BC Statyba was a basketball club from

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. It was renamed to

Lietuvos rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also ...

in 1997.

History

In 1963, Vilnius's first basketball club, called Žalgiris, was established. In 1964, the team changed its name to Plastikas, but was renamed to Statyba before the start of the season. In 1965, Statyba became the Žalgiris association champions, and finished third in the Lithuanian cup tournament. The next year they improved and finished in second place in the Lithuanian cup tournament. In 1966, the team made their debut in the USSR A class championship, which was a second-tier championship, where they finished in fourth place. Statyba's most successful season came in 1979, when they finished in third place in the top division – the

USSR Premier Basketball League The USSR Premier Basketball League, or Soviet Union Premier Basketball League (also called Supreme League), was the first-tier men's professional basketball league in the former Soviet Union. The league existed from 1923 to 1991, as the top profe ...

. Over the years, Statyba became one of the biggest rivals for Žalgiris Kaunas. After the leaving the USSR championship, Statyba participated in the Lithuanian championship and the

LKF Cup The LKF Cup was an annual national domestic cup competition for Lithuanian professional basketball teams. It was organised by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (Lietuvos Krepšinio Federacija - LKF). The competition's full name was Lietuvos Kre ...

, finishing second in 1991 and 1992. Statyba joined the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

when it was established in the 1993–94 season. Statyba won third place in the inaugural season, but over the next few years, plummeted in the standings, finishing with a disastrous last place finish in the 1996–97 season. In 1997, the club was purchased by

newspaper's owner Gedvydas Vainauskas. He denounced Statyba and its history claiming that his club is not related to Statyba and renamed the club to Statyba-Lietuvos rytas in 1997 and then to Lietuvos rytas in 1998. Many Statyba's players, coaches—present or past—and fans, condemned the actions of new owner and dissociated themselves from the new club. In 2011, Statyba's fans, players and coaches re-established the club and claimed to be the successors of the old club. In 2017, under new ownership, Lietuvos rytas took back the history of Statyba.

Notable players

Dainius Adomaitis Dainius Adomaitis (born 19 January 1974) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and the head coach for Alvark Tokyo of Japan's B.League. Professional career He started his career in Statyba Vilnius. Later he moved to Žalgiris ...

1993–1996 *

Romanas Brazdauskis Romanas Brazdauskis (born February 20, 1964 in Kretinga) is a former basketball player from Lithuania, who won the bronze medal with the Lithuania national basketball team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. His son, Lukas Brazdauski ...

1983–1984, 1986–1988 * Rimas Girskis 1968–1983 *

Artūras Karnišovas Artūras Karnišovas (born April 27, 1971) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player. He is the current executive vice president of basketball operations of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

1987–1990 *

Jonas Kazlauskas Jonas Kazlauskas (born 21 November 1954) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Playing career Kazlauskas ...

1973–1985 *

Anatolij Kovtun Anatolij Kovtun (31 December 1960 – 22 February 2005) was a Ukrainian basketball player and a member of the Soviet Union national basketball team. He won the Soviet championship twice, with CSKA Moscow and Stroitel Kiev, and the Icelandic ch ...

1986–1987 * Linas Kvedaravičius 1985–1990 *

Šarūnas Marčiulionis Raimondas Šarūnas Marčiulionis () (born June 13, 1964) is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player. Widely considered one of the greatest international players, he was one of the first Europeans to become a regular in the Nationa ...

1981–1989 *

Algimantas Pavilonis Algimantas Pavilonis (born October 20, 1953 in Vilnius) is a retired Lithuanian basketball player, most notable for his playing career in Statyba Vilnius from 1973 to 1985. He was second Lithuanian Basketball Federation president, serving from 1 ...

1973–1985 * Alvydas Pazdrazdis 1991–1992 * Alfredas Vainauskas 1979–1990, 1993–1995

Head coaches

Antanas Paulauskas Antanas is a Lithuanian masculine given name derived from Antonius that is equivalent to Anthony in Lithuania. It may refer to: *Antanas Andrijauskas (born 1948), Lithuanian philosopher *Antanas Bagdonavičius (born 1938), Lithuanian rower and Ol ...

(1964–1975) (team founder) *

Rimantas Endrijaitis Rimantas (shortened as Rimas) is a masculine Lithuanian given name. The feminine form of the name is Rimantė. Notable people with the name include: *Rimantas Astrauskas (b. 1955), physicist, ecologist, and signatory of the 1990 Act * Rimantas Jon ...

(1975–1987) (former captain) * Rimas Girskis (1988–1990) (former captain) *

Eduardas Kairys Eduardas is a Lithuanian masculine given name. People bearing the name Eduardas include: * Eduardas Eismuntas (born 1932), Lithuanian-Soviet KGB officer * Eduardas Kurskis (born 1976), Lithuanian footballer *Eduardas Rozentalis Eduardas Rozen ...

(1990–1992) (former player) *

(1992–1994) (former captain) *

Heino Lill Heino Lill (born on 13 February 1944 in Tartu) is an Estonian basketball coach and former basketballer. 1963-1972 he played for Estonian national basketball team and for BC Tallinna Kalev Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ is a professional basketball club ...

(1994–1995) (former assistant coach) * Alfredas Vainauskas (1995–1997) (former player)

Achievements

* Žalgiris association ** Champions (1): 1965 * USSR Premier League ** Third place (1): 1979 *

** ''Runners-up (1):'' 1990 * LKL ** Third place (1): 1994 * Lithuanian SSR Championship ** Champions (6): 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1984 ** ''Runners-up (13):'' 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1991, 1992 * Lithuanian "Sports" Cup ** Champions (5): 1968, 1969, 1981, 1983, 1985 ** ''Runners-up (2):'' 1984, 1992 ** Third place (2): 1965, 1982 * USSR A class ** Champions (2): 1971, 1974 ** ''Runners-up (1):'' 1973 ** Third place (2): 1969, 1970

References

Sport in Vilnius Basketball teams established in 1963 Basketball teams in Lithuania Basketball teams in the Soviet Union 1963 establishments in Lithuania 1997 disestablishments in Lithuania {{Lithuania-sport-stub