, 20r).^[1]

[edit] Private life

Biedriņš is well-known for his involvement in several charities. He was active in Warriors community programs during his rookie season, participated in the team's Thanksgiving Food Serving at Patrick David's Cafe in Danville, hosted a halftime Holiday Party for underprivileged children at the Warriors game vs. Memphis on 12/22, attended the Warriors Kids Day celebration, as well as the Run With TMC Fantasy Camp reception, and also visited injured American troops just back from Iraq at the National Naval Medical Center outside of Washington D.C. when the team was in the area in early March.^[1] This level of activity is impressive, as his English language skills were poor when he came to the U.S.; he also taught himself to speak English in six months while training in Los Angeles prior to the 2004 NBA Draft.^[1]

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Andris Biedriņš Info Page at NBA.com
• Andris Biedrins Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
• Andris Biedriņš at ESPN.com