page_title: BC Neptūnas
section_title: First sparks in the LKL playoffs (2000–2012)
hierarchical_section_title: BC Neptūnas / History / First sparks in the LKL playoffs (2000–2012)
caption_attribution_description: Lietuvių: Tomas Delininkaitis, Nacionalinės vyrų krepšinio rinktinės susitikimo Mažeikiuose metu 2009 m. liepos 31 d.
context_page_description: Basketball Club Neptūnas, commonly known as Neptūnas or Neptūnas Klaipėda, is a Lithuanian professional basketball team based in Klaipėda, Lithuania. The club participates in the Lithuanian Basketball League and internationally in the Champions League. It was founded in 1962 under the name BC Maistas and in 1964, BC Maistas's name was changed to BC Neptūnas. The club carries the name of the Roman sea god Neptune. Neptūnas participated in the 2014–15 EuroLeague season and is only the third Lithuanian club to participate in the premier European basketball league, after Žalgiris and Rytas.
context_section_description: After the 1999–2000 season, Neptūnas became a constant LKL playoffs participant, though at first they were unable to overcome the quarter-finals barrier. During the 2000–2001 LKL season, Neptūnas, led by one of the LKL's best scorer and playmaker Vidas Ginevičius (19.59 points, 4.32 assists per game), finished in a desired 3rd seed during the regular season, but was shockingly eliminated 0–2 by the Alita Alytus in the quarter-final. During the following 2001–2002 LKL season, Neptūnas triumphed just 10 times per 32 games, but that was enough to qualify for the LKL playoffs as the 8th seed, although they were quickly wiped out 0–2 by an uprising Lithuanian powerhouse Lietuvos rytas Vilnius, led by young and hungry Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Robertas Javtokas, Simas Jasaitis, Rimantas Kaukėnas and a former Neptūnas player Arvydas Macijauskas. The 2002–2003 LKL season was only slightly different; this time the Neptūnas squad finished 6th in the regular season, but yet again was smashed 0–2 in the quarter-final by BC Šiauliai, in spite of all of Tomas Delininkaitis's efforts. In the 2003–2004 season, Neptūnas reached the all-time bottom by winning just 6 times per 36 games and finishing last in the league (10th), including an absolutely disastrous 22 game losing streak.
  The 2004–2005 season was a bit more positive page in the club's history. During it, Neptūnas finished 4th during the regular LKL season and advanced to the TOP 5 teams of the league group, however Neptūnas was once again eliminated by BC Šiauliai in the knockout stage 1–2 and finished 5th in the final rankings. During the 2005 LKL All-Star Day, Petras Šalvis won the club's third LKL Three-point Shootout title. The team also participated in the Baltic Basketball League Elite Division for the first time as well, finishing 5th. Neptūnas slightly regressed again in the following 2005–2006 season, finishing 6th during the regular LKL season and, as previously, lost the first round of the LKL playoffs to BC Šiauliai 0–2 and finished only 10th in the BBL, with the only consolations being the club's fourth LKL Three-point Shootout title captured by Marius Kasiulevičius and the club's first-ever LKL Slam Dunk Contest champion title by Antonio Grant.
  In the 2006–2007 season, Neptūnas finished 3rd during the regular LKL season for the second time in the club's history. Furthermore, they also finally sailed through the quarter-final stage of the LKL playoffs by overcoming the Nevėžis Kėdainiai 2–0. But Neptūnas' journey was again stopped by Lietuvos rytas at semi-finals 0–2, and Neptūnas qualified for their first historical LKL bronze final. The aspiration for the first-ever LKL medal was crushed by gallingly losing the series 0–3 to BC Šiauliai, with two home games being lost by just three and two points. In BBL, the team finished 2 places lower than in the previous season (12th).
  Before the 2007–2008 season, Neptūnas signed with 19-year-old Deividas Gailius, who would soon lead Neptūnas during some of the club's most historic moments. However that season the team did not have much luck on the court. They ended up 5th during the regular LKL season and were once more eliminated in the quarter-final, this time by BC Alytus 1–2. The first series game, which could have made the series completely opposite, was dramatically lost by just three points in Alytus. Moreover, Neptūnas disappointingly finished only 16th in the BBL Elite Division. This was the club's worst and the last appearance in the elite division of the league.
  The first part of the 2008–2009 LKL season finished almost identically when the club finished as the 5th seed, however the playoffs were drastically different. Neptūnas overcame the LKL quarter-final for the second time in history, beating Nevėžis 2–1. And after losing the semi-final to Žalgiris 0–2, Neptūnas returned to the bronze final for another try where they yet again faced a long-term rival BC Šiauliai. Despite the militant efforts and the thirst for a long-awaited revenge, the series was lost 2–3 following another dramatic defeat of 73–80 in Šiauliai, wit
caption: Tomas Delininkaitis, a two-time medalist with the Lithuania national team, started his career in Neptūnas.
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