Lithuanian professional basketball player and coach
Ram?nas ?i?kauskas
(
[r??muːn?s
????k????sk?s]
ⓘ
, born September 10, 1978) is a former Lithuanian professional
basketball
player and
basketball coach
. Listed at 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) tall,
[1]
he could play at both the
shooting guard
and
small forward
positions. His individual accolades as a player include a
EuroLeague MVP
award, four
All-EuroLeague Team
selections, as well as an
All-EuroBasket Team
designation. On May 16, 2014, ?i?kauskas was named a
EuroLeague Basketball Legend
.
[2]
During his playing career, ?i?kauskas won two
EuroLeague
titles, one each with
Panathinaikos Athens
and
CSKA Moscow
, in
2007
and
2008
, and reached two more
EuroLeague Finals
with CSKA, in
2009
and
2012
. He was a member of the senior
Lithuanian national team
that won the gold medal at the
EuroBasket 2003
. As a member of Lithuania's national team, he also won the bronze medal at the
2000 Summer Olympics
, and the bronze medal at the
EuroBasket 2007
.
Professional playing career
[
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]
Lithuania
[
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]
?i?kauskas made his pro debut with
Sakalai
in 1996. He played two seasons with the club, averaging 11.3 points, on 60 percent shooting.
In 1998, ?i?kauskas signed with
Lietuvos Rytas
of
Vilnius
. He played there until the 2003?04 season, and led the team to
Lithuanian League
titles in 2000 and 2002, and a
Northern Europe League
title in 2002. In 2002?03, he had his most successful season, averaging 16.4 points, on 68 percent shooting, and 3.4 rebounds.
Italy
[
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]
?i?kauskas joined
Benetton Treviso
in 2004. He led them to an
Italian League
title in 2006, where he was named
the Finals MVP
, and to an
Italian Cup
title in 2005. He played in 32
EuroLeague
games over two seasons with Benetton, and averaged 12.3 points, on 60 percent shooting.
Greece
[
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]
In 2006, ?i?kauskas signed with
Panathinaikos
, and he helped them win the
EuroLeague
in
2007
. He averaged 11 points, on 51 percent shooting for the championship team. With Panathinaikos, he also won a
Greek League
title, and the
Greek Cup
, in 2007.
Russia
[
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]
?i?kauskas joined
CSKA Moscow
in 2007. He helped to lead them to a
EuroLeague
title in
2008
, and helped them reach the
EuroLeague Final
in
2009
. Which, however, CSKA lost to ?i?kauskas' former team, Panathinaikos. On May 1, 2009, he scored a career-high 29 points against
Barcelona
. ?i?kauskas also won five
Russian Championship
titles (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012).
On May 13, 2012, ?i?kauskas missed two vital free-throws, with 10 seconds remaining in
CSKA's EuroLeague Finals game
against
Olympiacos Piraeus
, which proved crucial in CSKA's 62 to 61 loss. He also missed the last second three-point shot in CSKA's EuroLeague Finals game against
Panathinaikos
, on May 3, 2009, which meant that CSKA lost that final, by a score of 73 to 71.
[3]
Only one week after the 2012 EuroLeague Finals game, on May 21, 2012, ?i?kauskas announced his retirement from playing professional basketball.
[4]
On May 16, 2014, ?i?kauskas was named a
EuroLeague Basketball Legend
.
[5]
National team career
[
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]
Lithuanian junior national team
[
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]
?i?kauskas played with the junior national teams of Lithuania. With Lithuania's junior national team, he played at the
1998 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship
.
Lithuanian senior national team
[
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]
?i?kauskas was a member of the senior men's
Lithuanian national basketball teams
that won the bronze medal at the
2000 Summer Olympics
, and the bronze medal at the
EuroBasket 2007
. He was also a member of the Lithuanian team that won the gold medal at the
EuroBasket 2003
. He also played at the
EuroBasket 2001
, at the
2004 Summer Olympics
, at the
EuroBasket 2005
, and at the
2008 Summer Olympics
.
After the 2008 Summer Olympics, he officially announced that he was stepping down from the Lithuanian national team as a player.
Player profile
[
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]
?i?kauskas was a physical
small forward
, who could also easily play, both on offense and defense, in either the
point guard
or
shooting guard
positions, on the wing, and also in the paint. His excellent leaping ability, and his quickness, made him a surprising
shot blocker
, and one of the best one-on-one players and
swingmen
in Europe. He was considered the best defensive player of the senior
Lithuanian national basketball team
. He led the 2003?04 season of the
Lithuanian League
, in
free throw
percentage (90.6%).
Coaching career
[
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]
?i?kauskas began his
basketball coaching
career in 2017, when he became an assistant coach of the senior men's
Lithuanian national basketball team
.
[6]
Awards and achievements
[
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]
Pro playing career
[
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]
On May 15, 2009, ?i?kauskas signed a contract extension with
CSKA Moscow
. He signed through 2011. ?i?kauskas said of the contract: "I feel like the right man, in the right place in
CSKA
. I am happy with both the team, and the organization. That is why I don't see any reason to think about changes. I feel myself as a part of history of a great club, which is aiming for the highest goals. And that's what absolutely matches with my character."
- Ram?nas ?i?kauskas
- 2×
Lithuanian League
Champion: (2000, 2002)
- 2×
Lithuanian League MVP
: (2001, 2002)
- Lithuanian League Finals MVP
: (2001)
- 4×
Lithuanian League All-Star
: (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
- North European League
: Champion (2002)
- Italian Cup
Winner: (2005)
- Italian League
Champion: (2006)
- Italian League Finals MVP
: (2006)
- Greek Cup
Winner: (2007)
- 4×
All-EuroLeague
Team:
- 2×
EuroLeague Champion
: (2007, 2008)
- Greek League
Champion: (2007)
- Triple Crown
Champion: (2007)
- Greek League Best Five
: (2007)
- Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year
: (2007)
- EuroLeague MVP
: (2008)
- 5×
Russian League Champion
: (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
- Russian League Player of the Year
: (2009)
- VTB United League Final Four MVP
: (2008)
- All-Europe Player of the Year
: (2008)
- EuroLeague 2000?10 All-Decade Team
: (2010)
- Russian Cup
: Winner (2010)
- Russian League
All-Star: (
2011
)
- Russian League All-Symbolic Second Team
: (2011)
- 3×
VTB United League
Champion: (2008, 2010, 2012)
- EuroLeague Basketball Legend
: (2014)
Lithuanian senior national team as a player
[
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]
Career statistics
[
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]
EuroLeague
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
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]
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