Stepas Butautas

Stepas Butautas

Personal information
Born	(1925-08-25)25 August 1925 Kaunas, Lithuania
Died	22 March 2001(2001-03-22) (aged 75) Kaunas, Lithuania
Career information
Playing career	1944–1956
Number	4, 5, 14
Coaching career	1958–1970
Career history
As player:
1944	Dinamo Kaunas
1945	ASK Kaunas
1946	Dinamo Kaunas
1947–1956	Žalgiris Kaunas
As coach:
1955–1956	Lithuania women
1958–1964	Soviet Union women
1960–1966	Politechnika Kaunas women
1967–1968, 1970	Cuba
1975–1979	Žalgiris Kaunas
Career highlights and awards
As a player: FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) 2× Soviet League champion (1947, 1951) 6× Lithuanian SSR League champion (1945, 1950, 1952–1955)
Medals Men's Basketball Representing Soviet Union Summer Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki EuroBasket 1947 Czechoslovakia 1951 France 1953 USSR Head Coach Soviet Union FIBA Women's World Cup 1959 Soviet Union 1964 Peru EuroBasket Women 1958 Poland 1960 Bulgaria 1962 France 1964 Hungary Head Coach Cuba CentroBasket 1967 El Salvador

In a 1990s interview, Butautas shared his memories about the senior Soviet Union national team's rivalry with the senior USA national team, at the 1952 Summer Olympics, by stating: "We decided to play the second game very slowly, to hold onto the ball. In short, to let the Americans control the ball as little as possible. The American squad had tall players (2.10 m or 6'11", and 2.13 m or 7'0"). Their shortest player was like our tallest. I remember when we decided to play that slowly, our team supervisor said, That’s not the Soviet school system. We lost the first game playing with the Soviet school system, by almost 30 points.

In the second game, we decided to play the game slowly. The Americans were so scared, that at the 5th minute of the second quarter, when they took the lead, they themselves didn't try to score. They were holding onto the ball. The Americans wrote that the Soviets were using freeze out tactics, where you don't shoot until the last second, and that they were very close to victory. So close that the Americans had never previously been in a such situation".

Stepas Butautas

According to Butautas, possibly the most memorable moment during his tenure as the head coach of the Cuba men's national basketball team, was when: "Two black players were walking in front of me, a Cuban and a Puerto Rican. It was in El Salvador. The CentroBasket was taking place there. They were talking with each other. The Puerto Rican asked, Who is your coach? Is he Russian? The Cuban replied, Oh, no. He is Lithuanian. The Puerto Rican then said, What's the difference between a Russian and a Lithuanian? The Cuban then explained, Lithuanians have a completely different alphabet, they learn their own language. By the way, he also told him where Lithuania is located – near the Baltic Sea. I think it was one of my biggest achievements".

Stepas Butautas

Stepas Butautas (alternate spellings: Stiepas, Butaustas) (25 August 1925 – 22 March 2001 in Kaunas) was a Soviet and Lithuanian professional basketball player and coach. He trained at the VSS Žalgiris, in Kaunas. He played with the Soviet Union men's national basketball team at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games, where he won a silver medal. During the tournament, he played in all eight games.

He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991.

Playing career

Club playing career

Butautas started his career with Dinamo Kaunas in 1944. He then played with ASK Kaunas in 1945, before returning to Dinamo Kaunas in 1946. He played with Žalgiris Kaunas, from 1947 to 1956.

With Zalgiris, he won the USSR Premier Basketball League championship in 1947 and 1951. He also won 6 Lithuanian SSR championships (1945, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955).

National team playing career

Butautas was a member of the Soviet Union men's national basketball team, from 1947 to 1954. With the Soviet Union, he won gold medals at the EuroBasket 1947, the EuroBasket 1951, and the EuroBasket 1953. He also won a silver medal at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games.

Coaching career

Clubs

After he retired from playing basketball, Butautas began a career working as a basketball coach. On the club level, he was the head coach of Politechnika Kaunas women's team, from 1960 to 1966. He was then the head coach of Žalgiris Kaunas, from 1975 to 1979.

Soviet Union women's national team

Butautas was the head coach of the Soviet Union women's national basketball team, from 1958 to 1964. He led them to gold medals at the 1959 FIBA World Championship for Women, and the 1964 FIBA World Championship for Women. He also won gold medals at the EuroBasket Women 1960, the EuroBasket Women 1962, and the EuroBasket Women 1964. He also won the silver medal at the EuroBasket Women 1958.

Cuba national team

Butautas was also the head coach of the Cuba men's national basketball team, from 1967 to 1968, and in 1970. He coached Cuba at the 1967 CentroBasket, the 1968 Summer Olympic Games, and at the 1970 FIBA World Championship.

Managerial career

Butautas was the department head of the Lithuanian State Institute of Physical Education (now Lithuanian Sports University), from 1978 to 1985. He was the President of the Lithuanian SSR Basketball Federation, from 1959 to 1961. He was also the Chairman of the Lithuanian SSR Basketball Coaches Commission, from 1980 to 1989.

Personal life

His son, Ramūnas Butautas, was the head coach of the Lithuania men's national basketball team.

See also

• List of EuroBasket Women winning head coaches

External links

• FIBA Profile 1
• FIBA Profile 2
• Sports-Reference.com Profile