Darius Songaila

[john heydt <jrheydt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thought this was an interesting article from the Sacramento Bee.  Being a Wake grad and a Celtic fan and observing Darius for 4 years I thought he could help the C's.  They should have kept him.

John

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Darius Songaila slumped into his seat a good 20 minutes after his most promising NBA game, chugged a red Gatorade and tried to work his socks onto his still-wet, size-14 feet. Then he leaned back and exhaled. 
It was a good kind of achy exhaustion. The Kings rookie forward had to admit he'd like to stagger out of the showers a little more often, to log a few more minutes, to contribute off a bench that has to produce in order for the club to reach the heights of previous seasons. The Kings needed some mileage out of the reserves after seven players ate all the minutes in an overtime loss the night before in Portland. So Songaila showed what he could do in a 94-64 yawner over the Toronto Raptors. 

After not seeing the floor against the Trail Blazers, Songaila recorded season highs in minutes (26), points (14), rebounds (seven), assists (five), and steals (three). 

"I hope I do that every day," Songaila said. "But it's hard. This league is so hard to play in. I just do what I can." 

Songaila scored more points against the Raptors than he had the previous seven games combined, but he's the first to say he remains very much a work in progress. This isn't the Russian A Superleague, in which he helped power CSKA Moscow to the 2003 Euroleague Final Four, or the European Championships, in which he led his native Lithuania to a gold medal in 2003. 

Still, the 25-year-old has skills and toughness. He hit open jumpers, wiggled inside for buckets, ran the floor and looked the part of Vlade Divac as a passer. 

"This is such a different league than what I'm used to because the players are so much better," Songaila said. "I still feel like a rookie." 

Kings coach Rick Adelman said as long as Songaila is patient, he'll continue to help. 

"He's been really solid for us," the coach said. "He's our best guy defending the pick and roll. He fights the guys in the post, and he's smart. He went through a period before (Thursday's game) where he was rushing things when he got into the game." 

"That happens to young guys on the road sometimes. But he's going to be a very solid player." 

Songaila said he was too eager to make an impact in earlier games and will continue to learn from experience. 

"Coach is right," Songaila said. "Every guy wants to play. That's every rookie's dream. The more you get out there, the more comfortable you feel. But sometimes you get so excited, you hurt the team. I've got to learn to control and compress my excitement, especially on the road." 

Divac said Songaila is the ideal fit for the Kings, a steal of an acquisition from the Boston Celtics, who dealt him to the Kings over the summer for two second-round picks. 

"I'm not surprised at what he did tonight," Divac said. "I saw him play in Europe. Obviously, it's tough if you're not getting the minutes. But I think he'll be very good for us."