Siim-Sander Vene (born 12 November 1990) is an Estonian 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 ...

player for

Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski, also known as Tasomix Rosiek Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Ostrów Wielkopolski. They play in the Polish Basketball League (PLK) since its promotio ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

(PLK). Standing at 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in), he plays both the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

and

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

positions. Vene represents the Estonian national basketball team internationally, and was named

Estonian Basketball Player of the Year The Estonian Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the best performing Estonian basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketba ...

in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Professional career

Vene began playing basketball with Siili Palliklubi and TTÜ. In 2006, Vene moved to Lithuania and joined Žalgiris' junior team Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school. With Žalgiris, Vene won the

Nike International Junior Tournament The Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament is an international boy's youth age basketball tournament that is contested between the best basketball clubs in Europe in the Under-18 age category. The tournament is organized by Euroleague B ...

in 2007 and the Nacionalinė krepšinio lyga (NKL) in 2008. Vene was loaned to Kaunas Triobet of the

Lietuvos krepšinio lyga Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL; ), also known as Betsafe LKL for sponsorship reasons, is the premier men's professional club basketball league in Lithuania. It is composed of 10 teams, and it is a member of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. ...

(LKL) for the 2008–09 season. In the

2009–10 Euroleague The 2009–10 Euroleague was the 10th season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is borde ...

, Vene averaged 2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. In October 2010, Vene was loaned to

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

, and in December 2010, to

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a Cities of Germany, city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg (district), Lu ...

of the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

(BBL). In 2011, Vene joined Baltai (former Kaunas) on loan from Žalgiris. In February 2012, he was loaned to VEF Rīga of the

Latvijas Basketbola Līga The Latvian Basketball League (LBL; ) also known as the '' Pafbet'' LBL for sponsorship reasons, is the top-level national basketball championship in Latvia composed of 6 teams. Since 2018/19, only the playoff matches are played, as the top Latvi ...

(LBL). On 27 September 2012, Vene was loaned to

Prienai Prienai () is a city in Lithuania situated on the Nemunas River, south of Kaunas. In 2023, the city had 8,894 inhabitants. The name of the city is a derivative from the surname ''Prienas''. Pociūnai Airport is associated with the city. Histor ...

. Prienai finished the 2012–13 season in fourth place. In July 2013, Vene returned to Žalgiris. In the

2013–14 Euroleague The 2013–14 Turkish Airlines Euroleague was the 14th season of the modern era of Euroleague Basketball and the fourth under the title sponsorship of the Turkish Airlines. Including the competition's previous incarnation as the FIBA Europe Champi ...

, Vene averaged 3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game, as Žalgiris reached Top 16. Vene won his first Lithuanian Championship in the 2013–14 season, after defeating Neptūnas 4 games to 2 in the finals. In the 2014–15 season, Vene averaged 3.4 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game in the Euroleague and won his second Lithuanian Championship, after Žalgiris defeated league 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 ...

4–0 in the finals. In the

2015–16 Euroleague The 2015–16 Turkish Airlines Euroleague was the 16th season of the modern era of Euroleague Basketball and the sixth under the title sponsorship of the Turkish Airlines. Including the competition's previous incarnation as the FIBA Europe Champi ...

, Žalgiris once again reached Top 16, but failed to advance to the playoffs with a 2–12 record. Vene averaged 3.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He won his third consecutive Lithuanian Championship in the 2015–16 season, after Žalgiris defeated Neptūnas in the finals. On 8 August 2016, Vene signed with

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. He was named

in 2017. On 16 August 2017, Vene signed with Reggiana of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

(LBA). On 29 September, he was sidelined for three months due to a leg injury and didn't play any games for Reggiana. On 4 January 2018, it was announced that Vene will sign for LBA club

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. On 21 June 2018, he was named Estonian Basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. On September 5, 2018, Vene signed a six-week deal with

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain. Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...

of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

as a replacement for the injured

Justin Doellman Justin Joseph Doellman (born 3 February 1985) is an American-born naturalized Kosovan former professional basketball player. Standing at , he played at the power forward position. College career Doellman played four years of Division I college b ...

. He was released from the team when his contract ended. He signed with another Liga ACB team

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

in December 2018. Only a week later Vene moved to another Liga ACB team

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

after making use of his opt-out for signing with a

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 ...

team. On July 1, 2019 he signed contract with

of the LBA. He returns to Varese after a season with three different Spanish teams. On May 24, 2020 Vene signed a contract with

, making a return to the Spanish club where he had already a stint in 2018. On September 28, 2021, he signed a 2-month contract with

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

of the

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

. On January 4, 2022, he signed with

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

of the Italian

(LBA). On August 9, 2022, he signed with

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's lead ...

of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

. While on the team, Vene played a significant role particularly in a number of clutch wins, including over

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

, and over

Lenovo Tenerife Club Cantera Base 1939 Canarias S.A.D., commonly known as CB Canarias and known as La Laguna Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Domestically, the team plays in the top- ...

in the semi-finals of the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

Final Four.

National team career

Vene was a member of the Estonian national under-18 basketball team that competed at the

2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Spain in 2007. Final ranking 1. 2. Greece 3. Latvia 4. Lithuania 5. Spain 6. France 7. Croatia 8. Turkey 9. Germany 10. Russia ...

and finished the tournament in 12th place. Vene averaged 12.1 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist per game. As a member of the senior Estonian national team, Vene competed at the

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 ...

, averaging 10 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Estonia finished the tournament in 20th place. Vene was named the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Estonian national team in 2020 ahead of the

EuroBasket 2021 qualification The EuroBasket 2022 qualification was a basketball competition that was played from November 2017 to February 2021, to determine the 20 FIBA Europe nations who would join the automatically qualified co-hosts Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, and G ...

games.

Personal life

Vene's father, Priit, and mother, Lea, were both basketballers. His father is now a basketball coach. Vene's younger brother, Kent-Kaarel, is also a professional basketball player.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 6 , , 0 , , 10.9 , , .417 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , .0 , , .2 , , 2.0 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 5 , , 0 , , 13.7 , , .462 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , 2.6 , , .6 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.0 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 14 , , 0 , , 9.2 , , .450 , , .438 , , .714 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .5 , , .0 , , 3.4 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 20 , , 1 , , 12.1 , , .491 , , .300 , , .833 , , 1.6 , , .7 , , .4 , , .2 , , 3.3 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 4 , , 15.0, , .478 , , .389 , , .842 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .5 , , .0 , , 6.8 , , 5.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" , Career , 63 , , 5 , , 11.2 , , .471 , , .357 , , .789 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.2 , , 2.8

Domestic leagues

Estonia national team

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2005 , style="text-align:left;", 2005 U-16 European Championship Division B , style="text-align:left;", Estonia U-16 , 6 , , 4 , , 28.0 , , .448 , , .444 , , .583 , , 5.2 , , .0 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006 , style="text-align:left;", 2006 U-16 European Championship Division B , style="text-align:left;", Estonia U-16 , 9 , , 9 , , 34.3 , , .372 , , .328 , , .378 , , 9.6 , , 3.3 , , 2.8 , , 1.4 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2, 2007 , style="text-align:left;", 2007 U-18 European Championship , style="text-align:left;", Estonia U-18 , 8 , , 2 , , 26.5 , , .430 , , .333 , , .667 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007 U-20 European Championship Division B , style="text-align:left;", Estonia U-20 , 8 , , 0 , , 13.3 , , .300 , , .050 , , .500 , , 3.3 , , .3 , , .9 , , .0 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009 , style="text-align:left;", EuroBasket 2009 Qualification Relegation Round , style="text-align:left;",

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, 5 , , 0 , , 14.4 , , .400 , , .300 , , .500 , , 2.2 , , .2 , , .4 , , .8 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011 , style="text-align:left;", EuroBasket 2011 Division B , style="text-align:left;", Estonia , 3 , , 0 , , 7.7 , , .250 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .0 , , .7 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012 , style="text-align:left;", EuroBasket 2013 Qualification , style="text-align:left;", Estonia , 10 , , 1 , , 25.9 , , .551 , , .370 , , .571 , , 6.8 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .5 , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013 , style="text-align:left;", EuroBasket 2015 First Qualification Round , style="text-align:left;", Estonia , 4 , , 0 , , 21.3 , , .290 , , .286 , , .833 , , 3.3 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 1.5 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", Estonia , 5 , , 2 , , 23.2 , , .340 , , .100 , , .667 , , 6.4 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .2 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018 , style="text-align:left;", 2019 Basketball World Cup Qualification , style="text-align:left;", Estonia , 4 , , 4 , , 29.0 , , .490 , , .286 , , .750 , , 3.2 , , 2.2 , , 2.8 , , .0 , , 15.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020 , style="text-align:left;",

EuroBasket 2022 qualification The EuroBasket 2022 qualification was a basketball competition that was played from November 2017 to February 2021, to determine the 20 FIBA Europe nations who would join the automatically qualified co-hosts Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, and G ...

, style="text-align:left;", Estonia , 2 , , 2 , , 31.2 , , .542 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , 4.5 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .0 , , 18.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", 2023 Basketball World Cup Qualification , style="text-align:left;", Estonia , 7 , , , , 26.6 , , .262 , , .176 , , .857 , , 4.1 , , 2.3 , , .4 , , .1 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2022 , style="text-align:left;",

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

, style="text-align:left;", Estonia , 5 , , , , 21.1 , , .465 , , .400 , , .875 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .2 , , 11.4

Awards and accomplishments

Professional career

;Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school *

champion: 2007 * Lithuanian 2nd division champion: 2008 ;Žalgiris *3× Lithuanian League champion:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Baltic Basketball League Baltic Basketball League (BBL) was the Baltic states basketball league founded in 2004. The league mainly focused on teams from the Baltic states, but teams from Sweden, Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland, and Belarus Belarus, officially the Rep ...

champion:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Lithuanian Cup The Lithuanian Football Federation Cup (), also known as Hegelmann LFF Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian football cup competition contested in a knockout tournament format. The winner of the cup gains entitlement to participate in the ...

champion:

;VEF Rīga * Latvian League champion:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

;Prienai *

champion: 2013

Individual

: 2017, 2018, 2019

References

External links