With the NCAA basketball tournament field of 65 now set, Lithuania-based Basket News is taking pride today in a trio of countrymen participating in the tourney. Representing the yellow, green and red in March Madness will be:
• Deividas Dulkys, Florida State University. The sophomore formerly of Findlay College Prep managed 8.5 points and 2.4 boards per game while shooting with 39.4% success beyond the arc coming off the bench.
Now that NBA mock drafting is in full swing (despite the total lack of clarity regarding playoff positioning, not to mention seeing how the damn lottery ping-pong balls fall this year), BallinEurope’s man in the U.K., Sam Chadwick, will be taking a look at some of Europe’s prospective high draft picks. Today, it’s all about big man Donatas Motiejunas.
Vital stats
Position: Centre/Power Forward
Height: 7’0”/2.13m
Weight: 224 lbs/101 kg
Date of birth: 09/20/1990
Current Club: Benetton Treviso
Lithuanian-language websites Basket News and Kauno Diena are this morning reporting that Zalgiris Kaunas has hired Sarunas Sakalauskas to become the club’s sporting director; the position was apparently filled directly following last night’s Asseco Prokom-Zalgiris match. Though both media outlets claim that the ink is already dry on the contracts, Kaunas owner Vladimir Romanov denied having hired Sakalauskas.
Currently employed as M. Romeris youth team coach, Sakalauskas has done head coaching stints with Vilnius Sakalu and Lietuvos Rytas, but the bulk of his recent career was spent heading up Eisbären Bremerhaven, where he lead the team from 2001 to 2009 and was named Bundesliga “Coach of the Year” in 2006.
Just a quick note on former Cleveland Cavalier/sitting-in-limbo Zydrunas Ilgauskas from the big network. ESPN reported last night that, despite interest from the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks in Z, the big man plans and expects to re-sign with the Cavs.
Ilgauskas must wait until March 22, due to a NBA-mandated 30-day wait period required of released players seeking to re-sign with their former club.
Did you know that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is the Cleveland Cavaliers’ all-time leader in games played, minutes played, blocked shots, offensive rebounds, and total rebounds? Or that the sportswriting team at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer just this month named him the fifth-best player in Cavaliers history?
Ilgauskas: Cavalier no more
Maybe, maybe not: After all, for most of his 12 seasons in the NBA, Ilgauskas has been mired on bad Cleveland teams; ironically, while the team’s most realistic shot at taking the NBA title is happening, the ever-adaptable and reasonably reliably Z has been jettisoned for a larger-than-life personality with older-than-Australia knees – traded as a necessary evil cap-space move in the deal that sends Antawn Jamison to the Cavs.
Though Ilgauskas’ 2009-10 season is hardly over – reports last night on ESPN had the Washington Wizards buying out his contract and the Dallas Mavericks picking him up – one can’t help but wonder if his expiring contract combined with the ties cut by his heretofore loyal employer will be enough to bring him to Europe for 2010-11.
In the afterglow of the VTB United League final, Unics Kazan’s Marko Popovic briefly spoke with Lithuanian media after his team’s loss to CSKA Moscow in Friday’s third-place game. Popovic thanks the ever-devoted Zalgiris Kaunas fans, who gave him a rousing ovation when announced as a member of the all-tournament team (named so despite a final-game performance of just 10 points and eight turnovers).
Nearly eighteen months after winning a Lithuanian championship with Zalgiris, only to be denied a proper contract offer, Popovic stated that the Kaunas fans tempt him to look beyond difficulties with the front office and consider a return to Lithuania when his contract with Unics in up after 2011.
In his English-language comments, Popovic contended that Zalgiris officials “disrespected me in the media and said I wasn’t a good enough player because they wanted to avoid paying me.”
Concluded Popovic on the matter: “That’s the only thing that hurt me in Lithuania.”
Video runs below the break.
Will Super Mario jump to Zalgiris?
This is good news for Murcia fans, as the team has not yet signed the American big man despite the club’s announced intention to do so ASAP, emphasizing Zalgiris interest as a reason for haste in putting together a deal for Massey.
Explaining that this year’s results show Zalgiris’ young point guards are not quite ready to compete at the Euroleague level, an issue that Ramunas Butautas wants addressed, Romanov stated that he is not willing to make the simple short-term solution Massey might provide.
Meanwhile, Zalgiris officials reportedly met with Aleksander Čapin on Monday and these parties are ready to ink a two-year deal. The real catch for Romanov and the Lithuanians at this point, however, would be their true object of desire, namely young Croatian stud Mario Delas. The team is said to be in negotiation with Delas currently.
Spanish-language website Cope.es is today reporting that CB Murcia officials will be pulling out all stops in order to sign US citizen/Team Macedonia big man Jeremiah Massey, who was released from his contracted with Real Madrid after spending much of the season off the Spanish team’s roster altogether.
One of the factors for Murcia not having already signed the Euroleague’s “Most Spectacular Player” for 2007 is apparently an enticing offer from Zalgiris Kaunas. Zalgiris has been rumored to be coveting Massey since at least week and/or the recent injury to Travis Watson. Murcia GM Paco Guillem has promised to officially welcome Massey to his team “within hours” of the reportage today.
The final four teams in the inaugural season of the Eastern European basketball association known as the VTB United League are set, with playoffs scheduled for January 21 and 22 at the Kaunas Sports Arena.
The quartet is comprised of group winners UNICS Kazan and CSKA Moscow plus runners-up Khimki Moscow region and Zalgiris Kaunas. Though Kaunas and Moscow both posted 5-1 records in the pool play portion of the season, CSKA took the group based on point differential earned in the October opener with a 90-74 win over the Lithuanian squad.
Teams eliminated as of the final games this weekend were Kalev Tallinn, VEF Riga, Azovmash and Mariupol Donetsk.
Oh boy, would Zalgiris like Kazlauskas...
Due in part to the 89-55 throttling at the hands of FC Barcelona this week and in great part to Zalgiris Kaunas’ poor 1-7 showing in Euroleague play in 2009, Gintaras Krapikas stepped down as head coach, effective immediately. And so ends Krapikas’ third stint with the team in various capacities as player and coach.
Currently, Darius Maskoliūnas is serving as interim coach, but apparently is not the club’s medium-term choice to hold onto the position.
So who steps in? As this source reports, the Zalgiris front office may reap from a handful of homegrown choices readily available. Candidates for the job may include the following:
• Rimas Girskis, who has an impressive CV as an international and professional club coach, if at a bit lower level; Girskis resigned from Ukrainian Super League team Azovmash Mariupol in November of this year.
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