Antanas Sireika

Last updated
Antanas Sireika
2006 05 11Sireika8.JPG
Sireika in 2006
Personal information
Born (1956-05-11) May 11, 1956 (age 68)
Bazilionai, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityLithuanian
PositionHead coach
Coaching career1995–2023
Career history
As coach:
1995–2002 Šiauliai
2002–2006 Žalgiris Kaunas
2006–2007 UNICS Kazan
2008 Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2008–2012Šiauliai
2012–2014 Link Tochigi Brex
2015–2017 Juventus Utena
2017–2023 Šiauliai
Career highlights and awards
  • LKL champion (2003–2005)
  • SEB BBL champion (2005)
Medals
Men's basketball
Head coach for Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania
FIBA EuroBasket
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg Sweden 2003 National Team

Antanas Sireika (born May 11, 1956 [1] in Bazilionai) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball coach.

Contents

Coaching career

Šiauliai and Žalgiris Kaunas

The Lithuanian national basketball team traditionally replaces the head coach with his assistant, this happened when Vladas Garastas was replaced by his assistant coach Jonas Kazlauskas. The story was repeated in 2001, when the successor of Kazlauskas was his assistant coach Antanas Sireika. He was born in Šiauliai, and a big part of his basketball career was spent there. Sireika played for Šiauliai, later he became the playing head coach of the team, in 1994 he ended his career as a player, and started coaching full-time. Big results came fast, the underdog Šiauliai, became 3rd-place winners in the LKL. In 1997, Kazlauskas became head coach of the Lithuanian national basketball team, and invited Sireika to join the squad as his assistant. In 2001, Kazlauskas retired from the national team, and gave his place to Sireika. With Sireika, the Lithuanian national basketball team won their first EuroBasket gold medals after Lithuania's independence in 1991 (the first titles came in 1937 and 1939).

The same year, Sireika made an important decision: he left his home in Šiauliai, and moved to Kaunas, to coach Žalgiris Kaunas. He won three LKL titles in a row in 2003, 2004 and 2005. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Sireika coached the Lithuanian team to a 4th place with a memorable win against the United States.

Since 2003, Žalgiris Kaunas started to fade away from all the EuroLeague glory they had a few years ago. Žalgiris' EuroLeague results got worse every year. In the 2005–06 season Sireika was dealing with huge amount of criticism aimed at him, because of poor results in EuroLeague and Lietuvos rytas Vilnius was at the top of the Lithuanian league standings. On March 28, 2006 in a LKL regular season rivalry game, Sireika's coached Žalgiris played against Lietuvos rytas and lost the match by 30 points. After the game Sireika left the team.

In EuroBasket 2005, Lithuania was named as one of the contenders to win gold and defend their 2003 title, Lithuanian team finished first in the group and entered quarter finals, where they lost 47–63 to France led by Tony Parker. Lithuanian team took 5th place and even more criticism was aimed at Sireika. He had his last chance at an FIBA World Championship in 2006. Lithuania finished 3rd in the group entering 1/8 finals. In the quarterfinals they were defeated by Spain, and in fifth through eighth place games they lost to Turkey, Lithuania took 7th place, and Sireika resigned.

UNICS Kazan

In 2006 summer, UNICS Kazan introduced Sireika as their new head coach, the Lithuanian trio: Lavrinovič brothers and Saulius Štombergas led Unics into ULEB Cup semifinals, but the team lost to Real Madrid and did not enter the final. In the Russian Basketball Super League, UNICS surprised the league by finishing 2nd after the EuroLeague champions CSKA Moscow, and overcoming teams like Dynamo Moscow, Khimki and Triumph Lyubertsy. The 2007–08 season did not start out well, as Russia's basketball experts had expected[ citation needed ], UNICS was 8th in the Russian Super League, Sireika was dismissed from the head coaching position and moved to assistant.

Lietuvos rytas Vilnius

In 2008 season Lietuvos rytas Vilnius haven't won anything, all domestic titles were lost to Žalgiris Kaunas. A few weeks after their loss in LKL finals, Lietuvos rytas Vilnius started to build a new team dismissing many former players, Aleksandar Trifunović was dismissed as head coach, and Sireika was signed as the head coach. But just after 2 months, he resigned and returned to Šiauliai to become their head coach.

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular seasonGGames coachedWGames wonLGames lostW–L %Win–loss %
PlayoffsPGPlayoff gamesPWPlayoff winsPLPlayoff lossesPW–L %Playoff win–loss %
TeamYearGWLW–L%FinishPGPWPLPW–L%Result
Link Tochigi Brex 2012-13421329.3106th in JBL----
Link Tochigi Brex 2013-14543123.5743rd in NBL Eastern312.333Lost in 1st round

EuroLeague

TeamYearGWLWL%Result
Žalgiris 2002–03 945.444Eliminated in group stage
Žalgiris 2003–04 20911.450Eliminated in TOP-16
Žalgiris 2004–05 20812.400Eliminated in TOP-16
Žalgiris 2005–06 19910.474Resigned
Career683038.441

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Žalgiris</span> Basketball team in Kaunas, Lithuania

Basketball Club Žalgiris commonly known as BC Žalgiris, is a professional basketball club based in Kaunas, Lithuania. They compete domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League and internationally as a long-term licensed EuroLeague team. Since the 2011–12 season, Žalgiris has played its home games in Žalgiris Arena in the New Town district of Kaunas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lietuvos krepšinio lyga</span> Lithuanian mens basketball league

Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also known as Betsafe LKL for sponsorship reasons, is the premier professional men's club basketball league in Lithuania. It is composed of 10 teams, and it is a member of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. The best LKL clubs are also annual participants of the top European-wide basketball competitions, including the top-tier level EuroLeague.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Rytas</span> Lithuanian basketball team

Rytas Vilnius is a professional basketball club based in Vilnius, Lithuania. They compete domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League and the King Mindaugas Cup, while internationally in the FIBA Champions League since 2020–21. Rytas have won two EuroCup titles, seven Lithuanian League titles, five LKF / King Mindaugas Cups and three Baltic championships. The team plays its domestic home games in the Jeep Arena and they share the ASG Arena with BC Wolves for their European home games. The club was founded in 1997 from another club, BC Statyba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Neptūnas</span> Basketball team in Klaipėda, Lithuania

Basketball Club Neptūnas, commonly known as Neptūnas or Neptūnas Klaipėda, is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Klaipėda, Lithuania. The club participates in the Lithuanian Basketball League. It was founded in 1962 under the name BC Maistas and in 1964, BC Maistas's name was changed to BC Neptūnas. The club carries the name of the Roman sea god Neptune. Neptūnas participated in the 2014–15 EuroLeague season and is only the third Lithuanian club to participate in the premier European basketball league, after Žalgiris and Rytas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Šiauliai</span> Basketball team in Šiauliai, Lithuania

BC Šiauliai is the professional basketball club of Šiauliai, Lithuania. The club competes in the Lithuanian Basketball League. It has won the 3rd place award in the LKL a record 9 times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Sakalai</span> Lithuanian basketball club

BC Sakalai was a professional basketball club based in Vilnius, Lithuania, playing in the Lithuanian Basketball League and the Baltic Basketball League. They played their home games at the 1,000-seat Ekinstos laisvalaikio centras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gintaras Krapikas</span>

Gintaras "Vytas" Krapikas is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and a former international player. He was a member of the Lithuania national basketball team that won a bronze medal in Barcelona's 1992 Summer Olympics. He currently serves as an assistant coach of Žalgiris Kaunas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonas Kazlauskas</span> Lithuanian professional basketball coach and player

Jonas Kazlauskas is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Lietkabelis</span> Basketball team in Panevėžys, Lithuania

BC Lietkabelis, commonly known as Lietkabelis Panevėžys, also known as 7bet-Lietkabelis for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Panevėžys, Lithuania, participating in the Lithuanian Basketball League and internationally in the EuroCup. The team plays its home games at Kalnapilis Arena, a multi-purpose facility that also doubles as a velodrome. Founded as Lietkabelis in 1964, the team was known by other names between 1996 and 2012. In 2012, after a change in ownership, the team's historic name was restored. It comes from the team's main sponsor, a wire and cable manufacturing company.

The Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL) Finals is the championship finals series for the top-tier level professional club basketball league in Lithuania, the LKL, and the conclusion of the league's postseason. The Finals have been played in either a best-of-seven, or a best-of five format. The first LKL Finals series was held in 1994, and was contested by Žalgiris and Atletas, with Žalgiris winning the series 3–1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dainius Adomaitis</span> Lithuanian basketball player and coach

Dainius Adomaitis is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and the head coach for Alvark Tokyo of Japan's B.League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darius Maskoliūnas</span> Lithuanian basketball player and coach

Darius Maskoliūnas is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach, former player, and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Juventus</span> Lithuanian professional basketball club

BC Juventus, also known as Uniclub Bet Juventus for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Utena, Lithuania. Founded in 1999, the club currently plays in the Lithuanian Basketball League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Prienai</span> Basketball team in Lithuania

BC Prienai was a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Prienai. They played domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League every year since winning the promotion in 2009. During the 2008–09 season, then called Rūdupis, they became the champion of the NKL and won the challenge match for a slot in the LKL. In their debut LKL season Rūdupis took seventh place, while next two seasons brought BC Prienai two bronze LKL medals. BC Prienai played in EuroCup 2011–12 with moderate success; the team won 3 games out of 6, but nonetheless failed to qualify for the next stage. More recently, the team has become a strong competitor in domestic tournaments, more than once upsetting teams such as Žalgiris Kaunas and Lietuvos rytas Vilnius. In December 2017, in a highly publicized move, Vytautas signed American basketball players and brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Statyba</span> Lithuanian basketball team

BC Statyba was a basketball club from Vilnius, Lithuania. It was renamed to Lietuvos rytas in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eimantas Bendžius</span> Lithuanian basketball player

Eimantas Bendžius is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Dinamo Sassari of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Standing at 2.07 m, he plays as a power forward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artūras Gudaitis</span> Lithuanian basketball player

Artūras Gudaitis is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Alvark Tokyo of the Japanese B.League. Standing at 2.08 m, he plays at the center position. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 47th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 King Mindaugas Cup</span>

The 2016 Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė, also known as KIDY Tour – Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė for sponsorship purposes, was the first edition of the newly formed Lithuanian King Mindaugas Cup. It's managed by the Lithuanian Basketball League and the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. The competition was held in Vilnius, in the Siemens Arena on February 19–21, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martynas Echodas</span> Lithuanian basketball player

Martynas Echodas is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Manisa Basket of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of BC Rytas</span>

The history of BC Rytas begins from the founding of the club with a name BC Statyba in 1963 in Lithuania's capital city Vilnius. The BC Statyba was renamed to BC Statyba-Lietuvos rytas in 1997 when Gedvydas Vainauskas, the owner of the daily newspaper Lietuvos rytas, had purchased the club, and in 1998 the old name Statyba was removed completely when the club was renamed to BC Lietuvos rytas. The final name change of the club to BC Rytas occurred in 2018 when its owners has changed and Gedvydas Vainauskas left the club, therefore the new owners of the club sought to remove the affiliation of the club with the newspaper Lietuvos rytas, however the club was domestically and internationally well known as Rytas, thus its name remained similar.

References