ASK Riga

ASK Riga
Leagues	LBL Baltic League ULEB Eurocup
Founded	1929 (2005)
Dissolved	2009
Arena	Arena Riga (capacity: 12,500)
Location	Riga, Latvia
Team colors	White with Yellow-Gold stripes and Carolina Blue
President	Jānis Birks
Head coach	Donaldas Kairys
Championships	Latvian Championships: 1 Soviet League Championships: 3 Euroleague Championships: 3
Website	askriga.lv
Uniforms
Home Away

ASK Rīga is a former professional basketball club based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stands for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" (in English: Army Sports Club).

History

ASK, which stands for Army Sports Club, was the first European Cup winner in 1958 and managed to defend its title in 1959 and 1960. Only Split (1989–91) has been able to win three consecutive continental crowns since then. ASK won Academic Sofia in the 1958 and 1959 Euroleague two-way finals, and did the same with Dynamo Tblisi the following season. Gomelsky soon joined CSKA, which became the team to beat in Russian basketball, but Riga stayed competitive in the Soviet League until the early 1990s.

Years of obscurity followed, even though Riga was always represented by teams like BK Skonto, Barons/LMT or VEF Riga. BK Riga was re-founded in 2004 and it got back the name of ASK Riga on March 23, 2006, supported by the Riga City Council, the National Army Forces and some powerful sponsors, as well as the brand new Arena Riga, with room for 12,500 fans. The team made it to the both the Baltic League and the FIBA EuroCup quarterfinals, but the best was yet to come. The arrival of Torraye Braggs happened to be the key piece in a roster already featuring Sandis Valters, Raitis Grafs, Curtis Millage, A.J. Bramlett and Sandis Buškevics. ASK won the best-of-seven Latvian League finals 4-2 and started a new era, breaking BK Ventspils's seven-year dynasty. ASK hosted the ULEB Cup opening game last season, but a plague of injuries did not allow the team to reach the elimination rounds. This season ASK finished fourth in the Baltic League and won the bronze medals in the Latvian League. 2008/2009 was the last season of ASK Riga.

Honours

Domestic

Soviet League

• Winners (3): 1954-55, 1956-57, 1957-58

Latvian League

• Winners (1): 2006-07

European

Euroleague

• Winners (3): 1958, 1958-59, 1959-60
• Runners-up (1): 1960-61

Notable players

Jānis Krūmiņš Maigonis Valdmanis Valdis Muižnieks Alvils Gulbis Sandis Buškevics (28) Dairis Bertāns (45) Gatis Jahovičs (9) Kaspars Kambala (34) Roberts Štelmahers (7) Sandis Valters (10) Arnis Vecvagars (15) Uģis Viļums (7) Uvis Helmanis (4) Raitis Grafs (5) Ernests Kalve (11) Aigars Vītols (55)

Torraye Braggs (32) A. J. Bramlett (42) Corey L. Brewer (31) Dwayne Broyles (8) Ricardo Marsh (21) Curtis Millage (14) Aerick Sanders (34) Sean Colson (8)

Bruno Šundov (14) Martynas Andriukaitis (13) Steponas Babrauskas (11) Vytautas Danelius Romanas Brazdauskis Milutin Aleksić (7) Marko Antonijevic Darius Lukminas Smiljan Pavič Marius Runkauskas (10) Andrius Mazutis (12) Jaak Lipso Aivar Kuusmaa Rauno Pehka

• List of ASK Riga Players

Notable coaches

• Alexander Gomelsky
• Ramunas Butautas
• Karlis Lasmanis

External links

• Official Website (Latvian)
• ULEB Team Page
• FIBA Europe Team Page
• Baltic League Team Page
• Latvian League Team Page (Latvian)