101 Greats of European Basketball

Mr. Basketball
A
famous Brazilian footballer, Waldyr
Pereira, also known as Didi, who was
a world champion in 1958 and 1962,
had “Mr. Football” as his nickname. I
am going to paraphrase that because
for Sarunas Jasikevicius, I cannot find
anything better. Mr. Basketball. Those two words explain
what he was – and is – all about: his greatness,
his huge talent, his character, his basketball IQ, his
shot, his genius assists and the joy he spread to
teammates, fans and sometimes even opponents.
Sagadin, the discoverer
The story of Sarunas Jasikevicius could start in many
ways. But I think that the first graphs belong to the man
who discovered Saras for European basketball: Zmago
Sagadin. The Slovenian coach, a former boss of Union
Olimpija and the Slovenian national team, told me about
his decision to bring Jasikevicius to his Olimpija team.
“My sources in the United States, where Sarunas
played, told me about his talent and sent me a few videos,
and it is true that I liked him on the spot. I also had
some reports from Lithuania but decided to see him
live in France at EuroBasket 1999. I spent 10 days following
Sarunas, but he didn’t play much, not enough to
convince me. I had to trust the videos and my instinct.
I decided to sign him, and I can safely say it was one
of the best decisions of my life. Sarunas was a brilliant
player. He had it all: talent, technique, character, leadership.
He was also a hard worker. For me, he’s among the
top 10 players ever in European basketball.”
Sagadin highlights the final game against Olympiacos
Piraeus of their 1999-2000 EuroLeague playoff series,
which was tied at 1-1. The decisive game was played
in Ljubljana, where Olimpija won 85-67 as Jasikevicius
netted 30 points and made 7 of 7 three-pointers.
“He played a flawless game,” Sagadin said.
Olimpija had a good team, with Marko Milic, Sani
Becirovic, Primoz Brezec, Slavko Kotnik and Jure Zdovc.
In the quarterfinals, FC Barcelona ousted Olimpija 2-1
but struggled to do so and advance to the Thessaloniki
Final Four. However, Coach Aito Garcia Reneses laid
his eyes on Jasikevicius and asked his club to sign the
guard as a top priority.
Signing for Barcelona in the summer of 2000 was a
key step in the career of Jasikevicius. He was already
24 years old, the perfect moment to clear the doubts
about whether he was just another strong Lithuanian
talent or a top-class player who could play on great
teams to achieve great things.
I can say that Jasikevicius is one of the players that I
have seen the most in person. I saw him at EuroBaskets
in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2011. Also, at the
Sydney Olympics in 2000, Athens in 2004, and London
in 2012. I saw him in all of his Final Fours and, especially,
in the four seasons that Saras spent in Barcelona. I can
also say that it has been a privilege to enjoy his game.
Sports roots
Rita Jasikeviciene, the mother of Sarunas Jasikevicius,
was an important handball player in her day and
a member of the USSR national team that won medals
at the world championships in the early 1970s. But she
would skip the 1976 Olympic Games in order to give
birth to Sarunas, who arrived on March 5 of that year.
Igor Turcin, the team’s head coach, was mad at Rita
101 greats of european basketball
Sarunas Jasikevicius
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