Rapla KK

Rapla KK, also known as Avis Utilitas Rapla for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Rapla, Estonia. The team plays in the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League. Their home arena is the Sadolin Sports Hall.

Avis Utilitas Rapla
LeaguesLatvian–Estonian Basketball League
Founded2004 (2004)
HistoryRapla KK
(2004–present)
ArenaSadolin Sports Hall
Capacity818[1]
LocationRapla, Estonia
Team colorsRed, White
   
PresidentJaak Karp
Head coachLluis Riera
Websiteraplakk.ee

History

In 1996, Korvpalliklubi Rapla (Basketball Club Rapla) was founded as a division of the Rapla Sports School. Rapla Korvpallikool (Rapla Basketball School) was formed in 2004.[2]

In 2010, Rapla moved to the new Sadolin Sports Hall and were promoted to the top-tier Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). Coached by Indrek Ruut, they finished the 2010–11 regular season in sixth place and reached the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by TTÜ/Kalev, losing the series 1 game to 3. In 2011, Rapla joined the Challenge Cup competition of the regional Baltic Basketball League (BBL) for the 2011–12 season, but failed to advance past the group stage. In 2012, Rapla reached the Estonian Cup final, but lost to Rakvere Tarvas 64–81.[3]

In 2014, Aivar Kuusmaa was hired as head coach. The team finished the 2014–15 regular season in third place. In the 2015 KML Playoffs, Rapla defeated Valga in the quarterfinals, but lost to Kalev and finished third after beating Rakvere Tarvas 2 games to 1 in the third place games. Rapla finished third again in the 2015–16. The team finished the 2016–17 regular season in third place with Thomas van der Mars being named Most Valuable Player (MVP). In the 2017 KML Playoffs, Rapla defeated Valga 3 games to 0 in the quarterfinals and University of Tartu 3 games to 1 in the semifinals, reaching the finals for the first time in their history, but lost the series to Kalev 0 games to 4.

Sponsorship naming

The team has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship:

  • Piimameister Otto/Rapla: 2010–2012
  • TYCO Rapla: 2012–2015
  • AVIS Rapla: 2015–2017
  • AVIS UTILITAS Rapla: 2017–present

Home arenas

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Avis Utilitas Rapla roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
SF 1 Vanags, Ričards Daniels 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 19 – (2002-12-29)29 December 2002
PG 2 Martin, Jaron 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 77 kg (170 lb) 27 – (1995-03-06)6 March 1995
PG 3 Kaldre, Tom 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 23 – (1998-06-27)27 June 1998
PG 5 Välb, Kaarel 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 73 kg (161 lb) 17 – (2004-09-12)12 September 2004
C 7 Wiggins, Demajeo 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 24 – (1997-08-10)10 August 1997
SG 8 Ruubel, Markus 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 20 – (2002-02-08)8 February 2002
SG 12 Kilk, Kardo 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 19 – (2003-02-03)3 February 2003
SF 13 Pärnapuu, Erik 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 19 – (2003-03-16)16 March 2003
PF 21 Tucker, Darryl 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 27 – (1995-04-10)10 April 1995
SG 35 Ojamäe, Marek 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 21 – (2001-01-18)18 January 2001
SG 40 Paasoja, Martin 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 29 – (1993-01-04)4 January 1993
PF 44 Helmanis, Arnolds 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 30 – (1992-02-08)8 February 1992
SF 45 Kaldre, Sven (C) 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 30 – (1991-10-31)31 October 1991
Head coach
  • Lluis Riera
Assistant coach(es)
  • Toomas Annuk
  • Allar-Raul Antson
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: 5 February 2022

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Demajeo Wiggins
PF Darryl Tucker Arnolds Helmanis
SF Sven Kadre Ričards Vanags Erik Pärnapuu
SG Markus Ruubel Martin Paasoja Kardo Kilk Marek Ojamäe
PG Jaron Martin Tom Kaldre Kaarel Välb

Coaches
  • Indrek Ruut 2010–2014
  • Aivar Kuusmaa 2014–2018
  • Toomas Annuk 2019–2021
  • Lluis Riera 2021–

Season by season
Season Tier Division Pos. W–L Estonian Cup Regional competitions
2008–09 3II liiga 1st 23–3
2009–10 2I liiga 2nd 16–8
2010–11 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 6th 14–22 Quarterfinalist
2011–12 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 4th 17–19 Quarterfinalist BBL Challenge CupRS2–8
2012–13 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 4th 18–19 Runners-up Baltic Basketball LeagueRS1–9
2013–14 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 7th 10–23 Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball LeagueRS3–9
2014–15 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 23–14 Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball LeagueT163–7
2015–16 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 24–16 Round of 16 Baltic Basketball LeagueT168–6
2016–17 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 2nd 23–15 Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball LeagueT168–6
2017–18 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 21–17 Baltic Basketball LeagueQF5–7
2018–19 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 6th 1–3 Latvian-Estonian LeagueQF13–17
2019–20 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 2nd [lower-alpha 1] Latvian-Estonian League5th12–12
2020–21 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 5–6 Latvian-Estonian League4th14–13
2021–22 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga Quarterfinalist Latvian-Estonian League9th12-14

Trophies and awards

Trophies

Estonian Championship

Estonian Cup

  • Runners-up (1): 2012

Individual awards

Notes
  1. League suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. "Sadolin Spordihoone" (in Estonian). Spordiregister.ee.
  2. "Ajalugu" (in Estonian). Rapla KK.
  3. "Tarvas võitis korvpalli Eesti karika" (in Estonian). Postimees Sport. 22 December 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.