Why don't we surprise everyone by signing this talented Euro?

It was during the Tournament of Americas - I think it was '97 - maybe '98. I remember the play clearly - he went around [someone] on the right wing, came down the baseline, Tim Duncan and KG were waiting for him, and he came around on the other side and dunked on Duncan and KG. Well, not really on them - they were just a little late with the help.

Not that I think he's coming to the Rockets or anything.

 

http://www.polkonline.com/stories/072499/spo_olympics.shtml

 

Now that Barry is gone...how about this guy? Sounds VERY interesting (from your link, Mango).

Sarunas Jasikevicius
6-4, 200 pounds, PG, Maccabi Tel Aviv (Lithuania), age: 28

Written by Jonathan Givony

Jasikevicius is almost unanimously considered the #1 PG in the world outside of the NBA. If he is indeed signed by an NBA team this summer, he will have to find a house in the States with a big room to store all of his trophies and awards from the past two seasons.

Jasikevicius is very familiar with American basketball. He moved to the U.S. as a teenager and attended Solanco High School in Quarryville, Pennsylvania. After that he played in the NCAA for four years at the University of Maryland under Gary Williams, mostly as a shooting guard. He went undrafted despite NBA director of scouting Marty Blake saying that he has can’t miss potential and that "There ain't no way he's not going to play in the NBA".

That was early on in his collegiate career, though, the Jasikevicius you will see today is a completely different player now. There is no doubt anymore that he is a pure playmaker.

The Sydney Olympics in 2000 is when he really started to come into his own as a player, because as usual for him, the bigger the stage, the more he steps up to the challenge. He averaged 14 points and 5 assists in the tournament. In the quarterfinals he led Lithuania to a huge upset win over heavy favorites Yugoslavia with 18 points. The next game was against the Dream Team Americans, and as many fans remember today, the Lithuanians came very close to knocking them off. Jasikevicius almost single-handedly kept them in the game with his playmaking and timely scoring. He ended the game with 27 points and five three pointers. Two missed free throws at the end by Ramunas Siskauskas did them in eventually, the game ended 85-83 in favor of the Americans. Lithuania finished the tournament with the Bronze, their first medal since regaining independence.

In his first season after that at Barcelona in 2000-2001, Jasikevicius averaged 14 points and 6 assists per game in the Euroleague, and helped Barcelona win the ACB (Spanish league) championship, averaging 16 points a game in the playoffs. He was invited to the Spanish All-star game and also helped his team win the Spanish King’s Cup, the Copa Del Ray. The next two years after that we saw Jasikevicius do a lot of the same, many wins, points and assists. He helped Barcelona win the Copa Del Ray once again in 2002, and led his team to the ACB Semi-finals.

2003 was probably his most successful year to date as a basketball player. Barcelona won the King’s cup once again in February, the all-important Euroleague in May and the ACB finals in June (Jasikevicius was named the MVP of the playoffs). Jasikevicius was once again invited to lead Lithuania at the national team level, this time in Sweden for the European Championship (other participants: Tony Parker, Nowitzki, Kirilenko, Okur, Gasol and many more). Jasikevicius did not disappoint, helping his team win the gold for the first time in 64 years, and was again named the MVP of the tournament after averaging 14 points and a tournament high 8.2 assists per game. Jasikevicius was already under contract at that point with Maccabi Tel Aviv for the following season, with no escape clause for the NBA (much to the dismay of the San Antonio Spurs). This year he added some more awards to his trophy case in Israel, including yet another Euroleague title (18 points in the final game) an Israeli championship and the Israeli Cup.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

As mentioned already, Jasikevicius is considered the #1 point guard in Europe. He has great height at 6-4 which allows him to see over his opponents and make fantastic passes both in transition and half court situations thanks to his excellent court vision and knack for improvising. He knows how to run a team and thrives when doing so, especially in clutch situations under immense pressure, which is why he should be considered by every NBA playoff team looking for a backup PG this summer. He controls the tempo of the game wonderfully, knowing when to push the ball down the opposition’s throat and when to pull back and regroup for a high percentage shot. He is a world class shooter, averaging 45% from 3 point range in the Euroleague for the season, and 57% in the Israeli league. From the free throw line he shot a remarkable 96% in the Euroleague (70/73), missing only once from the line in the last 13 games (50/51 or 98%). The best part of his game is definitely his demeanor on the court. He is a natural leader that plays with great passion for the game and fierce competitiveness. He loves taking big shots and as you can see by his list of accomplishments he usually succeeds when doing so.

His main weakness is his defense which is not up to par with the rest of his game and is considered weak even for European standards, although he plays on a very offensive minded team. He is not the type of player that a coach can call plays for from the sidelines, but that’s not really a concern considering his usually excellent decision making. Athletically he isn’t extremely quick or explosive which should relegate him to a role as an outstanding backup that can play both the 1 and the 2 spots, especially for a team like the Spurs who have shown the most interest in his services and would help mask his poor defensive by playing him in front of two excellent shotblockers in Duncan and Nesterovic. San Antonio just drafted a PG in Beno Udrih, whose rights are owned by Maccabi Tel Aviv, the team Jasikevicius currently plays for, but it would make sense to either keep him overseas for a year or groom him behind Jasikevicius and Parker for a year or two until he is ready to contribute at the highest level. Parmesa Valenica, one of the top teams in the ACB Spanish league, offered to make Jasikevicius among the highest paid players in Europe this summer, but he decided not to make the same mistake as last summer and see what ends up happening with the NBA.

Why sign him?

He should be considered one of the top 4 playmaking point guards on the free agent market along with Rafer Alston (who just signed a mind-boggling 6 year, 29 million dollar contract) Troy Hudson and Carlos Arroyo. He has no buyout issues and his salary demands should probably be in the same ballpark area of the other top backup PG’s, somewhere around the lower level exception (1.5 million for two years). Other then the Spurs, the Suns (before overpaying Steve Nash) and Celtics have also shown interest. Logic says that the Mavs, Kings, Pacers and maybe even the Heat could get involved. There is a serious shortage of quality backup PG’s in the NBA right now, and teams could do a lot worse then to sign such an accomplished player to backup the 1 spot and maybe even get some minutes at the 2.

 

I sure hope the CD has checked guys like Sarunas Jasikevicius out before signing Damon Jones or Charlie Ward. If not, someone should try to bring this to their attention.

 

Very talented player. Played very well in the last Euro-championship, and I think he even was MVP...
We should take a look at this guy before signing anybody else!

ALA

 

I think he would help our team salot. I've seen him play and he is good.
In the european championship he played against parker in the semi finals and raul lopez in the final and he won both match ups so he can compete with nba players.

 

SJC,

I believe San Antonio own the rights to that guy. Drafted in the second round two years ago if I'm not mistaken.

 

Not to question you at all, but if this guy is good, why didn't anyone pick him up in the draft?