Basketball club Šiauliai is going strong despite a recent wave of injuries. Antanas Sireika`s team played at the King Mindaugas cup Final Four, holds the fourth position in the Betsafe LKL and recently qualified for the ENBL Final Four.
Logjam in the LKL standings
Lithuania Basketball league or LKL is one of the Top 10 leagues in Europe, spearheaded by Žalgiris Kaunas – the premier sports brand in the Baltic countries and beyond.
You can`t let your guard down in the LKL – you have to play against determined teams every night out.
With seven games left in the regular season, Šiauliai-7bet currently holds the fourth position in the LKL standings.
Top 3 teams – Žalgiris (22-2), Rytas Vilnius (21-3) and Lietkabelis Panevežys (20-5) – have secured the home court advantage in the playoffs.
Šiauliai-7bet (12-11) is locked in the battle for the fourth place against Cbet Jonava (12-13), Uniclub Casino Juventus Utena (11-12), Dzūkija Alytus (10-13) and Neptūnas Klaipeda (10-14).
Everything may change overnight.
Šiauliai-7bet suffered heavily recently. The Sun City team lost two important players.
Jon Elmore broke his hand on Saturday, March 27, game against Lietkabelis and will not play four weeks.
Elmore averaged 16,4 points and 5,8 assists.
Nemanja Bezbradica is also not available at the moment and Šiauliai-7bet rotation is down to eight players.
Despite the struggles, Šiauliai-7bet made it to the King Mindaugas cup Final Four and ENBL Final Four.
Men in yellow and black erased 18 points halftime deficit against Tartu Ulikool Maks&Moorits and a 10 points deficit at Liepāja to finish the ENBL regular season in the third position.
The man, the myth, the legend
Every Lithuania basketball fan knows Antanas Sireika.
Šiauliai born coach holds one of the biggest achievements in country`s history.
His predecessor – a 1999 EuroLeague champion and the 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medallist – Jonas Kazlauskas failed at the EuroBasket 2001 in Turkey.
Sireika rebounded in a big way – just like the Lithuanians do most of the time.
Lithuania won the EuroBasket 2003 at Stockholm, Sweden, winning the first continental title since a 1939 success at Kaunas.
It was the third gold medal for Lithuania in men`s event and the biggest win after regaining of independence in 1991.
Do you know how much it means for Lithuania?
Everything.
The leaders
Center Giedrius Staniulis averages 13,6 points and 7,1 rebounds for a team high efficiency rating of 17,2.
Donatas Sabeckis is a Šiauliai-7bet go-to player.
He recently set an ENBL assist record – 13 dimes – and may be deadly from every position.
Sabeckis has 9,5 points and 5,0 assists in the LKL.
Martynas Varnas averages 11,0 points.
Isaiah Armwood and Eimantas Stankevičius have 8,5 and 8,3 points respectively.
Final Four 2022
Wednesday, April 6, semifinals
16:30 Šiauliai/7bet – Basket Brno
19:00 Anwil Wloclawek – Tartu Ulikool Maks&Moorits
Thursday, April 7
16:30 Bronze medal game
19:00 ENBL final
Follow the ENBL
Website: www.enbleague.eu
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Twitter: @ENBLeague
Instagram: @enbleague