KAUNAS (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - It was always a matter of when Sarunas Jasikevicius would get his first head coaching gig and not if. Well, it happened this week.

A struggling Zalgiris Kaunas team parted ways with Gintaris Krapikas and promoted the 39-year-old Jasikevicius from his role as assistant. Don't tell me you were surprised.

Having been one of Europe's most famous players since 2003, Jasikevicius retired after the 2013-14 campaign and joined Zalgiris as an assistant coach. The first season on the bench went fast.

During Euroleague games this season, Jasikevicius appeared calmer. He had a sartorial elegance with his attire, too, that made him look like a head coach. In the heat of battle, frustration was apparent during timeouts. There were times he would turn his back on the huddle and not listen, even walk away. It was almost as if he could not take part and listen to the coach's instructions. He wanted to be the man in charge.

It's early in his coaching career, but Jasikevicius is almost certain to use the experience at Zalgiris as a springboard to other jobs. Maybe in the not-too-distant future, he'll coach other teams that he played for like Barcelona, Maccabi Tel Aviv or Panathinaikos.

The truth is that Jasikevicus was always a coach on the floor for the teams he played for. He liked to call the shots. Look up the words floor general in a basketball dictionary and you'll see his photo.

Jasikevicius never backed down from any opponent. As for his teammates, he was never shy about giving them instructions, or admonishing them if they had put a foot wrong.

If he is looking for examples to follow when it comes to players-turned-coaches, Jasikevicius has many to refer to. Some were point guards like him, including former Yugoslavia star Sasha Djordjevic.

When Djordjevic first ran a team, Olimpia Milano in 2006-07, all did not go well. It was the same several years later when Djordjevic coached Benetton Treviso. When he took the helm of Serbia, though, before the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, he proved to be a perfect fit, steering a group of young men, many that had looked up to him as a player, into the Final.

Aleksandar Djordjevic (SRB) at FIBA Basketball World Cup

Last year, Djordjevic got Serbia to within a victory of Olympic qualification. After holding the reins of Panathinaikos this season, Djordjevic will again try to lead Serbia to the Rio de Janeiro Games via the OQT route.

Jasikevicius is almost certain to get the opportunity to lead his country one day. Because he had many a famous moment in the Lithuania jersey, maybe he will be revered by the players just as Djordjevic has been with Serbia, and just as Panagiotis Giannakis was with Greece.

Sometimes having a former national team player coach the team works. Sometimes, it doesn't. Witness Velimir Perasovic at EuroBasket 2015. His Croatia team was among the biggest disappointments.

If he does end up coaching Lithuania, the players will remember that in 2000, Jasikevicius very nearly beat the USA in a thrilling Semi-Final at the Sydney Olympics. He had 27 points in his team's 85-83 defeat. They will remember at EuroBasket 2003, he was the Most Valuable Player of a title-winning side.

The Olympics was his biggest stage. Those Lithuania players will remember when he became the famous basketball player in the world, at least for a day, by shooting down the United States at the 2004 Athens Games. He drilled seven three-balls and scored a game-high 28 points to lead Lithuania past the United States, 94-90. That performance sent 'Saras-mania' into overdrive.

When Zalgiris made the announcement this past week that he was taking over as head coach, and that Darius Songaila was being promoted as his top assistant, you had to harken back to their Lithuania days. They were terrific in the national team jersey, for example, in Sydney.

The biggest challenge for Jasikevicius? He overflowed with emotion late in his days as a player. There are times to be a loud, complaining coach but there are also times to be a picture of calm.

Jasikevicius' former coach at Panathinaikos, Zeljko Obradovic, is a former player now known for his intensity on the sidelines at Fenerbahce. The advice I would give to Jasikevicius is to follow the example of Giannakis and Djordjevic. Get the right balance of calm and fury.

There were two sides to Jasikevicius at EuroBasket 2011. He was so smart that he was the only player that could get the best out of national team rookie Jonas Valanciunas, tossing him one alley-oop pass after another to slam home.

Yet there was also the over-the-top Saras in the tournament. He chastised anyone and everyone. As a member of the Lithuania side that hosted, he did far more gesticulating than national team coach Kestutis Kemzura and that didn't look good.

I figured he was a distraction for a team that had a painful Quarter-Final exit, but Kemzura took him to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament the next year and Jasikevicius helped Lithuania claim one of the three spots for the London Games.

Now he is a head coach and while there are sure to be some hard times, my guess is that he will get it right in the end.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

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