Rimas Kurtinaitis

Rimas Kurtinaitis (born May 15, 1960) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach, and a retired professional basketball player, who was a member of the senior Soviet and Lithuanian national basketball teams during his playing career. He won a gold medal at 1988 Olympics in South Korea. He recently worked as the head coach for Khimki. At a height of 1.96 m (6'5") tall, during his playing career, he played at the shooting guard position. He is the only non-NBA player to ever participate at the NBA All-Star Weekend's Three-Point Contest, doing so in 1989, where he scored 9 points.

Rimas Kurtinaitis
Kurtinaitis as the head coach of Khimki, 2011
Personal information
Born (1960-05-15) May 15, 1960
Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityLithuanian
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
NBA draft1982 / Undrafted
Playing career1981–2006
PositionShooting guard
Number10, 12
Coaching career2002–present
Career history
As player:
1981–1983CSKA Moscow
1983–1989Žalgiris Kaunas
1989–1992BBV Hagen
1992Žalgiris Kaunas
1992Peñas Huesca
1993Townsville Suns
1993–1995Real Madrid
1995–1996Žalgiris Kaunas
1996–1997Élan Chalon
1997–1998Atletas Kaunas
1998–1999Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2001–2002Kyiv
2002–2006Gala Baku[note 1]
As coach:
2002–2006Gala Baku[note 2]
2006Ural Great
2007Sakalai Vilnius
2007–2008Śląsk Wrocław
2008Prokom Trefl Sopot (assistant)
2008–2010Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2010–2011VEF Rīga
2011–2016Khimki
2016Pallacanestro Cantù
2017–2018Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2019–2021Khimki
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As head coach:

Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
1988 Seoul
FIBA World Cup
Spain 1986
EuroBasket
1985 West Germany
1989 Yugoslavia
Representing  Lithuania
FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship
2005 Russia Under-20
2004 Czech Republic Under-20
Olympic Games
1992 Barcelona
1996 Atlanta
EuroBasket
1995 Greece

Club playing career

Kurtinaitis' former club teams as a player, include Žalgiris Kaunas, CSKA Moscow, and Real Madrid. He was the only European player to participate in the NBA All-Star Weekend's Three-Point Contest, without ever playing in the NBA at one point, participating in the event in 1989. Kurtinaitis was also the first European player to play as an import, in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL), while playing for the Townsville Suns, in 1993.

Coaching career

In 1997, Kurtinaitis was named to the Lithuanian Ministry of Sport. In the years 2002–2006, he took the position of head coach of the Azerbaijan national basketball team. Also from 2002 to 2006, he was a player for four seasons,[1] with Gala Baku, working as a player-coach.[2]

He became Sakalai's head coach during the mid-2000s. In December 2007, he became the head coach of the Polish League men's basketball team, Śląsk Wrocław.[3] In 2008, he became head coach of Lietuvos Rytas, with whom, he won the EuroCup 2008–09 season's title. After winning the championship at the Final-Eight tournament, in Turin (Torino), Italy, in a game against Khimki Moscow Region (final score 80–74).

In 2012, Kurtinaitis won the EuroCup again, this time with Khimki. As of 2015, he is the only coach to win the EuroCup three times. On June 21, 2012, Kurtinaitis was named the best EuroCup coach of all time.[4] On March 15, 2016, Khimki parted ways with Kurtinaitis.[5]

On August 2, 2016, Kurtinaitis become the head coach of Pallacanestro Cantù, of the Italian LBA.[6] However, on November 30, he was fired from the team.[7][8]

Kurtinaitis agreed to return to Lietuvos rytas, on February 10, 2017, following the resignation of Tomas Pačėsas, from the club's head coaching position.[9] This tenure with Rytas was not as successful – Rytas only finished in 3rd place in the LKL in the 2016–2017 season, a fiasco for the team. In the 2017–2018 season, the team played much better, reaching the Eurocup Top16 phase, as well as reaching the KMT and LKL finals, but lost each to Žalgiris Kaunas. In what stirred a lot of controversy, it was announced during the semifinals of the LKL that Kurtinaitis would be replaced by Dainius Adomaitis in the following season, and in June Kurtinaitis left the team.

On January 21, 2019, Kurtinaitis returned to Khimki in a surprising decision. Two years later, on January 15, 2021, he was dismissed from this position because of unsatisfactory results.[10]

Awards and achievements

As player:

Pro clubs

Soviet senior national team

Lithuanian senior national team

As head coach

Notes
  1. As a player-coach
  2. As a player-coach

References
  1. Rimas Kurtinaitis Archived 2015-07-31 at the Wayback Machine
  2. The coach: Rimas Kurtinaitis
  3. "EUROBASKET – Lithuanian basketball". Eurobasket.net. Archived from the original on 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  4. Eurocup Top 10 – Coaches
  5. "BC Khimki, Kurtinaitis part ways". BC Khimki. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  6. "RIMAS KURTINAITIS E' IL NUOVO ALLENATORE DELLA PALLACANESTRO CANTU'". Pallacanestro Cantù (in Italian). August 2, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  7. "INTERVISTA A DMITRY GERASIMENKO". Pallacanestro Cantù (in Italian). November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  8. "Basket, Cantù esonera Kurtinaitis Squadra al vice, poi Banchi o Recalcati?". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  9. ""Lietuvos ryte" Tomą Pačėsą keičia Rimas Kurtinaitis". Lietuvos Rytas (in Lithuanian). 10 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  10. ""Official statement: Khimki and Rimas Kurtinaitis part ways". BC Khimki. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
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