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| Position | Center |
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| Nickname | Z, Big Z, The Lethal Lithuanian, The Man-Monster |
| Height | 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) |
| Weight | 260 lb (118 kg) |
| Team | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Nationality | Lithuania |
| Born | June 5 1975 Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union  |
| Draft | 20th overall, 1996 Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Pro career | 1994–present |
| Former teams | Atletas Kaunas (1994–96) |
| Awards | Two-time NBA All-Star 1997-98 Schick All-Rookie First Team 1998 Schick Rookie Game MVP |
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas (pronunciation ) (born June 5, 1975 in Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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Pre NBA
Ilgauskas (nicknamed Z (pronounced Zee) played for his home club team Atletas Kaunas for two years (1994-1996).
NBA Draft
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas was drafted 20th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1996.
Injury Plagued Years
Ilgauskas quickly made his mark as a very good center, but also injury-prone; he was plagued by foot troubles in his early seasons. Ilgauskas missed 287 games in his first six seasons: All of the 1996-97 and 1999-2000 seasons, all but five games in the 1998-99 season, all but 24 games in the 2000-01 season, and 19 games in the 2001-02 season.
The Glory Years
In recent years, however, his injuries have subsided, and he has missed only six games from 2002 to 2005. In three full seasons and parts of three others, Ilgauskas has averaged 14.4 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 1.8 BPG in 28.3 minutes per game over 335 games, 295 of them starts. His career high for points in a game is 35, a total he has recorded multiple times.
Player profile
Ilgauskas stands 7' 3", making him currently the second-tallest NBA player, after the Houston Rockets' Yao Ming[1], and he weighs 260 pounds. Ilgauskas has established himself as a consistent but not spectacular scorer, scoring 15.0 ppg over his career thus far. Ilgauskas is a good rebounder (7.7 rpg, 3.2 offensive) and a decent shot-blocker (1.9 blocks per game). His assists-per-game average was at its highest at 1.6 during the 2002-2003 season. His defense, with the exception of his ability to block shots, is considered his weakness. Despite this criticism under coach Mike Brown, Ilgauskas has managed to improve his defense.
Accomplishments and Honors
- NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1998
- 1998: Named MVP of the NBA Rookie game at the All-Star break, becoming the first European player in history to earn the honor.
- 2003 All-Star for the East
- 2005 All-Star for the East
- 2007 NBA Eastern Conference Champions with the Cavaliers
- Ranked 7 in top 10 players on defense in the 2006-2007 season by 82games[2]
Personal life
Ilgauskas is an active member of the community in Cleveland. He and other teammates often visit sick children at the Cleveland Clinic, and he donates signed shoes, basketballs and other paraphernalia to good causes. On February 14, 2007 Ilgauskas' wife Jennifer went into early labor and delivered stillborn twins, a boy and a girl. Ilgauskas called it the toughest thing he had ever experienced.[3]
External links
Notes
- ^ http://www.nba.com/news/survey_height_2006.html
- ^ http://www.82games.com/nichols2.htm
- ^ Ilgauskas returns to Cavs after family loss. NBCSports.com (2007-02-25). Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
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| First Round Allen Iverson • Marcus Camby • Shareef Abdur-Rahim • Stephon Marbury • Ray Allen • Antoine Walker • Lorenzen Wright • Kerry Kittles • Samaki Walker • Erick Dampier • Todd Fuller • Vitaly Potapenko • Kobe Bryant • Predrag Stojaković • Steve Nash • Tony Delk • Jermaine O'Neal • John Wallace • Walter McCarty • Zydrunas Ilgauskas • Dontae Jones • Roy Rogers • Efthimios Rentzias • Derek Fisher • Martin Müürsepp • Jerome Williams • Brian Evans • Priest Lauderdale • Travis Knight |
| Second Round Othella Harrington • Mark Hendrickson • Ryan Minor • Moochie Norris • Shawn Harvey • Joseph Blair • Doron Sheffer • Jeff McInnis • Steve Hamer • Russ Millard • Marcus Mann • Jason Sasser • Randy Livingston • Ben Davis • Malik Rose • Joe Vogel • Marcus Brown • Ron Riley • Jamie Feick • Amal McCaskill • Terrell Bell • Chris Robinson • Mark Pope • Jeff Nordgaard • Shandon Anderson • Ronnie Henderson • Reggie Geary • Drew Barry • Darnell Robinson |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ilgauskas, Žydrūnas |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ilgauskas, Zydrunas |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | NBA Cleveland Cavalier basketball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 5, 1975 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
