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Andris Biedriņš

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Andris Biedriņš
Golden State Warriors
PositionCenter
Personal information
Born (1986-04-02) April 2, 1986 (age 39)
Soviet Union Riga,
Latvian SSR, USSR
NationalityLVA
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2004: 11th overall
Drafted byGolden State Warriors
Playing career2002–present
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Andris Biedriņš (born April 2, 1986 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR) is a Latvian professional basketball player who plays the power forward and center positions for the NBA's Golden State Warriors. He was drafted by the Warriors with the 11th overall selection in the 2004 NBA Draft.

FIBA career

Biedrins' professional career started at the Latvian team BK Skonto in the 2002-03 season, when he joined at age 16. He soon established himself as an impact player, appearing in 41 LBL games, averaging 2.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.32 blocks, while shooting 59.8% from the field. For his feats, he was named Latvian League Newcomer of the Year. In eleven games for the FIBA European league (2003-2004), he averaged 18.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.82 blocks. In his second year, Biedrins appeared in 28 LBL games, averaging 18.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.86 blocks, while shooting an incredible 61.5% from the field. [1] After that season, Biedrins made himself eligible for the 2004 NBA Draft.

NBA career

Biedrins was drafted at 11th position by the Golden State Warriors. In his rookie season (2004-05), Biedrins only got little play time, and often quickly getting into foul trouble (3.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 2.9 fouls in 12.8 minutes, total 30 games).[2] To Biedrins's credit, it must be added that he also was the youngest player in the league during his rookie year. In his second year, the 2005-06 season, Biedriņš played in 68 games, posting 3.8 points and 4.2 Rebounds, with 14.1 minutes per game. However, he failed to improve much, and was ridiculed for his horrifying free throw percentage (.306)[3] and his inability to stay out of foul trouble, committing 190 fouls in exactly 1,000 minutes of playtime.[4] The Golden State fan base was not kind to the sophomore; he was called "The One Minute Man" by the Golden State Warriors blog for his alledged inability to play without a foul for longer than these 60 seconds.[5] Not impressive on the hardwood, Biedrins only made news when he was involved in a minor car accident on his way to a home game on the 880 freeway in Oakland. His Porsche Cayenne Turbo was totalled in the accident, and his missed that nights game and the next game due to back spasms. He regarded this vehicle as "his best friend in America."[6] In that year, Biedrins experienced a growth spurt and grew to seven feet.[citation needed]

In his third year, Biedrins got a lucky break when the Warriors decided to replace coach Mike Montgomery with ex-Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson, elected one of the NBA's "Greatest Coaches of All Time". Nelson needed just five games to bench the consistently underperforming Warriors' center Adonal Foyle and give Biedrins the starting spot on center, calling him "the best big man I've got". Biedrins thrived in his new role, posting up impressive averages of 10.3 points on an incredible .621 field goal percentage (1st in the NBA), 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game and earning himself 28.9 minutes of playtime.[7] His breakthrough game came in November 2006, when the Warriors beat the title favourites San Antonio Spurs 119-111. In this match, Biedrins asserted himself against Spurs superstar Tim Duncan, only being narrowly outscored 18-22 and outrebounded 15-16,[8], but did block six shots, including three straight shot attempts by Duncan in the third quarter. [9] As of 2007, the newly blossomed Biedrins is seen as one of the candidates for the NBA Most Improved Player Award So far this season he has set career highs in points (31 vs Denver 24/11/2006), rebounds (18 vs Charlotte 03/02/2007), blocks (7 vs Denver 22/11/2006), assists (4 vs San Antonio 27/11/2006) and steals (5 vs Lakers 22/01/2007).

Player profile

Biedrins plays the center position. After two disapponting years, he is establishing himself as one of the most promising new talents in the low post, logging impressive allround stats of 10.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Biedrins shows an incredible touch around the basket, his .619 field goal average the highest in the league.[10] Most of his field goals still come from dunks or layups close to the basket, but he has worked hard to add some post moves to his game. Biedrins's strong sides are extremely quick hands, ability to catch a quick pass currently lacking in most big men, as well as his speed that allows him to run the floor on fast break. His main drawbacks are his foul proneness — although improving, this season he still averages 3.8 fouls in 28.9 minutes of play time — and his atrocious free throw percentage, currently an embarrassing .455. However, after two bad years, Biedrins is quickly establishing himself as one of the best young pivots in the NBA.

International career

Biedrins has been active for his native Latvia since his teenage days. In 2001, the 15-year old Biedrins was a member of the Latvian National Team at the Euro Cadet Championship, where he finished 4th in scoring (16.3 ppg) and 3rd in rebounding (8.5 rpg). In 2002, Biedrins participated in the Euro Junior Championship, where he averaged 6.6 points and 7.3 rebounds. He then competed in the 2004 Under-18 European Championship, averaging 21.8 points, 14.4 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and 3.8 steals. In a match against France, he played against fellow future NBA player Johan Petro, and Biedrins scored 21 points and 16 rebounds. Other notable games were against Georgia (28 points, 11 rebounds) and Italy (26p, 20r).[11]

Private life

Biedrins is well-known for his involvement in several charities. He was active in Warriors community programs during his rookie season, participated in the team’s Thanksgiving Food Serving at Patrick David’s Cafe in Danville, hosted a halftime Holiday Party for underprivileged children at the Warriors game vs. Memphis on 12/22, attended the Warriors Kids Day celebration, as well as the Run With TMC Fantasy Camp reception, and also visited injured American troops just back from Iraq at Bethesda Naval Hospital outside of Washington D.C. when the team was in the area in early March.[12] This level of activity is impressive, as his English language skills were poor when he came to the U.S.; he also taught himself to speak English in six months while training in Los Angeles prior to the 2004 NBA Draft.[13]

References

  1. ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/andris_biedrins/bio.html
  2. ^ http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/biedran01.html
  3. ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/andris_biedrins/career_stats.html
  4. ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/andris_biedrins/career_stats.html
  5. ^ http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/story/2006/2/2/3643/55580
  6. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/08/SPGBGMS1A41.DTL
  7. ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/andris_biedrins/
  8. ^ http://www.nba.com/games/20061127/SASGSW/boxscore.html
  9. ^ http://sportsline.com/nba/gamecenter/recap/NBA_20061127_SA@GS
  10. ^ http://www.nba.com/statistics/
  11. ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/andris_biedrins/bio.html
  12. ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/andris_biedrins/bio.html
  13. ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/andris_biedrins/bio.html
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