Eurohopes saw Rolandas Jakstas ('92) last year in the U-17 Victor Rho Tournament, in Italy. The 1.98 lithuanian forward played a good final game with Sabonis HS against canadians of Hoop Factory, but they lost shocking against Anthony Bennett and Kevin Pangos. Some months later he led Zalgiris to the title of NIJT in Rome, beating Benetton Treviso (79-55) with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 1 steal in 29 minutes. Due to that great win lithuanians earned a ticket for the final round, that will be held next week in Paris (France). But is a tough mission. Won't be easy. The successor of FMP Zeleznik is on the air. Jakstas has no doubt: "In Paris, Zalgiris is the favorite".
Lithuanians have a good team. Let's check it. The preliminary roster has been published, but there can be changes. Zalgiris, coached by Arunas Visockas, has a couple of youngsters who played some days ago the Jordan Brand Classic in the Madison Square Garden: Marius Grigonis ('94) and Augustinas Jankaitis ('94). "They are young but brave, so I think they will help us a lot", tells Jakstas. 2.00 power-forward Jankaitis is one of the most promising stars in the country. In New York he had 16 points and 13 rebounds, but he already made great performances in the NIJT at Rome, like against Montepaschi Siena (11 points and 11 rebounds in 19') and Fribourg (18+10 in 20'). Tauras Jogela ('93) is also an important piece. The 2.00 forward was named the MVP of last U-16 European Championship at Kaunas (Lithuania) averaging 15.6 points and 8.9 rebounds. He also played in a good level at Rome: 10.3 points in less than 16 minutes.
Guards Dovydas Redikas ('92) -12.0 points on last U-19 World Championship- and Vytenis Cizauskas ('92), who has recovered from a long injury, are the "veterans". Zalgiris need their performances to make a step forward in Paris. Jakstas explains to Eurohopes that "we will fight for the first place, but we don't know our opponents. So it will be very hard".
Edgaras Ulanovas ('92), Evaldas Aniulis ('92),... The rest of Zalgiris players can be very important. We cannot forget them either.
Photo: NKL
