Uvis Helmanis (born June 10, 1972) is a former Latvian professional

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

who played at

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

position. After retiring he became 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 ...

, and currently works as a head coach for Löwen Erfurt.

Player profile

Helmanis has been a key player for the

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 exam ...

since the nineties and is known for being experienced and powerful. Some coaches were trying to put this 2.04 m player under the basket but his style tends to draw him away from the hoop. Helmanis can use his big body in the paint, especially on defense, but his most effective weapon is his ability to knock down the

three-point shot A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

. He doesn't look very quick, but he is adept at getting himself open from behind the three-point line. Helmanis has been a National Champion in three different countries in his career: Latvia, Poland and Germany. After four good years at Bamberg, Helmanis came back to Latvia and celebrated his homecoming with "eternal" national champs BK Ventspils and showed all his best assets in the

Baltic league The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinav ...

and in ULEB Cup games. He is not a vocal leader, but an irreplaceable member of the team. In the summer of 2009 Helmanis became the first Latvian to play in six

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 ...

s. After winning the Latvian Championship with

Barons LMT BK Barons/LDz (previously Barons/LMT) was a professional basketball club which is based in Riga, Latvia. The team played in the first division of Latvian Basketball League. History Barons kvartāls was an integral part of Latvia's recent basket ...

in 2010 he retired as a player and became a head coach of the team. After unsuccessful results he was fired in midseason and went to Poland to work for the assistant of

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 ...

, head coach of

Czarni Słupsk Czarni Słupsk, more commonly known as Grupa Sierleccy Czarni Słupsk because of sponsorship reasons, is a Polish basketball team, based in Słupsk, playing in Polish Basketball League (PLK). The home arena of the club was Hala Gryfia. History I ...

. After one season Uvis came back to Latvia and joined a coach room of

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, becoming an assistant of head coach Ramunas Butautas. He became head coach of

BK Liepājas Lauvas BK is the common abbreviation for the Burger King chain of fast food restaurants. BK or Bk may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * The Bank of New York Mellon, the New York Stock Exchange symbol for The Bank of New York Mellon Corporat ...

in 2013.

References

1972 births Living people ASK Riga players BK Ventspils players Brose Bamberg players Forwards (basketball) Latvian basketball coaches Latvian expatriate basketball people in Germany Latvian expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Latvian expatriate basketball people in Poland Latvian men's basketball players People from Talsi {{Latvia-sport-bio-stub