By Aris Barkas / barkas@eurohoops.net
Tomas Masiulis celebrated winning the EuroLeague as a coach last season, serving as an assistant to Sarunas Jasikevicius.
So returning to Istanbul is something of a homecoming – though this time, his team, Zalgiris Kaunas, is in dire need of a road win.
With the season nearing its end, Zalgiris is currently sixth in the standings. However, the Lithuanians are part of a five-way tie that extends all the way to the 10th spot, and every loss from here on out could prove decisive. You wouldn’t guess that if you had seen Masiulis’s reaction – he is usually the opposite of his friend and former head coach, Saras.
Yin and Yang
You can easily say that Jasikevicius is an extrovert, and his reactions on the bench leave no doubt about it. Jasikevicius was even more expressive as a player – a EuroLeague legend, to be exact, who won four titles with three different teams before claiming his fifth trophy last season, this time as a coach.
For Masiulis, that was his second EuroLeague title, having also been part of the Zalgiris Kaunas team that won the title in 1999, just before the turn of the century and two years before the start of the modern EuroLeague era.
Born in 1975, one year before Saras, Masiulis began his coaching career in 2009. In 2018, he joined Jasikevicius’s staff at Zalgiris after serving as coach of the club’s second team. From then until last summer, the Lithuanian duo stayed together – first in Kaunas, then in Barcelona, and ultimately under Fenerbahce‘s banner.
The fit was right because Masiulis’s demeanor is the polar opposite of Jasikevicius. Calm and collected, he was the one who balanced the dynamics on the bench and played his role to perfection.
The head coaching test
A partnership that began eight years ago ended last summer, with Masiulis returning to his beloved Zalgiris – this time as head coach. Of course, with the increased responsibility comes heightened pressure and the reactions that come with it.
Still, the image of Masiulis stoically typing out his protest on the scorers’ table during the game against Virtus Bologna says everything about his personality and character. It is the rule – one that, by the way, should be changed – and Masiulis had no issue doing what was asked of him in order to get the job done.
And that is really what it comes down to in Istanbul.
Masiulis is expected to be honored by the club and its fans for delivering the EuroLeague trophy last season, but right now, he is in the middle of a historic run with Zalgiris.
To be precise, sixth place in the final standings in 2017-18 remains the best finish the club has ever achieved since the format changed – and now Masiulis has the chance to match that feat, just as Jasikevicius once did, with everything coming full circle.
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