Pocius Learned To Love The Game Early In His Life

Martynas Pocius has basketball in his blood.

The Blue Devil freshman, who grew up in Vilnius, Lithuania, spent most of every day during his young life watching his father play basketball.

Gintaras Pocius played professionally in Lithuania. The team he played on, Statyba, was part of the Soviet Championship Union, which was one rung below the Soviet national team.

And from the days of watching his father as a shooting guard, the younger Pocius began to put together his own game of basketball at the Sarunas Marciulionis Basketball Academy.

“I first picked up on basketball by going to basketball school,” said Pocius, whose mother Juarte was a physical education teacher. “That's what it's called in Lithuania. My father was a basketball player. I grew up watching him, going to his games and cheering for him. When I started school at seven years old, I also started going to basketball school. I started slowly learning how to shoot and pass, just basic skills.”

As a young player in Lithuania, Pocius began to blossom, both on the court and in the classroom and the decision was made by his parents to send him to a prep school in the United States to enhance both his academic and basketball education.

Three years ago, Pocius moved to the United States to play at Holderness School in New Hampshire. “I went there not knowing exactly where I was going,” he explained. “I just knew the name of the school and that New Hampshire was weather-wise a lot like Lithuania. I was ready for a couple tough months adjusting, but everybody took good care of me. I was really happy.

“Basketball-wise, I was surprised. I fit in pretty well with the style of play from the start and adjusted well.”

Following his junior year he returned to Europe for the summer and played very well at both the 2004 European Under-18 Championships in Zaragoza, Spain, and at an NBA camp ? Basketball without Borders ? in Treviso, Italy. He caught the eye of NBA legend and Memphis Grizzlies general manager Jerry West and started getting some attention from colleges in America.

Upon his return to Holderness, his head coach Jamie Gallagher talked with him about his future.

“We got to the point where my coach said,'Do you want to look at any other schools?'” Pocius explained. “He was a huge Tar Heel fan. I just jokingly said ?Duke.' He said, ?Okay,' and he got in touch and that's how it happened.”

As a Blue Devil, Pocius has learned that the hard-work ethic instilled in him by his father is very valuable.

“He would go hard at me every day,” Pocius said. “He would never be satisfied. Never ever, not even after a good game. He always found something wrong.”

So to make sure he is still doing things the right way, Pocius sends practice tapes home to his father, who coaches two different teams at the Marciulionis School.

“Marty has a lot of pride,” Duke assistant Chris Collins said. “He has played a lot of international ball. So he has played in a lot of games where the name on the front of the jersey means something. When you come to Duke, that's what it is.”

The early part of his rookie season at Duke was a learning experience for him as he worked to learn about playing college basketball at its highest level.

“Everything changed coming from high school to college, like intensity level,” said Pocius. “After the first practices, I said, ?This is so intense.' Now, I'm loving it and trying to do the best I can.”

Then suddenly he was thrown into the mix when teammate DeMarcus Nelson broke his ankle on Nov. 23 in the game with Drexel at Madison Square Garden.

“I feel really bad for DeMarcus and for our team without him,” Pocius said. “I have to step up and do all the things he was doing. I have to do my best and prove that I can handle it... I feel ready for it. I'm ready all the time.”

In the Drexel game Pocius came in and added some instant offense with 3-of-4 shooting from the floor and seven points.

Being schooled as a European player, Pocius has solid offensive fundamental skills but may lack some of the background knowledge of playing Duke defense.

“He's such an aggressive offensive player that he sometimes carries that over defensively,” said Blue Devil senior J.J. Redick. “That's good but... when he continues to learn to play without fouling and stay in his stance, he will play a lot more.”

And playing time is what this rookie wants so badly, so that he can become the player he always dreamed about when he watched his father play.