Vitalii Mykolayovych Potapenko[1] (/poʊˈtɑːpɛŋkoʊ/ poh-TAH-peng-koh,[2] Ukrainian: Віталій Миколайович Потапенко; born March 21, 1975) is a Ukrainian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Wright State University and was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA draft, also the last pick before Kobe Bryant. Nicknamed "The Ukraine Train",[1] he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Sacramento Kings of the NBA, as well as MMT Estudiantes in the Spanish ACB.[3][4]
Detroit Pistons | |
---|---|
Position | Assistant coach |
League | NBA |
Personal information | |
Born | Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | March 21, 1975
Nationality | Ukrainian |
Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
Listed weight | 280 lb (127 kg) |
Career information | |
College | Wright State (1994–1996) |
NBA draft | 1996: 1st round, 12th overall pick |
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers | |
Playing career | 1992–2008 |
Position | Center |
Number | 52, 9, 20 |
Coaching career | 2009–present |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1992–1994 | Budivelnyk |
1996–1999 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
1999–2002 | Boston Celtics |
2002–2006 | Seattle SuperSonics |
2006–2007 | Sacramento Kings |
2007–2008 | Estudiantes |
As coach: | |
2009–2010 | Fort Wayne Mad Ants (assistant) |
2010–2011 | Indiana Pacers (assistant) |
2011–2012 | Dakota Wizards (assistant) |
2012–2013 | Santa Cruz Warriors (assistant) |
2013–2017 | Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant) |
2018–2024 | Memphis Grizzlies (assistant) |
2024-present | Detroit Pistons (assistant) |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As assistant coach: | |
Career NBA statistics | |
Points | 3,995 (6.5 ppg) |
Rebounds | 2,725 (4.5 rpg) |
Assists | 418 (0.7 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Since retiring as a player, Potapenko has been serving as an assistant coach for several teams, among them the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers, the Dakota Wizards,[5] and the Santa Cruz Warriors and later as an assistant director of player development for the Cleveland Cavaliers,[6] helping them win their first ever NBA championship.
NBA career statistics
editGP | 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 | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
editYear | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1996–97 | Cleveland | 80 | 3 | 15.5 | .440 | .500 | .736 | 2.7 | .5 | .3 | .4 | 5.8 |
1997–98 | Cleveland | 80 | 0 | 17.7 | .480 | .000 | .708 | 3.9 | .7 | .3 | .4 | 7.1 |
1998–99 | Cleveland | 17 | 12 | 27.5 | .437 | .000 | .673 | 5.5 | .9 | .6 | .9 | 8.4 |
1998–99 | Boston | 33 | 32 | 28.1 | .521 | – | .547 | 7.2 | 1.8 | .7 | .6 | 10.8 |
1999–00 | Boston | 79 | 72 | 22.7 | .499 | .000 | .681 | 6.3 | 1.0 | .5 | .4 | 9.2 |
2000–01 | Boston | 82 | 7 | 23.2 | .476 | – | .728 | 6.0 | .8 | .6 | .3 | 7.5 |
2001–02 | Boston | 79 | 9 | 17.0 | .455 | – | .742 | 4.4 | .4 | .5 | .2 | 4.6 |
2002–03 | Seattle | 26 | 2 | 15.4 | .441 | – | .759 | 3.4 | .2 | .3 | .3 | 4.6 |
2003–04 | Seattle | 65 | 39 | 21.8 | .489 | – | .641 | 4.4 | .8 | .3 | .4 | 7.1 |
2004–05 | Seattle | 33 | 1 | 10.2 | .517 | – | .871 | 2.4 | .3 | .2 | .1 | 3.5 |
2005–06 | Seattle | 24 | 12 | 13.4 | .500 | – | .588 | 2.6 | .3 | .1 | .1 | 3.1 |
2005–06 | Sacramento | 9 | 0 | 3.5 | .714 | – | – | .2 | .2 | .0 | .0 | 1.1 |
2006–07 | Sacramento | 3 | 0 | 4.3 | .000 | – | – | .7 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
Career | 610 | 189 | 19.0 | .479 | .167 | .694 | 4.5 | .7 | .4 | .3 | 6.5 |
Playoffs
editYear | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | Cleveland | 4 | 0 | 17.5 | .400 | – | .500 | 2.8 | .8 | .5 | .0 | 4.3 |
2005 | Seattle | 5 | 0 | 7.4 | .500 | – | – | 1.4 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 2.0 |
2006 | Sacramento | 4 | 0 | 2.4 | .500 | – | – | .3 | .0 | .3 | .0 | 1.0 |
Career | 13 | 0 | 9.0 | .448 | – | .500 | 1.5 | .2 | .2 | .0 | 2.4 |
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b "Vitaly Potapenko Bio". NBA. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008.
- ^ "2023-24 start of season NBA pronunciation guide" (Press release). National Basketball Association. October 24, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
- ^ MMT Estudiantes former players
- ^ "What the Hell Happened to...Vitaly Potapenko?".
- ^ Dakota Wizards Hire Potapenko As Assistant Coach
- ^ "Vitaly Potapenko returning to Cleveland Cavaliers as player-development coach". June 4, 2013.
External links
edit- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- NBA.com Profile
- Cleveland Cavaliers' Front Office