Kaspars Cipruss

Career: Broceni Riga (Latvia-LBL, 1997-99), Buki Gulbene (Latvia-LBL, 1999-2000), Telit Trieste (Italia-Lega, 2000-01), Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia-1A, 2001-02), Skonto Riga (Latvia-LBL, 2002-03), Azoty Tarnow (Poland-PLK, 2003), Huelva (Spain- Liga LEB, 2003-04), Caja San Fernado Sevilla (Spain- Liga ACB, 2004-06), Leche Rio Lugo (Spain-Liga LEB, 2006), BK Ventspils (Latvia-Baltic league & LBL, 2006-07).


"For every loose ball, Cipruss fights as if his life was on the line". This sentence was written about Cipruss in 2000 when he was clearly the best center playing in the U18 European Championship, averaging 15.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. The Rezekne native started playing basketball regularly late in life, which explains his lack of offensive moves and basketball IQ which he compensates for with his quickness and aggressiveness. Many coaches at different clubs took a chance on him, but it does not appear to have had much of an effect on his skill set. He had some solid games with the National Team, but was unable to secure a spot or a role in the roster. For this reason his impressive qualifying round for EuroBasket 2007 was a bit of a surprise but he has failed to follow up on that success on the club level, performing below expectations with Ventspils.