Saulius Štombergas (born December 14, 1973) is a retired Lithuanian 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 (appro ...

player, basketball coach and businessman. Štombergas is widely considered to be among the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, known for his leadership and 3-point shooting ability.

Professional career

Štombergas' club teams during his playing career, were, in the order in which he played for them: Atletas Kaunas, Vostok Shanghai ( Chinese CBA), Žalgiris Kaunas, Kinder Bologna, TAU Cerámica Vitoria, Efes Pilsen Istanbul, Unics Kazan, and Ülker Istanbul. He holds the record in the EuroLeague, since the year 2000, for the most 3-point field goals made in a game, without a miss.

National team career

Štombergas played for the senior men's Lithuanian national basketball team, from 1995 to 2004. During the 11 years that he played as a Lithuanian international

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

player, he played in 97 official

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, and scored 1,036 points, for his home country. He won two bronze medals at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

, in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. He also won a silver medal at the

EuroBasket 1995 The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

, and as the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the senior national team, he won the gold medal of the same competition, in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

.European Championships rosters 2003.
/ref> He was also named to the All-Tournament Team. He also played at the

EuroBasket 1997 The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a b ...

, the 1998 FIBA World Championship, the EuroBasket 1999, the EuroBasket 2001, and the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. He was the flag bearer for Team Lithuania, at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Coaching career

After he retired from playing professional basketball, Štombergas began his career as a

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

in 2011. He worked as a head coach for BC Žalgiris-2 in the NKL, before joining

BC Žalgiris Basketball Club Žalgiris () commonly known as BC Žalgiris, is a professional basketball club based in Kaunas, Lithuania. They compete domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (''Lietuvos krepšinio lyga'') and ...

as an assistant coach for the 2012-2013 season. He briefly served as head coach in the 2013-2014 season, before resigning in April after disappointing results.

Career player statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2000–01 , style="text-align:left;", TAU Cerámica , 22 , , 20 , , 27.2 , , .520 , , .512 , , .827 , , 2.4 , , .7 , , .9 , , .2 , , 12.0 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;", Efes Pilsen , 20 , , 19 , , 27.3 , , .493 , , .487 , , .770 , , 3.0 , , 1.2 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , 11.6 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 14 , , 13 , , 30.0 , , .475 , , .415 , , .886 , , 4.1 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .1 , , 13.6 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", Ülker , 22 , , 22 , , 29.5 , , .405 , , .299 , , .838 , , 3.5 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 10.3 , , 7.9 , -class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 78 , , 74 , , 28.5 , , .469 , , .420 , , .825 , , 3.2 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 11.7 , , 10.0

Awards and honors

As a player

Pro clubs

* 5× Lithuanian All-Star Game: 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003 * Lithuanian All-Star Game MVP: 1995 *

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...

Champion:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

* FIBA Saporta Cup Finals MVP:

* FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer:

* 3× Lithuanian League Champion: 1998, 1999, 2003 *

FIBA EuroStar FIBA EuroStars was an annual All-Star Game showcase of the sport of European professional club basketball. It was organized by FIBA Europe. Commonly considered to be the European equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, the FIBA EuroStars Game featu ...

: 1998 * North European League Champion: 1999 * EuroLeague champion:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

* Spanish League All-Star Game: 2001 * 2×

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

Winner: 2002, 2005 *

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

Champion: 2002 * FIBA Europe League (FIBA EuroChallenge) All-Star: 2004 * FIBA Europe League (FIBA EuroChallenge) Champion: 2004 * Turkish Super Cup Winner: 2004 *

All-Star Game: 2005

Lithuanian senior national team

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

: *

1996 Summer Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

: *

1998 Goodwill Games The 1998 Goodwill Games was the fourth edition of the international sports competition the Goodwill Games, which were created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. The competition was held ...

: * 2000 Summer Olympic Games: * 2003 EuroBasket: * 2003 EuroBasket: All-Tournament Team

References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileEurobasket.com ProfileSpanish League Profile

Italian League Profile

Turkish League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stombergas, Saulius 1973 births Living people Anadolu Efes S.K. players Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics BC UNICS players BC Žalgiris players FIBA EuroBasket–winning players Liga ACB players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in China Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Italy Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Russia Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Spain Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Lithuanian men's basketball players 21st-century Lithuanian sportsmen LSU-Atletas basketball players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players for Lithuania Olympic bronze medalists for Lithuania Olympic medalists in basketball Saski Baskonia players Shanghai Sharks players Small forwards Basketball players from Klaipėda Ülker G.S.K. basketball players Virtus Bologna players 1998 FIBA World Championship players Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games