2 points of interest about Matas (pronounced like Modest without the t) Buzelis, who, while his name sounds Euro, was born and raised in Chicago (His parents both played professionally in Lithuania before moving to Chicago).
1. He is 6'10 but was developed as a PG.
“I met Matas' parents,” Pratt said. “They were telling me their son was into swimming and they weren't really sure what to do with him. I said, 'Bring him by, we'll see what he can do.'
“You could see he was OK, but he was growing. Then I coached him in a game and the thing I noticed was he had excellent vision. And he was pretty quick for a long kid. So I just put him at point guard and I told Dmitry, 'Play him at the point, develop him as a point guard.'”
Pratt passed Buzelis over to Pirshin, who was coaching a Full Package team. The roster had plenty of height, so Pirshin was able to use Buzelis at the point.
“He has the creative ability like LaMelo Ball," said Buzelis' skills trainer, Dmitry Pirshin.
“He was just a great teammate always,” said Pirshin, who is also head coach at Carmel High School in Mundelein. “He had a very good gift of reading the game well. In our program, I usually play through my best playmakers. It doesn't matter who they are or how big they are.”
Sports Illustrated wrote that he “sees the floor extremely well for his size and has a natural feel for the game.” With his size and playing style, there are obvious comparisons to Kevin Durant. But Buzelis lists Luka Doncic, Paul George, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as his favorite players to watch.
2. Matas is obsessed with basketball.
“High school is fun, but boring. I remember sitting at my desk and zoning out because I was just thinking about basketball,” Buzelis tells me. “‘How do I do this move?’ ‘Which player should I look up on YouTube?’ School wasn’t really my main focus. No disrespect to any of my teachers, it just wasn’t for me! Some of my teachers understood and respected it. Some people want to be doctors. Not me.” Buzelis has many of the same qualities as his mom: politeness, inquisitiveness, self-awareness. But I’m struck by his incredible focus, a word that he uses again and again during our 45-minute conversation. All this kid wants to do is play basketball.
lol
