They say that in the city of Noblesvillean oasis of tranquility 30 kilometers from a downtown Indianapolis that vibrates with the All Star, well-off families predominate. However, at the Mojo Up Sports Complex everyone works hard to earn their future bread on the last day of both the All Star and the Basketball Without Bordersthe parallel program to the weekend of the stars that brings together the best High School prospects in the world.
Like sunlight reflecting off the snow on a bright day, the intensity of the show’s tournament finale dazzles. Above all, that of Kaspars Jakucionispart of a selection of players from the Indiana Pacers and that beats the combined Detroit Pistons (39-31). Sparks fly in every incident that the young Barça youth player goes into, who almost ended up on the ground in a dispute with the Greek Neoklis Avdala, the player of the Panathinaikos who plays on loan for Karditsa in the Hellenic league. Barça’s Lithuanian point guard, only 17 years old, helps him get up. Elegance like his game.
And precisely a former Barcelona player, Joey Dorsey -one of the NBA academy coaches-, is amazed by that vehement long whistle that betrays stupefaction.
Joey Dorsey, NBA Academy coach
Toni Canyameras
“Whoa, he can play…” he comments in his conversation with MD Dorsey, who played for Barça in the 13/14 and 16/17 seasons before being fired by the Barça club for an alleged lack of disciplinethe entity having to compensate the entity later after a ruling declared the dismissal null and void.
Jakucionis made his debut last year with the first team, hand in hand, of course, with his compatriot Saras Jasikevicius. He made it clear that he is something special by first displaying his talent and daring with a triple in his debut against the Coviran Granadaalso becoming the third youngest Barça player in Barça history to score, after Dame Sarr y Eric Vila.
The 1.92m point guard is included in the tournament’s All Star team, which also included Iker Garmendia of Joventut, and Coulibaly ships, from Baxi Manresa. The Lithuanian landed in Barcelona in 2021 from Perlas Vilnius and was the Under-18 Euroleague MVP in 2023.
“Jakucionis is a great young player, a great prospect. I think a lot of people have an eye on him, he plays really hard, he defends, he shoots, he gets to the rim. “He does everything,” highlights the American after a new edition of a tournament in which superstars such as Joel Embiid y Jamal Murray.
Dorsey has good memories of his time in Barcelona, highlighting the talent of Tomas Satoransky and of Juan Carlos Navarro. “He is a legend, he could have stayed much longer in the NBA,” says the insider about the current Barça General Manager.
Although the Lithuanian attraction of the All Star is Matas Buzelis – a participant in the Rising Stars tournament -, Jakucionis also enters through the eyes. He is also seen by senior NBA executives as Masai Ujiripresident of the Toronto Raptors, the famous journalist Shams Charania and, of course, a handful of scouts from the American league
The outsider has already taken another step this season, debuting in the Euroleague with Roger Grimau, great connoisseur of yours. And he dominates with the reserve team in the EBA League with 21.3 points, 7 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game and a 26.8 rating. Joey Dorsey sees him returning to the United States:
“I think he has the talent to definitely reach the top in the NBA.”
Read also
2024-02-21 03:38:02
#reach #top #NBA
