Saša Vujačić

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes.
Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (May 2008)
Saša Vujačić
Position Guard/Small forward
Height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg)
League NBA
Team Los Angeles Lakers
Jersey #18
Born March 8, 1984 (1984-03-08) (age 24)
Maribor, SR Slovenia, SFR of Yugoslavia
Nationality Flag of Slovenia Slovenia
Draft 27th overall, 2004
Los Angeles Lakers
Pro career 2004–present
Official profile Info Page

Aleksandar "Saša" "The Machine" Vujačić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Вујачић - Саша), usually referred to in English as Sasha Vujacic (born March 8, 1984 in Maribor, SR Slovenia, SFR of Yugoslavia), is a Slovenian professional basketball player of Serbian descent. He plays for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. Though he has played the point guard position in Europe, he has found more playing time at the shooting guard spot in the Lakers' triangle offense. His nickname is "The Machine."[1]

Contents

[edit] Pre-NBA

Vujačić began his professional career at the age of 16, playing with Snaidero Udine of Italy. His father, Vaso Vujačić, is a Serbian basketball coach.[2]

Sasha also was a member of the Slovenian Junior National Team. He was drafted by the Lakers with the 27th overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft.


[edit] Career highlights

During the 2005-2006 season Vujačić made the go-ahead three pointer to give the Lakers the lead for good during overtime in a win against the Utah Jazz.[3] Last season he made a clutch shot against the Dallas Mavericks to end their 13-game winning streak.[4] In the 2007-2008 season, Vujačić recorded a career-high 22 points in a win over the Denver Nuggets, and he tied it in a win over the Toronto Raptors.[5]

Vujačić shot 25% from the three-point line in the 2007 NBA Playoffs.

Now in his fourth year in the league, Vujačić has become a reliable scorer and 3-point shooter coming off the bench for the Lakers. Lakers' coach Phil Jackson has become a large supporter, after previously been quoted as calling him an "11 o'clock player", meaning he is great in practice, but not showing the same in games.[6] Vujačić drew ire from the defeated San Antonio Spurs following Game 5 of the 2008 Western Conference Finals for shooting a three-pointer at the buzzer with the Lakers up, 97-92. Spurs guard Michael Finley glared at Vujačić after the shot was made. A possible motivation was the Lakers' "Free Tacos" promotion, given out whenever the Lakers score 100 points and hold the opponent to fewer than 100.

[edit] Player profile

Sasha Vujačić is known for his pesky defense and excellent three-point shooting abilities.

[edit] Nickname

Members of the Los Angeles sports media gave Vujačić the nickname "The Machine". In a March 2008 article in the Los Angeles Times, T. J. Simers tracked down the origin of the nickname:[7]

[Tried to] get to the bottom of who came up with the nickname Machine for the Lakers' Sasha Vujacic. Checked with Lakers TV guy, Joel Meyers, who did a lot of hemming and hawing, well, more than usual. He said both he and his partner Stu Lantz came up with it together. Never took them for Siamese twins before. Apparently, neither did Lantz. "I came up with it," Lantz said. "And then Joel ran with it. I used it once, and never again."

[edit] NBA career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Year Team GP MPG SPG BPG RPG APG FG% PPG GP MPG SPG BPG RPG APG FG% PPG
2004-05 L.A. Lakers 35 11.5 0.3 0.1 1.8 1.5 .282 2.9
2005-06 L.A. Lakers 82 18.4 0.6 0.0 1.9 1.7 .346 3.9 7 20.0 0.6 0.0 2.4 0.9 .423 6.0
2006-07 L.A. Lakers 73 10.8 0.6 0.0 1.5 0.9 .392 4.3 4 39.4 0.2 0.0 1.0 0.8 .556 2.8
2007-08 L.A. Lakers 72 11.5 0.5 0.1 2.1 1.0 .454 8.8 15 20.0 0.6 0.2 2.3 0.7 .402 8.1

[edit] Personal life

Vujacic has two siblings, a sister named Nina and brother named Alijosa. In addition to basketball, he enjoys playing volleyball, tennis and soccer. His biggest admiration was his late grandfather. [8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ 8MM • Dime Magazine's Blog - FOX Sports Blogs
  2. ^ Prominent Slovenian Athletes in the United States by Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia, January 2007.
  3. ^ Los Angeles Lakers/Utah Jazz recap December 1, 2005 Thursday recap (2005-12-01). Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
  4. ^ Vujacic, Lakers put end to Mavs' impressive streak (2007-01-08). Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
  5. ^ Kobe watches 4th quarter from bench as Vujacic, Lakers bounce Nuggets (2007-11-29). Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
  6. ^ Lakers' Vujacic not just a morning person now (2008-02-25). Retrieved on 2008-02-26.
  7. ^ Simers, T. J.. He leaves the diplomacy to China-bound Dodgers. Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/sasha_vujacic/bio.html

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Los Angeles Lakers current roster

2 Fisher | 3 Ariza | 4 Walton | 5 Farmar | 7 Odom | 10 Radmanović | 11 Karl | 14 Newble | 16 Gasol | 17 Bynum | 18 Vujačić | 21 Turiaf | 24 Bryant | 28 Mbenga | 31 Mihm | Coach Jackson
v • d • e
2004 NBA Draft
Draft Templates
83 • 84 • 85 • 86 • 87 • 88 • 89 • 90 • 91 • 92 • 93 • 94 • 95 • 96 • 97 • 98 • 99 • 00 • 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08
Persondata
NAME Vujačić, Aleksandar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vujačić, Sasha (nickname)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Professional basketball player
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1984
PLACE OF BIRTH Slovenia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH