# Saulius Štombergas

Saulius Štombergas (born December 14, 1973) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player, basketball coach and businessman. Štombergas is one of the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, and he was also considered to be a great team leader, as he managed to play very well under pressure, and at the end of games. He was also known for his 3-point shooting ability.

## Professional career

Štombergas' club teams during his playing career, were, in the order in which he played for them: Atletas Kaunas, Vostok Shanghai (Chinese CBA), Žalgiris Kaunas, Kinder Bologna, TAU Cerámica Vitoria, Efes Pilsen Istanbul, Unics Kazan, and Ülker Istanbul. He holds the record in the EuroLeague, since the year 2000, for the most 3-point field goals made in a game, without a miss.

## National team career

Štombergas played for the senior men's Lithuanian national basketball team, from 1995 to 2004.
During the 11 years that he played as a Lithuanian international national team player, he played in 97 official games, and scored 1,036 points, for his home country. He won two bronze medals at the Summer Olympic Games, in 1996, and 2000. He also won a silver medal at the EuroBasket 1995, and as the captain of the senior national team, he won the gold medal of the same competition, in 2003. He was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
He also played at the EuroBasket 1997, the 1998 FIBA World Championship, the EuroBasket 1999, the EuroBasket 2001, and the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. He was the flag bearer for Team Lithuania, at the 2004 Olympics.

## Coaching career

After he retired from playing professional basketball, Štombergas began his career as a basketball coach in 2011. He worked as a head coach for BC Žalgiris-2 in the NKL, before joining BC Žalgiris as an assistant coach for the 2012-2013 season. He briefly served as head coach in the 2013-2014 season, before resigning in April after disappointing results.

## Career player statistics
### EuroLeague

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
| 2000–01 | TAU Cerámica | 22 | 20 | 27.2 | .520 | .512 | .827 | 2.4 | .7 | .9 | .2 | 12.0 | 10.5 |
| 2001–02 | Efes Pilsen | 20 | 19 | 27.3 | .493 | .487 | .770 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 1.6 | .1 | 11.6 | 10.1 |
| 2002–03 | Žalgiris | 14 | 13 | 30.0 | .475 | .415 | .886 | 4.1 | 1.3 | .6 | .1 | 13.6 | 12.1 |
| 2004–05 | Ülker | 22 | 22 | 29.5 | .405 | .299 | .838 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 1.3 | .1 | 10.3 | 7.9 |
| Career | Career | 78 | 74 | 28.5 | .469 | .420 | .825 | 3.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | .1 | 11.7 | 10.0 |

## Awards and honors
### Pro clubs

* 5× Lithuanian All-Star Game: 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003
* Lithuanian All-Star Game MVP: 1995
* FIBA Saporta Cup Champion: 1998
* FIBA Saporta Cup Finals MVP: 1998
* FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer: 1998
* 3× Lithuanian League Champion: 1998, 1999, 2003
* FIBA EuroStar: 1998
* North European League Champion: 1999
* EuroLeague champion: 1999
* Spanish League All-Star Game: 2001
* 2× Turkish Cup Winner: 2002, 2005
* Turkish League Champion: 2002
* FIBA Europe League (FIBA EuroChallenge) All-Star: 2004
* FIBA Europe League (FIBA EuroChallenge) Champion: 2004
* Turkish Super Cup Winner: 2004
* Turkish League All-Star Game: 2005

### Lithuanian senior national team

* 1995 EuroBasket: Silver
* 1996 Summer Olympic Games: Bronze
* 1998 Goodwill Games: Bronze
* 2000 Summer Olympic Games: Bronze
* 2003 EuroBasket: Gold
* 2003 EuroBasket: All-Tournament Team