Rīgas Zeļļi is Latvian professional basketball team that is based in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in the summer of 2023.[1]
| Rīgas Zeļļi | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Zeļļi | ||
| Leagues | Latvian–Estonian Basketball League | ||
| Founded | 2023 | ||
| Location | Riga, Latvia | ||
| President | Edgars Buļs | ||
| General manager | Artūrs Šēnhofs | ||
| Head coach | Juris Umbraško | ||
| Website | rigaszelli.lv | ||
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History
editOn July 13, 2023 it was announced that a new team named Rīgas Zeļļi will take part in Latvian-Estonian Basketball League, Latvian Basketball League and Latvian Basketball Cup. Its president is sports manager Edgars Buļs and former player Artūrs Šēnhofs is taking the role of a general manager. Previously, both worked together as hosts of a basketball show "Ūdenszeļļi" on television.
Club offers everyone to become its member by donating money, in return having a word in teams' decisions. It has also created a mobile app for a team to communicate with teams' management. It presents itself as the most innovative sports organizations in Latvia.[2]
On July 14, 2023 it was announced that the head coach of the team will be Juris Umbraško.[3]
On September 19, Andris Biedriņš, the first Latvian basketball player ever drafted in the NBA, joined the club as its ambassador.[4]
On September 30, 2023 Zeļļi played the first official game in a team's history beating Keila Coolbet in Arena Riga.[5]
The first foreign player signed by Zeļļi was Georgian forward George Natsvlishvili.[6] After the start of debut season Rīgas Zeļļi signed an American point guard Nigel Johnson.[7] Later he was replaced by Canadian shooting guard Isiah Osborne.[8]
On January 20, 2024, Rīgas Zeļļi announced that the team was joined by Aleksandrs Samoilovs, a two-time European silver medalist in Beach volleyball.[9] It was meant to be a marketing campaign and he actually played in only one game, scoring two points against Viimsi KK.[10]
On February 29, 2024 Rīgas Zeļļi signed a long-standing center of the Latvian national team Mārtiņš Meiers until the end of the season.[11] 10 days later team also signed Australian center Jordan Hunter.[12]
Players
editCurrent roster
edit| Rīgas Zeļļi roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: August 20, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Depth chart
edit| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench |
|---|---|---|
| C | ||
| PF | ||
| SF | ||
| SG | ||
| PG |
References
edit- ^ "Team profile". September 13, 2023.
- ^ "Par un ap komandas izveidi | "Rīgas Zeļļi" podkāsts EP. 1". 28 September 2023 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Debitanti "Rīgas Zeļļi" ar galveno treneri Umbraško paraksta trīs gadu līgumu". Sportacentrs.com. July 14, 2023.
- ^ Andris Biedriņš atgriežas basketbolā, kļūstot par "Rīgas Zeļļu" biedru un vēstnesi
- ^ "Results". www.estlatbl.com.
- ^ Official announcement on Rīgas Zeļļi Instagram account
- ^ 'Rīgas Zeļļi' pēc Skujas savainojuma piesaista amerikāni Džonsonu
- ^ "Rīgas Zeļļi" veic izmaiņas sastāvā – pievienojas Osborns, komandu atstāj Džonsons
- ^ "Zeļļi" nolūko papildinājumu: Samoilovs debitēs profesionālajā basketbolā
- ^ Box Score
- ^ Ilggadējais Latvijas izlases centrs pastiprina “Rīgas Zeļļu” groza apakšu
- ^ Kings centre Jordi Hunter has signed a short-term deal in Latvia
External links
edit- Official Rīgas Zeļļi Site (in Latvian)
- Rīgas Zeļļi estlatbl.com (in Latvian)
- Rīgas Zeļļi Eurobasket.com
- Rīgas Zeļļi basket.lv