Jonas_Kazlauskas
Jonas Kazlauskas
Lithuanian professional basketball coach and player
Jonas Kazlauskas (born 21 November 1954) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
 Jonas Kazlauskas with Lithuania men's national basketball team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1954-11-21) 21 November 1954 (age 69) Panevėžys, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Lithuanian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1976: undrafted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1973–1985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Shooting guard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 1994–present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As player: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1973–1985 | Statyba Vilnius | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As coach: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–2000 | Žalgiris Kaunas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Lietuvos rytas Vilnius | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2006 | Olympiacos Piraeus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | CSKA Moscow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 2017–2018 | Guangdong Southern Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As head coach: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Kazlauskas played for Statyba Vilnius from 1973 to 1985. He won a bronze medal in the former USSR Supreme League in 1979.
Clubs
Kazlauskas is considered to be one of the best coaches from Europe. In the past, he has coached Lithuania's top two pro club basketball teams, Žalgiris Kaunas (1994–2000) and Lietuvos rytas Vilnius (2001–2004). In October 2004, he became the head coach of Olympiacos Piraeus,[1] and later moved to CSKA Moscow during the 2010–11 season.[2]
Kazlauskas took a position with the Guangdong Southern Tigers for the latter stage of the 2012–13 Chinese Basketball Association season, serving as "executive coach" to fill the role of experienced mentor for newly appointed head coach Du Feng,[3][4][5] and helping guide the team to their record-tying eighth title in the 2013 CBA Finals. He retained his role with Guangdong for the 2013–14 CBA season but the squad lost in the semi-finals of the 2014 CBA Playoffs.
Kazlauskas returned to the Southern Tigers as head coach for the 2017–18 CBA season, while Du was serving as head coach with the "China Blue" version of the country's national team, and led a rebuilding side to third place with 28 wins in 38 regular season games before the youthful squad were eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2018 CBA Playoffs. He handed the head coaching job back to Du after the season.
National teams
In 1997, Kazlauskas became the head coach of the Lithuanian national team with whom he won bronze medals at 2000 Summer Olympics and held that position until the end of EuroBasket 2001. In 2004, he joined the China national team as the assistant coach to Del Harris, and then served as the head coach from 2005 to 2008, winning the 2005 Asian championship.
From 2009 to 2010, Kazlauskas served as the head coach of the Greek national team and guided them to bronze medals at EuroBasket 2009. In 2012, he returned to Lithuanian national team and guided them to consecutive silver medals at 2013 and 2015 EuroBasket tournaments. In 2016, Kazlauskas left the team for the second time after his 4-year contract expired after the 2016 Summer Olympics.[6]
Club
- 6× LKL champion: 1995–1999, 2002
- Baltic Cup winner: 1998
- FIBA EuroCup champion: 1998
- Euroleague champion: 1999
- 2× NEBL champion: 1999, 2002
- 2× PBL champion: 2011, 2012
- CBA champion: 2013
- 2× LKL Coach of the Year: 2002, 2013[7]
- PBL Coach of the Year: 2012
National team
- Lithuanian national team:
- Summer Olympic Games
Bronze: 2000 - 2× EuroBasket
Silver: 2013, 2015
- Summer Olympic Games
- China national team:
- FIBA Asia Cup
Gold: 2005 - Asian Games Gold: 2006
- FIBA Asia Cup
- Greek national team:
- EuroBasket Bronze: 2009
- EuroBasket
Kazlauskas and his wife have two daughters. He likes tennis, crosswords and computer games.[8]
| Legend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win-loss % | ||
Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.
EuroLeague
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Žalgiris | ||||||
| 1998–99 | 22 | 18 | 4 | .818 | Won EuroLeague Championship | |
| Žalgiris | 1999-00 | 16 | 4 | 12 | .250 | Eliminated in qualification round |
| Olympiacos | 2004–05 | 14 | 4 | 10 | .286 | Eliminated in regular season |
| Olympiacos | 2005–06 | 23 | 12 | 11 | .522 | Eliminated in quarterfinals |
| CSKA | 2011–12 | 22 | 19 | 3 | .864 | Lost in the final game |
| Career | 97 | 57 | 40 | .588 | ||
- "Greece: Kazlauskas Grabs Olympiacos Reins". www.fibaeurope.com. 18 October 2004. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- "CSKA lands Kazlauskas as coach through 2013". Euroleague.net. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- Pastuszek, Jon (6 January 2013). "Guangdong coach Li Chunjiang resigns, Jonas Kazlauskas joins staff • NiuBBall.com". NiuBBall.com. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- "独家！尤纳斯率团队签约宏远 另将担任全运会主帅". baijia.baidu.com (in Chinese). 24 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- "Parašas padėtas: Jonas Kazlauskas pradeda darbą Kinijos ekipoje". lrytas.lt (in Lithuanian). 31 May 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- Sarapas, Jaunius (27 September 2016). "J. Kazlausko perkalbėti nepavyko: Lietuvos rinktinė turės naują trenerį". DELFI (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 31 May 2017.
