Laurynas Birutis

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Laurynas Birutis
Laurynas Birutis.jpg
Birutis with Žalgiris-2 in 2015
No. 11 – Monbus Obradoiro
PositionCenter
LeagueLiga ACB
Personal information
Born (1997-08-27) August 27, 1997 (age 24)
Šiauliai, Lithuania
NationalityLithuanian
Listed height2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)
Listed weight114 kg (251 lb)
Career information
Playing career2014–present
Career history
2014–2020Žalgiris Kaunas
2014–2017→Žalgiris-2
2017→Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas
2017–2018→Šiauliai
2019–2020→CBet Prienai
2020–presentMonbus Obradoiro
Career highlights and awards
  • Lithuanian LKL champion (2019)
  • LKL MVP (2018)
  • LKL leading scorer (2018)
  • LKL rebounding leader (2018)
  • LKL blocks leader (2018)
  • LKL Best Young Player (2018)
  • LKL efficiency leader (2018; 2020)
  • LKL 3× Player of the Month
  • ACB Player of the Month
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Lithuania
FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2016 Finland U20 National Team
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Greece U18 National Team

Laurynas Birutis (born 27 August 1997) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Monbus Obradoiro of the Spanish Liga ACB.[1]

Professional career[]

BC Zalgiris junior team and debut in LKL[]

Birutis started his professional career when he signed with BC Žalgiris-2 in summer 2014. On January 5, 2016, in a match against BC Petrochema he made a National Basketball League record by rebounding 23 balls.[2] Later, that season he won silver medals with Žalgiris-2, who lost the final game against BC Sūduva.

On 14 April 2017, after dominating in the second-tier National Basketball League with 17.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2 blocks averages per game, Birutis was invited to join the top-tier Lithuanian Basketball League playoffs team Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas.[3][4][5] Birutis powerfully debuted on 15 April 2017 by scoring 17 points and grabbing 4 rebounds, but his team lost 92–89 after Justas Tamulis buzzer-beater.[6] Two days later, he achieved his first 96–89 victory in LKL versus the Neptūnas Klaipėda, and he was second-best Vytautas' scorer with 19 points and 6 rebounds.[7]

BC Šiauliai[]

On 1 August 2017, Birutis joined his hometown team BC Šiauliai.[8] During the 2018 Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė quarter-final versus the Lithuanian champions Žalgiris Kaunas, Birutis played his career-best game by scoring 35 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists and blocking one shot, however his team lost 85–78.[9] On 18 April 2018, Birutis entered his name into the 2018 NBA Draft.[10] During his second LKL season, he led all three main statistical lines of his position in the league: 14,9 points, 7,3 rebounds and 1,3 blocks.[11] After his astonishing season, Birutis has received the LKL Most Valuable Player Award.[12] Moreover, with his help BC Šiauliai recovered from having the worst record in the league last season (6–30) and became a solid playoffs participant by finishing in the 5th place during the regular season (16–20).[13] During the season closing ceremony he was also named as the best young player of LKL.[14] It was announced at the end of the season that Birutis would return to Žalgiris for the 2018–2019 season.

BC Žalgiris[]

Birutis joined Lithuanian champions BC Žalgiris and had debut in EuroLeague on 12 October 2018 against Saski Baskonia. He scored 7 points in 10 minits. Birutis struggled all season from start with injury, couldn't practise because of pain, which led to surgery on 14 February 2019. On 1 June he won his first Lietuvos krepšinio lyga title.

BC Prienai[]

On 23 November he came back after recovery from injury, and had 9 points and 4 rebounds including game-winning shot in 16 mins in a thrilling win 81:79 against BC Pieno žvaigždės. Later he earned player of the month award in February. He had his best game on 1 February 2020 against BC Neptūnas in which he scored 25 points and gathered 36 efficiency value. In that season he averaged 15,2 points (2nd in the League), 7 rebounds (2nd in the League) and 20,4 efficiency (1st in the League).

Monbus Obradoiro[]

On July 24, 2020, he has signed with Monbus Obradoiro of the Spanish Liga ACB.[15] On 28 September 2020, after averaging 19.3 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block per game, Birutis was named Liga ACB MVP of September.[16]

National team career[]

Laurynas Birutis debuted for the Lithuania men's u-16 basketball team in the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Ukraine. He won bronze medals with Lithuania men's u-18 basketball team in the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. Birutis, together with his age teammates: Tadas Sedekerskis and Martynas Varnas, was invited to play in the FIBA's Youth All-Star Game during EuroBasket 2015.[17] On February 26, 2018, Birutis debuted as a member of the Lithuania men's national basketball team by scoring 8 points and grabbing 6 rebounds, and helped to crush the Kosovo national basketball team 106–50 during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification.[18]

He had his second chance with Lithuania men's national basketball team in game against Czech Republic men's national basketball team in come-back win 97:89 in EuroBasket 2022 qualification game. He scored 17 points and 3 rebounds in 15 mins and had best +/- value in the team (+20).

Personal life[]

Laurynas is the son of former long-term BC Šiauliai player .[19]

References[]

  1. ^ "Laurynas Birutis / Žaidėjai".
  2. ^ "Nacionalinė krepšinio lyga - NKL".
  3. ^ Malinauskas, Lukas. "Išaugęs pasitikėjimas savimi paruošė Lauryną Birutį galingam debiutui LKL čempionate". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Žaidėjas". www.nklyga.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  5. ^ ""Vytautas" stiprinasi "Mažeikių" vedliu ir NKL siautusiu Biručiu". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Laurynas Birutis galingai debiutavo LKL pirmenybėse". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Fantastiškas T.Delininkaitis buvo per kietas riešutas "Neptūnui" – "Vytautas" pakilo į penktąją vietą | Krepsinis.net". Krepsinis.net (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  8. ^ ""Šiauliai" priekinę liniją papildė L.Biručiu". krepsinis.net (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Įspūdingo Biručio šou "Šiauliams" neužteko – "Žalgiris" žengė į taurės pusfinalį". DELFI. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  10. ^ @DraftExpress (16 April 2018). "7'1 Lithuanian Laurynas Birutis, a potential 2nd rounder, declared for the NBA draft, his agent Sarunas Broga told…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ "Žaidėjų statistika". lkl.lt. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Birutis – naudingiausias LKL reguliariojo sezono žaidėjas". DELFI.lt. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Turnyro lentelė". www.lkl.lt. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  14. ^ "Sezono uždarymo šventė: LKL titulai byrėjo žalgiriečiams". 15min.lt/24sek. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  15. ^ "Obradoiro officially signs Laurynas Birutis". Sportando. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  16. ^ "Laurynas Birutis pripažintas ACB lygos mėnesio MVP". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  17. ^ "Trys Lietuvos jauniai pakviesti į Europos jaunųjų žvaigždžių mačą". BasketNews.lt. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  18. ^ "Jauna Lietuvos rinktinė su kaupu išnaudojo savo šansą: antrąkart sutriuškintas Kosovas". DELFI.lt. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  19. ^ "DraftExpress - Laurynas Birutis DraftExpress Profile: Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook". DraftExpress. Retrieved 15 March 2017.

External links[]

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