Kristjan Kangur

Kristjan Kangur

Kangur playing for Estonia in 2006
Pallacanestro Varese
Position Small forward / Power forward
League Lega Basket Serie A
Personal information
Born (1982-10-23) 23 October 1982
Pärnu, Estonia
Nationality Estonian
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 238 lb (108 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2004 / Undrafted
Playing career 2000–present
Career history
2000–2004 Tallinna Kalev
2004–2006 Bayer Giants Leverkusen
2006–2009 Kalev/Cramo
2009–2010 ASVEL Basket
2010 Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna
2010–2012 Pallacanestro Varese
2012–2013 Montepaschi Siena
2013–2014 Emporio Armani Milano
2014–2015 Pallacanestro Varese
2015 Laboral Kutxa Baskonia
2015–present Pallacanestro Varese
Career highlights and awards

Kristjan Kangur (born 23 October 1982) is an Estonian professional basketball player who last played for Pallacanestro Varese of the Lega Basket Serie A. He is 2.02 m (6 ft 7½ in) tall, 100 kg (220 lbs.), and he can play at both the small forward and power forward positions.

Professional career

Estonia and Germany

Kangur started his professional career in 2000, when he signed with Tallinna Kalev. He stayed with the team for the next three years winning the Estonian Championship titles in 2002 and 2003. He also won the Estonian Cup in 2001. Despite his young age Kangur was one of the top performers in the Estonian league averaging 11.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in the 2002–03 season and 15.7 points and 6.2 rebounds in the 2003–04 season. His performances earned him his first foreign contract in 2004 when he signed with Bayer Giants Leverkusen of the German Bundesliga where he spent the next two seasons.

After two years in Germany he returned to Estonia and signed with Kalev/Cramo.[1] He stayed with the team until the end of the 2008–09 season winning three Estonian Cups and one Estonian Championship. Kangur was a solid leader for Kalev during those three seasons. He averaged 11.4 points and 4.9 rebounds in the 2009 play-offs and was awarded the MVP of Estonian League Finals in the same year.[2]

France

In July 2009 Kangur signed a deal with French Pro A top team ASVEL Basket.[3] He averaged 5.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in his debut season of the Euroleague as well as 5.1 points and 2.0 rebounds in Pro A. Though Kangur won the French Supercup and Semaine des As with ASVEL, the season was a disappointment to the team as they narrowly missed out the Euroleague Top 16 phase and didn't reach to the playoffs of their domestic league.

Italy

Kangur signed with Italian top team Virtus Bologna just before the Italian league play-offs in May 2010.[4] He played five games for the Bologna team averaging 7.6 points with a field goal percentage of 90% on two-pointers and 100% on three-pointers.[5] For the 2010–11 season Kangur signed with Pallacanestro Varese.[6] He was one of the top players in the team averaging 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in 32 games. In July 2011 Kangur signed a three-year deal with Italian powerhouse Montepaschi Siena but was loaned to Varese for the 2011–2012 season.[7][8] In his second year in Varese he posted similar numbers with 10.9 points and 5.2 rebounds in 36 games and earned himself a place in Siena's roster.

During his tenure with Siena Kangur won both the Italian Cup and the Italian League and also reached to the Top 16 phase of the Euroleague. He showed high quality game on both sides of the court by being one of the top defensive players in the team and also hitting 23 three-pointers with 56.1% accuracy in the Euroleague Regular Season.

On 3 September 2013, he signed with Emporio Armani Milano.[9] At Milan he was reunited with coach Luca Banchi who coached him last season at Siena, and also with fellow player David Moss with whom he played together in Siena and Bologna. On 21 October, Kangur had a back surgery in Milan which forced him off the court for almost two months. He played his first official game for Milano on 16 December against Victoria Libertas Pesaro in the Italian League. Kangur helped Milano to reach the 2013–14 Euroleague Quarter-finals where they lost to eventual champions Maccabi Tel Aviv. Kangur and Olimpia finished the season with the Italian title by defeating Montepaschi Siena thus ending Siena's seven-year winning streak at the Italian Championships. This was Milano's 26th domestic title and their first title since 1996.

On 11 August 2014, he returned after two years to Pallacanestro Varese.[10] In november 2014 Kangur had a second back surgery and wasn't able to play until January 2015. All in all the season was a dissapintment for Kangur and the hole Varese team as they finished 11th in the Italian League.

Spain

On 11 October 2015, Kangur signed a two months deal with the Spanish team Laboral Kutxa Baskonia to replace injured Tornike Shengelia.[11] Kangur was released from the team after his contract expired on 22 November.[12] He represented Baskonia in six Euroleague games averaging 2,0 points and 1,8 rebounds and in three ACB games averaging 3,7 points and 3,3 rebounds.

Estonian national team

Kangur represented Estonia for the first time in youth level at the 2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship Qualifying Round. In his first game he was the top scorer for Estonia with 18 points in 23 minutes against Denmark.[13] Kangur also played at the 2003 Summer Universiade.[14]

He made his debut for the Estonia national basketball team on 20 November 2002 at the age of 20. He scored 4 points in 8 minutes during EuroBasket 2003 Qualification Semi-Final Round game against Belarus.[15] Since then he has been a certain selection for the national team representing Estonia at the 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2015 EuroBasket qualification tournaments. His national team career high score is 26 points against Iceland in autumn 2012, during the EuroBasket 2013 qualification.[16] Since 2011 Kangur has been the captain of the Estonian national team.

On 1 September 2013, Kangur and the Estonian national team gained a spot for the 2015 European Championships by beating Bulgaria in a two-legged final of the EuroBasket 2015 First Qualification Round.[17] In September 2015 Estonia made its fifth appearance at the EuroBasket final tournament and the first since 2001. Kangur was the captain of the national team and played in all five games during the group stage averaging 7.4 points and 3.2 rebounds.[18] Estonia won one game in Group D and was eliminated after the group stage.

Honors

Club

Tallinna Kalev
Kalev/Cramo
ASVEL Basket
Montepaschi Siena
Emporio Armani Milano

Individual

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The Euroleague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2009–10 ASVEL 10 0 14.8 .600 .667 .833 2.0 .7 .1 .1 5.9 4.9
2012–13 Montepaschi Siena 24 13 23.8 .450 .418 .833 3.5 1.3 .7 .2 8.6 8.5
2013–14 EA7 Milano 17 0 16.8 .375 .368 1.000 1.9 .6 .4 .2 3.9 2.8
2015–16 Laboral Kutxa 6 0 12.9 .444 .333 .500 1.8 .8 .0 .0 2.0 1.8
Career 57 13 18.9 .451 .424 .829 2.6 .9 .4 .1 6.0 5.5

Estonia national team

Tournament National Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002 U-20 European Championship Qualification Estonia U-20 5 18.4 .469 .167 .286 4.0 .6 .4 .0 6.6
EuroBasket 2003 Qualification Estonia 4 11.5 .583 1.000 .333 1.8 .5 .2 .0 4.2
EuroBasket 2005 Additional Qualifying Round Estonia 4 26.5 .500 .143 .538 5.2 1.2 1.0 .2 9.5
EuroBasket 2007 Qualification Estonia 6 23.3 .273 .072 .435 5.5 .8 .8 .6 5.8
EuroBasket 2007 Additional Qualifying Round Estonia 4 28.2 .379 .500 .600 7.2 .7 .5 1.0 8.5
EuroBasket 2009 Qualification Estonia 6 32.3 .428 .529 .733 7.8 2.8 .6 .3 12.2
EuroBasket 2009 Qualification Relegation Round Estonia 6 30.3 .377 .214 .670 7.5 2.2 1.6 .0 12.0
EuroBasket 2011 Division B Estonia 6 26.6 .377 .304 .455 7.8 2.2 1.0 .5 10.5
EuroBasket 2013 Qualification Estonia 10 26.8 .495 .347 .857 5.0 2.7 1.0 .3 13.3
EuroBasket 2015 First Qualification Round Estonia 6 25.3 .319 .150 .818 7.2 1.0 1.7 .0 7.0
EuroBasket 2015 Estonia 5 23.4 .344 .385 .909 3.2 1.0 .7 .0 7.4

References

  1. ↑ "BC Kalev/Cramo esitles uusi mängijaid ja hooaja plaane". SPORT.ERR.EE (02.08.2006). Retrieved on 21.02.2010 (Estonian)
  2. ↑ "SEB KML: Season 2008–2009". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved on 21.02.2010
  3. ↑ "Asvel Basket adds Kristjan Kangur, Thomas Heurtel". Euroleague Basketball (22.07.2009). Retrieved on 27.07.2009
  4. ↑ "Kristjan Kangur joins Virtus Bologna". Eurobasket.com (17.05.2010). Retrieved on 18.05.2010
  5. ↑ "Kristjan Kangur". Legabasket. Retrieved on 04.06.2010 (Italian)
  6. ↑ "KANGUR PRIMO ACQUISTO DELLA NUOVA STAGIONE". pallacanestrovarese.it (09.07.2010) Retrieved on 15.06.2011 (Italian)
  7. ↑ "Kristjan Kangur allkirjastas Euroopa tippklubiga pika lepingu!". Eesti Korvpalliliit (29.07.2011). Retrieved on 29.07.2011 (Estonian)
  8. ↑ "KRISTJAN KANGUR ANCORA BIANCOROSSO". pallacanestrovarese.it (29.07.2011). Retrieved on 29.07.2011 (Italian)
  9. ↑ "EA7 MILAN signs Kangur at forward". Euroleague Basketball (03.09.2013). Retrieved on 03.09.2013
  10. ↑ "Pallacanestro Varese signs Kristjan Kangur". Sportando.com. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
  11. ↑ "Kristjan Kangur, nuevo refuerzo temporal baskonista". baskonia.com (in Spanish). October 11, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Kristjan Kangur finaliza su estancia en Vitoria". baskonia.com (in Spanish). 22 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Denmark – Estonia | European Championship for Young Men 2002 | FIBA Europe" FIBA Europe. Retrieved on 09.08.2011
  14. ↑ "Sports 123: Basketball: Universiade 2003: Men" Sports 123. Retrieved on 09.08.2011
  15. ↑ "Belarus – Estonia | European Championship for Men 2003 | FIBA Europe" FIBA Europe. Retrieved on 09.08.2011
  16. ↑ "Iceland – Estonia | EuroBasket 2013" EuroBasket 2013. Retrieved on 17.09.2012
  17. ↑ "Estonia Book Flight to Ukraine | EuroBasket 2015 | FIBA Europe" FIBA Europe. Retrieved on 04.09.2013
  18. ↑ "Kristjan Kangur | EuroBasket 2015" FIBA Europe. Retrieved on 11.09.2015

External links

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