Terp Nation #2

Terp Nation #2

Why is this night different from all of the other nights, Terrapin Nation?

Because tonight is the Duke game, 9 p.m. on the Flagship, with Dickie V. on color commentary, Gary sweating through his suit before the first TV timeout, and our Turtles clawing to beat Duke for the (yes) fourth straight time.

Did you even realize that Maryland has won the last three? That’s right, the Terps beat Duke in the ACC tournament in 2004, then twice last year. Which begs the question, does beating Duke really make your season? What do you remember about last year’s Terps? I remember the team missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in a dozen years, the Gilchrist drama, and the overall malaise of watching a program suffer through a downer of a year.

But it still feels good really good fantastic amazing orgasmic to beat Duke doesn’t it? And why is that? Well, here are some reasons why a win tonight would be right up there with found money:

• Duke is 14-0 and ranked #1 (uh-gain).*
• J.J. Redick
• Is anything better than watching Coach K. quietly stew late in a game he is going to lose while his face turns beet red? (Sure, Gary is a spaz, but at least we know what he’s thinking. When things don’t go his way, Coach K. ducks his face in his hands or turns his back and, don’t kid yourself, spews fourth a string of very dirty profanity.)
• Silencing the Cameron Crazies just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn’t it?

*I was looking up a stat on the Duke sports website (www.goduke.com … don’t go there, it’s almost as disturbing as A Clockwork Orange. You just clicked it, didn’t you? I told you not to. Don’t blame me.) and read that 14 times in the 21 seasons under Coach K., Duke has been ranked #1 at some point in the season. I mean, that’s impressive, no matter how much they annoy you. You know how many times Maryland has ever been ranked #1 during the regular season at any time in any season in the history of the program? That would be zero. I’m just sayin.

** I’m not a J.J. hater, he’s actually one of the more interesting and impressive players to come along and stick around for four years in quite some time. If you take away the fact that he wears a Duke uniform, which is impossible, you can sit back and just enjoy one of the great offensive players in college basketball of the last decade. But facts are facts, and the fact here is that J.J. swishes 40 footers for the enemy. At least he has grown up a bit, and stopped celebrating baskets like he just nailed a half-court bomb for a million dollars. That part was really annoying. Lee Melchionni still does this. Watch him after he makes a big bucket, or better yet, when one of his teammates does, especially after a three-point play. He will jump in that players arms like an 8^th grade cheerleader. C’mon, Maryland can beat Duke, right? Lee Melchi-freakin-onni?

Where were we? Oh yeah, reciting reasons why it would feel good to beat Duke. So, can it happen? Will it happen?

Oh man, I don’t know. I mean, of course it can happen, Maryland is about the only team in the ACC in the last 10 years to figure out a way to beat Duke on a consistent basis, and even the Terps aren’t even that good at it. Let’s throw some quick data your way on this…

Since the 1998-99 season, which was Juan Dixon’s freshman year and the year Steve Francis honored Cole Field House with his presence, kicking off the most successful era in the program’s history, Maryland is 7-11 vs. Duke. That’s respectable, and I have to think, though I didn’t look it up, better than any other ACC team during this period. UNC, for example, is 3-15 against Duke since 1998-99 (sorry Edmonds).

For the better part of a decade, Maryland-Duke has been the best rivalry going in college basketball, even though tonight’s version isn’t nearly as compelling as the Dixon/Blake/Baxter, etc. squad vs. Jay Williams/Shane Battier/Carlos Boozer, etc. but, well, you take what you can get, right?

Getting back to whether or not Maryland will win…

Lloyd: What are the chances of a guy like you and a girl like me... ending up together?
Mary: Not good.
Lloyd: Not good like one in a hundred?
Mary: I'd say more like one in a million.
Lloyd: So you're telling me there's a chance?

No, no, no. The odds aren’t that bad. Maryland and Duke have split their last 12 games dating back to 2001 and Duke has only lost six games at home since the 1999-2000 season and Maryland owns three of those wins. So… all of this is a long-winded way of saying that even though the Terps lost at mediocre Miami on Saturday and Duke clubbed a surging Wake team the next day, the Terps can win tonight. I’d say it’s a 3-1, maybe a 4-1 shot.

Oh, what the hell, Maryland 89, Duke 86.

What was that in Miami?

How to explain Maryland’s stinker at Miami over the weekend? Two things stand out in my mind. First, Miami got really hot from three-point land and never cooled off. They went 12-19 from behind the arc. When a team has three guys who are just feeling it from long range all in the same game, well, you are just going to lose that game, and lose is what Maryland did. The other factor that stands out in my mind is that Chris McCray had his first bad game of the year; shot 1 for 7 from the field and didn’t get double figures for the first time all year. Let’s just try to block that one out, shall we?

Worst part about the loss is that it casts doubt on whether or not Maryland is any good. Miami hadn’t beaten any good teams this year and somehow it all came together with the Terps in town. Time will tell. As diggruntled Terp watch Ron Herbst said on my voice mail after the game, “They just keep waiting for other teams to get worse.” Let’s hope that’s not the case. As A. Wolfe put it in a text message, “Maryland sucked today.” True enough.

The Andre Collins show

I swung over to Loyola College in Baltimore on Sunday to see with my own eyes the Andre Collins show. Collins, the Maryland transfer, is currently second in the country in scoring at about 28 points per game, sitting there between Adam Morrison and Redick on the scoring chart.

So, what’s it like at a Loyola game? Well, it feels much more like a high school game than a big-time college atmosphere. I parked on the street for free, walked a few minutes through campus to the arena; paid $5 for a general admission ticket, then sat center court about 10 rows up. The students were still on break so it wasn’t as lively as it might have been, but they probably got about 2500 people in there.

Best part was that I was surrounded by a bunch of Baltimore city and county coaches, all of whom had some connection to the players or were there to see Collins, or were there to see each other. What’s not to like? For all blather about Maryland this and Maryland that, it was really fun to catch a game that felt a lot more like a game than a staged production.

As for Collins, he had 29 on 9 of 25 shooting, and all 9 of his made baskets were 3s. Loyola won by 2, thanks to a Collins 3 in the last 20 seconds, fun for the whole family.

Drew Nicholas lighting up the EuroLeague

This week’s feel-good story about a former Terp comes to you from Treviso, Italy, home of historic churches, beautiful canals, and a lanky 6-3 shooting guard who has become, in the words of one NBA scout, the “Richard Hamilton of European basketball.” After his senior season, Nicholas didn’t get much of a look from any of the top European clubs, much less the NBA. Three years into his professional career, Nicholas is gunning for his third scoring title, currently leading all EuroLeague players at about 19 points per game (http://www.euroleague.net/stats/standings.jsp).

He played his first year for a second-tier Italian League team and led the league in scoring at 28 points per game. His second year, last year, Drew moved up to the top Italian league and again led the league in scoring while playing for a bad team. This year, Nicholas moved up to one of the top teams in Italy and all of European basketball, Benetton Treviso (http://195.56.77.208/team/?teamid=1103), and is thriving once again. If you click around on the EuroLeague website (www.euroleague.net), you’ll find plenty of recognizable names from big-time American programs, guys like Trajan Langdon from Duke, Louis Bullock from Michigan, Scoonie Penn from Ohio State, and plenty of others. His own teammate incidentally, a big Italian named Andrea Bargnani, will probably be one of the top five picks in next year’s NBA draft.

That’s going to do it for this week. Go Terps.

Terp Nation #1 for 2005-2006 season

Terrapin Nation – Opening Shots for the 2005-2006 Season

Just sneaking it in before the New Year, here is the first edition of Terrapin Nation for the 2005-2006 season. Warning, this one might require a print and read, lots of material to cover. I hope to heat up with conference play, just like our Terps, who are, uh, 14-18 in ACC competition the last two years, so maybe I’ll try to do a little better, and hopefully, so will they. The goal here will be to publish a weekly edition so stay tuned.

(we interrupt this column to provide a quick editorial note – this is a regular column written for Terps basketball fans. I email it to friends, friends of friends and others who enjoy Terps commentary. Please let me know if you have friends I should add, everything will always be sent BCC. Also let me know if you want off the list. Happy New Year –GA)

Do we all feel a little better now? I felt a lot of anxiety out there after the GW loss; gripes that Maryland had no point guard, couldn’t handle a press, and basically couldn’t keep up with G-freakin-W. But now, a few weeks and a few wins later, a 9-2 Maryland team is again climbing the polls and seems to have established itself as a quality, top 25 team. No real shame in losing to Gonzaga and a solid GW squad; and with wins over Boston College, Arkansas, and Minnesota, many are calling the Terps the second-best team in the ACC, behind, well, never mind.

But, before we even get into an analysis of this year’s Turtles, allow me to call your attention to two feel-good stories currently unfolding. Let’s call them Maryland West and Maryland North.

Maryland West

This just in, YOUR Portland Trailblazers, winners of three straight games, feature a starting backcourt of (ahem, ahem,) Steve Blake and Juan Dixon. Even the Wizards never started Blake and Dixon together.

Allow me to quote from Thursday morning’s Portland Oregonian, in a story about YOUR Blazers’ 94-91 win over the visiting 76ers.

“My oh my, look at the Trail Blazers now.

Playing with a new-found verve since coach Nate McMillan shuffled the starting backcourt, the Blazers on Wednesday night won their season-high third consecutive game, 95-91 over the Philadelphia 76ers in front of 17,384 at the Rose Garden.

That Blazers team that two weeks ago everyone so readily discarded as a youthful work in progress all of a sudden looks like a team of promise that is gaining momentum with each victory.

"We're growing up," said Juan Dixon, whose appointment as starting shooting guard Dec. 18 has spearheaded the team's rejuvenation. "Growing up right before your eyes. In the preseason, we looked pretty young, but we are playing mature, playing hard, solid for 48 minutes, and that's the key."

I mean, how cool is that?

With baby point guard Sebastian Telfair nursing a hand injury and Darius Miles battling knee problems, the door swung open in the last few weeks for Blake and Dixon to run the show in Portland on a nightly basis. For the first six weeks of the season, Blake couldn’t get off the bench (rookie Jarrett Jack got the back-up point guard minutes) and Dixon’s playing time was sporadic. Now, Dixon is getting 30-plus minutes a game, Blake is running the team, and the coach is publicly crediting the duo for a recent stretch of quality basketball. Telfair might not even get his job back right away when he returns. For more on that story, click here (you need to enter some basic data to get access to the site): http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1135743914197141.xml&coll=7

If you’re like me, you’ll make Blazers box scores a must-read, and I’m this close to ordering the NBA season package so I can watch all their games.

Maryland North

Maryland North can be found near the corner of Cold Spring Lane and Charles St. in Baltimore at Loyola College. Yes, something is cooking in this north Baltimore neighborhood and it’s not just those big burgers at Alonzo’s.

Guided by Jimmy “Gary Williams Jr.” Patsos on the bench, who is flanked by Terrell “you gonna eat that?” Stokes, and Matt “pretty boy” Kovarik; the Greyhounds are 6-2, thanks mostly to the prolific scoring of former Terp Andre Collins.

You remember Collins right? He is a water bug of a point guard who scored in bunches whenever he could find his way on the court for the Terps, which wasn’t very often. After two-plus season playing behind every other guard on the roster save the walk-ons, Collins followed Patsos up to Loyola, where his arm may fall off from shooting this year.

Let me throw some AC data at you http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=4973

• Collins plays 38 minutes per game; he has sat out a total of 18 minutes in 8 games.
• He takes an average of 21 shots per game, including an average of 11 three-point attempts per game.
• He’s shooting 43 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range.
• Twice this year already, Collins has scored more than 30 points in a game, he had 39 against Manhattan (on 15 of 25 shooting) and 34 last night against VMI.

I’m not trying to say Gary should have played him more at Maryland or that he should have stayed, mind you. I think this is the perfect situation for the guy. He wasn’t going to get 21 shots a game at Maryland. Dixon didn’t take 21 shots a game at Maryland. Haven’t you always wondered what an end of the bench guy who was a little too small or a little too something to get serious PT at a big-time school could do if given some minutes at a smaller program? Well, Collins is doing it. And he’s lighting it up. And the team is winning. Good for him.

Also, in the last two games, big Hassan Fofana, another Maryland transfer, became eligible for the Greyhounds and he’s scored 12 and 21 points respectively in his first two games.

So, let’s review what’s going on at Loyola:

• The head coach is Patsos, a former long-time Maryland assistant, who sweats and yells just as much as Gary.
• Two assistant coaches, Stokes and Kovarik, are former Maryland point guards,
• The leading scorer on the team, the conference and fifth-best in the country, is a Maryland transfer, Collins.
• And the team’s new big-man is another former Terp, that wild and crazy African, Hassan Fofana.

What’s not to love?

OK, that’s probably enough on a team that lost by 40 to UVa last week… but the Greyhound are worth keeping an eye on this year.

Let’s Get Back to the Terps -- Why This Season is Really Important – Get Back to Winning

What’s most worrisome about the last two seasons of Maryland hoops, is that after the back-to-back trips to the Final Four and the National Championship team in 2002, Maryland, as a program, regressed.

This is Gary’s recruiting class coming off of the national championship team and their most impressive accomplishment is the 2004 ACC tournament championship, which was more of a fluke than an outgrowth of how this team has actually played for the past 2 seasons. Which is to say that they have been inconsistent, a little tough to watch, lacking in true leadership and, for the most part, a big letdown from the era that produced a bunch of banners and retired numbers and gave us the excitement of watching performances by Dixon, Baxter, Blake, Nicholas, Wilcox, Mouton, and others.

It’s not that the current group doesn’t try hard, but they don’t seem to be great as a team. It’s a new season, however, and with a new season comes new hope, new expectations, and new opportunities. A nice run through the ACC this year will make us forget all about the last two years.

Remember, one of the turning points last year, aside from the Gilchrist meltdown, was the loss of D.J. Strawberry for the season. D.J. isn’t a great basketball player per se, or a great point guard. But he is an extremely intense competitor, and one of those guys that makes a team better just by being on it. Strawberry hates to lose, tries as hard as he possibly can on every play, and seems to be improving his ball-handling and shooting skills, even if he was exposed a bit in the GW game. Pair him with the ever-steady McCray in the backcourt, and you’ve got a solid duo that plays great defense.

If you want to nitpick, the problem with Maryland’s roster is that that every one of the team’s best seven players are 2s, 3s, and 4s, there’s no true center and no true point guard to be found. Will Bowers is a center, but let’s face it, he might lose a foot race with a stapler. Sterling Ledbetter and Parrish Brown are point guards, but aren’t good enough to supplant Strawberry or McCray or Jones in the rotation.

General thoughts the Terps key players so far this season.

• Caner-Medley was up to his old tricks Wednesday night, looking like an NBA first round draft pick against a bad team. He was AWOL against GW and Gonzaga, both losses, by the way, with 3 points against Gonzaga and 10 against GW on 4 of 12 shooting. On the positive side, it looks like Nik is not forcing his offense as much this season, so hopefully he’ll try to get his points in the flow of the offense. Put it this way, Maryland needs him to play well to have a good season, it’s that simple.
  
  
• Mike Jones is getting more playing time (about 20 mins/game) and has had some nice scoring games so far, but remains a terrible decision-maker in a half court offense.* He can shoot. He can jump. He often rebounds with flourish and he has hit some huge shots for Maryland. But he throws the ball away and makes dumb decisions all the time. Commentators often talk about a player’s “basketball IQ.” Jones has a basketball IQ of retarded. And what’s up with the hairdo? Is he going dreads or full-on Afro this year? He’s now the Ben Wallace of reserve shooting guards with good jumpers and bad decision-making skills. I always root for Jones though, don’t you?
  
  * Let me tell remind you of something Jones did in the Arkansas game in Maui. On THREE CONSECUTIVE POSSESSIONS Jones received the ball from the point guard to set up the half-court offense. Jones threw the ball away or had it stolen by the other team each time. Let me make sure you’re with me here. Three times down the court. Each time Jones got the ball first after it crossed half court. Each time he threw it away. End of possession. No shots, no other passes, that’s it. Moral of the story? Mike Jones cannot be trusted. He may win a few games for Maryland this year and he will definitely provide some fantastic highlights. But he cannot be trusted. Do not forget this.

• Travis Garrison is a jump shooter. There, I said it. Stop expecting him to score in the paint. He’s been here for four years; playing with his back to the basket is simply not what he does, unless it’s by accident. That said, he’s been pretty steady so far. Didn’t complain when Gist started over him early in the year, did his job and won back his starting role. He’s a good player, he can rebound and block shots, just don’t expect him to start playing like Lonnie Baxter next week. It’s not going to happen.
  
  
• Ikene Ebekwe changed his shooting form in the offseason from truly hideous to just plain ugly, and it seems to be helping at the free throw line. He is fast, athletic and has a mean streak. I like Ebekwe’s game, it’s kind of funky, isn’t it?

• McCray is a pleasure to watch. Makes good decisions, hits his shots, great from the free throw line shares the ball, he is Maryland’s best player.

• If I had to bet money on one guy on the roster to eventually make an NBA team, I’m going with James Gist, but we may have to be a little more patient with this guy than we initially thought. He’s had some nice games but also some stinkers where he disappears or doesn’t get that many minutes. The good news is that he appears to be a good free throw shooter, has a great attitude, and can leap out of the gym. Give him time. Nothing wrong with bringing a guy this talented off the bench.

• Will Bowers. Um, whatever. I guess he’s not horrible. He should probably go up to Loyola and pair up with Fofana to give the Greyhounds the largest front line in the history of the MAAAAAC and see what happens.

• Sterling Ledbetter was Maryland’s starting point guard during that fantastic and exciting run to the semifinals of the NIT but seems to have regressed in Gary’s eyes. Parrish Brown has emerged as Gary’s favorite back-up point guard but this battle is going back and forth. To be continued.

The prediction here is that Maryland will finish with a 10-6, or 11-5 record in the ACC and a national ranking in the teens, ending up with a 4 or 5 seed in the tournament. With a couple of good bounces, they might even get a 3 seed and go 12-4 in the league. I think it will be a fun, and far less frustrating season.

Some Final Randomness

(anyone still with me? I told you it would be long)

While watching Delaware State, I found myself wondering why there isn’t a Maryland State. I mean, wouldn’t Towson be cooler if it was Maryland State? Have they ever thought about this? Has UMBC? What’s better, a directional university or a State university? I’m going State every time, aren’t you? Speaking of Towson, does anyone remember that former Florida State and DePaul coach Pat Kennedy is the head coach at Towson? Is this more or less ridiculous than when Lefty went to Georgia State? At least Lefty won at Georgia State. “Pat’s Cats” went 5-24 last year. This year the Tigers are 3-6. But they did beat UMBC, so that’s good.

So, what’s next for the Terps? They have two more glorified scrimmages – home games against weak teams from weak conferences – before the ACC season begins. Saturday VMI comes to the Comcast Center for a ritual slaughter fresh off the Andre Collins beat-down; and then Texas A&M Corpus Christi visits for a juicy Wednesday night match-up.

Speaking of VMI and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, I understand why the top Division I programs like Maryland have to schedule cupcakes to pad the record. In fairness, Gary always has his teams play a few meaty games against solid programs leading up to the ACC – this year particularly – but I always get a laugh out of the randomness of the non conference “sure thing” schedule.

How do you think the calls to set up these games go between ADs? To find out, I recently eavesdropped outside of Maryland AD Debbie Yow’s office while she was taking care of business. Here’s the transcript.

Yow: “Alice, get me the phone number for the AD at one of those Horizon League schools.”

Alice: “Coming right up. You want Wisconsin-Milwaukee?”

Yow: “Hell no, they win sometimes. You got another Wisconsin?”

Alice: “I got Green Bay and Oshkosh. Who you want?

Yow: “Give me Oshkosh.”

Alice: “Here you go. (pause) Is it true they play in overalls?”

Yow: After dialing… “Hi, Debbie Yow here from the University of Maryland, calling to see what your ’08-’09 non-conference schedule looks like for men’s basketball.”

Wisconsin-Oshkosh AD: “Well, so far I have 12 road games booked in November and December. I could pencil you in for December 28^th or 29th; we’ll have just played Texas and we have Syracuse lined up for the following weekend. Wait, no, I mean we’ll have just played UCLA on Saturday, Texas is the following week, but we could fly cross-country by Tuesday. Would you like to beat us by 40 to improve your NCAA resume in front of an apathetic crowd with limited regional TV coverage and Glenn Consor on color commentary on a Tuesday or a Wednesday?”

Yow: “Wednesday’s good. How much?”

Wisconsin Osh Kosh AD: “That’ll be $50,000, plus some of that tasty CluckU.”

Yow: “What’s done is done.”

Comments?

Thoughts on the Terps for the season?

Hit reply and let me know what you think or send an email to terpsnation@abelcommunications.net.

I’ll post top Terps banter on the Terp Nation Report next Friday.

Coming Next Week:

Catching up with Drew Nicholas – The Richard Hamilton of European basketball.

Happy New Year,

GA

Sarunas Feature for Washington Post - June 2005

The Washington Post
June 29, 2005 Wednesday
Final Edition
Jasikevicius Looks for NBA Shot;
Free Agent Hopeful Counts On His Stardom in Europe

BYLINE: Greg Abel, Special to The Washington Post

SECTION: Sports; E08

LENGTH: 1012 words

When Gary Williams took his University of Maryland men's basketball team to Italy last summer, European fans kept asking Maryland players and coaches about a particular former player who has become a global superstar with a reputation for delivering championships.

Steve Francis? Juan Dixon?

No, the former Terrapin with the biggest reputation outside the United States is none other than Sarunas Jasikevicius, who played for Maryland from 1994 to 1998.

"He's a rock star in Europe," Williams said of the 6-foot-4 Lithuanian, who recently led Maccabi Tel Aviv to its second consecutive Euroleague title.

A solid but unspectacular player in College Park, the 29-year-old Jasikevicius has blossomed into perhaps Europe's most popular and respected player. His leadership and consistent ability to perform in the clutch has made NBA teams almost as high on "Saras," as he is known, as the rabid Maccabi fans, who have devoted Web sites, short films and "please stay" petitions to try to keep him.

As NBA teams evaluate their needs following last night's draft, however, it appears that Jasikevicius will finally make his debut in the NBA next season, more than seven years after departing College Park. He has emerged as one of the hottest -- if perhaps trickiest to pronounce -- free agent names of the summer. (It's pronounced yes-uh-KA-vi-shus).

Indiana, Portland, Boston, Dallas, Utah and Cleveland are interested in the point guard-shooting guard, according to league sources.

"He has a legitimate NBA game," Toronto Raptors General Manager Rob Babcock said last month during the Euroleague Final Four in Moscow.

Now that the league has a new labor deal in place, the player's agent, Doug Neustadt of McLean-based Octagon, can begin talking to teams on July 1 and hopes to strike a multiyear deal soon thereafter. For Jasikevicius, an NBA contract would mark the end to an amazing run as a superstar in Europe and the start of a new challenge as a rookie in the NBA.

"I know that my time is now," he said. "I'm very happy with what I've done, but the NBA has always been my dream."

Jasikevicius acknowledges that he wasn't good enough for the NBA when he left Maryland after averaging 12.4 points per game his senior year. He went home to Lithuania in 1998 and played for one season, then moved to Slovenia for another, all the while gaining confidence. In 2000, Jasikevicius joined Spanish power Barcelona and remained for three seasons, piling up championships and accolades, including one Euroleague and two Spanish League titles.

In Europe, Jasikevicius has played the point, unlike his career at Maryland, where he found himself on the wing and without much leadership responsibility.

"In general, being a pro and being able to concentrate totally on basketball really changed me," he said. "I'm a better ballhandler."

After helping Barcelona win the Euroleague crown in 2003, Jasikevicius led the Lithuanian national team to the European championship later that same summer. Maccabi won a bidding war for his services for the next two seasons -- both culminating in Euroleague championships.

On the court during the Euroleague Final Four in Moscow last month, Jasikevicius exuded confidence, determination and a bit of a temper. He constantly encouraged teammates, chided the referees and waved at the crowd to make noise.

"I don't know any other way to play the game," he said.

This season for Maccabi, Jasikevicius averaged about 15 points and six assists per game, but teammates and coaches say his true value lies in his ability to produce when it matters most.

"He's a tremendous open-court passer, a big-game player, and a big playmaker, the likes of which you don't find every day anywhere," said David Blatt, a former assistant coach with Maccabi who recruited Jasikevicius to Tel Aviv. "When the money is on the line, Saras is going to step up and make plays."

The persistent knock against Jasikevicius has been his defense and quickness, with some questioning whether he can guard on the perimeter. Given the opportunity to play against America's best, however, Jasikevicius has performed well.

During the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, he scored 27 points for the underdog Lithuanians and missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer to nearly cap an enormous upset over the Dream Team. In 2004 in Athens, Jasikevicius scored 28 points to help put the Americans away, 94-90, during a qualifying-round win.

He regards his success against Team USA with pride, but also a dose of realism, saying, "Those guys are good, but the Olympics is not their priority for sure."

As much as Jasikevicius has evolved since his days in College Park, so too has the NBA, which welcomes and recruits international players as never before. Fans need to look no further than the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs to see players such as Tony Parker from France and Manu Ginobili from Argentina as examples of international players making a dramatic impact.

"The Europeans are playing sound, fundamental basketball, and that's why we'll see more and more in the NBA," Portland Trail Blazers General Manger John Nash said.

For his part, Jasikevicius said he has no desire to come to the NBA if it means sitting on the bench. He wants to play for a team that has a chance to win and that will give him an opportunity to play meaningful minutes.

And the money has to be right. While salaries in Europe aren't reported as openly as in the United States, Jasikevicius is certainly one of Europe's top-paid players, which means at least a seven-figure salary, plus perks and benefits. If, for some reason, the right NBA deal isn't offered, he'll have plenty of suitors overseas.

"There was always the question of whether there was enough money to bring him over," said Neustadt, his agent. "But now, NBA teams are opening their eyes to the high-end professionals in Europe. No one has accomplished what Sarunas has accomplished."

Said Jasikevicius, "I would like to go in and compete against the best players in the world and see what I can do."

The Sporting News - May Madness in Europe

The Sporting News

May 18, 2005

HEADLINE: May Madness in Europe

BYLINE: Greg Abel, For Sporting News

DATELINE: MOSCOW

In 1980, during the height of the Cold War, the United States famously boycotted the Summer Olympics as a protest against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The Games went on, of course -- in part at the Olympiysky Arena, built for the occasion near the center of Moscow.

Twenty-five years later on an early May weekend, Americans could be found all over Moscow and particularly at the Olympiysky Arena as they took in the Euroleague Final Four, the showcase event of Europe's most prominent basketball league.

Americans in attendance came in the form of NBA coaches, general managers, scouts and agents, there to take a look at European free agents interested in making the jump to the NBA and to unearth some young talent -- the event also included a tournament of 18-and-under teams from throughout Europe.

"It's an opportunity to see very good players as well as your colleagues and friends from around the world," says Spurs general manager R.C. Buford, whose roster includes players from Argentina (Manu Ginobili), France (Tony Parker), and Slovenia (Beno Udrih and Rasho Nesterovic).

"This event is becoming like our Final Four," says Joe Ash, director of scouting for the Pacers, referring to the dozens of NBA executives in town. The Euroleague has grown into the most highly regarded basketball league in Europe. It brings together 24 teams from 13 countries for weekly competitions culminating in the Final Four, which alternates host cities each year.

The environment at the aging Olympiysky Arena, partitioned to allow for a 13,500-seat championship stage as well as two smaller courts and media facilities, even felt like the NCAA Final Four during the single-elimination games held on a Friday and Sunday. All games were sold out as thousands of fans of host CSKA Moscow, Tau Ceramica of Vittoria, Spain, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Panathinaikos (Athens) sang songs, waved flags, danced, jeered and cheered with passion and energy.

Maccabi, led by Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, MVP of the tournament, and former Bradley standout Anthony Parker, MVP of the regular season, captured the title with a 90-78 victory over Tau Ceramica in the final. NBA fans might remember Jasikevicius, who played at Maryland, as the hotshot who led Lithuania past Team USA at the Athens Olympics. After three exceptional years overseas, he likely will be in the NBA next season. He is 29 and no longer draft-eligible but should attract considerable interest as a free agent from clubs looking for a good combo No. 3 guard.

Maccabi's fans, in their trademark yellow jerseys, overwhelmed the arena, occupying perhaps half of the seats and making both of their team's contests feel like home games. Israelis from as far as New York and San Francisco made the trip to see their team win its second consecutive Euroleague title. "Maccabi gives the people of Israel something to be happy about," said one fan before the championship game. "They are our heart."

Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu told reporters that Maccabi has become a model franchise for the league because of its rabid fan base, regularly sold-out 10,000-seat arena and polished operations extending from sales and marketing to media relations. The challenge for the league, Bertomeu conceded, is bringing together a group of teams from so many countries, not all of which are a part of the European Union, to meet equal standards in areas such as attendance and TV distribution. With new television, licensing and marketing deals expected next year, Bertomeu anticipates continued growth.

The league announced in Moscow that the 2006 Final Four will be held in Prague at the 18,000-seat Sazka Arena, considered one of Europe's top venues, complete with American-style private suites and club seats.

The success of the Euroleague and its players creates a sometimes uneasy partnership with the NBA. Though the Euroleague welcomes the NBA staff to its events and broadcasts a game of the week on NBA TV, the league has a long-term interest in keeping its best players at home -- especially with increasing speculation regarding NBA expansion to Europe in the next decade.

"If the NBA wants to come, they have to know that the Euroleague has a culture of strong clubs," Bertomeu says.

In the meantime, the growing presence of NBA executives at events such as the Euroleague Final Four guarantees NBA fans likely will see more and more international players on their favorite teams' rosters.

Things sure have changed in 25 years.

EuroLeague Final Four Feature for LA Times

Los Angeles Times

May 9, 2005 Monday

HEADLINE: Continental Dividends

Europe has become fertile ground for NBA talent scouts, and the EuroLeague final four is the prime destination point

BYLINE: Greg Abel, Special to The Times

DATELINE: MOSCOW

For NBA scouts, general managers, coaches and agents, a few events every year qualify as unofficial conventions, when those in the business convene to evaluate players, talk deals and swap stories. This weekend, the EuroLeague final four here became just such a "must-attend" event, confirming the increasing respect and attention paid to European basketball.

"It's about talent," Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We're here to see players."

Dunleavy and many others came to take in this growing basketball showcase, which also featured an eight-team junior tournament with top players 18 and under representing clubs from all over Europe.

The brotherhood of NBA talent evaluators spent the weekend at the Olympiysky Sport Complex scribbling in notebooks, analyzing stat sheets and monitoring the progress of potential draft picks as well as a few established European veterans who might be ready to make the jump to the NBA.

"There are so many key people here from the NBA and the European teams, it's a great chance to build relationships. It's almost like an All-Star weekend," said John Nash, general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Said David Griffin, the Phoenix Suns' director of player personnel: "This is where we get together and we all lie to each other about how good guys are or aren't."

The final four competition featured teams from host CSKA Moscow, Tau Ceramica of Vitoria, Spain, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Panathinaikos of Athens. Led by Lithuanian national team star Sarunas Jasikevicius and inspired by more than 6,000 yellow-clad Maccabi fans whose wildly enthusiastic encouragement deafened the arena, Maccabi captured its second consecutive championship Sunday night with a 90-78 victory over Tau, which had upset Moscow in the semifinals Friday night.

Count Jasikevicius, the final four MVP, and sharp-shooting countryman Arvydas Macijauskas of Tau Ceramica as players whose multisyllabic names might become more familiar to NBA fans as soon as next season. The 29-year-old Jasikevicius, a 6-foot-4 guard who played at Maryland, has been on the last three EuroLeague championship teams (2003 with Barcelona and '04 and '05 with Tel Aviv) and also led Lithuania to a European title. His steady floor game and fiery leadership have made him perhaps Europe's top player.

"I thought [he] should have been in the NBA three years ago," said Arturas Karnisovas, who starred at Seton Hall in the early 1990s before going on to a successful European career. Karnisovas now works for the NBA's international division; part of his job is helping European players adjust to life in America and the NBA. Judging from NBA interest in Moscow, Karnisovas should be a busy man for the foreseeable future.

The Trail Blazers have demonstrated a recent penchant for foreign players. After selecting high school player Sebastian Telfair with the 13th overall pick last June, the team went the European route, grabbing 6-8 Russian forward Sergei Monya with the 23rd pick and trading for 6-9 Russian forward Viktor Khryapa in a deal with the New Jersey Nets. Monya is expected to join the Trail Blazers next season, and Coach Kevin Pritchard and team President Steve Patterson joined Nash in Moscow to look for more talent.

In explaining why NBA teams have become so enamored of European players, Nash said it comes down to fundamentals.

"The Europeans are playing sound, fundamental basketball and that's why we'll see more and more in the NBA," he said.

Dunleavy pointed to the addition of zone defenses in the NBA as a reason why European players have found a larger niche in recent years.

"Our young players focus on one-on-one skills, beating people off the dribble for lay-ups and dunks," he said. "When you play against a zone, there are not as many opportunities off the dribble; you need to focus more on passing and shooting."

San Antonio Spur General Manager R.C. Buford, whose team has benefited immensely from such imported players as Tony Parker (France) and Manu Ginobili (Argentina), made the trip to visit with Luis Scola, a bruising power forward for Tau who was drafted by the Spurs in 2003. The Spurs also hold the rights to Russian forward Sergei Karaulov, a 7-1 center they selected in the second round last year.

"We wanted to see Luis of course, but there's also a chance to evaluate players in the junior tournament, who are the next generation of EuroLeague players," Buford said.

NBA teams may not simply draft and take European players away, however. Often, as in the case of Scola, they have contracts with their European clubs and must negotiate a buyout or wait until their contract expires. That's why European players often don't show up in an NBA box score until a year or two after they are drafted, if at all.

The EuroLeague, of course, wants to keep its best players at home, though league officials do say that interest from the NBA typically increases exposure and hype. The NBA and EuroLeague have a cooperative relationship. NBA TV, for example, broadcasts one EuroLeague game a week and carries the semifinals and finals live. More and more, top European players aren't a secret because satellite TV and international scouting have opened the game to a truly global scale.

With many NBA teams employing scouts overseas and so many talent evaluators attending events like the final four, is it still possible to find a hidden gem?

"It's all beauty in the eye of the beholder," Dunleavy said. "The test is to recognize them first and get to them first. And sometimes, it just comes down to where you pick."

Tony Ronzone, a globetrotting scout for the Detroit Pistons who has coached in the U.S. and overseas with clubs in places as diverse as Saudi Arabia and New Zealand, enjoys the challenge of trying to find players in places where others haven't even tried to look. He has recruited in Australia, Africa, even North Korea.

"Sleepers?" Ronzone said, a smile crossing his face, "You can still pull one out."

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