Kaspars Bērziņš Explained

Kaspars Bērziņš
Position:Power forward / center
Height Ft:7
Height In:0
Weight Lbs:225
Birth Date:25 August 1985
Birth Place:Ogre, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality:Latvian
League:Liga ACB
Team:Coosur Real Betis
Draft Year:2007
Career Start:2003
Years1:2003–2004
Team1:BK Skonto
Years2:2004–2005
Team2:Unicaja Málaga
Years3:2005–2006
Team3:ASK Riga
Years4:2006–2009
Team4:Barons LMT
Years5:2009–2010
Team5:Baloncesto Fuenlabrada
Years6:2010
Team6:Cáceres
Years7:2010–2014
Team7:VEF Rīga
Years8:2014
Team8:Río Natura Monbús
Years9:2014–2015
Team9:Krasnye Krylia
Years10:2015–2016
Team10:Nizhny Novgorod
Years11:2016
Team11:Zenit Saint Petersburg
Years12:2016–2017
Team12:Ogre/Kumho Tyre
Years13:2017
Team13:Lokomotiv Kuban
Years14:2017–2018
Team14:VEF Rīga
Years15:2018–2019
Team15:BK Ogre
Years16:2019
Team16:Saratov Avtodor
Years17:2019–2020
Team17:BK Ogre
Years18:2020–2021
Team18:BC Šiauliai
Years19:2021–2022
Team19:Lietkabelis Panevėžys
Years20:2022
Team20:Juventus Utena
Years21:2022–2023
Team21:SIG Strasbourg
Years22:2023
Team22:New Taipei CTBC DEA
Years23:2023
Team23:Rīgas Zeļli
Years24:2023–present
Team24:Real Betis
Highlights:

Kaspars Bērziņš (born 25 August 1985)[1] is a Latvian professional basketball player. He has also represented the senior Latvian national team.

Professional career

Kaspars started playing basketball in his hometown of Ogre. Later, he played for Skonto Riga, debuting in the 2002–2003 season. His role increased in 2003–2004, when he averaged 7.3 points and 3.3 rebounds for Skonto in the LBL and 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in the FIBA Europe League, now known as the FIBA EuroCup. In both of those seasons, Bērziņš played together with Andris Biedriņš. In 2004, both of them left Skonto. Biedriņš was drafted in the NBA by the Golden State Warriors, while Bērziņš moved to Spain, where he joined Unicaja Málaga. He briefly played for Unicaja's first team, where he competed in one game in the ACB league, scoring two points, but most of his season was spent with the junior team in the EBA, Spain's second division.

For the 2004–2005 season, Bērziņš moved back to Latvia, playing a big role for Skonto. He averaged 13.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 21.3 minutes in the LBL and 14.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in four EuroCup Challenge games. After Skonto disappeared, Bērziņš moved to ASK Rīga, where he played the 2005–2006 season. In the following off-season, Bērziņš signed with Barons LMT, where he played the next three seasons and won his first Latvian league title in 2008. During that season, Bērziņš won the FIBA EuroCup as well. 2008–2009 was his best season with Barons, when he was the team's top inside presence for most of the season, averaging 14.0 points, 8.rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 28 games of domestic competition.[2]

In July 2009, Bērziņš participated in the NBA Summer League, playing for the Phoenix Suns.[3] After playing for Phoenix in the Summer League competition, Bērziņš signed a contract with Spain's ACB League club Fuenlabrada.[4] Later, he also played for Cáceres Ciudad del Baloncesto, but in July 2010, he signed a two-year contract with VEF Rīga.[5] He re-signed with VEF Rīga for three more years in 2012.[6]

In February 2014, he went back to Spain and signed with Río Natura Monbús for the rest of the 2013–14 ACB season.[7]

On 21 August 2014, Bērziņš signed with Russian club Krasnye Krylia for the 2014–15 season.[8] On 16 June 2015, he signed with Nizhny Novgorod.[9] In January 2016, he left Nizhny and signed with Zenit Saint Petersburg for the rest of the season.[10] For the 2016–17 season, Bērziņš started with Latvian club Ogre/Kumho Tyre, but in January 2017 he returned to Russia and signed with Lokomotiv Kuban for the rest of the season.[11]

On February 21, 2023, Bērziņš signed with New Taipei CTBC DEA of the T1 League.[12]

Latvia national team

Kaspars Bērziņš averaged 16.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks for Latvia at the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.

Bērziņš has been a regular member of the Latvia national team.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kaspars Berzins Draft 2007 Profile . NBA.com . 2010-04-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121108182852/http://www.nba.com/draft2007/profiles/KasparsBerzins.html . 2012-11-08 . dead .
  2. http://www1.basket.lv/lbl/speletaji/kaspars_berzins Player profile at basket.lv
  3. Web site: Phoenix Suns Summer League roster 2009 . 2012-09-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140222070659/http://www.nba.com/summerleague2009/team/index.jsp?team=suns . 2014-02-22 . dead .
  4. http://www.baloncestofuenlabrada.com/?se=noticia&n=586 baloncestofuenlabrada.com
  5. Web site: VEF RIGA tabs Kaspars Berzins . 2012-09-21 . https://archive.today/20130827001507/http://pre.euroleague.net/eurocup/home/transactions/eurocup-2010-11/i/74012/4674/vef-riga-tabs-kaspars-berzins . 2013-08-27 . dead .
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20120827005546/http://www.eurocupbasketball.com/eurocup/home/transactions/eurocup-2012-13/i/99057/7363/vef-riga-re-signs-berzins-through-2015 VEF RIGA re-signs Berzins through 2015
  7. http://www.acb.com/redaccion.php?id=101371 Río Natura Monbús adds Kaspars Berzins
  8. http://www.sportando.com/en/europe/russia/132111/kaspars-berzins-and-scottie-reynolds-sign-with-krasnye-krylya-samara.html Kaspars Berzins and Scottie Reynolds sign with Krasnye Krylya Samara
  9. http://www.sportando.com/en/europe/russia/164172/kaspars-berzins-moves-to-nizhny-novgorod.html Kaspars Berzins moves to Nizhny Novgorod
  10. http://www.sportando.com/en/europe/russia/187974/kaspars-berzins-signing-with-zenit-st-petersburg.html Kaspars Berzins signing with Zenit St. Petersburg
  11. http://www.sportando.com/en/europe/russia/224025/lokomotiv-kuban-signs-kaspars-berzins.html Lokomotiv Kuban signs Kaspars Berzins
  12. News: 7呎歐陸長人加盟特攻!光哥:兼具外線投射能力 . February 21, 2023 . ETtoday . February 21, 2023.