Ramūnas Šiškauskas (, born September 10, 1978) is a former 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 and basketball coach. Listed at tall, he could play at both the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

positions. His individual accolades as a player include a EuroLeague MVP award, four

All-EuroLeague Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an EuroLeague awards, award for European professional club basketball system, Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 s ...

selections, as well as an All-EuroBasket Team designation. On May 16, 2014, Šiškauskas was named a EuroLeague Legend. During his playing career, Šiškauskas won two EuroLeague titles, one each with Panathinaikos Athens and CSKA Moscow, in 2007 and 2008, and reached two more EuroLeague Finals with CSKA, in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. He was a member of the senior Lithuanian national team that won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 2003. As a member of Lithuania's national team, he also won the bronze medal at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, and the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2007.

Professional playing career

Lithuania

Šiškauskas made his pro debut with Sakalai in 1996. He played two seasons with the club, averaging 11.3 points, on 60 percent shooting. In 1998, Šiškauskas signed with

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 ( , ) is ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. He played there until the 2003–04 season, and led the team to Lithuanian League titles in 2000 and 2002, and a Northern Europe League title in 2002. In 2002–03, he had his most successful season, averaging 16.4 points, on 68 percent shooting, and 3.4 rebounds.

Italy

Šiškauskas joined Benetton Treviso in 2004. He led them to an Italian League title in 2006, where he was named the Finals MVP, and to an Italian Cup title in 2005. He played in 32 EuroLeague games over two seasons with Benetton, and averaged 12.3 points, on 60 percent shooting.

Greece

In 2006, Šiškauskas signed with Panathinaikos, and he helped them win the EuroLeague in 2007. He averaged 11 points, on 51 percent shooting for the championship team. With Panathinaikos, he also won a Greek League title, and the Greek Cup, in 2007.

Russia

Šiškauskas joined CSKA Moscow in 2007. He helped to lead them to a EuroLeague title in 2008, and helped them reach the EuroLeague Final in

. Which, however, CSKA lost to Šiškauskas' former team, Panathinaikos. On May 1, 2009, he scored a career-high 29 points against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Šiškauskas also won five Russian Championship titles (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012). On May 13, 2012, Šiškauskas missed two vital free-throws, with 10 seconds remaining in CSKA's EuroLeague Finals game against Olympiacos Piraeus, which proved crucial in CSKA's 62 to 61 loss. He also missed the last second three-point shot in CSKA's EuroLeague Finals game against Panathinaikos, on May 3, 2009, which meant that CSKA lost that final, by a score of 73 to 71. Only one week after the 2012 EuroLeague Finals game, on May 21, 2012, Šiškauskas announced his retirement from playing professional basketball. On May 16, 2014, Šiškauskas was named a EuroLeague Legend.

National team career

Lithuanian junior national team

Šiškauskas played with the junior national teams of Lithuania. With Lithuania's junior national team, he played at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.

Lithuanian senior national team

Šiškauskas was a member of the senior men's Lithuanian national basketball teams that won the bronze medal at the

, and the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2007. He was also a member of the Lithuanian team that won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 2003. He also played at the EuroBasket 2001, at the

2004 Summer 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 ...

, at the EuroBasket 2005, and at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. After the 2008 Summer Olympics, he officially announced that he was stepping down from the Lithuanian national team as a player.

Player profile

Šiškauskas was a physical

, who could also easily play, both on offense and defense, in either the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

positions, on the wing, and also in the paint. His excellent leaping ability, and his quickness, made him a surprising shot blocker, and one of the best one-on-one players and swingmen in Europe. He was considered the best defensive player of the senior Lithuanian national basketball team. He led the 2003–04 season of the Lithuanian League, in

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

percentage (90.6%).

Coaching career

Šiškauskas began his basketball coaching career in 2017, when he became an assistant coach of the senior men's Lithuanian national basketball team.Ramunas Siskauskas joins Lithuanian NT's staff.
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Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", Treviso , 17 , , 10 , , 25.8 , , .487 , , .286 , , .700 , , 2.4 , , 1.5 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 12.5 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;", Benetton , 15 , , 13 , , 29.2 , , .516 , , .419 , , .711 , , 2.8 , , 1.9 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 12.0 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#AFE6BA;", 2006–07† , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 20 , , 19 , , 26.2 , , .489 , , .471 , , .706 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 10.9 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#AFE6BA;", 2007–08† , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="5", CSKA Moscow , 24 , , 23 , , 27.3 , , .510 , , .442 , , .846 , , 3.2 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 14.0 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , 18 , , 14 , , 28.4 , , .446 , , .348 , , .863 , , 3.0 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , .3 , , 12.1 , , 13.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , 21 , , 21 , , 30.9 , , .557 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", .550* , , .765 , , 4.0 , , 3.0 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 13.4 , , 17.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , 7 , , 6 , , 24.9 , , .422 , , .348 , , .500 , , 4.0 , , .9 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 7.0 , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , 21 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 21* , , 22.9 , , .449 , , .393 , , .690 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .0 , , 7.5 , , 6.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 143 , , 127 , , 27.1 , , .493 , , .419 , , .767 , , 3.0 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 11.6 , , 12.8

Awards and achievements

Pro playing career

* 2× Lithuanian League Champion: (2000, 2002) * 2× Lithuanian League MVP: (2001, 2002) * Lithuanian League Finals MVP: (2001) * 4× Lithuanian League All-Star: (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) * North European League: Champion (2002) * Italian Cup Winner: (2005) * Italian League Champion: (2006) * Italian League Finals MVP: (2006) * Greek Cup Winner: (2007) * 4× All-EuroLeague Team: ** 3× All-EuroLeague Second Team: ( 2007,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

) ** All-EuroLeague First Team: ( 2008) * 2× EuroLeague Champion: (2007, 2008) * Greek League Champion: (2007) * Triple Crown Champion: (2007) * Greek League Best Five: (2007) * Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year: (2007) * EuroLeague MVP: (2008) * 5× Russian League Champion: (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) * Russian League Player of the Year: (2009) * VTB United League Final Four MVP: (2008) * All-Europe Player of the Year: (2008) * EuroLeague 2000–2010 All-Decade Team: (2010) * Russian Cup: Winner (2010) * Russian League All-Star: (

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

) * Russian League All-Symbolic Second Team: (2011) * 3× VTB United League Champion: (2008, 2010, 2012) * EuroLeague Legend: (2014)

Lithuanian senior national team as a player

: * EuroBasket 2003: * EuroBasket 2007: * EuroBasket 2007: All-Tournament Team

References

External links

Ramūnas Šiškauskas
at draftexpress.com
Ramūnas Šiškauskas
at euroleague.net *
Ramūnas Šiškauskas
at legabasket.it * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siskauskas, Ramunas 1978 births Living people Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics BC Rytas players FIBA EuroBasket–winning players Greek Basket League players Lithuanian men's basketball players 21st-century Lithuanian sportsmen Lithuanian basketball coaches Lithuanian Sportsperson of the Year winners Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players for Lithuania Olympic bronze medalists for Lithuania Olympic medalists in basketball Pallacanestro Treviso players Panathinaikos B.C. players PBC CSKA Moscow players People from Kaišiadorys Basketball players from Kaunas County Shooting guards Small forwards