Darius Maskoliūnas (born 6 January 1971) is a Lithuanian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, former player, and politician.

Early life

Maskoliūnas graduated from the first secondary school, in

Jonava Jonava () is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of . It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, north east of Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas International Airport. ''Achema'', t ...

Professional career

During his pro club playing career, Maskoliūnas won the championship of Europe's secondary level competition, the FIBA European Cup (FIBA Saporta Cup), in the 1997-98 season), and the championship of Europe's primary level competition, the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

, in the 1998-99 season. He won both championships while a member of the Lithuanian League (LKL) club Žalgiris Kaunas.

National team career

Maskoliūnas was a member of the senior Lithuanian national team that won the bronze medal at the

2000 Summer Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. With Lithuania, he also played at the

1997 EuroBasket The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a ber ...

, the 1998 FIBA World Cup, and the 1999 EuroBasket.

Coaching career

After his basketball playing career ended, Maskoliūnas started a career working as a

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

. During his coaching career, Maskoliūnas has been the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the Lithuanian League (LKL) club Žalgiris Kaunas. While at Žalgiris, he was replaced under controversy, as he was fired during the 2010 LKL Finals series, by the club's then owner, Vladimir Romanov. He has also worked as both an assistant and head coach with Žalgiris Kaunas' arch-rivals,

Lietuvos rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is ...

. He signed with Lietuvos Rytas the next season, and worked in the club first as an assistant; but he became the club's head coach in April 2011, after its then head coach Aleksandar Trifunović was fired. After the season, he once again became an assistant, that time to

Aleksandar Džikić Aleksandar Džikić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Џикић; born 23 March 1971) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and current head coach of Georgia men's national basketball team. Coaching career Early career KK Partizan youth syst ...

. In October 2012, after Džikić was fired, he became the team's head coach again, but he was then shockingly fired by Lietuvos rytas in March 2013.

Personal life

Darius Maskoliūnas has an old nickname "Švarcas", which he gained during his tenure with Kaunas Žalgiris as a player. When he joined Žalgiris, he was an extremely skinny

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

, and due to his second name Maskoliūnas, which is a little bit similar to the English word "Muscles", he got the nickname of "Švarcas" (

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

).Europos čempionato dienoraštis (6): apie Kalną, Delną ir kodėl tik J.Kazlauskas neturi pravardės
More recently, a growing number of online Lithuanian basketball community members have dubbed him ‘’makaluotojas’’ (Eng. one who beats or does something hurriedly, usually without much regard to quality) after his use of the word in an exhibition game to encourage his players to beat defenders with trick moves.

Awards and accomplishments

Club playing career

*7× Lithuanian Champion: (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) * FIBA European Cup (FIBA Saporta Cup) Champion: (1998) * North European League (NEBL) Champion: (1999) *

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

: (1999) *2×

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

Winner: (2000, 2001) *

Polish Supercup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been p ...

Winner: (2001) *2× Polish League (PLK) Champion: (2004, 2005)

Lithuanian senior national team

Coaching career

Assistant coach

*4× Lithuanian League (LKL)

: (2008, 2016, 2017, 2018) *2× Lithuanian King Mindaugas Cup Winner: (

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

) *

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

: *

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...

Head coach

* Baltic League (BBL) Champion: (2010)

References

External links

Euroleague.net Player ProfileEuroleague.net Coach Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maskoliunas, Darius 1971 births Living people 1998 FIBA World Championship players Arka Gdynia (basketball) players Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics BC Rytas coaches BC Žalgiris coaches BC Žalgiris players Ilysiakos B.C. players Lithuanian basketball coaches Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Greece Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Poland Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Spain Lithuanian men's basketball players Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players for Lithuania Olympic bronze medalists for Lithuania Olympic medalists in basketball People from Jonava Point guards Shooting guards Sportspeople from Jonava Basketball players from Kaunas County