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BC Žalgiris

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BC Žalgiris
BC Žalgiris logo
LeaguesLithuanian Basketball League,
Baltic Basketball League,
VTB United League,
Euroleague
Founded1944
ArenaKaunas Sports Hall
(capacity: 5,000)
LocationKaunas, Lithuania
Team colorsGreen and White
   
PresidentArvydas Sabonis
Head coachAco Petrović
ChampionshipsLithuanian League: 12
Euroleague: 1
Intercontinental Cup: 1
Baltic League: 3
LKF: 2
Websitezalgiris.lt

BC Žalgiris (Basketball Club Žalgiris) is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania. It is one of the oldest teams in the Euroleague and plays domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League (Lietuvos Krepšinio Lyga). Žalgiris is one of 13 European clubs that currently hold ULEB A Licenses, which provide their holders with a guaranteed place in the Euroleague.

Logo design: A green and white shield with the sign "BC Žalgiris", a basketball, and the letter "Ž". The club's name commemorates the victorious Battle of Žalgiris (Battle of Grunwald) (both names: Žalgiris and Grunwald are translated as "green grove").

History

1944–1987: Early dominance

Since 1944, BC Žalgiris is the main Lithuanian basketball team to produce top-flight talents for European basketball, such as the Olympic champions Modestas Paulauskas, Arvydas Sabonis, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Valdemaras Chomičius, and many others. In the mid-1980s, the finals between BC Žalgiris Kaunas and CSKA Moscow (Central Sports Club of Army) served as a major inspiration for Lithuanian national revival that contributed to the emergence of the Sąjūdis national movement and re-establishment of state independence.

During the 1980s, Žalgiris was competing in the top competitions with top clubs in Europe, such as CSKA Moscow and Cibona Zagreb. Stars Sabonis, Kurtinaitis, Chomičius and Jovaiša led the team to three consecutive Soviet Union National League championships from 1985 till 1987, beating CSKA Moscow in the finals. In the previous year, the four stars led the team to the Saporta Cup final, but lost the champions FC Barcelona. Despite the loss, Žalgiris participated in Euroleague the next year, reaching the finals and losing to the rival Cibona Zagreb. In 1986, Žalgiris won the William Jones Intercontinental Cup, defeating Dražen Petrović's Cibona Zagreb in the semifinals and Ferro Carril Oeste in the finals. Žalgiris was emerging as one of the top clubs in Europe at the time.

1987–1989: Setbacks

In 1987, however, Žalgiris suffered a setback. One of the stars of the club, Arvydas Sabonis, suffered a torn achilles tendon. Three months later, he tore it again, causing him to miss most of the 1987-88 season. That season, Žalgiris won a silver medal, losing to CSKA Moscow in the Soviet League finals. The next season, Sabonis came back, and the club managed to reach European Winners Cup semifinals and win a silver medal in Soviet League finals.

Just before the start of 1989-90 season, Žalgiris lost all of its leaders and half of its team: Sabonis, Kurtinaitis, Jovaiša, Chomičius, Krapikas all left the club, free from the Iron Curtain that barred Lithuanian basketball talent from becoming international.

1989–1997: New generation

Following the mass emigration, Žalgiris renewed their roster with youngsters, such as Gintaras Einikis, Darius Lukminas, Arūnas Visockas and later Saulius Štombergas. The team, led by Einikis and Visockas, won their first LKL title in 1994, cruising past Atletas Kaunas 3-1 in a four game series. For Next two years, Žalgiris again dominated LKL tournament and had success participating in the Saporta Cup for the 1995-96 season. After finishing with a 9-3 record in the regular season, Žalgiris advanced to the semifinals, but fell to PAOK.

1998–1999: Biggest success

Žalgiris enjoyed the biggest success as a club during 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. Led by great Lithuanian talents Saulius Štombergas, Dainius Adomaitis, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Tomas Masiulis, Mindaugas Žukauskas and experienced foreign players Franjo Arapovic and Ennis Whatley and coached by Jonas Kazlauskas they defeted Olimpia Milano 82:67 in the Saporta Cup final in Belgrade in 1998. Saulius Štombergas scored 35 points in the final. In 1998-99 season they surprised all Europe. Again coached by Jonas Kazlauskas and led by former NBA players Tyus Edney, Anthony Bowie, George Zidek and great Lithuanian talent they went through FIBA Euroleague with 18-4 record and defeted Kinder Bologna 82:74 in the final in Munich. Tyus Edney was named Euroleague Final Four MVP. Žalgiris allso won LKL and NEBL titles that same season. After these two great seasons best players of the club went to the richest European clubs and Žalgiris tryed to duplicate that feat ever since.

2003–2004: Sabonis comes back

Sabonis became the principal owner of the club in 2003, after having played for many years in the Spanish ACB League and the NBA. He allso came back to play for the club as promised for one last season in 2003-04. He again dominated European competition winning ULEB Euroleague regular season and Top-16 MVP. Žalgiris almost made to the Euroleague Final Four, but were stoped by miracle of Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. when they came back to the game from almost impossible situation. In 2009, Sabonis sold most of his stake to a local investment group, Ūkio banko investicinė grupė (ŪBIG) which is headed by Vladimir Romanov, which now holds a 75% interest in the club. Sabonis retained a 21.5% stake in the club; 3% is owned by a minority group, and the remaining 0.5% is owned by the Kaunas City municipality.

Titles

National:

  • Lithuanian Championships (22): 1946, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008
  • Soviet Union Championships (5): 1947, 1951, 1985, 1986, 1987
  • Soviet Union Cups (1): 1953

International:

Roster

Template:BC Žalgiris

Depth Chart

Pos. Starter Bench Bench Reserve Inactive
C Travis Watson Mirza Begić Omar Samhan
PF Paulius Jankūnas Tadas Klimavičius
SF Martynas Pocius Dainius Šalenga Mindaugas Kuzminskas
SG Marcus Brown Tomas Delininkaitis Artūras Milaknis
PG Mantas Kalnietis DeJuan Collins Aleksandar Ćapin


Players of note

(Mostly former players)

Head coaches

Green White Boys

Template:Bb start Template:LKL Teams

Template:Bb end

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