For most Virginia men's basketball players, summer consists of an endless stream of monotonous workouts. One player, however, had the opportunity recently to break this routine and represent his nation in the 2006 Global Games. Sophomore forward Laurynas Mikalauskas traveled to Southern Methodist University in Dallas last week where he helped lead the Lithuanian squad to a second place finish behind Russia.
"It was fun because we got to compete against other countries and I was able to compare myself with other European players my age," Mikalauskas said. "It was a good experience for me to help me see where I am right now and where I want to be in a couple of years."
Mikalauskas played in five games over the course of the week and Lithuania posted a 3-2 record. Both losses were at the hands of a Russian team that dominated the tournament with a 5-0 mark. In Saturday's championship game, Russia dominated Lithuania 79-58. Mikalauskas scored 11 points and pulled down five rebounds in the loss. Earlier in the day, the U.S. team defeated Serbia 81-77 to take home the bronze medal.
"Lithuania has always been one of the top teams but this is the first year that we made the finals," Mikalauskas said. "Losing to Russia was bad, but at the same time they were really good. They were European champions last year and they had a lot more players on their squad than us. We only had nine."
Mikalauskas's best overall performance came in Thursday's 80-77 victory over Argentina. The native of Palanga posted a double-double -- 18 points and 11 rebounds. Two days earlier, Mikalauskas scored 19 points and recorded five rebounds in a 75-58 loss to Russia. Overall, Mikalauskas was generally satisfied with his efforts in Dallas.
"I was trying to see how much improved my shooting was because I've been working on that," Mikalauskas said. "I felt pretty comfortable and I think that my hard work is paying off right now."
Mikalauskas was also in the stands at the American Airlines Center June 20 when the Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 95-92 to win the 2006 NBA title.
"People in Dallas were really disappointed," Mikalauskas said. "They were expecting the Mavericks to win the last two in a row at home."
During his freshman year at Virginia, Mikalauskas showed steady development over the course of the season. He averaged 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds and was an instrumental force in Virginia's 60-56 opening round win over Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament March 9. That night at the Greensboro Coliseum, Mikalauskas notched his best stats of the season -- 11 points and 12 rebounds. He has been working hard this off-season in hopes that he can make nights like that more common. During the season Mikalauskas weighed between 245-247 pounds but now he has added about 15 pounds of muscle to put him in the 260-262 range.
"We've been lifting weights and doing a lot of footwork and agility drills," Mikalauskas said. "We're doing a lot of shooting and we're playing basketball everyday so it's a pretty busy schedule."
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