Rapla KK

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Avis Utilitas Rapla
LeaguesLatvian–Estonian Basketball League
Founded2004; 18 years ago (2004)
HistoryRapla KK
(2004–present)
ArenaSadolin Sports Hall
Capacity818[1]
LocationRapla, Estonia
Team colorsRed, White
   
PresidentJaak Karp
Head coach
Websiteraplakk.ee

Rapla KK, also known as Avis Utilitas Rapla for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Rapla, Estonia. The team plays in the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League. Their home arena is the Sadolin Sports Hall.

History[]

In 1996, Korvpalliklubi Rapla (Basketball Club Rapla) was founded as a division of the Rapla Sports School. Rapla Korvpallikool (Rapla Basketball School) was formed in 2004.[2]

In 2010, Rapla moved to the new Sadolin Sports Hall and were promoted to the top-tier Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). Coached by Indrek Ruut, they finished the 2010–11 regular season in sixth place and reached the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by TTÜ/Kalev, losing the series 1 game to 3. In 2011, Rapla joined the Challenge Cup competition of the regional Baltic Basketball League (BBL) for the 2011–12 season, but failed to advance past the group stage. In 2012, Rapla reached the Estonian Cup final, but lost to Rakvere Tarvas 64–81.[3]

In 2014, Aivar Kuusmaa was hired as head coach. The team finished the 2014–15 regular season in third place. In the 2015 KML Playoffs, Rapla defeated Valga in the quarterfinals, but lost to Kalev and finished third after beating Rakvere Tarvas 2 games to 1 in the third place games. Rapla finished third again in the 2015–16. The team finished the 2016–17 regular season in third place with Thomas van der Mars being named Most Valuable Player (MVP). In the 2017 KML Playoffs, Rapla defeated Valga 3 games to 0 in the quarterfinals and University of Tartu 3 games to 1 in the semifinals, reaching the finals for the first time in their history, but lost the series to Kalev 0 games to 4.

Sponsorship naming[]

The team has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship:

  • Piimameister Otto/Rapla: 2010–2012
  • TYCO Rapla: 2012–2015
  • AVIS Rapla: 2015–2017
  • AVIS UTILITAS Rapla: 2017–present

Home arenas[]

Players[]

See also: Category:Rapla KK players

Current roster[]

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Avis Utilitas Rapla roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
SF 1 Latvia 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 19 – (2002-12-29)29 December 2002
PG 2 United States 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 77 kg (170 lb) 26 – (1995-03-06)6 March 1995
PG 3 Estonia 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 23 – (1998-06-27)27 June 1998
PG 5 Estonia 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 73 kg (161 lb) 17 – (2004-09-12)12 September 2004
C 7 United States 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 24 – (1997-08-10)10 August 1997
SG 8 Estonia 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 20 – (2002-02-08)8 February 2002
SG 12 Estonia 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 19 – (2003-02-03)3 February 2003
SF 13 Estonia 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 18 – (2003-03-16)16 March 2003
PF 21 United States 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 26 – (1995-04-10)10 April 1995
SG 35 Estonia 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 21 – (2001-01-18)18 January 2001
SG 40 Estonia Paasoja, Martin 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 29 – (1993-01-04)4 January 1993
PF 44 Latvia 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 30 – (1992-02-08)8 February 1992
SF 45 Estonia Kaldre, Sven (C) 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 30 – (1991-10-31)31 October 1991
Head coach
  • Spain
Assistant coach(es)
  • Estonia
  • Estonia
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: 5 February 2022

Depth chart[]

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C
PF
SF
SG Martin Paasoja
PG

Coaches[]

Season by season[]

Season Tier Division Pos. W–L Estonian Cup Regional competitions
2008–09 3 II liiga 1st 23–3
2009–10 2 I liiga 2nd 16–8
2010–11 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 6th 14–22 Quarterfinalist
2011–12 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 4th 17–19 Quarterfinalist BBL Challenge Cup RS 2–8
2012–13 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 4th 18–19 Runners-up Baltic Basketball League RS 1–9
2013–14 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 7th 10–23 Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball League RS 3–9
2014–15 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 23–14 Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball League T16 3–7
2015–16 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 24–16 Round of 16 Baltic Basketball League T16 8–6
2016–17 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 2nd 23–15 Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball League T16 8–6
2017–18 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 21–17 Baltic Basketball League QF 5–7
2018–19 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 6th 1–3 Latvian-Estonian League QF 13–17
2019–20 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 2nd [a] Latvian-Estonian League 5th 12–12
2020–21 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 5–6 Latvian-Estonian League 4th 14–13
2021–22 1 Korvpalli Meistriliiga Quarterfinalist Latvian-Estonian League

Trophies and awards[]

Trophies[]

Estonian Championship

Estonian Cup

  • Runners-up (1): 2012

Individual awards[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ League suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References[]

  1. ^ "Sadolin Spordihoone" (in Estonian). Spordiregister.ee.
  2. ^ "Ajalugu" (in Estonian). Rapla KK.
  3. ^ "Tarvas võitis korvpalli Eesti karika" (in Estonian). Postimees Sport. 22 December 2012.

External links[]

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