BC Lietuvos Rytas
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| BC Lietuvos Rytas | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Leagues | Lithuanian Basketball League, BBL, ULEB Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| History | Statyba Vilnius (1964-1997) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Arena | Lietuvos Rytas Arena, Siemens Arena
(capacity 11,000) |
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| Location | Vilnius, Lithuania | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Team colors | Black, white and red | |||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Gedvydas Vainauskas | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Antanas Sireika | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Championships | See Achievements | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Uniforms | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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BC Lietuvos Rytas is the major basketball club of Vilnius, Lithuania and one of two clubs from Vilnius that play in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). Founded in 1964 and renamed in 1997, the team plays its home LKL games at the 1,700-seat Lietuvos Rytas Arena and its home Euroleague and ULEB Cup games at the 11,000-seat Siemens Arena.
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[edit] History
The basketball team Statyba was established in 1964 in the Soviet Union. That team won bronze medals in 1979 at the Soviet Union championship. In 1997, it was renamed Lietuvos Rytas Statyba, then just Lietuvos Rytas as the club was bought by the Lithuanian newspaper Lietuvos Rytas. The newspaper's investment helped establish the club as one of two best in Lithuania, the other being BC Žalgiris from the country's second-largest city Kaunas. These have been the only two LKL champions since the restoration of Lithuanian independence, and their matches effectively constitute the national derby, always fiercely contested and attracting large crowds. Lietuvos Rytas has won the LKL championship three times. The first success came in 2000, when Vilnius' side was led by so called "big three" — Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Andrius Giedraitis and Eric Elliott, also combined with youngsters Arvydas Macijauskas and Robertas Javtokas. After two years Lietuvos Rytas repeated their triumph, this time in a dramatic seven-game final series with the last game decided in overtime. The team played without center Robertas Javtokas, who was seriously injured in a motorbike crash. The third title came in 2006, when Lietuvos Rytas won their easiest final series, crushing Žalgiris 4-0.
[edit] International competitions
In 2005, they won the ULEB Cup, granting them a place in the Euroleague, the continent's primary basketball club tournament. But midway through the season, team leader Frederick House suffered a season-ending injury; shortly afterward, head coach Vlade Djurovic resigned and was replaced by Slovenian Tomo Mahoric. But newcomer Tyrone Nesby, Latvian playmaker Roberts Štelmahers and inspirational Lithuanian trio Robertas Javtokas, Simas Jasaitis and Tomas Delininkaitis led the team and managed to overcome all opponents domestically and in the Baltic League.
Croatian specialist Neven Spahija became the head coach of the team in 2005. Lietuvos Rytas started the Euroleague season of 2005-2006 well. After losing their first two matches, Lietuvos Rytas matched the Euroleague record by winning seven consecutive Euroleague fixtures, defeating such teams as Winterthur FCB, Maccabi (twice) and Efes Pilsen. In the Euroleague, they were able to advance to the Top 16 phase, winning three times of six. Despite the Lithuanian title, Lietuvos Rytas did not acquire the country's spot for 2006-07 that was reserved to archrival Žalgiris.
Although the coach and three leading players, Robertas Javtokas, Simas Jasaitis and Frederick House have left the team during the interseason, the 2006-2007 season in the ULEB Cup has been rather successful for Lietuvos Rytas as well, despite that two coaches were replaced during the season; Sharon Drucker from Israel was replaced by Slovenian Zmago Sagadin and the latter to his assistant coach Aleksandar Trifunović from Serbia. The roster was strengtened during the season when promising NBA player Kareem Rush arrived to lead the team to the ULEB Cup final where it was defeated by Real Madrid. However, Real Madrid's victory at the ACB semifinals and of one of four spots reserved for Spain allowed Lietuvos Rytas to take part in the Euroleague 2007-08 season as the ULEB Cup finalist. On 21 April 2007, Lietuvos Rytas won the second consecutive BBL title; Kareem Rush was named the Final Four MVP.
[edit] Euroleague 2007-2008
On 25 October 2007, Lietuvos Rytas started its second Euroleague season in Group B with a road victory against Armani Jeans Milano. The team was led by Marijonas Petravičius, who reached a career-high performance index rating of 28 and became MVP runner-up. On 1 November, Lietuvos Rytas defeated Maccabi a third time in a row; Artūras Jomantas led the team with 19 points and became the week's co-MVP with Erazem Lorbek, both having performance index ratings of 29. Lietuvos Rytas finished the first round of group competition in the first spot with 5 victories and 2 losses for the second consecutive time, overcoming Cibona Zagreb by 34 points in the final match. The year 2007 ended with two more victories in the second round, allowing Lietuvos Rytas to repeat their previous 7-2 record in the Euroleague. The last one, the fourth victory in a row over Maccabi, was due to spectacular performances by Hollis Price (19 points) and Chuck Eidson (28 points). On 23 January 2008, Lietuvos Rytas proved itself against Unicaja Malaga at own home court; the victory secured the team the first berth in the group with one game remaining, but lost forward Matthew Nielsen to injury. A road victory against Cibona Zagreb on 31 January 2008 completed the Euroleague regular season for Lietuvos Rytas and has allowed to remain at the first spot in the Group B securing a favorable position in the first pool before the Top 16 draw together with CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid and Panathinaikos Athens. Its 11-3 record was the team's best regular-season performance ever, and the best by a Lithuanian team in the Euroleague.
[edit] Achievements
- BBL champions: 2006, 2007
- ULEB Cup champions: 2005
- NEBL champions: 2002
- LKL champions: 2000, 2002, 2006
- LKL regular-season winners: 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008
[edit] Tournaments
Plays in:
Has played in:
- Euroleague
- Suproleague
- FIBA European Cup
- NEBL
[edit] Current squad
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BC Lietuvos Rytas roster
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[edit] Current depth chart
| Pos. | Starter | Bench | Reserve | Inactive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Marijonas Petravičius | Michailas Anisimovas]] | ||
| PF | Kenan Bajramović | Donatas Zavackas | Andrius Šležas | Matthew Nielsen]] |
| SF | Chuck Eidson | Artūras Jomantas | Lukas Brazdauskis]] | |
| SG | Mindaugas Lukauskis | Steponas Babrauskas | Martynas Gecevičius | Simas Buterlevičius]] |
| PG | Marius Prekevičius |
[edit] Former famous players
[edit] In Statyba
Dainius Adomaitis- Artūras Karnišovas
- Jonas Kazlauskas
- Šarūnas Marčiulionis
[edit] In Lietuvos Rytas
- Tomas Delininkaitis 2003-2007
- Gintaras Einikis 2004–2005
- Andrius Giedraitis 1998–2001
Frederick House 2004-2006- Rimantas Kaukėnas 2001–2002
- Simas Jasaitis 2001–2006
- Šarūnas Jasikevičius 1998–1999
- Robertas Javtokas 1999–2006
- Jared Jordan 2007-2008
- Rimas Kurtinaitis 1998–1999
- Arvydas Macijauskas 1999–2003
- Tyrone Nesby 2004-2005
- Hollis Price 2007-2008
- Kareem Rush 2006-2007
- Dickey Simpkins 2003-2004
- Ramūnas Šiškauskas 1998–2004
Roberts Štelmahers 2005-2008
[edit] External links
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