BC Wolves

Wolves Twinsbet is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in the city of Vilnius. The team competes in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and internationally in the EuroCup. The team plays its home games at the 10,000–seat Twinsbet Arena.

History
The club was founded on 2 June 2022, with the name Wolves referring to the mythical Iron Wolf and the founding legend of the city of Vilnius. The license of BC Dzūkija was used starting from the 2022–23 LKL season.

LKL league expanded to 12 teams again, and a second basketball club appeared in the capital after for more than a decade. Nevertheless, the club is viewed with skepticism by some Lithuanian basketball community. Some of them do not like the new club because it appeared in the top league based on monetary over playing principles, and others because of the club owner's alleged connection with the Russian business. Wolves claim its main objectives to be strengthening the Lithuanian basketball, attracting solid players, raising co-competition between the LKL clubs, and upholding ambitions to reach the level of an elite European basketball club. After only two years of existence, Wolves have reached a place in Europe's second-tier club tournament, the EuroCup, but this was also achieved through a monetary agreement rather than a game principle.

2022–23 season
On 5 July, Rimas Kurtinaitis was officially announced as the head coach of the club. On 6 July, Adas Juškevičius became the first player signed in the history of the club. Wolves also signed Lithuanian men's national basketball team players Eigirdas Žukauskas, Kristupas Žemaitis, solid LKL players like Regimantas Miniotas, Vitalijus Kozys, Arnas Beručka and longtime veteran, holder of multiple Lithuanian league records and former star of Rytas, Mindaugas Lukauskis, locally also known as the Iron man or the Legend. Marcos Delia became the first foreign player to sign contract with the team, soon after the next one was signed with Ahmad Caver. Signing of Juan Gomez de Liano caused quite a stir in the homeland, as well as in Lithuania; he became the first Filipino basketball player to officially represent a European basketball club.

Wolves started their first official game in the Lithuanian Basketball League with an away win over Nevėžis Kėdainiai 81:76. The club participated in the 2022–23 FIBA Europe Cup qualifying round, its first ever participation in a European competition. Wolves defeated the legendary Greek team Aris Thessaloniki 88:77 in the first round, but lost in the second round to Bulgarian champion BC Rilski Sportist 76:91, losing chance to qualify for the tournament. In the LKL, the club had struggles, but in large part due to the signings of Jeffery Taylor and Eric Buckner, they had risen to the standings. Wolves started a rivalry with BC Rytas, and also had competitive matches with long-time LKL champions and Euroleague participants BC Žalgiris - scoring wins over both teams in February and the beginning of March. Wolves also defeated Eurocup participants Lietkabelis Panevėžys in the regular season series, which helped them reach third place in the LKL standings. Ahmad Caver in particular shined, as he was named the LKL MVP of the regular season. Wolves also made late season signings, Rashard Kelly and Jerai Grant, to strengthen the team before the playoffs.

In the King Mindaugas Cup, Wolves had a solid run, but finished second in the qualifying round standings behind BC Neptūnas. The second place finish, however, meant that during the draw for the quarterfinals, Wolves drew BC Žalgiris. Žalgiris easily beat Wolves both in Alytus, 95:79, and in Kaunas, 91:72.

On March 28, 2023, in a shocking moment, Wolves fired head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis, along with assistant Aurimas Jasilionis. The firing came just after Wolves qualified for the ENBL final four. They hired Kęstutis Kemzūra to replace Kurtinaitis, also hiring Marius Leonavičius and Nedas Pocevičius as his new assistants.

The club also got their second chance in a European competition, participating in the 2022–23 European North Basketball League, which started in November 2022. Wolves became one of the best teams of the competition, defeating Budivelnyk Kiev in the quarterfinals, qualifying for the final four, while still under coach Kurtinaitis. Under coach Kemzūra, Wolves entered the final four as favorites. In the semifinals, they beat Wilki Morskie Szczecin 58:55. In the finals, despite being heavy favorites, Wolves blew a double-digit lead and suffered a heart-breaking loss, 66:70 to Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski, denying the team to win their first championship.

Entering the LKL playoffs, Wolves faced CBet Jonava. The club struggled against CBet during the regular season, winning only one of their matches. Before the start, Wolves were still thought of as series favorite. However, CBet defied expectations, winning against Wolves by 80:76 in an away series opener, and finishing off in Jonava by 80:75.

Due to the reconstruction of its Avia Solutions Group Arena, the team played some home games in Alytus Arena. Wolves drew big crowds and quickly became very popular within the city.

2023–24 season
On 24 May 2023, Jeffery Taylor renewed his contract with the club until 2025, with an option for an additional year. By joining the remaining core of the team: Adas Juškevičius, Eigirdas Žukauskas, Regimantas Miniotas, Kristupas Žemaitis, Vitalijus Kozys, Arnas Beručka.

On 17 August 2023, Jonas Valančiūnas joined the investors of the club.

The start of the season on the local basketball front was excellent with 10 wins and 1 loss. Key rivals such as Rytas and Zalgiris were defeated in the first round of the LKL, the only defeat after two overtimes was suffered by the strong Lietkabelis club, which also plays in the EuroCup. In that match, the young Latvian basketball star Arturs Zagars, who was designed by one of the team's leaders, suffered a very serious leg injury, and the player may not play for the rest of the season. In the EuroCup tournament, the opponents did not promise such an easy walk, after the first round the club had four wins and the same number of losses. An amazing victory in Vilnius was achieved against Beşiktaş Emlakjet club, when the Wolves trailed 80–87 with 23 seconds left in the game, but celebrated the victory 90–88 at the final siren. In November, the team's fall into the pit of defeats began. Rasheed Sulaimon could not help the club due to an injury, due to the ongoing rehabilitation after Jeffery Taylor injury, other players also dropped out. The losing streak continued until the beginning of January, with 9 losses in a row. The club returned to winning ways by winning the LKL against BC Nevėžis, the Eurocup against KK Cedevita Olimpija.

On 21 January 2024 the club announced that it parted ways with the head coach Kęstutis Kemzūra who was replaced by the assistant coach Nedas Pacevičius.

Honours

 * European North Basketball League
 * Runners–up (1): (2023)

In

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Out

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Head coaches

 * 🇱🇹 Rimas Kurtinaitis: 2022–2023
 * 🇱🇹 Kęstutis Kemzūra: 2023–2024
 * 🇱🇹 Nedas Pacevičius: 2024–2024
 * 🇮🇹 Alessandro Magro: 2024–present