May 20, 2012
VEF RIGA names Kurtinaitis head coach
Rimas Kurtinaitis - Lietuvos RytasFormer Eurocup champion coach Rimas Kurtinaitis returned to the competition Monday when he was officially appointed head coach at VEF Riga. The Latvian runners-up publicly announced Kurtinaitis as coach last week, but he did not sign his contract – for one season with an option for a second year – until Monday. Kurtinaitis arrives from Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, with whom he won the 2009 Eurocup. He also led L. Rytas to a pair of Lithuanian League championships, two Lithuanian Cups and the 2009 Baltic League crown.

After a legendary playing career, which ended at L. Rytas in 1999, Kurtinaitis was appointed Lithuania's minister of sport, a post in which he worked for more than four years. He has since built his coaching career with club stops at Baku Gala of Azerbaijan, Sakalai and L. Rytas of Lithuania and Slask Wroclaw of Poland. He also served as national team coach of Azerbaijan and as assistant national team coach for Lithuania at two Olympics. A world-renowned shooter, Kurtinaitis won World, European and Olympic Championships as a player for the Soviet Union in the 1980s, when he also claimed three domestic titles with Zalgiris Kaunas. During his 18-year playing career, he also won the Spanish League title with Real Madrid in 1994 and became the first Lithuanian player to play in Australia, suiting up for the Townsville Suns in 1993. All told, Kurtinaitis played for nine teams in six countries between 1981 and 1999.

"Everyone knows me as a strong coach. I am demanding both of myself and the players," Kurtinaitis said. "VEF is a big name, but the club still has not had much success, so we will try to jointly launch a new era."
Monday, July 12, 2010
Eurocupbasketball.com
PrintPrint Send to a FriendSend to a Friend ShareShare

Submenu