What might get lost in the excitement of March Madness is the fact that Linas Kleiza, Nuggets forward out of Missouri, has been kicking some serious ass. During last night’s smackdown of the Lakers, Kleiza had a career-high 29 points, outscoring Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and, well, everyone else in the game. His previous career high was the 24 points he scored in the Nuggets win this past Sunday at Sacramento, where the Nuggets had suffered the NBA’s longest losing streak, having not won at Arco Arena since 1997.
It might be a coincidence, but I find it interesting that both of these career games were nationally televised. From what I understand, he’s always amazingly dedicated and plays to the best of his ability, but I wonder if he gets a little extra motivation from being seen all over the country. It’s so great to hear national announcers talking about how awesome he’s playing, especially when they pronounce his name correctly — they usually do a good job, but there’s one local guy who never gets it right.
I’ll admit that I’m biased — I’ve liked Kleiza all along because I’m Lithuanian. I generally don’t see the point of being proud or excited about things that just are and you can’t control, such as your heritage. However, even though I don’t think it makes sense, I’m crazy for anyone and anything Lithuanian. Maybe it’s because Lithuanians are relatively uncommon (at least outside Lithuania and the Chicago area) and maybe a little quirky — kind of like White Sox fans in Colorado (I love seeing all three of us represent in our Sox hats when the Cubs play at Coors Field).
If you want to get to know more about Linas Kleiza, and you might as well so you can brag about how cool you are when he becomes a household name in the next few years, here are a few links:
