BC Lietuvos Rytas

Infobox Basketball club
color1 = #ffffff
color2 = #aa0000
name = BC Lietuvos Rytas
nickname =

imagesize =
leagues = Lithuanian Basketball League,
Baltic League,
ULEB Cup
founded = 1997
history = Statyba Vilnius (1964-1997)
arena = Lietuvos Rytas Arena (capacity: 1,700),
Siemens Arena(capacity: 11,000)
location = Vilnius, Lithuania
colors = Black, white and red
president = Gedvydas Vainauskas
coach = Antanas Sireika
championships = See Achievements
website = [http://www.rytasbasket.lt http://www.rytasbasket.lt]
h_body=FF0000
h_pattern_b=_blackstripes
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a_body =999999
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a_shorts =999999
a_pattern_s =

BC Lietuvos Rytas is the major professional 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.

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.

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.

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. The team failed to succeed in the Top 16 and did not advance to playoffs.

Achievements

*Baltic League champions: 2006, 2007
*Baltic Basketball League Presidents Cup winners: 2008
*ULEB Cup champions: 2005
*NEBL champions: 2002
*Lithuanian Basketball League champions: 2000, 2002, 2006
*Lithuanian Basketball League regular-season winners: 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008

Tournaments

Compete in:
*LKL
*BBL
*Eurocup

European Competition

Current squad

Current depth chart

Former famous players

In Statyba

*flagicon|LTU Dainius Adomaitis
*flagicon|LTU Artūras Karnišovas
*flagicon|LTU Jonas Kazlauskas
*flagicon|LTU Šarūnas Marčiulionis

In Lietuvos Rytas

*flagicon|LTU Tomas Delininkaitis 2003-2007
*flagicon|LTU Gintaras Einikis 2004–2005
*flagicon|LTU Andrius Giedraitis 1998–2001
*flagicon|USA Frederick House 2004-2006
*flagicon|LTU Rimantas Kaukėnas 2001–2002
*flagicon|LTU Simas Jasaitis 2001–2006
*flagicon|LTU Šarūnas Jasikevičius 1998–1999
*flagicon|LTU Robertas Javtokas 1999–2006
*flagicon|LTU Rimas Kurtinaitis 1998–1999
*flagicon|LTU Arvydas Macijauskas 1999–2003
*flagicon|USA Tyrone Nesby 2004-2005
*flagicon|USA Hollis Price 2007-2008
*flagicon|USA Kareem Rush 2006-2007
*flagicon|USA Dickey Simpkins 2003-2004
*flagicon|LTU Ramūnas Šiškauskas 1998–2004
*flagicon|LAT Roberts Stelmahers 2005-2008

External links

* [http://bc.lrytas.lt Official website of BC Lietuvos Rytas]
* [http://Rytasbasket.com Fan website of BC Lietuvos Rytas]