Jānis Strēlnieks (born 1 September 1989) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Obradoiro CAB of the Liga ACB. He also represents the senior Latvia national team. Standing at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, he mainly plays at the shooting guard position.
 Strēlnieks with the ball possession against France at the EuroBasket 2015 | |||||||||||||||
| Monbus Obradoiro | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Shooting guard / point guard | ||||||||||||||
| League | Liga ACB | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 September 1989 Talsi, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Latvian | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 88 kg (194 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2011: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2007–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 2007–2011 | Ventspils | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Spartak Saint Petersburg | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Budivelnyk | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | Brose Bamberg | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Olympiacos | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | CSKA Moscow | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Žalgiris Kaunas | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | AEK Athens | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Scafati | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–present | Obradoiro CAB | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Professional career
editStrēlnieks started his professional career in 2007, with Latvian team Ventspils, where he played for four years. In 2010, he was pursued by the EuroLeague club Union Olimpija, which was then head coached by Jure Zdovc. However, Ventspils didn't let him go to Slovenia. After all, in November 2011, he finally got a chance to play for coach Zdovc, as he was at the time coaching the Russian team Spartak Saint Petersburg,[1] that had bought out Strēlnieks' contract from Ventspils. He spent the next two seasons with Spartak. One of the highlights of his time in Spartak, was making the EuroCup's 2012 Final Four.
In August 2013, Strēlnieks joined the EuroLeague team Budivelnyk, signing a two-year contract with them.[2] Strēlnieks enjoyed a successful season with Budivelnyk, that included winning the Ukrainian Super League championship, and playing in the EuroLeague for the first time. However, after the season ended, he had to opt out of his contract, due to the unstable political situation in Ukraine at the time.[3]
In July 2014, he signed a one-year deal with the German club Brose Bamberg.[4] In the following three seasons, Strēlnieks won the German Basketball Bundesliga championship with Bamberg.[5] In the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, Strēlnieks also played in the EuroLeague with Brose.
On 20 June 2017, Strēlnieks signed a two-year contract with Olympiacos, of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague.[6]
On 8 July 2019, Strēlnieks signed a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow.[7] On 11 June 2021, Strēlnieks officially parted ways with the Russian club. In 70 games (16 starts), he averaged 6.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
On 29 July 2021, Strēlnieks signed a one-year deal with Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League and the EuroLeague.[8]
On August 10, 2022, Strēlnieks joined AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League on a one-year deal.[9] On March 16, 2023, Strēlnieks suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture injury. In 15 domestic league games, he averaged 8.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists, playing around 21 minutes per contest.
National team career
editLatvia junior national team
editIn 2007, Strēlnieks was a part of the Latvian Under-18 junior national team that won the bronze medal at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, which was held in Madrid, Spain. He made a game-winning basket in the last seconds of regulation against Lithuania's Under-18 junior national team, in the bronze medal game.[10]
Latvia senior national team
editStrēlnieks is a member of the senior Latvia national team. With Latvia, Strēlnieks played at the following tournaments: the EuroBasket 2011, EuroBasket 2013, EuroBasket 2015, the Belgrade 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and EuroBasket 2017.[11][12]
Career statistics
edit| 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 |
EuroLeague
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | Budivelnyk | 10 | 6 | 22.5 | .509 | .464 | 1.000 | 1.4 | 2.6 | .9 | .0 | 8.1 | 8.4 |
| 2015–16 | Bamberg | 24 | 4 | 24.2 | .476 | .404 | .913 | 2.0 | 3.3 | .7 | .1 | 9.8 | 10.7 |
| 2016–17 | 22 | 5 | 25.1 | .522 | .459 | .892 | 2.2 | 3.5 | .6 | .1 | 11.7 | 12.8 | |
| 2017–18 | Olympiacos | 34 | 4 | 19.9 | .435 | .382 | .918 | 1.3 | 2.1 | .6 | .0 | 7.5 | 7.1 |
| 2018–19 | 20 | 5 | 20.4 | .495 | .459 | .868 | 1.9 | 2.0 | .7 | .1 | 8.8 | 8.3 | |
| 2019–20 | CSKA Moscow | 21 | 6 | 16.0 | .538 | .417 | .921 | 1.8 | 2.0 | .6 | .0 | 7.2 | 8.5 |
| 2020–21 | 26 | 3 | 13.4 | .460 | .417 | .643 | 0.8 | 1.6 | .3 | .0 | 4.4 | 3.2 | |
| 2021–22 | Žalgiris | 23 | 22 | 20.5 | .391 | .337 | .857 | 1.7 | 1.8 | .7 | .1 | 6.5 | 5.6 |
| Career | 180 | 55 | 20.0 | .466 | .410 | .891 | 1.6 | 2.3 | .6 | .0 | 7.9 | 7.9 | |
Personal life
editHis older brother, Artūrs, is also a professional basketball player.
References
edit- ^ "Jānis Strēlnieks pāriet uz Sanktpēterburgas 'Spartak'" (in Latvian). Delfi.lv. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ^ "BUDIVELNIK brings in playmaker Strelnieks". Euroleague.net. 9 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
- ^ "Janis Strelnieks opts out of his contract with Budivelnyk". Sportando.com. 21 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-07-29. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ^ "Brose Baskets puts Strelnieks at point". Eurocupbasketball.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ^ "Strēlnieks ar Brose Baskets kļūst par Vācijas čempionu basketbolā". Diena.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ^ "Olympiacos lands playmaker Strelnieks". Euroleague.net. 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
- ^ "Janis Strelnieks joins CSKA with two-year deal". Eurohoops. 7 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Zalgiris Kaunas signs Janis Strelnieks". Sportando. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Ο Στρέλνιεκς στη «Βασίλισσα»". aekbc.gr (in Greek). Online. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- ^ Lithuania 72-74 Latvia FIBA Europe
- ^ 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament profile
- ^ EuroBasket 2017 profile
External links
edit- Jānis Strēlnieks at baskethotel.com
- Jānis Strēlnieks at draftexpress.com
- Jānis Strēlnieks – profile and statistics at Basketball Bundesliga (archived) (in German)
- Jānis Strēlnieks at eurobasket.com
- Jānis Strēlnieks at euroleague.net (archive)
- Janis Strelnieks at euroleaguebasketball.net
- Janis Strelnieks at FIBA (archive)
- Jānis Strēlnieks at fibaeurope.com
- Janis Strelnieks at realgm.com
