Virginijus Praškevičius (born 4 March 1974) is a Lithuanian 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. At a height of 2.06 m (6'9") tall, he played at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

positions.

Professional career

Praškevičius started playing with Banga Kaunas and in 1993–94 was bought by Lavera Kaunas. In 1995–96 decided to play for

Atletas Kaunas FK Atletas Kaunas (former:LKKA ir Teledema) was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas. The majority of the players was recruited from the Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education. LKKA ir Teledema earned promotion to the A Lyga, L ...

together with

Žydrūnas Ilgauskas Zydrunas Ilgauskas ( lt, link=no, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas; ; born June 5, 1975) is a Lithuanian-born American former professional basketball player who played the center position. The 7'3" Ilgauskas played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the Nationa ...

. In January 1997 he passed to LaCrosse Bobcats in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

. On 18 September 1996, he signed with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). However, Praškevičius did not play a single game for them and was loaned to the LaCrosse Bobcats of the

(CBA). On 19 February 1997, he was waived by the Timberwolves. In 1997–98 he came back to his home town

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

to play for Atletas and then for Žalgiris. With the best Lithuanian team he won a Saporta Cup. Then he played two years for Beşiktaş Spor Kulubu in the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

. In 2000 he passed to

Basketball Club Oostende Basketball Club Oostende, for sponsorship reasons Filou Oostende, is a Belgium, Belgian professional basketball team. The club is based in Ostend and was founded in 1970. The club competes domestically in the BNXT League and internationally in t ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, winning twice the Belgian National Championship and becoming once the MVP of the league. From 2002 until 2005 he played for Ülkerspor (but played for Hapoel Tel Aviv for one season), and he won twice the Turkish National Cup. In 2005–06 he played for Upea Capo d'Orlando, in Italian Serie A1, in 2006–07 for

Baloncesto Fuenlabrada Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, S.A.D., known as just Fuenlabrada and also Carplus Fuenlabrada because of sponsorship reasons,, is a professional basketball team based in Fuenlabrada, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and plays their home games at F ...

in the Spanish ACB. His last professional team was Utena Juventus in Lithuania as he left professional sport on spring of 2010 at the age of 36.

National team career

Praškevičius played with the Lithuania Under-22 junior national team. With Lithuania's junior national team, he won the gold medal at the 1996 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. He was also a member of the senior Lithuanian national team. He 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 ber ...

, the 1998 FIBA World Championship, the

EuroBasket 1999 The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

, and the 2003, where he won a gold medal.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;", Telindus Ostende , 14 , , 14 , , 29.4 , , .456 , , .325 , , .721 , , 6.1 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .5 , , 15.9 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", Ülkerspor , 20 , , 19 , , 28.4 , , .473 , , .449 , , .625 , , 4.6 , , 1.6 , , .9 , , .2 , , 10.7 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", Ülkerspor , 22 , , 5 , , 17.2 , , .428, , .403 , , .583 , , 3.1 , , .6 , , .6 , , .0 , , 5.4 , , 4.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 56 , , 38 , , 24.9 , , .457 , , .403 , , .676 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .2 , , 9.9 , , 8.9

References

External links

ACB.com - Player Profile

TBLStat.net - Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Praskevicius, Virginijus 1974 births Living people Basketball players from Kaunas Baloncesto Fuenlabrada players BC Oostende players BC Žalgiris players Beşiktaş men's basketball players FIBA EuroBasket-winning players Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Liga ACB players Lithuanian men's basketball players LSU-Atletas basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Ülker G.S.K. basketball players 1998 FIBA World Championship players