LTU - MVP Saras does it again

ATHENS (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Sarunas Jasikevicius has turned in one game-winning performance after another in his glorious career.

There was the EuroBasket 2003 MVP award he snatched after firing Lithuania to the gold medal in Sweden, and there were game-winning displays with Barcelona and Maccabi Tel Aviv when they won Euroleague titles in the last decade.

The latest trophy that Jasikevicius was a part of was the 2012 Greek Cup, something he won with Panathinaikos over the weekend.

His team won a 71-70 thriller over Olympiacos.

At the EuroBasket last year in Lithuania, he had some good moments, particularly in teaming up with young center Jonas Valanciunas.

But some thought the point guard, who is now 36, wasn’t at his best in the tournament.

He averaged 9.5 points and 4.6 assists in 17.7 minutes per game but wasn’t the talisman who’d been so influential in tournaments past.

Jasikevicius had 10 important points in the Cup triumph over Olympiacos.

His performance overall helped steal the momentum for Panathinaikos, who had fallen behind by 14 before the Lithuanian took matters into his own hands and hit some timely shots and delivered some wonderful passes.

How long can he continue to play at this level?

"I will keep playing this game as (long as) I enjoy it," he said.

"I am very happy to be at Panathinaikos and am delighted to work with this coaching staff."

At Panathinaikos, he plays for the great coach Zeljko Obradovic.

There will undoubtedly be calls for Jasikevicius to be in the national team when Lithuania play at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Venezuela.

He’s thinking about winning more trophies with Panathinaikos for now and nothing more.

"This (Greek Cup) title is already in the past,” Jasikevicius said.

"We're very happy, but now we can continue to improve in view of the Euroleague play-offs and championship play-offs."

FIBA