Ainars Bagatskis (born 29 March 1967) is a Latvian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, who currently works as the head coach of

CSO Voluntari Clubul Sportiv Orășenesc Voluntari 2005, commonly known as CSO Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian multi-sport club based in Voluntari who was founded at the initiative of the office of the Mayor of Voluntari. The club currently has 13 ...

of the Liga Națională and the senior Ukraine national team.

Playing career

Club career

During his club playing career, Bagatskis played at the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

position.

Latvia national team

Bagatskis was a member of the senior

Latvia national basketball team The Latvia men's national basketball team ( lv, Latvijas basketbola izlase) represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championshi ...

, from 1992 to 2006. With Latvia, he played in four

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

tournaments.

Coaching career

Bagatskis began his

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

career in the 2005–06 season, while playing his last season of professional basketball with Barons Rīga, where he stayed for one season. In 2006, he had a short stint as a

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

in one of the greatest Lithuanian teams, Žalgiris Kaunas. Since 2007, he worked as a head coach in several teams, including

Valmiera Valmiera (; german: link=no, Wolmar; pl, Wolmar see other names) is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020 – 24 879. It is a state city ...

, until 2009, the Russian team Yenisey Krasnoyarsk, in the 2009–10 season,

Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

, and Kryvbasbasket, until 2012. In June 2012, he became the head coach of the Ukrainian team

Budivelnyk Kyiv BC Budivelnyk Kyiv (in Ukrainian: Будівельник Київ) is a Ukrainian professional basketball club based in Kyiv. The club plays in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. In June 2018, it was forced to withdraw from the Superleague due ...

. He stayed with them for two seasons, winning the

Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) ( uk, Українська баскетбольна суперліга) is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 c ...

two times with them, in 2013 and 2014. In the 2013–14 season, his team made its first EuroLeague appearance in the club's history. On 1 July 2014, he signed a one-year contract to become the head coach of the Russian team

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

. Nizhny Novgorod ended their season in the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus an ...

, after being eliminated by

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

, with 3–0 series sweep, in the League's semifinals series. On 18 June 2016, he signed a two-year contract to become an assistant coach of

David Blatt David Michael Blatt ( he, דוד מיכאל בלאט; born May 22, 1959), is an Israeli-American professional basketball executive. He is also a former coach and player. Blatt played point guard at Princeton University from 1977 to 1981 and p ...

's, with the Turkish club Darüşşafaka. On December 24, 2016, Bagatskis became the head coach of the Israeli club

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. On 16 May 2017, he parted ways with

. On 30 June 2018, he signed with

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketba ...

of the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

National team

Following the departure of

Kęstutis Kemzūra Kęstutis Kemzūra (born 20 April 1970) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach of BC Wolves of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He is also an assistant coach for the Lithuanian national t ...

, in February 2010, he became a team selector for the senior Latvia national team. So far, his team made two

appearances, at the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's EuroBasket, European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted t ...

, in Lithuania, and at the

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France defeated Lithuania in th ...

, in Slovenia.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2, Žalgiris , 12 , , 9 , , 24.0 , , .386 , , .404 , , .900 , , 2.6 , , .8 , , .6 , , .0 , , 9.5 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , 17 , , 0 , , 12.5 , , .424 , , .426 , , .882 , , .9 , , .4 , , .4 , , .0 , , 5.5 , , 3.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 29 , , 9 , , 17.5 , , .406 , , .414 , , .894 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , .0 , , 7.2 , , 5.1

Coaching record

EuroLeague

, - , align="left", Žalgiris , align="left", 2005–06 , 1 , , 0 , , 1 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left", Žalgiris , align="left", 2006–07 , 14 , , 2 , , 12 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , - , align="left", Budivelnyk , align="left", 2013–14 , 10 , , 2 , , 8 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2014–15 , 24 , , 8 , , 16 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left", Maccabi , align="left", 2016–17 , 16 , , 5 , , 11 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 74, , 21, , 53, , , ,

References

External links

Official websiteAinars Bagatskis
at eurobasket.com
Ainars Bagatskis
at euroleague.net (as a player)
Ainars Bagatskis
at euroleague.net (as a coach)

at fiba.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagatskis, Ainars 1967 births Living people ASK Riga players BK VEF Rīga players BK Ventspils players BC Žalgiris coaches BC Žalgiris players JDA Dijon Basket players Latvian basketball coaches Latvian expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Latvian men's basketball players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. coaches Small forwards Soviet men's basketball players Basketball players from Riga Latvian expatriate basketball people in France Latvian expatriate basketball people in Ukraine Latvian expatriate basketball people in Russia Latvian expatriate basketball people in Israel Latvian expatriate basketball people in Georgia (country)