By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Sarunas Jasikevicius is one of the best players in the history of European basketball. His abilities are dwarfed only by his amazing will to win, a trait that was obvious in every team he has played.
When he decided to turn the page and become a coach, everyone was expecting greatness from him. And he delivered, capturing once more the heart of the Lithuanian nation and leading Zalgiris Kaunas to the EuroLeague Final Four for the first time after almost 20 years.
As he said to Eurohoops, he decided to become a coach, because he believes that basketball is the only thing in life that he really knows. And to be a coach is the closest thing to being a player if you can’t play anymore.
There’s a theory that a player who has been truly great, can’t be an equally great coach. Jasikevicius, even if he is still taking his “baby-steps” on the benches, can prove this theory wrong.
Can he end up being an even greatest coach than he was a player? It’s a question that comes naturally after his last season’s feat with Zalgiris Kaunas.
Only time will tell and for now, nobody knows, not even Saras himself. However, you can’t deny that he is still a star. You see it on his full of passion eyes, on the basketball his team produces every night, on his players that are giving to him more than 100%.
And Saras is equally charismatic when he gives an interview. Here’s part one of a long interview in which Jasikevicius explains why Zalgiris Kaunas at this moment is the best team on the world for him to coach, his addiction to success and the scouting of his team in order to compete in the EuroLeague without having the financial resources that other teams have.
He admits that when he was a player, he was making decisions based also on his emotions, but as a coach, he has to stick to the data, because he does not want to work with people that want to make basketball related decision, without having the proper knowledge.
In the first part of his Eurohoops interview, Saras gives his own definition of being successful or not in life, he talks about his love for Greece, the NBA dream that he might have if he was now an 18 years old player and the goal of being a head coach in the best league of the world.