Jonas Kazlauskas

For the academic who died in mysterious circumstances, see Jonas Kazlauskas (linguist).
Jonas Kazlauskas
Jonas Kazlauskas with Lithuania men's national basketball team
Personal information
Born (1954-11-21) 21 November 1954 (age 70)
Panevėžys, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityLithuanian
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
NBA draft1976: undrafted
Playing career1973–1985
PositionShooting guard
Coaching career1994–present
Career history
As player:
1973–1985Statyba Vilnius
As coach:
1994–2000Žalgiris Kaunas
2001–2004Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2004–2006Olympiacos Piraeus
2011–2012CSKA Moscow
2013–2014
2017–2018		Guangdong Southern Tigers
Career highlights and awards
As head coach:
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Lithuania
Summer Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney
EuroBasket
Silver medal – second place 2013 Slovenia
Silver medal – second place 2015 France
Representing  China
FIBA Asia Cup
Gold medal – first place 2005 Qatar
Representing  Greece
EuroBasket
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Poland

Jonas Kazlauskas (born 21 November 1954) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

Playing career

Kazlauskas played for Statyba Vilnius from 1973 to 1985. He won a bronze medal in the former USSR Supreme League in 1979.

Coaching career

Clubs

Kazlauskas is considered to be one of the best coaches from Europe. In the past, he has coached Lithuania's top two pro club basketball teams, Žalgiris Kaunas (1994–2000) and Lietuvos rytas Vilnius (2001–2004). In October 2004, he became the head coach of Olympiacos Piraeus,[1] and later moved to CSKA Moscow during the 2010–11 season.[2]

Kazlauskas took a position with the Guangdong Southern Tigers for the latter stage of the 2012–13 Chinese Basketball Association season, serving as "executive coach" to fill the role of experienced mentor for newly appointed head coach Du Feng,[3][4][5] and helping guide the team to their record-tying eighth title in the 2013 CBA Finals. He retained his role with Guangdong for the 2013–14 CBA season but the squad lost in the semi-finals of the 2014 CBA Playoffs.

Kazlauskas returned to the Southern Tigers as head coach for the 2017–18 CBA season, while Du was serving as head coach with the "China Blue" version of the country's national team, and led a rebuilding side to third place with 28 wins in 38 regular season games before the youthful squad were eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2018 CBA Playoffs. He handed the head coaching job back to Du after the season.

National teams

In 1997, Kazlauskas became the head coach of the Lithuanian national team with whom he won bronze medals at 2000 Summer Olympics and held that position until the end of EuroBasket 2001. In 2004, he joined the China national team as the assistant coach to Del Harris, and then served as the head coach from 2005 to 2008, winning the 2005 Asian championship.

From 2009 to 2010, Kazlauskas served as the head coach of the Greek national team and guided them to bronze medals at EuroBasket 2009. In 2012, he returned to Lithuanian national team and guided them to consecutive silver medals at 2013 and 2015 EuroBasket tournaments. In 2016, Kazlauskas left the team for the second time after his 4-year contract expired after the 2016 Summer Olympics.[6]

Coaching awards and achievements

Club

National team

Personal life

Kazlauskas and his wife have two daughters. He likes tennis, crosswords and computer games.[8]

Coaching record

Legend
G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win-loss %

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

EuroLeague

Team Year G W L W–L% Result
Žalgiris
1998–99 22 18 4 .818 Won EuroLeague Championship
Žalgiris 1999-00 16 4 12 .250 Eliminated in qualification round
Olympiacos 2004–05 14 4 10 .286 Eliminated in regular season
Olympiacos 2005–06 23 12 11 .522 Eliminated in quarterfinals
CSKA 2011–12 22 19 3 .864 Lost in the final game
Career 97 57 40 .588

See also

References

  1. ^ "Greece: Kazlauskas Grabs Olympiacos Reins". www.fibaeurope.com. 18 October 2004. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  2. ^ "CSKA lands Kazlauskas as coach through 2013". Euroleague.net. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  3. ^ Pastuszek, Jon (6 January 2013). "Guangdong coach Li Chunjiang resigns, Jonas Kazlauskas joins staff • NiuBBall.com". NiuBBall.com. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  4. ^ "独家！尤纳斯率团队签约宏远 另将担任全运会主帅". baijia.baidu.com (in Chinese). 24 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Parašas padėtas: Jonas Kazlauskas pradeda darbą Kinijos ekipoje". lrytas.lt (in Lithuanian). 31 May 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  6. ^ Sarapas, Jaunius (27 September 2016). "J. Kazlausko perkalbėti nepavyko: Lietuvos rinktinė turės naują trenerį". DELFI (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  7. ^ Lietuvos metų treneris Jonas Kazlauskas apie 2013-uosius: „Sunki pradžia – laiminga pabaiga“ (in Lithuanian)
  8. ^ Jonas Kazlauskas Krepsinis.net profile
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