Pavel Ermolinskij (born 25 January 1987) is an Icelandic former basketball player and coach of Ukrainian descent,[1] a member of the Icelandic national team.[2] He has won the Icelandic championship with KR seven times, in 2011 and 2014–2019.[3] He played in the Spanish Liga ACB for several seasons, winning the Spanish King's Cup in 2005.
![]() Pavel Ermolinskij with KR in February 2015. | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | (1987-01-25) 25 January 1987 (age 35) Kyiv, Soviet Union |
Nationality | Icelandic |
Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
Career information | |
Playing career | 1998–2022 |
Position | Point guard |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1998 | ÍA |
2001–2002 | Skallagrímur |
2002–2003 | ÍR |
2003–2004 | JA Vichy |
2004–2005 | Unicaja Málaga |
2005–2007 | CB Axarquia |
2007–2008 | CB Ciudad de Huelva |
2008–2009 | UB La Palma |
2009–2010 | Cáceres 2016 Basket |
2010 | → KR |
2010–2011 | KR |
2011–2012 | Sundsvall Dragons |
2012–2013 | Norrköping Dolphins |
2013–2019 | KR |
2019–2022 | Valur |
As coach: | |
2021–2022 | Valur (assistant) |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As assistant coach:
| |
Pavel was born in Kiev in the Soviet Union to Soviet national basketball team player Alexander Ermolinskij.[1] He emigrated to Iceland with his family in 1992, at the age of 5, when his father signed with Skallagrímur in Borgarnes.[4]
Pavel first appeared in a Úrvalsdeild karla game on 6 March 1998, at the age of only 11, when his father and head coach of Körfuknattleiksfélag ÍA, Alexander Ermolinskij, selected him for the 10-man squad against Njarðvík. At the time there were no rules regarding minimum age of players in the league.[5]
His next taste of the senior team was with Skallagrímur during the 2001–02 season[6] when he appeared in 15 games, averaging 1.8 points per game.[7]
During the 2014-2015 season, Pavel averaged a triple-double in the Úrvalsdeild with 13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game in 15 regular season games.
Pavel led the Úrvalsdeild karla in assists during the 2017-2018 season.[8] On April 28, 2018, he won his sixth Icelandic championship after KR defeated Tindastóll in the Úrvalsdeild finals.[9] It was the eighteenth straight playoffs series he won in the Úrvalsdeild playoffs.[10] After sitting out the first three games of the 2018–2019 season, Pavel resumed training with KR in end of October.[11] On 4 May 2019 he won his 7th national championship after KR beat ÍR in the Úrvalsdeild finals 3–2.[12]
On 13 August 2019, Pavel signed a 2-year contract with KR's Reykjavík rivals Valur.[13] He started the season strong, with big fourth quarter performances in victories against Fjölnir and Þór Þorlákshöfn.[14] On 25 October, he scored the game winning three pointer with 5 seconds left in an overtime victory against Tindastóll.[15] On 5 January 2020, Pavel was 1 assist shy of the Úrvalsdeild record when he handed out 17 assists in a victory against Fjölnir.[16]
On 6 May 2022, he played his 100th Úrvalsdeild playoffs game when Valur defeated Tindastóll in game one of the 2022 Úrvalsdeild finals.[3] On 18 May 2022, he won his eight national championship after Valur defeated Tindastóll in the Úrvalsdeild finals.
On 22 August 2022, Pavel announced he was leaving Valur.[17]
In October 2022, Pavel announced his retirement from playing.[18]
Pavel has played with the Icelandic national basketball team since 2004 and participated in EuroBasket 2015[19] and EuroBasket 2017.[20][21]