Vitaly Potapenko

Vitalii Mykolayovych Potapenko[1] (Ukrainian: Віталій Миколайович Потапенко, pronounced vee-TAH-lee poe-TAH-pen-koe,[1] born March 21, 1975) is a Ukrainian former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Wright State University and was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA draft, also the last pick before Kobe Bryant, believed by many as the best player from the 1996 draft. Nicknamed "The Ukraine Train",[1] he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Sacramento Kings of the NBA, as well as MMT Estudiantes in the Spanish ACB.[2][3]

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Mykolayovych and the family name is Potapenko.
Vitalii Potapenko
Memphis Grizzlies
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1975-03-21) March 21, 1975
Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityUkrainian
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
CollegeWright State (1994–1996)
NBA draft1996: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Playing career1992–2008
PositionCenter
Number52, 9, 20
Coaching career2009–present
Career history
As player:
1992–1994Budivelnyk
1996–1999Cleveland Cavaliers
1999–2002Boston Celtics
2002–2006Seattle SuperSonics
2006–2007Sacramento Kings
2007–2008MMT Estudiantes
As coach:
2009–2010Fort Wayne Mad Ants (assistant)
2010–2011Indiana Pacers (assistant)
2011–2012Dakota Wizards (assistant)
2012–2013Santa Cruz Warriors (assistant)
2013–2017Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant)
2018–presentMemphis Grizzlies (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:
  • 2× Ukrainian champion (1993, 1994)
  • 2× First-team All-MCC (1995, 1996)

As assistant coach:

Career NBA statistics
Points3,995 (6.5 ppg)
Rebounds2,725 (4.5 rpg)
Assists418 (0.7 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Since retiring as a player, Potapenko has been serving as an assistant coach for several teams, among them the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers, the Dakota Wizards,[4] and the Santa Cruz Warriors and later as an assistant director of player development for the Cleveland Cavaliers,[5] helping them win their first ever NBA championship.

NBA career statistics
Legend
  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  Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1996–97 Cleveland 80315.5.440.500.7362.7.5.3.45.8
1997–98 Cleveland 80017.7.480.000.7083.9.7.3.47.1
1998–99 Cleveland 171227.5.437.000.6735.5.9.6.98.4
1998–99 Boston 333228.1.521–.5477.21.8.7.610.8
1999–00 Boston 797222.7.499.000.6816.31.0.5.49.2
2000–01 Boston 82723.2.476–.7286.0.8.6.37.5
2001–02 Boston 79917.0.455–.7424.4.4.5.24.6
2002–03 Seattle 26215.4.441–.7593.4.2.3.34.6
2003–04 Seattle 653921.8.489–.6414.4.8.3.47.1
2004–05 Seattle 33110.2.517–.8712.4.3.2.13.5
2005–06 Seattle 241213.4.500–.5882.6.3.1.13.1
2005–06 Sacramento 903.5.714––.2.2.0.01.1
2006–07 Sacramento 304.3.000––.7.0.0.0.0
Career 61018919.0.479.167.6944.5.7.4.36.5

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998 Cleveland 4017.5.400–.5002.8.8.5.04.3
2005 Seattle 507.4.500––1.4.0.0.02.0
2006 Sacramento 402.4.500––.3.0.3.01.0
Career 1309.0.448–.5001.5.2.2.02.4

See also

Notes
  1. "Vitaly Potapenko Bio". NBA. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008.
  2. MMT Estudiantes former players
  3. "What the Hell Happened to...Vitaly Potapenko?".
  4. Dakota Wizards Hire Potapenko As Assistant Coach
  5. "Vitaly Potapenko returning to Cleveland Cavaliers as player-development coach". 4 June 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.