Zalgiris legend Tyus Edney: 'Greek press wrote that the semifinal against us would be a practice for Olympiacos' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Andrew D. Bernstein, Rodolfo Molina - Getty Images, AFP - Scanpix, V.Mikaitis | BasketNews illustracija/A.Zaikauskas Credit Andrew D. Bernstein, Rodolfo Molina - Getty Images, AFP - Scanpix, V.Mikaitis | BasketNews illustracija/A.Zaikauskas

Tyus Edney is probably the most beloved Zalgiris Kaunas player in the club's history. Together with the team, he became a EuroLeague champion in 1999, defeating the start-studded Kinder Bologna in the final.

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The thing is, Edney wasn't even the first choice. Zalgiris were supposed to sign Tony White, the top scorer of the ACB League the previous season, but he decided against it in the final moments. Zalgiris then looked at the Boston Celtics bench player to guide their team.

The NBA lockout provided opportunities for various role-players to pursue their basketball careers in Europe. Edney was one of them.

When the team was rolling past their opponents during the season, Zalgiris received news that the legendary Arvydas Sabonis was coming to the team during the lockout.

He was supposed to start for the club in a match against Crvena Zvezda, but the NBA lockout ended the day the team flew to Belgrade.

"We were thinking that we are going to win it (EuroLeague) for sure, and we need to ask for bigger bonuses," Edney remembers thinking at that time. "It left a big impression on me how much Sabonis was admired by the locals and the influence he had on the team. The local players were really confident about winning it all. It just shows how big of a player he was."

"I remember practices with Sabas, they were unbelievable," Edney remembers. "He would have perfectly fitted our quick style of play. I always liked going on a fast break, Sabas would give me such amazing full-court passes that all I had to do was make a layup."

"He had the ability to integrate into the team really quickly, it looked like we were teammates for a really long time only after a couple of practices," the legendary point guard continued. "It's scary to think about what we could have been with Sabonis."

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"I remember all the Lithuanians knowing exactly how to play with Sabonis. Whenever he received the ball, he used to slap his arm, and the Lithuanians would cut to the basket like crazy," Edney recalled. "We would joke with Anthony [Bowie] about them being so tensed around him as though they were trained. It wasn't long until we started doing the same, Sabas let us know that that's the way to play."

Arvydas SabonisCredit Doug Pensinger / Getty Images

Edney also recalls traveling to the Final Four and accepting the underdog role.

"We went from game to game and didn't think about it too much. When we arrived at the Final 4, nobody thought that we would win. Everybody expected us to be the last," the point guard remembered.

"We arrived with zero pressure, and we accepted being the underdogs as personal as phrases about my height," Edney continued. "I remember the Greek press writing the semifinal against us would be a practice for Olympiacos. At the end of the day, they had no chance. We obliterated them."

Asked if there was a competition between him and Sarunas Jasikevicius - two of the best EuroLeague point guards at that time - Edney answers without too much thinking.

"The competition started in Lithuania when he played in Vilnius, and I represented the Zalgiris jersey. As far as I know, he really wanted to play in Kaunas that season, but Jonas Kazlauskas chose me. So, when we played against Rytas Vilnius, he was very motivated to beat us and perform well against me.

Later, Saras' career took off dramatically and we met each other frequently in the EuroLeague. I remember people wondering which was better and comparing us. I think we both wanted to dominate each other, but it wasn't very personal. We felt great respect for each other.

To this day, I think that Saras is one of the best point guards in EuroLeague history. I have no doubt that I am high up somewhere too. I always played with extra motivation against Sarunas. We were rivals, but at the same time, I admired his game. I really wanted the opportunity to play with him. We would definitely have won at least one title."

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