Jānis Blūms

Jānis Blūms (born April 20, 1982) is a Latvian professional basketball player for VEF Rīga of the Latvian LEBL. Standing at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in), Blūms plays both point guard and shooting guard positions. He also serves as the captain of the Latvian national basketball team.

Jānis Blūms
Blūms with Bilbao Basket
No. 45 – VEF Rīga
PositionPoint guard / Shooting guard
LeagueLEBL
BCL
Personal information
Born (1982-04-20) April 20, 1982
Saldus, Latvian SSR,
Soviet Union
NationalityLatvian
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2004 / Undrafted
Playing career1999–present
Career history
1999–2001BK Brocēni
2001–2003Skonto
2003–2004Anwil Włocławek
2004–2006Ventspils
2006–2007Lietuvos rytas
2007–2008Basket Napoli
2008–2012Bilbao Basket
2012–2013Lietuvos rytas
2013–2014Astana
2014–2015Panathinaikos
2015–2016Sidigas Avellino
2016–2017VEF Rīga
2017–2018Zaragoza
2018–2019Parma
2019–presentVEF Rīga
Career highlights and awards

Player career

Blūms started his career with Brocēni and later continued to play in their successor Skonto. In 2003, he signed with Polish club Anwil Włocławek, where he spent one season before returning to Latvia, where he joined BK Ventspils. After two years in Ventspils, Blūms joined Lithuanian powerhouse BC Lietuvos rytas. In 2007, Blūms accepted offer from Italian side Eldo Napoli where he had a decent season.

In 2008, Blūms signed a two-year contract with Bilbao Basket of Spain's ACB League.[1] Totally he played four very good seasons in Bilbao. Some of highlights with Bilbao includes making Liga ACB finals, Euroleague quarterfinals and Eurocup Final Four (twice). During his tenure with Bilbao Blūms developed reputation as a fierce competitor who can be deadly from three-point range and can play lock-down defense, because often he would guard best player of the opposite team. Due to his passion and effort he became one of the city's fan favorites.

After his experience in Basque Country, Jānis moved back to Lietuvos Rytas, which played Euroleague that season. In July 2013, Blūms signed a one-year contract with BC Astana.[2]

On October 1, 2014, he signed with the Greek club Panathinaikos.[3] On April 5, 2015 he won the Greek Cup.

In July 2015, Janis signed with the Italian team Sidigas Avellino, making a comeback to Italy after seven years.[4]

On August 23, 2017, he signed with Spanish club Tecnyconta Zaragoza.[5]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Euroleague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2011–12 Bilbao Basket 17616.2.413.400.7060.90.90.40.16.03.4
2012–13 Lietuvos rytas 9519.8.309.316.8751.91.80.60.15.94.7
2014–15 Panathinaikos 27011.6.410.424.7140.70.50.20.03.81.6
Career 531114.6.384.390.7441.00.80.30.04.82.7

Trivia

Blūms has said that his favorite players and idols growing was Roberts Štelmahers and Ainars Bagatskis.[6] Later on he played together with Štelmahers in Latvian national basketball team and in Lietuvos Rytas (2006-07 season).

In 2010-11 season Blūms didn't miss a single practice or game with Bilbao Basket. He reported to training camp by mid-August and his season ended in mid-June. That was one of his best seasons as his team made Liga ACB finals.

Latvian national team

Blūms also plays for the Latvian national basketball team and serves as the captain of the team.

International stats
TournamentGames playedPoints per gameRebounds per gameAssists per game
2005 EuroBasket20.00.50.0
2007 EuroBasket38.31.32.0
2009 EuroBasket36.72.00.7
2011 EuroBasket516.03.24.0
2013 EuroBasket86.02.12.4
2015 Eurobasket95.31.80.9

References
  1. iurbentia Bilbao Basket bags Janis Blums
  2. BC Astana signs Latvian PG Janis Blums
  3. Panathinaikos strengthens backcourt with Blums
  4. Sidigas Avellino announces Janis Blums
  5. Janis Blums inks with Basket Zaragoza
  6. "JĀNIS BLŪMS". Archived from the original on 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
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