He arrived just a few months ago and already speaks perfect Spanish. The Lithuanian Tadas Sedekerskis says he is very “integrated” in the city and with his peers. The young is impatient because this week he will participate in one of the sporting world’s most prestigious events for players of his age, the 2014 Jordan Brand Classic.
The Baskonia talent traveled to Barcelona last month in order to participate in a screening for the prestigious tournament to be held in Brooklyn, city in which former Baskonia player and one of his basketball idols, Mirza Teletovic, is actually playing.
After three days of intense work in the Catalan city, he was told that he was one of the chosen players to live this experience that brings together the best players from the generation of 1998 in Brooklyn. Tadas explained that during these days he improved his “ball handling and shot”, and states that “we have so much work ahead of us”.
He will cross the pond after being one of 10 chosen from the 39 young people who participated this weekend in the preselection. “I know many of the players who will be in Brooklyn and I´m really looking forward for this time to come”.
During these 3 days, Sedekerskis will work on “not individual concepts but group and team concepts, and on the 18th we´ll play a game in a big court”, added the player. The Baskonia prospect will be led by very prestigious U.S. trainers and adds that “this is an opportunity you want to take advantage of. Also I’ve never been to America and I really want to cross the ocean”. The Lithuanian is the only player representing any Endesa League club in Brooklyn during these days.
There have been many current NBA superstars that have participated in previous editions of the Jordan Brand Classic such as Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James among others.
Tadas is an outside player measuring 2 meters and with a great projection. He works out an average of three hours per day with the Junior Team Foundation 5 +11 and also he practices with Iñaki Iriarte. “We train a lot, but I like it, and I’m slowly getting better but I still have lots of work regarding various areas: shot, ball handling, defense … get stronger and work hard in the gym.”
The young Baskonia player promises a lot in the world of basketball. He´s just 15 years old and gets called regularly to play for the youth categories of the Lithuanian National Team. Last year he played with the U16 team even though he was a year younger than the rest, and this year he´ll be an important part of this squad in a summer tournament in Latvia. Last December, Sedekerskis demonstrated in the Spanish Championship of Autonomous Teams that he goes hard on the court. In this tournament he averaged 19.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and a 22.3 average player rating and got double figures in two of the six games.
