Sarunas Jasikevicius

[ducks]

Sources confirm that G Sarunas Jasikevicius, the star of Lithuania's national team, will join the NBA next season. Jasikevicius poured in 28 points in Lithuania's upset win over Team USA in last year's Olympics. There is no questioning Jasikevicius' credentials as a leader--in addition to his performance with the national team, he helped lead the past two European Final Four champions (FC Barcelona and Maccabi Tel Aviv) and again has Maccabi in the final four, slated for early May in Moscow. Still, though most NBA personnel execs agree there is a spot for Jasikevicius in the NBA, his role will be reduced. "He may not have the complete freedom to play the way he does with his national team, and that makes a huge difference in how a player plays," says one general manager. "In the NBA, he would be a backup." . . .

[Cant_Be_Faded]

now all they have to do is move the three point line three feet closer for him to be an effective scorer

[Phenomanul]

This kid is tough though.... I'd be surprised if he didn't outplay his respective starter.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

he will be a case of i will believe it when i see it

[baraya]

guys you are crazy.. :lol he is the one.. there ( nba ) is not any player like him. he´s the best PG in the world right now.. and if someone in nba is ready to change the game, and give a chance to saras to shows those athlets what is basketball.. he will built dynasty.
if pop brings him in the team.. parker is out.. :spin
his stats in europe may aren´t so immpressive.. but that´s different game.. and in nba i believe that he is able to be candidate for MVP. nash is noone in compare with saras. he ´ll may not score over 20Ppg, but 13+ Apg are reality for him playing in the nba.

[ata]

.... "He may not have the complete freedom to play the way he does with his national team, and that makes a huge difference in how a player plays," says one general manager. "In the NBA, he would be a backup." . . .
Šarunas is The PG, he is the strater, runs the game and has killer instinct.

This GM is as stupid as Isiah Thomas.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

guys you are crazy.. :lol he is the one.. there ( nba ) is not any player like him. he´s the best PG in the world right now.. and if someone in nba is ready to change the game, and give a chance to saras to shows those athlets what is basketball.. he will built dynasty.
if pop brings him in the team.. parker is out.. :spin
his stats in europe may aren´t so immpressive.. but that´s different game.. and in nba i believe that he is able to be candidate for MVP. nash is noone in compare with saras. he ´ll may not score over 20Ppg, but 13+ Apg are reality for him playing in the nba.

Pr{Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off} = 100

[xcoriate]

Can't be faded wtf? Dude tore your team apart in the olympics hwo about a little respect. Its still basketball. Just cause your so insecure abou the state of US basketball. IF you haven't noticed you support a team full of foreigners of the US, wake up and realise that slowly but surely euros are taking part of the game.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

i didnt say anything anti euro, but i think that even the ragtag usa team could have locked him down if larry didnt insist on playing stephon marbury the entire game

[xcoriate]

well it didnt happen did it. Wishful thinking thats all it is. From what I have seen he is very dangerous and probably deserves to start in the nba. I'm thinking the Rockets could use his help.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

im not wishing anything, whoever won the olympics (ARGENTINA) deserved to win

im not saying he sucks, read every post i have here, never said it

that one dude who said he'd be the mvp and average 12 apg, thats what i laughed at

cuz THAT is wishful thinking

[whottt]

The thing is, the NBA is a different game and different mentality than what the rest of the world plays as basketball. It's not so much that one is infinitely superior to the other(especially now)...it's just that in the NBA athleticism comes before skill and in the international game it's the opposite.

It's still not that easy to jump from the Euroleagues to the NBA. A guy can have all the skill in the world but if he doesn't have the athleticism to back it up he's probably not ever going to make it as a starter and he's going to be limited to a role.

All the outside players that make it big in the NBA have athelticism....

You could drop Manu in a streetball game in East LA and he wouldn't miss a beat because he's such a great athlete...if you look at Manu's game it's not very polished..he's just incredibly athletic and smart.

Even a guy like Peja...everyone tends to think of him as a classic shooter...but if you look at the guy he's as big as a house and he moves well for a guy his size...so well that you don't realize how big he is.

And it works the same way with American College players...there have been a ton of guys that were just total stars in College with incredibly polished games and a mastery of the fundamentals, and they are NBA washouts.

Conversely you see guys like Gasol and Parker get drafted in the NBA and they get played more as 18 and 19 year olds than they were getting played on their teams in Europe. Both are great athletes....

I've seen Sarunas and I think he will be hard pressed to be anything more than a role player in the NBA.

And remember I was optimistic about Shane Heal being able to find a place in the NBA.

I've seen Scola and I think the same thing I do about Sarunas...highly polished game and a very intelligent player, but I don't see the athleticism to make him a starter in the NBA. He'll get smoked on D without the protection of a zone defense.

I look at Javtokas and this guy to me looks like an NBA player because he's such a great athlete, maybe not a star, but he looks like a guy that could be a starter.

It's just two different games, and success in one doesn't translate to success in the other. You won't make it to star status, or even starter status, in the NBA without being a great athlete.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

yeah that pretty much sums it up

but i didnt think much about him getting owned on D so much as nba players owning him on D

[whottt]

I think Scola will be able to get his share of points, because he runs hard and he's got good finishing moves.....what I don't think he'll be able to do is rebound or defend well enough to be a starter on a title contender...I don't think he's got the speed to pull it off...there is a huge gap between the NBA and Europe in terms of bigman quickness. The NBA has the fastest bigmen in the World...

I think people think that because Manu has done it so well the the NBA is wide open to stars in the Euroleague...that Scola is going to have that same type of success...

But Manu is Manu...and Scola aint Manu and neither is anyone else playing in Europe right now....Manu is an outstanding athlete and very clever...but he's unique to Europe and the NBA...Manu is cut more from the same cloth as a Bird or Magic than he is from Euroleague standards...Manu can play anywhere and because his game is so unique there's not going to be some dropoff in his play...I seriously think we could drop Manu in a streetball game and they'd never know he probably has never played that style in his life...

[Obstructed_View]

If he plays well in camp and in garbage time, Jasikevicius might get promoted from the injured list to the bench of an NBA team.

Seriously, though, best PG in the world? As someone else said, I'll believe it when I see it.

[baraya]

that one dude who said he'd be the mvp and average 12 apg, thats what i laughed at



yeah.. and i really wish him to come and play next season for one good team in league. and i´m not saying that he will be mvp. he´s not that tipe of player.. he isn´t able to score a lot of points in nba. maybe he would hit a few shoots from downtown, and middle range.. he just isn´t quick enought to come between black shotblockers. but he´s able to play like noone, and lead his team. he´s a born leader.. and when he fall in somehow trans, there is noone who can stop him. his team is winning. no doubt. i´ve seen him maybe more than 50 times.. more than 20 games live, when he player for his former team Union Olimpija.
it´s not that complicated.. i think he is ready to face new challanges.. cuz he s quite bored last season playing with maccabi..

[baraya]

camp and in garbage time...injured list ...

.

you are nuts.. :rolleyes :rolleyes :rolleyes

[whottt]

I'd take him on my team, I like Euro shooters...I just don't think his Euro success is going to translate to the NBA to the degree it has for Manu, Parker, Gasol, Peja and the like...the guys that have great athleticism.

He's definitely a good enough shooter to be a shooter specialist for an NBA team..and his passing and energy/attitude would be a bonus...but IMO he won't ever be "the man" for an NBA team....but he could be Steve Kerr/Energy guy...and those guys are just as essential to winning a title as "the man" is...

[Obstructed_View]

he´s the best PG in the world right now.. and if someone in nba is ready to change the game, and give a chance to saras to shows those athlets what is basketball.. he will built dynasty.



if pop brings him in the team.. parker is out..


nash is noone in compare with saras. he ´ll may not score over 20Ppg, but 13+ Apg are reality for him playing in the nba.
And you are the one calling me nuts? The guy has a good game jacking up NCAA-distance threes in the olympics and suddenly he's John Stockton?

Here's my favorites:

and in nba i believe that he is able to be candidate for MVP.

and i´m not saying that he will be mvp.
Are MVP and mvp two different things? Or maybe he will just be a candidate but not be able to get over that last hump? :lol

BTW, I was half kidding in the first place. Hence the term "seriously, though" :) The guy has a chance to be a good role-player in the NBA. The Olympics should have showed the value they have, especially when they aren't there.

[ducks]

james needs him

[Dario]

Its funny how people talk about him when they probably seen only 1 his game.

[baraya]

Its funny how people talk about him when they probably seen only 1 his game.

true


obstructed wiew::
when i wrote stuff about mvp.. i was comparing him, let say to nash. ( in assists..) but not even in full time, as a starter saras won´t score a lot of points. no matter..
forget about olimpics.. forget about his stats from ncaa.. the reality is something else. and that´s what you don´t know about him. but you will, if he will chosse to play for an nba team.

the only thing i can say about him( again.. i ve seen him playing many times..) is that, he s not an nba defender, an athlet.. but he s one of the smartest guys ever playing this game. his creativity is that what you haven´t seen yet. and in this abillity, he s the first player in the world. and his court vision and passing abillity are amazing. what he need is a team, able to give him a chance to show up.. and do what do the best. and he needs few realy great teammates.. like TD, manu, and some others.. but he needs a ful control, and no selfishness from other players. so give him the ball next season.

like this::

i ´d like to see him play for SAS. not becouse of rasho and beno, but becouse of pop, and tim..
my plan.::
- sign saras, .. and trade parker for one of the best SF in the league. he needs to be a good shoter, from anywhere. and consistent. let´s say rashard lewis. ( or someone else,.. just not some carmelos, and lebrons, and other athletic freaks.. you need a real basketball player.)
- sign also scola and javtokas.. nice players from the bench. players with hearth..
- a good back up play defender. beno isn´t the best one.. you know that..

C:: rasho, javtokas, mohammed( team needs that kind of player.. - opposite)
PF: timmy, scola, horry
SF: rashard lewis, bowen,devean george( nice bench player..)
SG: manu, barry, brown
PG: saras, beno, and defender..

that´s it.. that would be my dream team.. and that kind a team is able win a lot of titles..

and remember_ saras is basketball god. ( for me and for those who realy knows him.. )

[Obstructed_View]

I'll tell you the same thing I said to the guy at the sports bar in San Antonio in '93 who tried to convince me that Eric Montross would be a better NBA center than David Robinson:

"Okay, you make sure that his spot in the hall of fame is ready and when he outplays Parker (Robinson) for a season I'll be sure to remember how smart you are."

In this case, if Saras cracks the starting lineup, I'll remember to be happy for you.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

now all they have to do is move the three point line three feet closer for him to be an effective scorer




yeah that pretty much sums it up

but i didnt think much about him getting owned on D so much as nba players owning him on D

[Darrin]

8.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.1 apg in 60 games (15 starts) for 32-29 Indiana Pacers. Looks like he's smack-dab between the people who said he would suck and those that called him an MVP candidate.

[TDMVPDPOY]

wat are his mpg? dude is a busts

[Darrin]

wat are his mpg? dude is a busts

22.4 a game. The X-Factor in this equation is Anthony Johnson. He's been playing up a storm this season so Jasikevicius is playing more two-guard in three-guard offense with Stephen Jackson or Freddie Jones than the point.

As the depth chart looks right now:

PG
Jamaal Tinsley
Anthony Johnson
Sarunaus Jasikevicius

SG
Stephen Jackson
Fred Jones
Sarunaus Jasikevicius

SF
Peja Stojakovic
Danny Granger
Sarunaus Jasikevicius
Austin Croshere


They have 10 players playing 25 minutes or more right now. They are surviving on their depth. I don't think the Pacers know quite what his position is in this league, and with Rick Carlisle's defense-first mentality, he's fallen out of favor with his coach a little.

[Kori Ellis]

Remember Sarunas Jasikevicius , the 30-year-old European star to whom Larry Bird paid $4 million a year, proclaiming him the "best player in Europe"? Well, he's not even the second-best point guard on the Pacers. Rick Carlisle has bumped him from the rotation, going with Jamaal Tinsely and Anthony Johnson. "I have to deal with it," Jasikevicius said.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060321/SPORTS0102/603210360/1127

[Dario]

Its no surprise lots of nba coaches can't recognize players potential and believe they know best. Sarunas isn't so quick anymore, but his bb iq is the same or better than anyone on than pacers team. He proved he can not only play superb basketball, but singlehandly destroy opponents in many crucial games last couple of years.
But i dont feel sorry for the guy, he proved enough, now its time to make some cash out of it.