Modestas Paulauskas

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Modestas Paulauskas
Modestas Paulauskas 1970.jpg
Paulauskas in 1970, as a member of the USSR national team
Personal information
Born (1945-03-19) 19 March 1945 (age 79)
Kretinga, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityLithuanian
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight206 lb (93 kg)
Career information
Playing career1962–1976
Position Small forward
Number5
Coaching career1977–1998
Career history
As player:
1962–1976 Žalgiris Kaunas
As coach:
1991–1992 Žalgiris Kaunas
1997–1998 Statyba-Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
Career highlights and awards
As a player:
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Representing the Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Summer Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1972 Munich Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1968 Mexico City Team
FIBA World Cup
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1967 Uruguay Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1974 Puerto Rico Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1970 Yugoslavia Team
FIBA Eurobasket
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1965 Soviet Union Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1967 Finland Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1969 Italy Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1971 West Germany Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1973 Spain Team
Summer Universiade
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1970 Turin Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1965 Budapest Team
European Championship for Juniors
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1964 Italy Under-20

Modestas Paulauskas [note 1] (19 March 1945) is a former Lithuanian professional basketball coach and basketball player.

Contents

As a player, he was the youngest EuroBasket MVP in history, being only 20 years old at the time he won the award. He is known for having been one of the best Lithuanian basketball players of all time, and for having excellent dribbling ability. He was selected as the Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year, a record seven times, in 1965–1967, and 1969–1972. [1] He was a member of the Soviet team that achieved Olympic Gold in 1972 in Munich.

In 1991, he was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players.

In 2021, he was included into the FIBA Hall of Fame. [2]

Club career

Paulauskas spent his whole club career with Žalgiris Kaunas, despite getting attention from teams based in Western Europe and the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could not join them due to various reasons, one of such is Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union at that time, and it was very hard to travel abroad USSR. The other reason was he never actually wanted to leave his homeland -Lithuania. He was also asked to join Žalgiris Kaunas's main rival, CSKA Moscow, but he declined. [3]

National team career

Paulauskas was a part of the senior Soviet Union national basketball teams that won the bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games, and the gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games. [4] Paulauskas became the captain of the senior Soviet national team in 1969. [5]

Coaching career

After retiring from playing basketball competitions, Paulauskas worked as a coach of the Soviet Union junior national teams from 1977 to 1989. In the early 1990s, he was the head coach of his native club, Žalgiris Kaunas. [6] After that, he coached basketball in schools, both in Lithuania and in Russia. [7]

Notes

  1. ↑ Lithuanian: Modestas Juozapas Paulauskas
    Russian: Модестас Йозапас Феликсович Паулаускас

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References

  1. ↑ Stankovic, Vladimir. "Modestas Paulauskas, the first Lithuanian "King"". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Modestas Paulauskas kartu su Nashu ir Pesičiumi įtrauktas į FIBA Šlovės muziejų". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Butkus, Saulius (7 April 2015). "Į NBA kviestas M. Paulauskas: jei būčiau išvykęs, būtų nukentėję mano artimieji". DELFI (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Modestas Paulauskas". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  5. ↑ Andzelis, Paulius. "M.Paulauskas: "Marškinėlių pakėlimas – didžiausias įvertinimas žaidėjui"". Žalgiris.lt. Retrieved 8 September 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ Khodorkovskii, Boris. Баскетбол. Три секунды и тридцать лет. evasport.ru
  7. ↑ Nagornyh Elena (17 November 2008) Уроки Паулаускаса. rg.ru

Further reading

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