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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, October 10, 2002

Lithuanian basketball legacy lives on at UH

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Sports Columnist

We take a timeout from the normal sports menu today to offer an added bonus in this space, something you won't find anywhere else, a Lithuanian lesson.

Which, in Hawai'i, means it must be about time for the college basketball season to tip off.

After the past contributions by Nerijus Puida and Mindaugas Burneika, who have since moved on, what would a University of Hawai'i basketball season be without another Lithuanian connection?

That's where today's lesson comes in. So, please, repeat after me:

vigh-DOUGH-tiss peh-CHEW-cuss.

Repeat this. Learn this. Teach this to your friends and clue in sportscaster Jeff Portnoy because it is the pronunciation of the name of the Rainbow Warriors' marquee recruit this year, shooting guard-small forward Vaidotus Peciukas.

Beginning tomorrow night in the annual Midnight Ohana at the Stan Sheriff Center, where Peciukas will be playing for the green team, and over the next three seasons, we figure to be seeing a lot and hearing a bunch more about him.

Peciukas is one of the most intriguing additions to the Rainbows, a run-the-floor scorer The Sporting News touts as the "next Predrag Savovic."

While immediately stepping into the adidas of UH's departed two-time All-Western Athletic Conference performer might be a bit much to expect from somebody who is jumping into Division I after one season in junior college, it is an indication of what he could become.

It is an illustration of the promise that people beyond Manoa see in the 6-foot-6, 200-pounder. "Potentially, he could be a great player for them," said Mark Osina, who coached Peciukas at Weatherford (Texas) College, where he averaged 23 points a game. "He has more athletic ability and is a better shooter (than Puida and Burneika, who also played for Osina)."

On a unit where four starters return from a 27-6 team, Peciukas has an opportunity to step in and be the fifth. UH coaches say one scenario they're looking at has Carl English moving to shooting guard and Peciukas competing for the small forward spot.

If that works, then there is one more Lithuanian phrase that might soon come in handy:

Gero metimo — which we're told means something along the lines of "good shot."