By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
They say that “the best time to start thinking about your retirement is before everybody else does”. If Ramunas Siskauskas had this thought in his mind; he managed to achieve his goal.
He had for many years the spotlight on him. He left Lithuania later than his teammates in the national team, but since 2004, when he left Lietuvos Rytas, he was always at the top. After eight seasons in the highest level with Benetton Treviso, Panathinaikos and CSKA Moscow, the Lithuanian forward decided to descend from the scene four months before his 34th birthday.
Siskauskas announced his decision to say goodbye in a press conference and clarified that his decision is final: “It’s time to finish my career. This decision was not made in a minute – I thought it for a long time. I won’t change my decision”.
But what will he do now on? He will definitely stay away of basketball for a year and enjoy his family, as he said, but mentioned that “I am not leaving basketball forever, it will always be part of my life”.
After two Euroleague trophies, nine national championships and three medals with Lithuanian national team, he considers as the most important success of his career the gold medal of Eurobasket 2003, when “we arrived in Kaunas, and all the way from the airport there were people who welcomed us, bowing. And in the center of the city gathered, I think, about 50,000 people. I will never forget it; and then two Euroleague titles”.
So the last games of “Siska” were the finals against Khimki for the Russian championship cause he stopped to play for his national team since the summer of 2008. On the contrary Sarunas Jasikevicius, although he is already 36 years, will be there after national team coach Kestutis Kemzura called him for the Pre-olympic tournament.