West Remy
Honneur des Samouraïs
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Youngblood
by Joe Gabriele
clevelandcavaliers.com
Andriuskevicius plays more like a Euro-forward than a prototypical center.
Martynas hasn't had to carry anything for the veterans ... yet.
In June of 1996, the Cavaliers – coming off their fifth straight playoff performance and owners of two first round picks – were hosting a Draft Party at then-Gund Arena to announce their selections.
With Brad Daugherty’s prolific career coming to a close, Cavs GM Wayne Embry knew that he had to shore up the middle. With the first pick, No. 12, Cleveland chose Vitaly Potapenko. The fans that had come to the arena were slightly confused. Who the heck was Vitaly Potapenko?
Eight choices later, Embry chose another center, less of a banger than Potapenko, but with unreal offensive skills for a player who was 7-3. That player was Zydrunas Ilgauskas. And if the fans were confused with the pick of Potapenko, they were downright aggravated with the selection of Z.
At least the Ukraine Train played ball in America.
Of course, that was nine years, 413 games and two All-Star appearances ago. Ilgauskas is now one of the pillars of the Wine and Gold and recently resigned a free agent contract with the Cavaliers, hoping to close a highly-productive career with the team that chose him in 1996.
At the time, choosing international players were the exception, not the rule. Drafting a foreign player who hadn’t played college ball in the States was almost unheard of. After the selection of Z, Denver took a shot on Efthimis Rentzias from Greece and Utah went for Martin Muursepp of Estonia.
Needless to say, the days of Manu Ginobili and Pau Gasol were still just a glimmer in most GM’s eyes.
Nine years later, the NBA is immersed in international talent. And no team wants to be known for trading a Dirk Nowitzki for a Tractor Traylor, which the Milwaukee Bucks did in 1998.
So this year, when the Cavaliers made a draft night trade for a seven-footer from Lithuania, hardly an eyebrow was raised. Especially after the trade that netted Orlando’s second-rounder – Anderson Varejao – last season.
Martynas Andriuskevicius is the Cavaliers 19-year-old rookie center. (He’ll be the last 19-year-old Cleveland will ever come away with on Draft Night, due to the new CBA.) Martynas was selected with the No. 44 overall pick in the 2005 Draft. Pre-Draft prognosticators had him as high as a lottery pick, but he fell to the Magic midway through the second round. Before the night was over, GM Danny Ferry had him in the wine and gold.
If Clevelanders were surprised when the lean Lithuanian landed on the North Shore, imagine his shock. “I didn’t believe it,” said Andriuskevicius, recalling that eveing. “I didn’t expect to go to Cleveland because they didn’t have a draft pick. I thought, ‘Man, this is a miracle, I’m going to play with Z!’”
Ilgauskas is a kingpin in his native Lithuania and he and Martynas – as well as Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Jasikevicius – all hail from the same city – Kaunas. (Note: I once asked Z how all of these great [and huge] players could come from the same city and he jokingly replied that it’s next to a nuclear plant.)
Big Z also spoke at the press conference announcing his signing how he came to the U.S. with one bag and was more than ready to return home. One does not get that sense from Martynas. He doesn’t lack for confidence and is assimilating to the States – and the NBA lifestyle – with ease. Heck, he’s already got his Escalade. (“Winter’s cold and there’s a lot of snow. I needed something big.”)
Martynas hasn’t gotten a taste of any rookie hazing. But it’s likely that he’ll be toting bags when the Cavaliers arrive in D.C. on Monday night to take on the Wizards in their exhibition opener.
“I haven’t had that (hazing) yet. But if you are a rookie, you must do those things,” Martynas laughed. “Next year, I’m not going to do that. Someone’s going to do that for me.”
One problem the rail-thin 19-year-old had when he arrived was his weight. But that’s something he’s worked diligently on already. Another rule of the CBA states that players with under two years of experience can be sent to develop in the NBDL. Martynas hopes he won’t have to do that and is trying to eat his way onto the regular season roster.
“Almost two months ago, when I came here, I was 225 pounds. I am now 240.”
Cleveland will do that a person. It’s a great city to relocate to if you’re actually trying to add the “freshman 15.”
Once Martynas starts banging with some the NBA’s bigs, however, gaining weight will be the least of his problems. He got bounced around pretty good by Zendon Hamilton in last Thursday’s Wine and Gold Scrimmage in Akron. And that’s as easy a matchup as the youngblood will have in the next couple weeks.
Cavaliers players are working with him as much as they can. “It’s not just Z helping me out,” said Martynas. “Everyone’s helping me out – Eric Snow, LeBron James – they all are helping me out.”
It will be an uphill battle for the untested rookie. They’re will be a lot of sitting and observing. And there may be a trip or two down to Clinton Country with the Arkansas RimRockers in the D-League.
“I hope to get stronger,” he said. “I want to learn everything about NBA basketball and just do the best that I can.”
It is good to hear Marty is gaining weight at a fairly fast rate. If he can remain quick (his greatest strength for his size since he's more of a forward) while getting stronger, he may not need 2 full years of eating/dieting/weight lifting to hit his target weight.
