Šarūnas Jasikevičius
 Jasikevičius with PAO in November 2007. |
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| Nickname(s) | Saras |
|---|---|
| Position | Point Guard |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| League | none |
| Team | free agent |
| Number | 19 |
| Born | March 5, 1976 Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, USSR (now Lithuania) |
| Nationality | Lithuanian |
| College | Maryland |
| Draft | Undrafted, 1998 |
| Pro career | 1998–present |
| Former teams | Lietuvos Rytas (1998–99) Olimpija Ljubljana (1999–00) FC Barcelona (2000–03) Maccabi Tel Aviv (2003–05) Indiana Pacers (2005–2007) Golden State Warriors (2007) Panathinaikos (2007–10) |
| Awards | 2003 Spanish League Finals MVP 2003 FIBA European Championship MVP 2003 Mr. Europa Player of the Year 2004, 2005 All-Euroleague First Team 2005 Euroleague Final Four MVP 2007 35 Greatest Euroleague Players Euroleague 2001-10 All-Decade Team |
Šarūnas Jasikevičius (; born March 5, 1976) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. Last year he played in the Euroleague and the Greek League with Panathinaikos and currently he is free agent. He is also a former member of the Lithuanian national team. He plays the point guard position.
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Early years
Jasikevičius is from Lithuania, but spent his teen years in the United States. He attended the Solanco High School in Quarryville, Pennsylvania.
College career
Jasikevičius played college basketball at the University of Maryland. He played as a wing, although he remade himself into a point guard in his pro career.[1] He didn't see much playing time in his first two years in college with seniors Duane Simpkins, Johnny Rhodes and Exree Hipp ahead of him at the wing positions. As a junior, he became a better passer and improved his defense.[2] He averaged a shade under 13 points and 4 assists in his junior and senior years.
Pro career
Jasikevičius made his pro debut in 1998 with Lietuvos Rytas of Vilnius and averaged 18.0 points and 5.4 assists. He joined the Olimpija Ljubljana for the next season and won the Premier A Slovenian Basketball League. His season averages were down to 9.3 points and 3.4 assists per game.
Jasikevičius played the next three seasons with the FC Barcelona and won the Euroleague in 2003. He started for the championship team and averaged 13.4 points and 3.2 assists. He also led the team to two Spanish League titles and two Spanish King's Cups.
He joined the Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2003 and helped them win two Euroleague titles, two Israeli League crowns and two Israeli Cups.
Jasikevičius signed with the Indiana Pacers in July 2005. The deal was worth $12 million dollars over three years. He played 112 games (16 starts) with the Pacers in 1 1/2 seasons, averaging 7.3 points and 3.0 assists.
On January 17, 2007, Jasikevičius was traded to the Golden State Warriors along with Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington and Josh Powell in exchange for Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Ike Diogu, and Keith McLeod.[3] He didn't become a part of the rotation in Golden State. He averaged 4.3 points and 2.3 assists in 26 games (2 starts) in only 11.9 minutes per game. Jasikevičius was bought out by the Warriors on September 20, 2007.[4]
On September 25, 2007, Jasikevičius signed with the Panathinaikos. The deal reportedly was worth € 8.4 million euros net income over two years.[5] He won the Euroleague again in 2009.[6] Jasikevičius became the only player in basketball history to win the Euroleague with three different teams.[7] He also won two Greek League titles and two Greek Cups with the Panathinaikos. In 2009, he signed a contract extension worth € 3.4 million euros net income with Panathinaikos.[8]
Lithuanian national team
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Lithuania |
||
| Men's Basketball | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Bronze | 2000 Sydney | National Team |
| FIBA European Championship | ||
| Gold | 2003 Sweden | National Team |
| Bronze | 2007 Spain | National Team |
Jasikevičius was a member of the Lithuanian national team which won bronze medals at the 2000 Olympic Games. He averaged 14.0 points and 5.1 assists and scored a tournament-high 27 points in a semi-finals loss to the United States.[9]
Jasikevičius also led Lithuania to a 2003 FIBA European Championship title. He was named Tournament MVP after averaging 14.0 points and 8.2 assists.[10]
Jasikevičius helped Lithuania win bronze medals at the 2007 FIBA European Championship. He averaged 10.4 points and 5.6 assists and scored a tournament-high 18 points against Turkey on September 3rd, 2007.[11]
Personal
Šarūnas' younger brother, Vytenis Jasikevičius, is also a professional basketball player. In 2006, Jasikevičius married Linor Abargil, the winner of the Miss World 1998 beauty pageant.[12] They divorced in 2008.
Honors and awards
Pro career
- 1 Slovenian Cup: (2000)
- 2 Spanish Cups: (2001, 2003)
- 2 Spanish Championships: (2001, 2003)
- 4 Euroleague Championships: (2003, 2004, 2005, 2009)
- 4 Triple Crowns: (2003, 2004, 2005, 2009)
- Spanish League Finals MVP: (2003)
- Mr. Europa European Player of the Year: (2003)
- 2 Israeli Cups: (2004, 2005)
- 2 Israeli Championships: (2004, 2005)
- Euroleague Final Four MVP: (2005)
- 35 Greatest Euroleague Players: (2007)
- 2 Greek Cups: (2008, 2009)
- 3 Greek Championships: (2008, 2009, 2010)
- Euroleague 2001-10 All-Decade Team: (2010)
Lithuanian national team
- 2000 Olympic Basketball Tournament: Bronze Medal
- 2003 FIBA European Championship: Gold Medal
- 2003 FIBA European Championship: MVP
- 2007 FIBA European Championship: Bronze Medal
NBA career statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Indiana | 75 | 15 | 20.8 | .396 | .364 | .910 | 2.0 | 3.0 | .5 | .0 | 7.3 |
| 2006–07 | Indiana | 37 | 1 | 17.9 | .412 | .372 | .922 | 1.3 | 3.0 | .4 | .0 | 7.4 |
| 2006–07 | Golden State | 26 | 2 | 11.9 | .366 | .273 | .871 | .8 | 2.3 | .5 | .0 | 4.3 |
| Career | 138 | 18 | 18.3 | .397 | .355 | .908 | 1.6 | 2.9 | .5 | .0 | 6.8 |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Indiana | 6' | 0 | 11.0 | .368 | .222 | .500 | 1.0 | 1.0 | .0 | .2 | 2.8 |
| 2006–07 | Golden State | 4 | 0 | 1.5 | .000 | .000 | .500 | .0 | .5 | .0 | .0 | .3 |
| Career | 10 | 0 | 7.2 | .350 | .222 | .500 | .6 | .8 | .0 | .1 | 1.8 |
References
- ↑ http://www.interbasket.net/players/jasikevicius.htm Jasikevicius Has Continental Flair, Ex-Terp One of Europe's Best Guards By Tim Warren Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, September 14, 2003;
- ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/events/1998/tournament/men/spotlight/jasikevicius.html Sarunas Jasikevicius, Maryland
- ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/transactions?team=gsw&year=2007 Golden State Warriors Transactions 2006-07
- ↑ Warriors Request Waivers On Sarunas Jasikevicius.
- ↑ Greens land Jasikevicius, too.
- ↑ http://en.basketball.doudiz.com/competition-summary/788168.html Euroleague Summary
- ↑ Euroleague.net PANATHINAIKOS keeps Jasikevicius.
- ↑ Talkbasket.com Jasikevicius stays put at Panathinaikos.
- ↑ Šarūnas Jasikevičius Biography and Statistics
- ↑ Šarūnas Jasikevičius: 2002/2003 Europos vyrų čempionatas
- ↑ Šarūnas Jasikevičius: 2006/2007 Europos vyrų čempionatas
- ↑ Saras, Baston Hope To Rekindle Title Chemistry. by Conrad Brunner, Oct. 6, 2006.
External links
- Euroleague.net Profile - Sarunas Jasikevicius
- Official Panathinaikos Profile
- NBA.com Historical Player File - Sarunas Jasikevicius
- Sarunas-online.net - Sarunas Jasikevicius Fansite
- Basketpedya Profile
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