2017–18 BC Prienai season

2017–18 BC Prienai season
President Lithuania Norbertas Pranckus
Head coach Lithuania Virginijus Šeškus
Staples center Prienai Arena
Results
LKL Last Place (Not Relegated)
BBL Withdrew
BCL Failed to qualify
Statistical leaders
Points Lithuania Eigirdas Žukauskas
12.7
Rebounds Lithuania Eigirdas Žukauskas
5.7
Assists Lithuania Tomas Dimša
4.0
Records
Biggest win 91–56 Tsmoki-Minsk
(25 October 2017)
Biggest defeat 56–113 Lietuvos rytas
(6 January 2018)
Uniforms
Home
Away
All statistics correct as of April 1, 2018.

The 2017–18 BC Prienai season is the 23rd season in the existence of the club, which was known as Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas for sponsorship reasons (which was their last year under that name). The team played in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) but also briefly participated in the Baltic Basketball League (BBL) and in the qualifying round of Basketball Champions League (BCL). The season was highlighted with both on-court and financial struggles, dating as far back as 2016, and several roster changes.

The team, in December 2017, most notably signed American brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball, who had drawn international attention in the years prior. Following the brothers' arrival, Vytautas withdrew from the BBL and announced Big Baller Brand, a sports apparel company owned by LaVar Ball, as its sponsor. After the Ball brothers joined the team in January 2018, Vytautas took part in several exhibition games, including the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games and the Big Baller Brand International Tournament. Upon signing the Ball brothers, the team gained significant popularity, especially in the United States. However, both Ball brothers would not stay with the squad near the end of the season, thus leaving them with the threat of relegation.

Overview

Vytautas started the 2017–18 season badly by failing to qualify for the 2017–18 Basketball Champions League season.[1] The team was also performing poorly in the national competition and saw decreasing popularity among fans.[2] Additionally, Vytautas faced major financial struggles, failing to fully pay many former players.[3] Towards the beginning of the season, the team controversially signed businessman Tomas Tumynas, who had no prior professional basketball experience.[4] According to head coach Virginijus Šeškus, Tumynas helped Vytautas financially, despite not playing any games before his release in January 2018.[4][5] The team lost to Lietuvos rytas Vilnius on 6 January 2018 by a margin of 113–56 for its worst defeat of the season. After the game, Vytautas dropped to last place in their league.[6]

On 11 December 2017, Vytautas signed LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball, the younger brothers of Los Angeles Lakers player Lonzo Ball, both of whom agreed to join the team in the beginning of January 2018.[7] Both brothers, along with Lonzo, had gained fame in the United States after leading Chino Hills High School to an undefeated season and mythical national championship in 2015–16. LiAngelo drew the international spotlight in November 2017 after being arrested for shoplifting in China, abruptly ending his college basketball career at UCLA and culminating in a Twitter-based feud between his father LaVar Ball and U.S. President Donald Trump. The Lithuanian team, whose managers described the signing as an instant success, subsequently received international attention and being featured in The New York Times.[8][9] Upon the Ball brothers' arrival, the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) rescheduled Vytautas' games against Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys and Juventus Utena to better suit their American audience.[10]

The final scoreboard at Vytautas' first game at the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games.

In early January 2018, Vytautas pulled out of the Baltic Basketball League season, instead setting up and hosting the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games, a series of exhibition games mostly against opponents from lower Lithuanian leagues.[11] On 23 January 2018, the team announced that the sports apparel company Big Baller Brand would be an official sponsor until the end of the season.[12] LaVar Ball, owner of the company, was appointed as assistant coach for a match-up with Dzūkija Alytus and then as head coach against Jonava.[13][14] Ball and his family helped the team pay off the club's debts, contributing €100,000.[15]

By the end of February, Vytautas announced that it would play in another exhibition event sponsored by the company, known the Big Baller Brand International Tournament, a round-robin competition featuring three European teams outside of Lithuania. LaVar Ball continued to serve as head coach.[16] In late March and early April, Vytautas participated in two more friendlies, hosting a game against a youth squad of the Chinese team Guangdong Southern Tigers and facing the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL) in London.[17][18] However, after the end of the team's exhibition games, head coach Virginijus Šeškus would make some drastic changes for the team to avoid the threat of relegation, most notably by sitting LaMelo Ball throughout the rest of the regular season. Since the changes, Vytautas would go on a three-game winning streak, with the threat of being relegated looking dimmer and dimmer in the process. However, after a 73–69 loss to Siauliai in April 25, LaVar Ball announced he would pull his sons out of the team after neither Ball player played that night. After losing that night, Vytautas would lose their last three games of the season, with the team letting go of Kervin Bristol, Rashaun Broadus, and Denys Lukashov before the end of their last game that season. As a result, their season left them with the threat of relegating to the NKL, with Vytis Šakiai looking for its promotion this season. Ultimately, while Vytautas finished the season in last place, they would survive the threat of relegation this season due to Vytis not meeting the proper promotion requirements this year.

Players

Squad information

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Vytautas Prienai-Birštonas roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
SF 7 Lithuania Aleksandravičius, Bartas 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 73 kg (161 lb) 19 – (1999-07-20)20 July 1999
C 55 Haiti Bristol, Kervin 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 30 – (1988-09-04)4 September 1988
PG 16 Albania Broadus, Rashaun 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 34 – (1984-08-05)5 August 1984
PF 11 Lithuania Dimša, Egidijus 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 33 – (1985-04-01)1 April 1985
G 10 Lithuania Ivanauskas, Paulius 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 79 kg (174 lb) 31 – (1987-04-24)24 April 1987
SF 21 Lithuania Linkevičius, Martynas 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 32 – (1985-12-08)8 December 1985
PG 17 Ukraine Lukashov, Denys 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 29 – (1989-04-30)30 April 1989
PG 5 Lithuania Maceina, Gediminas 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 74 kg (163 lb) 34 – (1984-08-28)28 August 1984
F/C 22 Lithuania Miniotas, Regimantas 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 22 – (1996-03-14)14 March 1996
F 31 Lithuania Sinica, Justas 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 33 – (1985-05-31)31 May 1985
SG 9 Lithuania Šeškus, Edvinas 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 23 – (1995-03-10)10 March 1995
G 6 Lithuania Žukauskas, Eigirdas (C) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 26 – (1992-06-03)3 June 1992
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: April 29, 2018

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Kervin Bristol
PF Regimantas Miniotas Eigirdas Žukauskas Egidijus Dimša
SF LiAngelo Ball Justas Sinica Martynas Linkevičius Bartas Aleksandravičius
SG Edvinas Šeškus Paulius Ivanauskas
PG Rashaun Broadus Denys Lukashov LaMelo Ball Gediminas Maceina

Notes:

  • 1 Sign and trade. Didn't play a single regular season game.

Club

Technical staff

PositionStaff member
Club PresidentLithuania Norbertas Pranckus
Honorary PresidentLithuania Aurimas Bartuška
Team DirectorLithuania Adomas Kubilius
Sports DirectorLithuania Vilius Vaitkevičius
Press OfficerLithuania Erikas Kirvelaitis
Assistant CoachesLithuania Mindaugas Arlauskas
Lithuania Marius Leonavičius

Kit

Home
Away

Friendlies

  Win   Loss

Big Baller Brand Challenge Games
Big Baller Brand International Tournament
Other friendlies

Competitions

Overall

Competition Started round Final
position / round		 First match Last match
Lithuanian Basketball League Matchday 1 In progress September 24, 2017May 2, 2018
Baltic Basketball League Matchday 1 Withdrew October 25, 2017December 23, 2017
Basketball Champions League Qualifying round 1 Failed to qualify September 19, 2017September 21, 2017

Source: Competitions

Overview

Competition Record
G W D L PF PA PD Win %
Lithuanian Basketball League 27 5 0 22 2,138 2,371 −233 018.52
Baltic Basketball League 6 3 0 3 400 363 +37 050.00
Basketball Champions League 2 1 0 1 138 159 −21 050.00
Total 35 9 0 26 2,676 2,893 −217 025.71

Last updated: March 28, 2018
Source: Competitions

Lithuanian Basketball League

League table

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification or relegation
6 Pieno žvaigždės 36 14 22 2894 3140 −246 Advance to play-offs
7 Juventus 36 13 23 2918 3029 −111
8 Nevėžis 36 12 24 2805 2993 −188
9 Dzūkija 36 10 26 2721 3030 −309
10 Vytautas[lower-alpha 1] 36 8 28 2805 3125 −320 Relegation to NKL[Note 1]
Source: LKL
Notes:
  1. ↑ If other 9 LKL teams and Vytis from National Basketball League (NKL) meet the licensing requirements, Vytautas would be relegated. However, Vytis did not meet licensing requirements, meaning Vytautas stayed onto the LKL for at least another season.

  Win   Loss

Matches

Baltic Basketball League

Vytautas forfeited a game on October 31, 2017 against Rapla after head coach Virginijus Šeškus received a second technical foul with three minutes left in regulation and refused to let his team continue playing.[43] The Baltic Basketball League assessed Vytautas with a technical loss of 20–0 and fined the team €3,000.[44] On January 6, 2018, after playing six games in the BBL, Vytautas withdrew from the 2017–18 season.[11] In its place, the team set up the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games, a series of five friendly games that were designed to feature LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball in their professional debuts.[11] However, Vytautas were assessed a €5,000 fine for forfeiting a non-televised game against Tsmoki-Minsk and were disqualified from the BBL, with the results of previous games being nullified, for their second forfeit of the season.[45]

Matches

Basketball Champions League

Qualification

Individual awards

Lithuanian Basketball League

Player of the Week
Date Player Efficiency Ref.
13 November 2017Lithuania Martynas Linkevičius27[46]
15 January 2018Lithuania Tomas Dimša30[47]

References

  1. ↑ "Namie olandų sutriuškintas "Vytautas" pasitraukė iš FIBA Čempionų lygos atrankos". DELFI. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Prienų–Birštono Vytautas - LKL.LT". LKL.lt. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Ball brothers prepare for debut in controversial Lithuanian league". WTMJ. January 6, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Malinauskas, Lukas (September 21, 2017). "Ažiotažo dėl įregistruoto verslininko nustebintas Šeškus: "Visi supranta situaciją, bet ją išrutulioja"". BasketNews. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  5. ↑ ""Vytautas" išregistravo du krepšininkus". BasketNews. January 12, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Lietuvos Rytas Ground Vytautas; Lietkabelis Top Dzukija in Scoring Race". LKL. January 6, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  7. ↑ "OFICIALU: "Vytauto" gretose – broliai Ball'ai". bcvytautas.lt (in Lithuanian). 12 December 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-12-15. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  8. ↑ Keh, Andrew (December 21, 2017). "How This Lithuanian Outpost Lured LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  9. ↑ Stalgaitis, Vilius. "Rankomis trinantis "Vytautas": "Jau dabar matome akivaizdžią naudą"". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Lkl Makes Changes to Vytautas' Schedule". LKL. January 12, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 Goodman, Jeff (January 6, 2018). "Lithuanian team schedules 'Big Baller Brand Challenge' games". ESPN. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Prie "Vytauto" Klubo Remeju Prisijunge "Big Baller Brand"". BCVytautas.lt. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  13. ↑ "LaVar Ball to be assistant coach for LiAngelo and LaMelo's team for friendly in Lithuania". ESPN. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  14. ↑ Daniels, Tim (January 28, 2018). "LaVar Ball to Coach LiAngelo, LaMelo and Vytautas vs. Jonava". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  15. ↑ "LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball's coach reveals how much LaVar paid to save team". Lonzo Ball Wire. March 16, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  16. ↑ Martin, Josh (February 19, 2018). "LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball to play in Big Baller Brand International Tournament". Lonzo Ball Wire. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  17. ↑ "LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball, Vytautas to play Chinese team in Lithuania". Lonzo Wire. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  18. ↑ "LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball to play exhibition with Vytautas in London". Lonzo Wire. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Bartas Aleksandravičius / Žaidėjai". Basketnews.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  20. 1 2 "Karlis Apsitis". LKL.LT. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  21. 1 2 "LaMelo, LiAngelo Ball sign with Lithuanian pro basketball team". usatoday.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Vytautas land Kervin Bristol - eurobasket News". eurobasket.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  23. ↑ "LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball’s Lithuanian team just signed another American". Lonzo Wire. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  24. ↑ ""Vytautą" sustiprino E. Dimša". LKL.LT. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  25. 1 2 3 ""Vytautas" pasipildė Galdiku ir Sinica, komandoje lieka Gvezdauskas / Naujienos". Basketnews.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  26. 1 2 "Lithuanian Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings - eurobasket News". eurobasket.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Denys Lukashov / Žaidėjai". Basketnews.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  28. ↑ ""Vytauto" komandą papildė Gediminas Maceina - kvitrina.lt · Prienų ir Birštono naujienų portalas". kvitrina.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  29. 1 2 "Lithuanian Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings - eurobasket News". eurobasket.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  30. 1 2 "Tomas Tumynas / Žaidėjai". Basketnews.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Eigirdas Zukauskas Basketball Player Profile, Vytautas Prienu, News, LKL stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards". eurobasket. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Arnas Beručka / Žaidėjai". Basketnews.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Laurynas Birutis / Žaidėjai". Basketnews.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Vytenis Cizauskas Basketball Player Profile, Tartu Ulikool, News, Alexela KML stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards". eurobasket. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Klaipėdietis Tomas Delininkaitis Prienuose nuskandino "Neptūną" | 24sek.lt". 15min.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  36. ↑ "Darius Gvezdauskas / Žaidėjai". Basketnews.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  37. ↑ "Basketball Champions League Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings - eurobasket News". eurobasket.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  38. ↑ "Lithuanian Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings - eurobasket News". eurobasket.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  39. ↑ "Tomas Michnevicius Basketball Player Profile, Vytautas Prienu, News, LKL stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards". eurobasket. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  40. ↑ "Mantas Šerkšnas / Žaidėjai". Basketnews.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  41. ↑ "Domantas Šeškus / Žaidėjai". Basketnews.lt. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  42. ↑ "Romanian Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings - eurobasket News". eurobasket.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  43. ↑ Baranauskas, Povilas (October 31, 2017). "Seskus interrupts match, Vytautas handed technical loss". Baltic Basketball League. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  44. ↑ Baranauskas, Povilas (November 1, 2017). "Verdict on Vytautas' game reached". Baltic Basketball League. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  45. ↑ Baranauskas, Povilas (January 6, 2018). "Vytautas forfeits, disqualification looming". Baltic Basketball League. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  46. ↑ "Vytautas forward Linkevicius selected as Player of the Week". Lithuanian Basketball League. November 13, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  47. ↑ "Vytautas guard Dimsa named Player of the Week". Lithuanian Basketball League. January 15, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.