Rimantas Kaukėnas
Rimantas "Rimas" Kaukėnas (born 11 April 1977) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. His long career has taken him to a number of countries, finding the most success in Italy. He has also been a member of the senior men's Lithuanian national team. Playing primarily at the shooting guard position, he can also play as a point guard.
 Rimantas Kaukėnas in 2013 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | 11 April 1977 Vilnius, Lithuania | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Lithuanian | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 192 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 92 kg (203 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Prattsburgh Central School (Prattsburgh, New York) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Seton Hall (1996–2000) | ||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2000: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2000–2016, 2017 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Shooting guard | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Hapoel Galil Elyon | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Lietuvos rytas Vilnius | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Oostende | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Telekom Baskets Bonn | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Pallacanestro Cantù | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2009 | Montepaschi Siena | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Real Madrid | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Montepaschi Siena | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Žalgiris Kaunas | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Laboral Kutxa | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016, 2017 | Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Professional career
Kaukėnas was a longtime member of Montepaschi Siena of the Italian Serie A.
On 5 August 2012 he signed for his homeland team Žalgiris Kaunas.[1]
He joined Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia in December 2013, helping the side reach the finals of the 2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A. In July 2015, his contract was extended for another season.[2] On 7 July 2016 Kaukėnas retired from professional basketball.[3] On 7 January 2017 Kaukėnas came out of retirement and rejoined Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia for the rest of the season.[4][5]
National team
Kaukėnas played with the senior men's Lithuanian national basketball team at the EuroBasket 2001, the EuroBasket 2007, where he won a bronze medal, and the EuroBasket 2011. He also played at both the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Personal life
Kaukėnas established the Rimantas Kaukenas Charity Group, which aims to provide "magical moments" for children with life-threatening medical conditions.[6] He is married to former Swedish-Serbian basketball player Tanja Kostić, with whom he has three daughters. Tanja follows the activities of RK Charity Group, while Rimantas is playing during the season. He is fluent in English, Italian and Russian.
EuroLeague career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Montepaschi Siena | 14 | 12 | 28.5 | .442 | .302 | .847 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 1.7 | .0 | 15.1 | 12.9 |
| 2007–08 | Montepaschi Siena | 9 | 5 | 28.8 | .431 | .290 | .882 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 1.6 | .1 | 14.1 | 13.6 |
| 2008–09 | Montepaschi Siena | 18 | 5 | 28.8 | .518 | .368 | .847 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | .0 | 14.8 | 12.8 |
| 2009–10 | Real Madrid | 18 | 10 | 21.4 | .545 | .353 | .829 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | .0 | 10.3 | 8.1 |
| 2010–11 | Montepaschi Siena | 20 | 11 | 25.3 | .445 | .308 | .902 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.1 | .1 | 12.0 | 9.6 |
| 2011–12 | Montepaschi Siena | 6 | 6 | 25.3 | .580 | .643 | 1.000 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1.2 | .0 | 14.5 | 15.3 |
| 2012–13 | Žalgiris Kaunas | 24 | 11 | 20.3 | .395 | .344 | .882 | 2.1 | 1.9 | .8 | .0 | 7.8 | 6.4 |
| 2013–14 | Laboral Kutxa | 5 | 1 | 12.3 | .583 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.4 | 1.0 | .6 | .2 | 3.6 | 3.8 |
| Career | 114 | 61 | 23.8 | .510 | .337 | .874 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.0 | .0 | 11.6 | 10.2 |
Awards and achievements
- Lithuanian League Champion: 2002
- North European League Champion: 2002
- German League All-Star Game MVP: 2004
- Eurobasket.com's German League Player of the Year: 2004
- Italian League MVP Runner Up: 2005
- 2× Italian SuperCup Winner: 2007, 2008
- Italian League MVP Runner Up: 2007
- 4× Italian League Champion: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
- Italian League Finals MVP: 2007
- EuroBasket 2007:
Bronze - EuroLeague 3rd Place: 2008
- His number 13 was retired by Montepaschi Siena in 2009.
References
- "Zalgiris Kaunas brings home veteran Kaukenas". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- "Reggio Emilia, Kaukenas stay together". EurocupBasketball.com. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- "Rimantas Kaukenas retires at 39". Sportando.com. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- "Kaukenas torna in campo. Mercoledì sarà presentato ai media". Pallacanestro Reggiana (in Italian). 7 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- "Il ritorno di Kaukenas: "Sono un rookie, cercherò di aiutare la squadra a crescere"". Pallacanestro Reggiana (in Italian). 11 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- "About us". KaukenoParama.lt. Archived from the original on 2015-06-23. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
External links
- Euroleague Profile
- Serie A Profile (in Italian)
- Liga ACB Profile Archived 2016-08-26 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
- FIBA.com Video Interview with Rimantas Kaukėnas
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