Andris Biedriņš

Andris Biedriņš
Player information
birthday	2nd April 1986 (age 34)
place of birth	Riga , Latvian SSR , Soviet Union
size	213 cm
Weight	109 kg
position	center
NBA draft	2004 , 11th pick, Golden State Warriors
Clubs as active
2002–2004 BK Skonto Riga 2004–2013 Golden State Warriors 2013–2014 Utah Jazz
National team
000000000	Latvia

Andris Biedriņš (born April 2, 1986 in Riga , Latvian SSR , Soviet Union ) is a former Latvian basketball player who was last active for the Utah Jazz in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before that, he played for the Golden State Warriors for nine years . They had selected him in eleventh place in the 2004 NBA Draft .

Career

Europe

Biedriņš began his professional career in the 2002/03 season at the age of 16 with the Latvian top club BK Skonto Riga. He was soon able to secure a place in the rotation and ran in a total of 41 games in the Latvian league, in which he scored an average of 2.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.32 blocks. He also had an excellent hit rate of 59.8%. This was enough to be voted Newcomer of the Year in the Latvian League. In his second season he came to 28 league games in which he was able to increase his statistics significantly (18.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.86 blocks). He also ran in eleven games in the FIBA Europe League and came up with 18.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.82 blocks. He then signed up for the NBA Draft .

National Basketball Association

Biedriņš was selected in eleventh place in the 2004 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors . In his rookie season 2004/2005 he got very little playing time and often got into foul problems early on (3.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 2.9 fouls in 12.8 minutes in 30 missions). At the time, however, he was also the youngest player in the league. In his second year he was used in 68 games, but only scored 3.8 points, 4.2 rebounds in 14.1 minutes per game and was ridiculed for his weak free throw rate (30.6%). Due to his persistent foul problems - in 1000 minutes he committed 190 fouls - he had a difficult time with the fans and was called "The One Minute Man" because he allegedly could not play longer than 60 seconds without a foul. Biedriņš also hit the headlines when he was involved in a car accident on the way to a home game, in which his Porsche Cayenne suffered a total loss.

In his third year luck was on Biedriņš's side, because head coach Mike Montgomery was sacked and replaced by the former head coach of the Dallas Mavericks Don Nelson . After just five games, Nelson banished the previous starting center Adonal Foyle to the bench and replaced him with Biedriņš, whom he described as "the best Big Man I have". He thanked him with a first-class throw rate from the field of 62.1% (best in the NBA), as well as 10.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 28.9 minutes. The final breakthrough he then celebrated in November 2006 in a game against the title favorites San Antonio Spurs , which the Warriors won 119-111. In the direct duel against Tim Duncan , Biedriņš was slightly inferior on points (18 vs 22) and rebounds (15 vs 16), but came in six blocks of it three in a row in the third quarter against Tim Duncan. This season he also set his career bests in points (31 against Denver ), rebounds (18 against Charlotte ), assists (5 against Washington ), blocks (7 against Denver ) and steals (5 against the Los Angeles Lakers ). When he was voted Most Improved Player , he came in fifth, his teammate Monta Ellis won . The 2008-09 season was his statistically best. Biedriņš scored 11.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, hitting 57.8% from the field. The years that followed were marked by injuries, so that he could no longer build on his earlier achievements. His statistics worsened year by year. The 2012–13 was his worst and last with the Warriors. He only scored 0.5 points and grabbed 2.9 rebounds per game.

On July 10, 2013 he was transferred to the Utah Jazz together with Brandon Rush and Richard Jefferson . In Utah, too, he couldn't play his part in the rotation. He only played 6 games for Jazz before he was released on April 5, 2014.

National team

Since his youth, Biedriņš has also been active for the Latvian national team . In 2004 he took part in the U-18 European Championship and got 21.8 points, 14.4 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and 3.8 steals per game. In the game against France he met his NBA colleague Johan Petro and scored 21 points and 16 rebounds. He also had impressive statistics against Georgia (28 points, 11 rebounds) and Italy (26 points, 20 rebounds).

Private

Biedriņš is known for his social commitment to underprivileged children in and around Oakland. He also visited soldiers who had returned from Iraq injured during an away trip in Washington.

Biedriņš taught himself the English language while preparing for the NBA draft in Los Angeles for six months in the summer of 2004 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Andris Biedrins ( Memento from December 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ nba.com: 2004-05 NBA Player Survey Results: Age ( Memento of the original from September 7, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ ^{a b} nba.com: Andris Biedrins Career Stats Page
4. ↑ Golden State Of Mind: One Minute Man , February 2, 2006.
5. ↑ sfgate.com: WARRIOR A WORLD AWAY / Latvian Andris Biedrins has made a full transition to the American lifestyle - and to the NBA , December 8, 2006.
6. ↑ NBA.com: Andris Biedrins Info Page
7. ↑ OFFICIALS: # 19 James Capers, # 57 Greg Willard, # 56 Mark Ayotte ( Memento from December 14, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ Golden State vs. San Antonio. Richardson, Warriors make Spurs latest victim in West (November 28, 2006) ( Memento of December 8, 2007 in the web archive archive.today )
9. ↑ Jazz Claims Erik Murphy Off Waivers, 6-10, 230-Pound Forward Joins Utah from Chicago; Biedrins Waived

Web links

• NBA Player Stats On: NBA Website; New York, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2017 (in English).
• Andris Biedriņš - player profile on basketball-reference.com