Club profile: Neptunas Klaipeda

Sep 09, 2013 by Eurocupbasketball.com Print

Neptunas may be a Eurocup newcomer but is also one of the oldest basketball clubs in Lithuania. Founded in 1962 as BC Maistas, it changed its name to Neptunas two years later - and has kept it for almost five decades. The team quickly found success in regional competitions, as Lithuania was still part of the Soviet Union. Neptunas won the Lithuanian Zalgiris Association championship in 1966, finishing second the following year. The team underwent a lot of changes but found more success once the club decided to change its signing policy, allowing players that finished their studies in Vilnius and Kaunas. The team won the Lithuanian Spartakiada two years later and the Soviet Union's trade unions championship in 1983. The team competed in the Lithuanian top regional league throughout the 1980s but went down to the second division in 1988. When Lithuania became an independent country and put together its first national team, however, Neptunas was one of the eight teams chosen to be in its first division. Eugenijus Milkontas, who coached the team from 1983 to 1993, was its most visible face back in those years. Neptunas did not do well when the Lithuanian League got started, but managed to slowly improve throughout the years, reaching the quarterfinals eight times from 1996 to 2003. Neptunas made its European club competitions debut in 1998-99, reaching the Korac Cup elimination rounds before losing against Darussafaka of Turkey. Svajunas Airosis and Arunas Seferis were its main stars that season. Neptunas played the 1999-00 Korac Cup and managed to get a third-place regular season finish in the 2000-01 Lithuanian League, but Alita stopped the club in the quarterfinals. Neptunas finally reached the Lithuanian League semifinals in 2004-05, also finishing fifth in the Baltic League. Neptunas returned to the Lithuanian League semifinals in 2006–07 and 2008-09, and fans in Klaipeda have seen players like Eurelijus Zukauskas, Arvudas Macijauskas and Donatas Zavackas before they were well-known in continental basketball. Neptunas comes off its best season ever, as it managed to finish third in the Lithuanian League, downing Prienai in the third-place playoffs led by Valdas Vasylius and Deividas Gailius. It also made its VTB League debut, which took the club to a whole new level. Neptunas keeps growing, backed by great fans in basketball-crazy Lithuania, and its first Eurocup apperance is another step forwards for the club. The goal will be fully competitive in all three fronts - Lithuanian League, VTB League and of course, the Eurocup.

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Club profile: Neptunas Klaipeda

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