101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
what was about to happen. Siskauskas was the best
player, with 27 points and 4 rebounds in 28 minutes
of lethal shooting: 6 for 8 on two-pointers, 3 for 6 on
threes and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. In the semis,
Lithuania disposed of France and Tony Parker 74-70
and did the same in the title game with Pau Gasol’s
Spain, 93-84. Lithuania had nine scorers that night, led
by Arvydas Macijauskas (21 points) and Eurelijus Zukauskas
(18). Siskauskas finished the tourney with an
average of 14.8 points, one less than Macijauskas, but
with almost two more rebounds per game (4.7).
I still remember the great party of the Lithuanian
fans, who had traveled en masse to celebrate that first
European title for their team since 1939. With players
like Jasikevicius, Macijauskas, Stombergas, Siskauskas,
Songaila, Slanina, Eurelijus and Mindaugas Zukauskas,
Dainius Salenga and Ksistof Lavrinovic, Lithuania played
offensively fun-to-watch basketball, with imagination
and great shooters. Macijauskas made 42.3% of his
shots from the arc, Stombergas was even better (44.4%),
and Jasikevicius shot 34.2%. It was impossible for opponents
to play defense because some guy in green was
always ready to bury the shot. Unforgettable.
Treviso, Athens, Moscow
In the summer of 2004, at nearly 26 years of age,
Siskauskas left his country with two league titles (2000,
2002). His first stop was Benetton Treviso, coached by
Ettore Messina, who was looking precisely for a great
shooter like Siskauskas. During two years in Treviso,
Siskauskas didn’t shine, but delivered, with 12 points
per game in the EuroLeague and 41.9% shooting from
downtown. In the Italian League, his numbers were
even better, 14.8 points and 14.0 in his two seasons.
In 2005-06, coached by David Blatt, Benetton won the
Italian League title. Climamio Bologna had won the
regular season, but in the finals, Benetton took homecourt
advantage with a 77-69 road win in Game 1 and
finished the series 3-1. Siskauskas shined in the finals
with 19, 17, 22 and 18 points in four decisive performances.
His overall average in Italy was 14.6 points and
42.7% from beyond the arc.
After two years in Treviso, Zeljko Obradovic set his
eyes on “Siska” and managed to sign him for Panathinaikos.
The results were impressive: a triple crown in
the 2006-07 season, consisting of the Greek League,
national cup and the EuroLeague title, the team’s first
in five years. Siskauskas’s numbers with the Greens
dropped to 10.9 points over 20 games, but Obradovic
didn’t need more. Siskauskas’s accuracy from behind
the arc – 33 of 70, or 47.1% – was the highest of his
career, Also, he played his best when his team needed
him the most, especially in the unforgettable 2007 EuroLeague
championship game against Messina’s CSKA
Moscow, a 93-91 win for Panathinaikos in which Siska
scored 20 points despite missing all 5 of his three-pointers!
He more than made up for those by making 4 of 4
two-pointers and 12 of 17 free throws, plus contributing
4 rebounds and 5 assists in 37 minutes.
That same summer, at the 2007 EuroBasket in Spain,
Lithuania won the bronze medal as Siskauskas tallied
13.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists. At the end of
the year, he was named the best Lithuanian sportsman
for 2007. From that summer, I still can remember how
angry Obradovic was when Panathinaikos let Siskauskas
go. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was joining a
big rival, CSKA.
Moscow would become Siska’s last stop. He stayed
in the Russian capital for five seasons and won another
EuroLeague title in 2008 to go with Russian League tri-
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