Kerr Kriisa

Kerr Kriisa (born 2 January 2001) is an Estonian professional basketball player for Žalgiris-2 of the National Basketball League (NKL). A native of Tartu, he has competed with the Estonian junior national teams on multiple occasions. Kriisa is committed to play college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats.

Kerr Kriisa
No. 77 – Žalgiris-2 Kaunas
PositionPoint guard
LeagueNational Basketball League
Personal information
Born (2001-01-02) 2 January 2001
Tartu, Estonia
NationalityEstonian
Listed height1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Listed weight75 kg (165 lb)
Career information
CollegeArizona (commit)
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016–2017University of Tartu
2017–2018Brose Bamberg
2017–2018→Baunach Young Pikes
2018–presentŽalgiris Kaunas
2018–present→Žalgiris-2 Kaunas
2019–2020→Prienai

Professional career

2016–2018: Early years

Kriisa played for the youth teams of his hometown club BC Tartu since he was 12 years old and debuted with University of Tartu first team during the 2016–17 KML season at the age of 15. In September 2017 he signed with Brose Bamberg and started playing in their affiliate team Baunach Young Pikes.[1] His stint in Germany was cut short due to periostitis and he returned to Estonia for treatment.[2]

2018–present: Žalgiris Kaunas

In August 2018 he signed with Žalgiris Kaunas.[3] In his first year with the Kaunas team Kriisa played in the Lithuanian second league (NKL) team Žalgiris-2 and also for the youth team in the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament. He was awarded with the MVP and All-Tournament Team honours at the Kaunas Qualifying Tournament. Kriisa averaged 17.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 7 games of the 2018–19 season of Next Generation Tournament.[4]

Kriisa made his EuroLeague debut for Žalgiris on 25 October 2019 and scored his first point from a free throw as Žalgiris defeated LDLC ASVEL 70–56 in the Regular Season Round 4 game.[5] In November 2019 Kriisa was sent on loan to another Lithuanian team CBet Prienai to gain experience in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL).[6] His loan spell ended in January 2020 and Kriisa returned to Žalgiris-2.[7]

On April 18, 2020, Kriisa committed to play college basketball in the United States for Arizona. Analysts considered him to be the best European recruit considering playing at the collegiate level.[8]

National team career

Kriisa has represented the Estonia national U-16 team at the 2016 and 2017 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championships and the Estonia national U-18 team at the 2019 FIBA Europe Under-18 Division B Championship.

Personal life

Kerr is the son of former Estonia international Valmo Kriisa.[9] He is named after Steve Kerr, who also played basketball at the University of Arizona.[10]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2019–20 Žalgiris Kaunas 102.1.000.000.500.0.0.0.01.0.0
Career 102.1.000.000.500.0.0.0.01.0.0
gollark: I'm not a computer. My computers are computers.
gollark: Or 0 to 11, if you like zero indexing.
gollark: You could just write 1-12 instead of ridiculous "month names".
gollark: Surely you can just duct-tape some extra page onto the bottom of your page, though.
gollark: I simply store all journal-related things on a computer for trivial reformatting.

References
  1. "Kerr Kriisa siirdub Saksamaale Brose Bambergi noortesüsteemi". Delfi Sport (in Estonian). 6 September 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  2. "Vigastatud Kerr Kriisa lahkus Bambergist". ERR Sport (in Estonian). 15 January 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  3. "Kerr Kriisa sõlmis lepingu Leedu tippklubi Kaunase Žalgirisega". Postimees Sport (in Estonian). 6 August 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  4. "Kerr Kriisa 2018-19 ANGT statistics". ADIDAS Next Generation Tournament. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  5. "Zalgiris Kaunas vs. LDLD ASVEL Villerubanne - Game". EuroLeague. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  6. "Leedu portaal: Kerr Kriisa liitub sealse kõrgliigaklubiga". Korvpall24. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.(in Estonian)
  7. "Kerr Kriisa naaseb Žalgirisse: mängunälg läks Prienais väga suureks". Delfi Sport. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.(in Estonian)
  8. Givony, Jonathan (18 April 2020). "Top international prospect Kerr Kriisa commits to Arizona". ESPN. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  9. "TIPPHETKED ja FOTOD: Valmo ja Kerr Kriisa tegid Tartu võidumängus Eesti korvpalliajalugu". Sport (in Estonian). 24 February 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  10. https://tucson.com/sports/arizonawildcats/basketball/big-name-pickup-wildcats-go-to-estonia-to-land-recruit-named-after-former-ua-star/article_462654ba-3b7f-55a7-8242-2815ccda2b1d.html
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