BK VEF Rīga
VEF Rīga | |||
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Website | vefriga.com | ||
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VEF Rīga is a Latvian professional
History
Early years
The club name VEF came from the
VEF Rīga confirmed its status as a Soviet Union League regular, keeping its name in the first division and becoming a hard-to-beat team at any level. However, the lack of a second continental club competition prevented VEF from proving its value against European teams. VEF had its first golden age throughout the 1960s, with Merksons, Kalnins, Jurgensons Ozers, Eglitis and Drake as its core players. A major addition had taken place, too, as Krumins, the most dominant player in Europe for many years, decided to finish his legendary career at VEF, joining the club in 1964.
Valters was a true superstar, the starting point guard in the Soviet Union national team that won the
In later years, Valters got some help as VEF added young talents like
Re-foundation
The club was re-founded in 2007 with Valdis Valters as the head coach. VEF Riga started by competing in the Latvian League and the Baltic League second division. VEF Riga was made up of young and talented players, so the team improved gradually. It all paid off right away, as VEF Riga made it to the Baltic League second division title game in 2008 and 2009, earning the right to join the first division in 2009-10.
In the same season, VEF returned to European competitions as it played in
During the season, Kurtinaitis left Riga for Russian powerhouse
Rise under Butautas
Before the 2011-2012 season, VEF Rīga participated in the
During the following off-season, VEF Rīga got lucky by getting
After a very good season, VEF Rīga lost its top players as Bilbao bought out Dairis Bertāns, and E.J. Rowland signed a lucrative contract in Turkey, followed by other departures. The season wasn't as good as the previous one. One of the reasons was the inconsistent lineup. One of the biggest signings of the summer,
In the 2014 off-season, VEF Riga went through rebuilding as several new faces (Jānis Timma, Mareks Mejeris) joined the team. VEF struggled in international tournaments and failed to make the playoffs, but finished the season by the winning Latvian championship. After the departure of Nikolajs Mazurs, VEF hired Carlos Frade as the next head coach. The Spanish coach tried to change the philosophy of the basketball VEF played under previous coaches, but it didn't turn out well, and on 12 December 2015, VEF fired Frade.[8] Long-time assistant Jānis Gailītis was promoted as a head coach and took the team to the Latvian League finals, but lost to Valmiera/Ordo.
Gailītis continued as head coach. The following season VEF signed Latvian National Team captain Jānis Blūms and another veteran Armands Šķēle. They helped to regain the Latvian championship, and VEF returned to the VTB League quarterfinals for the first time in four years.
Following the 2016-17 season, Blums and Skele veterans left the team, but VEF signed another two experienced players: Kristaps Janičenoks and Kaspars Bērziņš. Alex Pérez was also signed, giving him his first experience in European basketball. The team again qualified for the VTB League quarterfinals but failed to win the Latvian championship.
Leaving VTB League and joining Champions League
In 2018-19 season VEF joined newly created
In 2019 off-season VEF signed back veteran
Second participation in the Basketball Champions League was way better, as VEF qualified for the playoffs round, and also won the Latvian championship. However, team again failed to win the 2020–21 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League, losing to Estonian Kalev/Cramo in the final. Many players used the platform to rise their name and got better contracts for the next season: Kyle Allman signed with Paris Basketball, Michale Kyser signed with Hapoel Holon, Isaiah Piñeiro signed with Darüşşafaka. Kristers Zoriks became a Latvian NT starter.
On 7 March 2022 VEF won the Latvian Cup for the first time ever.[9] It was first Latvian Cup organized since 1994. Alexander Madsen was named the Latvian Cup MVP.
Honours
League
- Winners (3): 2022, 2023, 2024
- Runners-up (1): 2011
- Bronze medal (1): 2012
- Bronze medal (1):
- Runners-up (1):
- Winners (1): 2011
- Bronze medal (3): 1960, 1966, 1991
Season by season record
Season | League | Regional | Europe | VTB | Latvian Cup | Head Coach |
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2007–08 | Latvian League Semi-finals |
Challenge Cup Runners-up |
did not participate | No tournament | No tournament | Valdis Valters |
2008–09 | Latvian League Semi-finals |
Challenge Cup Runners-up |
did not participate | did not participate | No tournament | Valdis Valters |
2009–10 | Latvian League Runner-up |
Elite Division 6th Place |
Group Stage
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Regular season
|
No tournament | Valdis Valters/Nikolajs Mazurs |
2010–11 | Latvian League Champions |
Runner-up
|
Eurocup
Group Stage |
Regular season
|
No tournament | Ramunas Butautas
|
2011–12 | Latvian League Champions |
3rd place
|
Eurocup
Last 16 |
Regular season
|
No tournament | Ramūnas Butautas |
2012–13 | Latvian League Champions |
did not participate | Eurocup
Last 16 |
Quarterfinals
|
No tournament | Ramūnas Butautas |
2013–14 | Latvian League Runner-up |
did not participate | Eurocup
Regular season |
VTB League Group stage |
No tournament | Ramūnas Butautas |
2014–15 | Latvian League Champions |
did not participate | Eurocup
Regular season |
VTB League Regular season |
No tournament | Nikolajs Mazurs |
2015–16 | Latvian League Runner-up |
did not participate | did not participate | VTB League Regular season |
No tournament | Carlos Frade/Jānis Gailītis |
2016–17 | Latvian League Champions |
did not participate | did not participate | VTB League Quarterfinals |
No tournament | Jānis Gailītis |
2017–18 | Latvian League Runner-up |
did not participate | did not participate | VTB League Quarterfinals |
No tournament | Jānis Gailītis |
2018–19 | Champions
|
Latvian–Estonian League Runner-up |
did not participate | VTB League Regular season |
No tournament | Jānis Gailītis |
2019-20 | Latvian League Champions |
Latvian–Estonian League Abd-1st |
Champions League Regular season |
did not participate | No tournament | Jānis Gailītis |
2020-21 | Latvian League Champions |
Latvian–Estonian League Runner-up |
Champions League Playoffs |
did not participate | Cancelled | Jānis Gailītis |
2021-22 | Latvian League Champions |
Latvian–Estonian League Champions |
Champions League Play-in |
did not participate | Latvian Cup Winners |
Jānis Gailītis |
2022-23 | Latvian League Champions |
Latvian–Estonian League Runner-up |
Champions League Regular season |
did not participate | Latvian Cup Winners |
Jānis Gailītis |
2023-24 | Champions League Regular season |
did not participate | Latvian Cup Winners |
Jānis Gailītis |
Players
Current roster
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.
BK VEF Rīga roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: January 31, 2023 |
Depth chart
Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
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C | Arnaldo Toro Barea | Pēteris Pinnis | |
PF
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Greg Whittington | Raivo Butirins | |
SF | Māris Gulbis | Alberts Putāns | Roberts Bērziņš |
SG | Roberts Blūms | Rodrigo Būmeisters | Dairis Bertāns |
PG | P.J. Pipes | Jaizec Lottie |
Squad changes for the 2023–24 season
FIBA Hall of Famers
VEF Rīga Hall of Famers | |||||
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Players | |||||
No. | Nat. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
10 | Valdis Valters | G |
1976–1989 | 2015[10] |
Notable former players
- Artis Ate
- Ainars Bagatskis
- Dairis Bertāns
- Artūrs Bērziņš
- Jānis Bērziņš
- Kaspars Bērziņš
- Jānis Blūms
- Rolands Freimanis
- Raitis Grafs
- Andrejs Gražulis
- Māris Gulbis
- Gatis Jahovičs
- Ingus Jakovičs
- Kristaps Janičenoks
- Edgars Jeromanovs
- Verners Kohs
- Jānis Krūmiņš
- Rihards Kuksiks
- Artūrs Kurucs
- Rodions Kurucs
- Mārtiņš Laksa
- Andris Misters
- Mārtiņš Meiers
- Mareks Mejeris
- Igors Miglinieks
- Raimonds Miglinieks
- Kārlis Muižnieks
- Cēzars Ozers
- Anžejs Pasečņiks
- Žanis Peiners
- Artūrs Strēlnieks
- Aigars Šķēle
- Armands Šķēle
- Andrejs Šeļakovs
- Jānis Timma
- Maigonis Valdmanis
- Sandis Valters
- Valdis Valters
- Kaspars Vecvagars
- Gundars Vētra
- Ričmonds Vilde
- Ronalds Zaķis
- Kristers Zoriks
- Jamar Abrams
- Brendan Adams
- Andrew Andrews
- Kyle Allman
- Glenn Cosey
- Josh Bostic
- Dee Brown
- Da'Sean Butler
- Tyler Cain
- Paul Carter
- Justin Cobbs
- Vincent Council
- Ron Curry
- Will Daniels
- Kevin Dillard
- Abdul Gaddy
- Josh Harrellson
- Justin Hamilton
- C. J. Harris
- Baden Jaxen
- Speedy Smith
- Trevon Hughes
- Michale Kyser
- Robert Lowery
- Austin Luke
- Quinn McDowell
- Lester Medford
- Anthony Miles
- Curtis Millage
- Keaton Nankivil
- Derrick Nix
- Marque Perry
- Alex Renfroe
- Antywane Robinson
- Gerald Robinson
- LaQuinton Ross
- E. J. Rowland
- Patrick Sanders
- Courtney Sims
- Stephen Zack
- Devondrick Walker
- Xavier Thames
- Kristijan Krajina
- Artsiom Parakhouski
- Kenan Bajramović
- Siim-Sander Vene
- Antanas Kavaliauskas
- Arnas Labuckas
- Martynas Mažeika
- Donatas Zavackas
- Tomas Delininkaitis
- Bojan Bakić
- Gani Lawal
- Nemanja Bezbradica
- Evgeny Kolesnikov
- Bamba Fall
- Elijah Clarance
- Ludvig Håkanson
- Alexander Madsen
- Francisco Cruz
- Alex Perez
- Guille Rubio
- Kris Richard
- Isaiah Piñeiro
Coaches
Notable former coaches
References
- ^ eurocupbasketball.com
- ^ eurocupbasketball.com
- ^ [1] VEF RIGA names Kurtinaitis head coach
- ^ "VEF RIGA grabs 3 for next season - Eurocup 2010-11 - Welcome to Eurocup". Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2012-06-05. VEF RIGA grabs 3 for next season
- ^ "BBL Homepage". Bbl.net. 2011-04-09. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
- ^ "BBL Homepage". Bbl.net. 2011-04-10. Archived from the original on 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
- ^ VEF Riga 99 - 76 Uxue Bilbao Basket
- ^ @Sportando (December 12, 2015). "VEF Riga fires coach Carlos Frade" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Latvijas basketbola Užavas kausu aizraujošā finālspēlē izcīna "VEF Rīga"".
- ^ "FIBA.basketball". Retrieved 20 August 2019.
External links
- Official VEF Rīga Site (in Latvian)
- VEF Rīga VTB-League.com (in English and Russian)
- VEF Rīga LBL.lv (in Latvian)
- VEF Rīga BBL.net
- VEF Rīga EuroCupBasketball.com