Šiauliai is the first team in the ENBL history, which has repeatedly qualified to the Final Four.
Legendary coach Antanas Sireika led the Sun City team to silver medal finish in 2022.
Šiauliai made it to the title game where they fell at the hands of home favorites Anwil Wloclawek.
Fast forward two years later.
Šiauliai won the Group A with a 6-1 record and added two more wins in the playoff series against Bristol Flyers.
Žydrūnas Urbonas has a 6-0 record in the ENBL.
His predecessor Nikolajs Mazurs recently took coaching reins at Valmiera.
Team statistics
Šiauliai is the highest scoring team in the ENBL.
With 92.4 points per game they are ahead of Liège Basket (89.6), Bakken Bears (88.6) and CSO Voluntari (84.9).
Šiauliai are first in steals, with 8.4 per game.
Bakken Bears are second with 8.2 steals, followed by Voluntari (7.3) and Liège Basket (6.3).
Sun City boys make 9.3 three pointers per game, trailing only to Voluntari (9.6), while Liège Basket (8.1) and Bakken Bears (7.9) are not far behind.
Player statistics
Three players – Paulius Danusevičius, Tomaš Pavelka and Dovydas Romancenko – have played in all ENBL games.
Daniel Baslyk and LJ Thorpe participated in eight games each.
Leonard LJ Thorpe emerged as a top scorer – he averaged 14.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists.
Paulius Danusevicius has 13.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
Tomaš Pavelka is a top rebounder with 5.7 rebounds and 9.0 boards.
Thorpe shoots 47.6% from the three point line.
Nojus Mineikis is another sharpshooter – he went 19/46 from the three point line.
Shaquille Keith provides even more firepower.
Canadian-Jamaican forward averages 13.0 points.
Another wing player – Bennett Vander Plase – has 2.3 steals per game.
Lineup features three ENBL finalists.
Eimantas Stankevičius represents Šiauliai from 2019.
Daniel Baslyk joined team in 2020 and Paulius Danusevičius in 2021.
History
The winds of change were blowing.
On May 26, 2023, the club parted ways with legendary head coach Antanas Sireika.
“Nothing is eternal and nothing is impossible,” Sireika left his post after a 45 years work in basketball, including 35 (!) years in Šiauliai.
A 2003 EuroBasket champion is the honorary president and consultant of a club now.
Sireika coached the team for 19 seasons (1994-2002, 2009-2012, 2017-2023).
During his long career, the coach led the Šiauliai basketball team to many victories.
In 1996, Antanas Sireika won the Lithuanian Cup, laying the foundations for the upcoming victories.
In 2000, he led Šiauliai to the third place in the Lithuanian Basketball league for the first time in history.
He added three more bronze medals in the LKL.
Final Four 2024
Tuesday, April 9
16:00 Liège Basket – CSO Voluntari
19:00 Šiauliai – Bakken Bears
Wednesday, April 10
16:00 Bronze medal game
19:00 Final
21:00 Award ceremony
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