Tweet
Kleiza chose the Raptors
By MIKE GANTER, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: September 6, 2010 11:40pm
ISTANBUL — Linas Kleiza has some unfinished business with the NBA.
And in his mind Toronto is the best possible situation for him to prove that.
It was just over a year ago when Kleiza made the decision to leave the NBA and his Denver Nuggets and accept a two-year $12.5-million deal with Greek powerhouse Olympiakos.
Kleiza wasn’t happy with the way he was being used and what had happened to his game in the four years since he was drafted into the NBA by Portland and then immediately swapped to Denver for one of his Raptors teammates Jarrett Jack.
Kleiza never comes right out and says he was unhappy in Denver, but that is the impression he leaves in a 15-minute interview at the Polat Renaissance Hotel here in Istanbul. It is the hotel of choice for 14 of the 16 teams that qualified for the knockout portion of the tournament. Only the American and Turkish teams are not housed here.
“I just felt it was a good move by me to improve my career and improve as a player,” Kleiza said of the move to Greece. “I had a big role on a very big team, a very good team. That kind of helped improve all my skills and allow me to show what I wasn’t able to do in Denver.
By MIKE GANTER, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: September 6, 2010 11:40pm
ISTANBUL — Linas Kleiza has some unfinished business with the NBA.
And in his mind Toronto is the best possible situation for him to prove that.
It was just over a year ago when Kleiza made the decision to leave the NBA and his Denver Nuggets and accept a two-year $12.5-million deal with Greek powerhouse Olympiakos.
Kleiza wasn’t happy with the way he was being used and what had happened to his game in the four years since he was drafted into the NBA by Portland and then immediately swapped to Denver for one of his Raptors teammates Jarrett Jack.
Kleiza never comes right out and says he was unhappy in Denver, but that is the impression he leaves in a 15-minute interview at the Polat Renaissance Hotel here in Istanbul. It is the hotel of choice for 14 of the 16 teams that qualified for the knockout portion of the tournament. Only the American and Turkish teams are not housed here.
“I just felt it was a good move by me to improve my career and improve as a player,” Kleiza said of the move to Greece. “I had a big role on a very big team, a very good team. That kind of helped improve all my skills and allow me to show what I wasn’t able to do in Denver.
Raptors vice-president Maurizio Gherardini says the year in Greece completely revamped Kleiza’s game.
“He is a more complete player,” Gherardini said, having seen Kleiza in the five games Lithuania played at the FIBA world championship. “He works more at both ends of the floor and I think he has learned more to use his game mixing the inside and outside better. As much as he counts on his three-point shot, he works his man close to the basket. He’s mixing things up in a more consistent way.”
Kleiza doesn’t dispute this, but he does point out that coming out of Missouri he had what he thought was a pretty complete game. He just never got to use it all in Denver.
“I had the inside game in college but once I got to the NBA I was only playing outside,” he said. “I forgot that part of my game and became kind of one- dimensional. Going back here and putting the work in, going back in playing inside, playing outside, I think that I’ve brought back that other dimension to my game that I was missing.”
Just as significantly, particularly where the young Raptors are concerned, Kleiza became accustomed to a leadership role in Greece.
“You appreciate the fact that he played for one of the top teams, got to the final four of the league championship and got to be the man, the go-to guy.
“You feel that not only has his confidence stepped up but he’s become a more important personality to add to the picture.”
“He is a more complete player,” Gherardini said, having seen Kleiza in the five games Lithuania played at the FIBA world championship. “He works more at both ends of the floor and I think he has learned more to use his game mixing the inside and outside better. As much as he counts on his three-point shot, he works his man close to the basket. He’s mixing things up in a more consistent way.”
Kleiza doesn’t dispute this, but he does point out that coming out of Missouri he had what he thought was a pretty complete game. He just never got to use it all in Denver.
“I had the inside game in college but once I got to the NBA I was only playing outside,” he said. “I forgot that part of my game and became kind of one- dimensional. Going back here and putting the work in, going back in playing inside, playing outside, I think that I’ve brought back that other dimension to my game that I was missing.”
Just as significantly, particularly where the young Raptors are concerned, Kleiza became accustomed to a leadership role in Greece.
“You appreciate the fact that he played for one of the top teams, got to the final four of the league championship and got to be the man, the go-to guy.
“You feel that not only has his confidence stepped up but he’s become a more important personality to add to the picture.”
comp article here
(Not meant as a comparison in anyway, just a thought)
Comment