Sasha Vujacic cut from Slovenian National team...

[Antonio]

30/8 you mean?

Anyway.. go Belgium!

Oh, and post me your damn msn account, homie! Wassup with you? (mine is antonioacb@hotmail.it)

[westsiderider323]

lmao

[you gon always be my latin queen bitch]

will lakers reign to the top again?

[lbc213]

OMG Belgium wins 70 to 66 against France, Parker made 14 points (of the 16) in the first 6 minutes of the game  ...26 in total. Mbenga 6 points (poor shooting) but he did his job in defence...4 blocks. What a game...it's still gonna be difficult in France but we ll see.

Tonio => dieter_vm@yahoo.com

[Antonio]

Official Statement from Sasha regarding his departure from Slovenian National Team
Posted on 28 August 2009  |  by Sasha Vujacic - who has written 2 posts on Sasha Vujacic Official Site
Tags: Sasha Vujacic, Slovenia

Sasha Vujacic I wanted to reach out to all my fans and say hello.

Man, it is so good to be back in L.A.

Well, I know there has been a lot of speculation about what has happened with my participation with the Slovenian team and I wanted to set the record straight to discontinue any rumors and falsehoods.

So here is the whole story just for you guys:

After a long time of consideration, I accepted the Slovenian national team’s invitation to play for them because I had a strong desire to play for my country and was assured that things had changed with respect to how the team was handled and operated.

I reported to camp incredibly healthy, feeling great and ready to work hard to attain the national team’s goals. I trusted their methods and I was ready to accept their training program. I arrived to Ljubljana and joined the team. Our preparation began in Rogla (mountain in Slovenia). The very first day, I realized that training was unreasonably excessive and insensible to avoid injury.

On the second day of the preparation and upon excessive running on the grass; I felt pain in both my knees, which I immediately brought to National Team trainer’s attention. The team’s doctor and therapist strongly advised me that after a brief checkup there would be nothing to worry about. Therefore, as advised by the coaching staff, I continued with the training until July 25th, at which point I had to go on a business trip to China. This arrangement was discussed and approved by the national team, 6 months prior to my arrival. I asked the team about possible therapy I needed to practice while away on my trip and none was given to me. The pain in my knees remained sharp. The continuous pain made me worried and I requested an MRI as soon as I returned to Slovenia.

Upon my return from my business trip, I went straight to the hospital from the airport, to have the team’s doctor perform an MRI on me. During this time no official therapy was prescribed to me, which I found very unusual. After the MRI results came back, the medical staff determined that the injury was not serious and indicated that I should continue to practice normally while only using pain killers and ultra-sound only. The next day I continued to practice as I was advised by the medical staff but I felt continued pain in my left knee.

At this point, I told my coaches that I could not practice any longer unless they came up with some adequate solution and treatment. The coaches and medical staff did not come up with any proposed treatment and things remained status quo for about 4 days with the pain still remaining sharp. I realized that the medical staff did not appreciate the urgency of the situation because it was almost two weeks that the pain was there and yet no therapy was prescribed to me.

So, at this point I began to seek help on my own. My national teammates and U.S. agent connected me with a therapist in Slovenia, who is considered one of the best. He came to Ljubljana to see me and strongly advised me to discontinue practice and suggested appropriate therapy with him. The therapy he suggested was expected to last 5-7 days. The therapist met with the team’s doctor and therapist and shared his opinion with them. The team’s medical staff stated that I must have arrived with a long-term injury to my knee. On the contrary, I had never felt that kind of pain in my knee prior to this situation.

As a consequence of the entire experience, I lost trust in my team’s staff. They massaged my knee with olive oil and that was supposed to help me!? I took a pain killer the next day and went to practice. 15 minutes into a training I felt pain and I decided not to put my health at risk. I told my coach that I would not continue to practice under these circumstances and that he needed to allow me to get appropriate treatment at my own expense. He said that he would think about it and make a decision shortly. One of the team staff said that day that they would not let me get my own treatment. Coach Jure Zdovc and the president of the federation, Iztok Rems, allowed me that day to leave the team and get the necessary treatment for 5 days.

During that time, they were in close touch with my therapist on a daily basis regarding the treatment. Upon successful treatment, private training was arranged with the coaching staff where my condition and readiness would be tested. I felt great at that training and I satisfied my coach’s (Jure Zdovc) expectations. I then joined the team on the way to Spain for three games. Head coach Jure Zdovc, the president of the federation (Iztok Rems), and I came to the agreement that I should not play a lot during these games so I could get back in form slowly in order not to risk another injury. I felt great and ready to play!

Coach Zdovc was asking me on a daily basis how I felt and I told him that I was feeling better and better! We came back to Slovenia and I went to Maribor (my home town) to spend two days off before the next team meeting. I trained on my own on my days off! I was feeling strong and ready to shine in my home town, considering that for 7 years I had not played any game there. People of Maribor were very excited (according to the media) to see me play! I told my head coach that I would shine in my home town and he told me that the friendly games didn’t count, what counts is what happens at the European championship in Poland.

On Monday, August 24th the team met in Maribor at 1:30pm. Head Coach Jure Zdovc sent me a text message on Monday morning around 10am saying that he wanted to meet with me privately before the team meeting. At that meeting, he told me that my leg was not OK and that I was behind the team. He also told me I didn’t have a “bond” with the team since I had spent time away from them for my treatment, and that he doesn’t want me on the team.

This was extremely difficult news for me to hear. There is a code of conduct in Basketball and the NBA that states players should not lose their position due to an injury that is not within their control. My heart has such pride for my country, and to be told by the National Team that I could not play for them really hurt me. Especially for something that was outside of my control. All I wanted was honest and fair treatment, but what I encountered was politics and hidden agendas.

At the end of the day my heart is sad and angry, but now it is time to get back to work in L.A. to help the Lakers win another NBA Championship Ring in 2010!!!!

Thanks for all your support!!!

- SV18

[It's All About 18]

Off topic... French national team is qualified for '09 Euro Basket

[lbc213]

Off topic... French national team is qualified for '09 Euro Basket

Indeed, they destroyed us in France ...we lost by 40...Turiaf had a monster game

[Antonio]

[It's All About 18]

'cause we eliminite Italian Team before

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

my heart is sad and angry,

LOL, Sasha's a trip..............nice find, Antonio.

[Antonio]

'cause we eliminite Italian Team before

No, cause lbc213 is the homie.

[tempo2]

i think everyone knows that sasha massivley underachieved last year and being cut by the national team can only help motivate him which is a good ting if your the lakers.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

i think everyone knows that sasha massivley underachieved last year and being cut by the national team can only help motivate him which is a good ting if your the lakers.

he better step it up and play like he did vs the Spurs in '08