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 (appro ...

player. At a height of tall, he played at the

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 and are typi ...

and center 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 together with

Žydrūnas Ilgauskas Zydrunas Ilgauskas (; ; born June 5, 1975) is a Lithuanian-born American former professional basketball player who played the center (basketball), center position. The Ilgauskas played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Asso ...

. 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 (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

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

(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 (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

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. In 2000 he passed to Basketball Club Oostende in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, 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, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., known as Flexicar Fuenlabrada because of sponsorship reasons, or just as Fuenlabrada, is a professional basketball team based in Fuenlabrada, Spain. The team plays in the Primera FEB and ...

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 1998 FIBA World Championship, the EuroBasket 1999, and the

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 ...

, 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 Ülker G.S.K. basketball players 1998 FIBA World Championship players