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Vujacic off national team
August 24th, 2009, 11:48 am · 74 Comments · posted by JANIS CARR, OCREGISTER.COM
Let’s see. You play for the defending NBA champions. You have two more years existing on a three-year deal the Lakers gave you because they thought you were worth it.
You averaged 5.8 points and 1.4 assists off the bench. Sure it was down from a year ago, but still you contributed to the Lakers’ championship run.
But you’re not good enough to play for the Slovenian National Team?
That’s the predictament Sasha Vujacic is in today after being cut from the Slovenian National Team, days before the European Champinships are set to begin. 
Maybe he sore knee was hindering his play. After all Vujacic did miss some exhibitions because of the knee injury.
But Pau Gasol got hurt and Spain didn’t cut him. Tony Parker also injured himself and France still has him on the roster.
Maybe Slovenia is deep enough without Vujacic. Maybe Vujacic didn’t fit into their scheme. Maybe Vujacic wasn’t good enough.
Nah. Well…
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Good lord Sasha.
I hope his psyche is able to take this. I just don’t know what to expect from him anymore.
oh, come on! he’ll be just fine…it’s all part of basketball life! :D besides that, i think Sasha is being used as the Laker’s scapegoat for all that goes wrong on this team. can’t wait till next year to see who the new scapegoat will be ~ lol!
Some guys give you more than you pay for them, some guys less. So far, Sasha’s in the latter category.
Seriously, Sasha did not contribute to the Lakers championship. He was good in 07-08 season, when he makes his 3’s but he disappeared last year. He should be home shooting 1000 3-point field goals a day instead of trying out for his country’s team. I think if he played the way he did in the championship run he would’ve never got that 3 years deal from the Lakers.
Starting next year, Sasha’s new name will be Sasha’s Expiring Contract as he will be traded for a second round draft pick during the 2010-11 season to get his contract off the books. Too bad Walton will not be able to change his name to Luke’s Expiring Contract until the 2012-13 season.
How is Sasha being made a scapegoat? He stunk last year and to get cut from a team like this and be an NBA player is pathetic.
Don’t worry everybody, she’ll be fine. She can’t wait until the next championship season begins.
maybe Sasha had some issues, but he is still a quality player and a great defensive pressure guy that does all the little things on our team that do not get the attention as does a scorer would get. besides that, Sasha is a pure shooter…this last year he was asked to do other things that were different like be a defensive player and cover his guy. the previous year he was able to do his thing and had success…i only hope to see a great year for Mr. Vujacic and the Lakers as he enters this next NBA season. :)
Fouling a guy 80 feet from the basket and then tempting the ref into giving you a T by whining like a 2 year old isn’t defense.
to bad u don’t know what the hell u r talking about maybe u have being watching the wnba…sasha is garbage he got over on mitch k for that bs three yr contract
dump sasha and pick up a real scorer ALLEN IVERSON
Seriously, Sasha has lost whatever ‘machine-quality’ he had for a spurt. This might be good for him because clearly something is really suffering in his game. He became consistently erratic, dependable only for the fact that he’d quickly log a foul, a turnover, a horrible pass and a few shitty shots no matter when he was put in the game.
I like the guy & Hopefully someone will help him rediscover his game otherwise we can only wish the Lakers could cut him, too.
I think Sasha is running low on oil. All that whining and leaking (crying to the refs) sounds like he’s getting to be a might rusty. Where’s Dorothy with Tin Man’s oil can? I think it might take a trip over the rainbow before Sasha can find his game again.
OMG - the sky is falling Sasha had one so so offensive year & it’s the end of the world. I lot of players that have an off year offensively. It wasn’t like the Lakers had a shortage of scoring on this team his year any way. With all the scorers they have there’s only one ball. And Phil has the most championship in the history of the NBA & he’s got rid of a lot of great scores & kept the defensive players. And what wins championships defense. Are you going argue with him? And Sasha played great defense this year & what happened they won a championship.
No Pat the sky isn’t falling. The point though is he’s paid to be a shooter and he can’t shoot. One off year? He’s had five years in the league. One of those years was a good year while the others have varied in degrees of ineptitude. Semantic this issue all you want but the aberration is his ONE good year not the four other year’s where he’s been bricking shots as a shooter. Look up the stats for yourself.
5 million for a shooter that can’t shoot. Not a hard concept to grasp.
Too Bad for Sasha, let me play him a song on my tiny violin.
Sasha doesn’t need any sad songs played for him. he got what he wanted: a championship ring, fair and square based on all the great skills of this Laker team. this is a culmination of all prior years built up to now ~ thanks to every single Laker contribution, we are the World Champions! Go Sasha! Go Lakers!
To be fair Janice you’re right. During last season’s run there was a game in January, or was it December when he resembled an NBA player. He’s since become so bad, Slovenia has considered their favorite sun radioactive.
SLOVENIA! That great basketball power that brought you Beno Udrih! Rasho Nesterovic! Some guy name Prezec or was it Brezec (just trust me on this he played in the NBA…I had to look it up).
If you look at Slovenia and realise that they are 2 milion in total i would consider it’s quite an achivement. There are some things that white ppl just can’t do. And there are things for which they can practice, but then they forget to do so. I wonder what is sasha doing tomorow, except charity ofcourse…
Just a lucky guy in the right spot at the right moment.
I like the positive attitude, Janice. Don’t let the negativity bring you down!
Our beloved Lakers will (hopefully) win the title again this season and next, so Kobe can tie MJ’s two 3-peats and surpass him with 7 championships.
Go Lakers!
Yes, Sasha was no where to be seen in the Playoffs and Lakers still won the title. So imagine when he does play like he did in 2007-08. Maybe this is what he needed to get that fire back. GO LAKERS!!
Y’all leave Sasha alone…but that is crazy though! He must have gotten on somebody’s nerves or caused one too many fights in practice.
Sasha..utter disgrace bud. The team gives you a new contract, you then follow it up with a horrible year and an inablity to make the slovenian team?
If you didnt whine so much about your minutes and accepted more accountability for your failures people probably wouldnt as hard on you. But since you come across as one of those players that absolutely blames everybody but himself for everything…no sympathy….get off this team.
Damn. You guys are more ruthless than Kobe was to Mitch and Andrew 2 seasons ago!
Ok. We get it. Sasha was bad. REALLY bad! He stunk it up every way possible. He scored a grand total ZERO pts in the Finals! Now he’s cut from his national team and although he’s an NBA champion, he probably feels crappy. Plus his so called fans are dumping on him!
So quick we forget all of his achievements before last season. I remember him being one of the few players who stepped up and played exceptionally well in ‘08 which is why he earned his current contract.
Good news for Sasha is it can’t get worse. He’s on rock bottom. The only way to go is up. Once he starts hitting shots again the fickle fans will quiet down.
Can’t believe so many want to dump Vujacic after one bad year. REALLY can’t believe that people also are complaining about Artest already when our competitors, Bos and Cle, really wanted him and still do.
W/ the way everybody bolstered their lineups do you really believe the Lakers could repeat w/ the exact same roster?
Unbelievable…
Meant one of the few who played exceptionally well in the ‘08 Finals.
a true laker fan would never accept what sasha brought to the table last season if chick hearn was alive he would have told the truth about sasha play…TERRIBLE ..and forget 08 playoffs he wasn’t all that great he was one of the reasons the celtics bench outplayed the Lakers bench
Ah. Another one with bad facts, bad memory before 2008 or just flat out making up things up.
Again, I have to repeat this FACT since some people let little things like stats get in the way of their opinions.
Sasha has been in the league for 5 years.
4 of those 5 years he couldn’t he’s been decidedly subpar as a shooter which is a problem since you know, he is supposed to shoot and make baskets (I know, crazy).
1 of those 5 years he was on fire.
Somehow, LAST YEAR BECOMES HIS ONE BAD YEAR when the fact is 2008 was his ONE GOOD YEAR. Capiche?
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/sasha_vujacic/index.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/v/vujacsa01.html
Don’t twist the facts because you’re nuthugging a player.
I hope to all hell Sasha is on fire next year because he’s been a turd for 80% of his career. Unfortunately he’s OUR turd for two more years so he better earn that 5 million.
Too easy.
The problem w/ you Bravo is you want to compare Sasha to allstar or HOF type shooters and he’s not that guy.
What he is, is a role player that has been able to help spread the floor and make defenses pay.
For someone who comes in and plays spot mins behind the best player in the world, and then shoots mostly 3’s, the #s are going to be astronomically high.
Nobody is “nuthugging” anyone but I’m not going to dump on him either after a bad season.
All I know, is more mins means more production. W/ Walton in and out of the lineup, and Ariza going down last year, it opened up a lot of mins and Vujacic thrived. Hard for any shooter to find a rhythm, even pros, when they play a few mins and then sit down on the bench for long periods.
That’s all I’m saying…
meant his #s WON’T be astronomically high…
i couldn’t have said it any better myself! Go Sasha! Go Lakers!! :)
Regarding Artest, I’m on the record as being HUGELY in favor of the signing.
who cares!
Here’s the straight up on “Sissy” V. If he would stop trying to get phoney soccer type flopping calls every second that he’s in, he’d be better off. It’s a joke how he reaches in, tries to steal the dribble and how he falls on his ass whenever he gets breathed on. ahe is not a quality NBA player and he is a disgrace to the Lakers although he is Kobe’s biggest ass kisser. He also gives up his dribble as soon as a defender is within 10 feet of him. He has zero handle, can’t create his own shot and can’t put it on the floor. The Slovenian team would take Borat over Sissy.
Hay, Jonnybravo, don’t flaunt your ignorance so thoroughly… Have you ever heard about Matjaz Smodis or Erazem Lorbek? No, of course you haven’t. Maybe, just maybe you’ve heard about Boki Nachbar, who didn’t stink up the Nets and isn’t playing with them anymore just because they pay him better elsewhere. Slovenia is pretty good for a country with fewer than 2 million people - half the size of Los Angeles proper, one-sixth the size of the L.A. metropolitan area. They’re ranked in the top four teams in Europe ahead of next month’s European championship. They won’t win it, but they could win a medal. And they do have 12 players who right now are better than Sasha (who’s coming off an injury and is not in good physical shape, so that no one is throwing the book at him).
Don’t get butthurt pal. That’s fantastic how well Slovenia does in Europe, it really does. Fourth or fifth in the JV league. Whoop de doo.
We’re talking NBA talent buddy. Get it? Not the MLS of basketball. Are you Slovenian? Is that why you take it so personal. Let it go, this is about the success of the Lakers. We need our 5 million dollar shooter to you know…make shots. Read that again. Repeat it. Is that a hard concept or are we now just hading out 5 million dollars to guys with long hair that “try really really, gosh darn hard”. Cry more please.
It’s like me talking about a player that got cute from the fourth best MLS team who at the same time is earning 5 million bucks a year from Real Madrid.
Good lord, the nuthuggery here is astronomical.
There should be an edit function. Full of grammatical errors but any 2 year old can understand the concept.
Player gets paid 5 million a year to shoot. Player has played 5 years in the league and has shot nowhere NEAR what he should be.
To the other guy. No one is expecting Sasha to be an All-Star. Shooting above 40% more than 1 year out of 5 overall is NOT asking too much.
You guys are just giving him leeway because he tries so gosh darn hard. We’re going on year 6 now guys.
WTF does the size of Slovenia have to do with this. If you can’t grasp the crux of the debate then kindly step off. This isn’t about how great or bad Slovenia is. I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you but apparently those nationalistic goggles got you all up in arms before you even took the time to get to the essence of the conversation.
he looks like Russell Brand.
http://protectthepaint.com/2009/08/20/nba-lookalikes-morphing-1-sasha-vujacic-vs-russell-brand/
come on guys…… everyones getting on sasha ass 4 gettin payed 2 much nd sucking as an NBA player but its fucking SLOVENIA we talking bout! slovenia will take any NBA player slightly tied in with their country and use them, worsip them and love them… a consistent player from the LKaers does NOT get cut from the slovakian national team. WTF is the world coming to????!?!???!?!????!
Kobe raped a girl and we’re talking about this????
I’m starting up a fund for the Eagle, Colorado Prosecutor’s office.
Get over it Max in Missouri. You live in Missouri for Christ’s sake!! Quit talking NBA when there isn’t a team remotely near you.
What Kobe did is in the past, he has since revamped his image. Why don’t you start searching around your trailor park to find all the fathers of teenage girls who molest their daughters, and leave this forum.
I don’t blame you,I’d be all pi$$y too if I had to live in Misery,Max.
dude, get off it, if was never proven, he was never convicted. It’s people like you who keep beating a dead horse until there’s not even enough for the buzzards to worry with. get a life and get an education. Worry more about the guys juicing it up in pathetic baseball and the drunks from the NBA and NFL who are on the roads indangering lives every day.
Hey, Vuj! Go away already. You have by far become one of the most annoying athletes to watch in recent memory. Right up there with the Manny Ramirezes, Brett Favres, Shaquille O’neils, and so forth.
That is actually good for Slovenian team. They get rid of spot up shooter that shoots badly later. Vujacic has limited offensive repertoire and suspicious defense (”A” grade for effort, but running around like suffering from Tourette syndrome is not enough to call it a good defense).
Lakers won championship without his contribution, so they can repeat it with or without him. Sasha is just financial issue nowadays. Props to Slovenians, anyway.
The Lakers have a history of handing out huge, guaranteed contracts to marginal guys coming off career years’. . . Radmanovich, K.Brown, Walton, Sasha, Bynum(?) and now, in my opinion, L.Odom.
But, they are able to weather the storm because they have the ultimate, “Bad Contract Eraser”. . . Kobe Bryant.
Sissy plays like he’s a chicken with his head just getting cut off, running around in circles. but he does have a nice hair band, just like the laker girls use. there are hundreds maybe thousands of inner city hoopsters that would lock sissy up to a point where he couldn’t even get a shot off. you can pay them 50,000 a year and they’d produce more
The Ray Allen effect.
couldn’t have happened to a whinier b#tch
I don’t think Sasha will get any minutes this year, he will be this season’s Sun Yue. Adam Morrison now that he’s healthy, will eat up his minutes.
Adam will provide a post up game, a decent mid-range game, and can drive to the basket. His 3 point range can’t be much worse than Sasha’s at this point.
It appears Janice O’Brien is still watching those rare Sasha highlight reels from a couple years past. Time to change out the tapes honey and watch some recent games before you come in here and shower us with your Sasha love.
Sasha was a non factor this past season. There is no need for scapegoat dear. Simply put, the guy BRICKED every shots he attempted during the finals. He played good enough to leverage alot of money from Dr. Buss the year prior. Since then, he has done jack sh!t for the team.
It was highlights of one year. The other four were dreadful. I feel it’s my purpose now on the Register to repeatedly point this out.
2 more months until the NBA season starts!
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SO FUNNY!
What the heck is wrong with Sasha?! Dude, you can’t even make the Slovenian national team!??? Come on Sahsa…You play with the Lakers! THE LAKERS!!! Dude, do something quick before people are like “Sasha? Sasha who?” seriously….
Sasha was horrible all year and didn’t fare any better in the playoffs. I can’t see why people think he contributed at all he was horrible. He’s the most overpaid shooter who can’t shoot in the league and he whines like my 2 year old when he doesn’t get his way. I think it’s his lack of talent not an injury excuse that led to him being cut from his national team. I heard he’s also changing his name to Sasha Vujabitc*
face it sasha…….you suck!!
Was he cut from the men’s team or the women’s team? They didn’t say which, did they?
Wow! That’s bad how you get cut from your own country’s team. I could understand being cut from France or Spain where there is plenty of depth. But to get cut from the Slovenia team? It’s not like they are brimming with talent.
The Lakers probably in the worst way wish they could get out of his contract. There’s not much of a market out there for a three point shooter who can’t make those shots these days and that make $4 million or so. Plus, he’s a Laker so no one will want to bail out the Lakers.
Wonder what this will do for his confidence. Hopefully, he can bounce back!
SuperSonics Memories says:
August 25, 2009 at 7:04 am
The Lakers have a history of handing out huge, guaranteed contracts to marginal guys coming off career years’. . . Radmanovich, K.Brown, Walton, Sasha, Bynum(?) and now, in my opinion, L.Odom.
But, they are able to weather the storm because they have the ultimate, “Bad Contract Eraser”. . . Kobe Bryant.
WE GOT Ariza and Gasol with Radmanovich and K.Brown so Mitch must know something, give them a big contract and see if they produce, if they do you win, if they don’t, wait till their last year and trade them. the bigger the expiring contract, the more their worth. Also, Odom is not a marginal guy, he rebounds, plays D, and presents HUGE match up problems for the other team, Bynum still has this year to prove himself due to injuries not his fault. Sasha, Walton and Farmar need to go.
Sasha, Walton, Farmar are all bench players. The starters can’t play the whole game. Who do you suggest we get to replace them?
Walton isn’t the best athlete but he’s a good passer, knows the offense inside and out, has a descent jumper, and post game w/ his large 6′8″ frame.
Farmar is still a little out of control at times but he has the confidence to make plays and take big shots at clutch moments. Plus he’s still young and has plenty of room to improve. He and Brown are the successors to Fish who, unfortunately, can’t play forever.
Sasha just needs more mins. He played his best last season because he took all the mins of injured Ariza. No secret that shooters tend to find a groove when they have extended playing time.
We already dumped Radma and Morrison hasn’t proven he can stroke the ball in the NBA the way he did in college. Dump Sasha and all the 3pt shooting will fall on Kobe, Fisher, and Artest’s shoulders.
i guess there will never be a good defense for my Sasha, but i don’t care what the naysayers say because you are right about him not getting the minutes ike he did in years past…he needs time to get back in the groove. besides Phil Jackson said in the LA Times a few months ago how he wanted Sash to play a different role as opposed to being a pure shooter this last year. i LOVE every single Laker on this Laker team and know that each one serves a great purpose and did so this last year to secure the Championship. i am not into bashing anyone of them because each one contributed in their own way and are doing the best they can while under the instructions of Phil Jackson. gotta trust what’s happening here because we’re going for another Championship run again with, most likely, these same players…Go Sasha! Go Lakers!
He is crap Kobe made him good two years ago, but he has always been crap!!! He should of gotten traded, and signed Ariza. Super garbage talent
Vujacic never played for the national team (not like Gasol), he personally knew only 2 or 3 guys, he had injury and missed half of preparations and the European Champinship is just in front of the door. It was just too little time to properly adjust to the system they will be playing.
And he is wanted for next years.
give him a break. let him play in the new season and see what happens.
give him a break. let him play in the new season and see what happens. if he doesn’t deliver, then trade him for someone better.
look at Clippers roster & except for Kobe & Gasol, they have more potential & better players. Maybe Artest is still better, but in depth and balance, on paper, i like Clips chances to surprise this season. Coach Mike needs to let go of the tightrope noose around Baron’s legs, let him RUN the team on the floor. they need to be a fast breaking squad at every opportunity instead of the set up affair Dunleavy prefers. If Clips don’t click, it’ll be all on Coach /GM Mike.
You like the Clippers’ chances on paper? Listen, they have and will ALWAYS be the red-headed step children in LA. This upcoming year will be no different…..I can’t believe you, you’re better than that!!!
I like the look of the Clippers. Overrating them a bit though. These cats are definately a 5-7 seed team this year. Gonna take them all time to get meshed and in a groove with each other. Biggest thing with the Clippers is going to be defense and getting both Baron and Hair Plugs to get along. Solve those 2 things and they’ll be a fun watch. No threat to the Lakers though.
You all are talking like the 07-08 season is his norm. Unfortunately, that was just a fluke. The real Sasha is the guy you’ve watched for the other 4 seasons. Get used to it. The guy is GARBAGE!
Sasha Vujacic is the worst basketball player in the NBA. Yes I said that. He’s a shooter that can’t shoot. Not only that, but he can’t play defense, pass or anything else. I am glad at least his national team sees that and hopefully the Lakers will get rid of him sooner than later. He is the absolute worst. They have tried to put him on the Hedo Turkolu plan where he puts up bricks for his first 5 years or so and then starts playing better after that. I cringe every time this dude gets in the game.
Sasha has posted his side of the story.
http://www.vujacic.net/2009/08/28/official-statement-from-sasha-regarding-his-departure-from-slovenian-national-team/
If what he was saying is true, then not only do I understand why he’s not on the Slovenian national team anymore, but I’m also glad he’s not on the team anymore.
One of the common things about foreign countries and their medical staff is that the quality of the care is poor. Example, Yao Ming. During the Olympics, the chinese knew of his problems yet played him knowing the damage it was doing because they felt he “owed it to the country”. A strain, broken finger, broken leg whatever. If it doesn’t need surgery then a shot can usually fix it. Kudos to Sasha for making the appropriate calculations in that malfunctioning machine brain of his to at least seek a second opinion. Shame on Slovenia though for kicking him pretty much because of it.