LTU– Saras - ‘Winning is the only thing that there is in sports’

ATHENS (A1) - Sarunas Jasikevicius has a career that is full of big moments, both with Lithuania and numerous teams in Europe and North America.

One thing that never gets old for him is winning titles.

Already this year, the point guard has celebrated a Greek Cup triumph with Panathinaikos.

The Greens are firmly in the hunt for honors in the Euroleague and they also have a good shot at winning a seventh straight Greek title.

Panathinaikos defeated their rivals Olympiacos in the Cup final, 80-70, and Jasikevicius, who turns 33 on Thursday, let everyone know how good it felt to capture his third crown with the Greens.

“It’s only normal to feel happy about what we accomplished by winning one more title," he said.

"And I thank God for this. We are aiming for three titles, though, and what we want is to keep taking care of our job."

Looking back at the Greek Cup final, the February 22 clash was a true heavyweight fight with Olympiacos, a game that hung in the balance before Greece international Dimitris Diamantidis hit three consecutive three-pointers midway through the fourth quarter.

When it was over, Jasikevicius and all of his teammates freely admitted that the victory had not been a thing of beauty.

"It was not the best possible game, we understand this, it’s normal," Jasikevicius said.

"You get nervous; there is always tension for both teams in a final, while our opponent is a team with very good players. They prepare for the game, try to be ready and they did try to make our life a little bit harder."

Jasikevicius is accustomed to playing in pressure-filled games, and he has coped with it better than most.

As a player with Lithuania at EuroBasket 2003, the playmaker led his country to the gold medal.

He experienced the joy of winning an ACB, Copa del Rey and Euroleague treble with Barcelona and later hit the heights with the Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“It’s very simple," Jasikevicius said on the Panathinaikos website.

"Winning is the only thing that there is in sports.

"We have a bunch of great guys in the team. Every single guy is nice and we all want to win.

"When moments like the ones we lived (in the Greek Cup final) happen, you understand why you keep playing.

"It’s the essence of what we do. I don’t feel complete. I still want titles. I have the motivation needed each time I step on the floor to play this game and I hope that I will continue to feel like this for a long time.

"Titles, this kind of game is the reason we play basketball. We understand what these games mean. In this business, we are as good as the titles we have conquered. Maybe that’s the bad part of our job, but it’s the reality; and in Panathinaikos they all understand the meaning of getting to a title. That’s why we are in this team...

"One trophy is ours, but we have two more to go!”

Panathinaikos followed up that Greek Cup final with a victory at Lottomatica Roma to secure a spot in the last eight of the Euroleague, but they were reminded of how difficult it will be to claim all of the titles on Sunday when falling in a very close domestic league game to Olympiacos.

FIBA