Lyon's young wing Juste Jocyte (right), here alongside leader Marine Fauthoux.
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Claire Porcher / Infinity Nine Media
Lyon Asvel Women dreams of reaching their first Euroleague Final Four, which will be achieved through the quarter-finals played this Wednesday (6 p.m.) and Friday (8:05 p.m.) in Sopron (Hungary).
In the Lyon workforce, the general public is gradually discovering the amazing Lithuanian, Juste Jocyte, who scored his first points in the Euroleague in January, at only 15 years old.
Much desired by Tony Parker to join his basketball academy in Lyon in 2019, the versatile wing seems programmed to aim for the summits.
Juste Jocyte was not yet born when its president at Asvel, Tony Parker, became NBA champion for the first time in 2003. An extraordinary example of precocity, the promising left-hander became at 13 years old (in November 2019) the youngest player in the world, all team sports combined, to play an international match, with the Lithuanian A selection.
Rebelote a month later at Lyon Asvel Féminin: this time she broke the record in the Women's League, entering the game at just 14 years old.
At 15, she could now have a role to play this Wednesday (6 p.m.) and Friday (8:05 p.m.) during the Euroleague quarter-finals in Sopron (Hungary).
How this teenager living on the shores of the Baltic Sea, in the small seaside resort of Palanga (Lithuania), could she change her life so young, being confronted with the high European level, more than 2,000 km from his relatives ?
"When there is such a phenomenon, everyone quickly hears about it in the basketball microcosm," said Marie-Sophie Obama, deputy president of Lyon Asvel Féminin.
And Just, she does not go unnoticed, especially as she assimilates things with disconcerting rapidity.
"Alerted by his friend Nicolas Batum, director of basketball operations at Asvel, who had spotted her in Junior NBA in 2018, Tony Parker pulled out the big game after being amazed by his Euro U16 in August 2019, where she drove Lithuania in the final (19.6 points and 8.3 rebounds on average while being outclassed).
15 Years Old 🤯 ... @ jocytee had some 🔥 highlights in the #EuroBasketWomen 2021 Qualifiers! @Ltu_basketball 🇱🇹 |
@ASVEL_Feminin pic.twitter.com/jP24haP3o7
- #EuroBasketWomen (@EuroBasketWomen) February 10, 2021
"I was mentally ready to leave my country"
Juste and his parents were invited to Lyon by “TP” two months later to discover the facilities of the Tony Parker Adéquat Academy in Gerland.
“Anyway, Tony is involved in each arrival of players at the club, explains Marie-Sophie Obama.
But there was an investment from a lot of people, like Nicolas Batum, and also Tony's father, who spoke a lot with Juste's parents.
"The determination of the former leader of Spurs makes the difference and results in a training agreement until 2025 for" the most coveted player of her generation, "says the boss of Asvel.
Juste Jocyte confides to
20 Minutes
the few doubts, at least legitimate for a 14-year-old girl, who lived there when she went into exile far from Lithuania.
I had several offers in Europe and in American high schools but I trusted Tony, who is someone special.
I felt that I was mentally ready to leave my country, because the development of women's basketball is not good there.
This change of life is not easy for a teenager like me.
I know I didn't come here to make friends but to train hard and become a better basketball player.
A month before leaving, I was sure of myself.
Then the night before my flight, I was really nervous thinking about the change of country and language.
What was going to happen to me in France?
"
"Girls always call me the child"
An inevitably delicate integration between her life surrounded by teenagers at the Tony Parker Adéquat Academy, where she resides and where she now follows her second year courses, and training with the professional group, the reigning French champion.
“She arrived very skinny, remembers Lyon coach Valéry Demory.
She already had real basketball skills, in terms of shooting and vision of the game. The only concern was that she lacked strength, especially for a girl measuring 1.86 m today.
You just have to wait for it to finish growing.
Since December, she has taken a step forward physically.
Playmaker with the Lithuanian side, Juste Jocyte is used as a winger by Valéry Demory, with whom she has signed eight short appearances in LFB this season, and signed 7 points in total.
A progressive discovery of the high level embellished with his first baskets in Euroleague in January against Prague and Fenerbahçe.
“The fact of training every day with the pros, it sometimes makes me forget that I'm only 15 years old, smiles the number 13 Lyon.
But the girls are there to remind me, they always call me the child.
In fact, I feel half a child, half professional.
"In France, the one we nicknamed" Baby-face assassin "when she turned to an incredible triple-double average (21 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists) by being outclassed in U16 with her Lithuanian club Neptunas Kleipeda, learn patience.
In Lithuania, she watched all the videos of Marine Johannès
The absence of competition in the amateur championships for a year because of the Covid-19 prevents him from asserting himself with the hopeful team in National 1 (3rd division), which “slows down his progress”, as Valéry Demory regrets. .
Just Jocyte has on the other hand had the chance to rub shoulders closely, for the past 18 months, with her main inspiration as a basketball player.
“Marine Johannès doesn't even know it, but I watched absolutely all the videos we could find of her long before coming to Lyon,” she says.
Including his interviews, even if I did not understand a word of French at the time!
It's a crazy dream come true for me to play with her.
I like to study how she reads game situations, I am often focused on her when I watch a game.
"
Juste Jocyte is very inspired by the spectacular play of her Lyon teammate Marine Johannès, here in the jersey of the France team in February 2020. - Coudert / Sportsvision / SIPA
Would she already feel ready to enter the game, at 15, in the two Euroleague quarter-finals in three days that Asvel will have to play without one of its leaders, Alysha Clark, injured in the foot?
Mentally, there is no problem, assures the Lithuanian revelation.
As an outclassed player, I've always had to deal with pressure, and one of my strengths is not feeling it.
Physically, even if I feel stronger than when I arrived, it is still difficult because my muscles are developing.
There, I feel able to offer energy to the team for a few minutes.
When you are young, the priority is not to score a lot of points but to defend well and bring speed.
"
She dreams of WNBA
A lucid speech shared by Valéry Demory: “As soon as I can, I try to offer him minutes of play. His limits are above all physical.
I expect it to be faster and more explosive.
There, she is still not able to withstand a training intensity that is too high for a long time, simply because she is only 15 years old.
Realize, it was still minimal last season.
If she admits being "still too shy to dare to speak French", Juste Jocyte demonstrates on a daily basis her precocity and her extraordinary determination.
“My main goal is to win at Asvel,” she announces.
The rest depends on my development.
Tony would like to make me a professional player from next season, with more playing time. Of course for later, I dream of WNBA.
Maybe Euroleague is more my style, but until I test myself in WNBA, I won't be fixed.
The Lithuanian left-hander will find a moment in the next 20 years to cross the Atlantic, at the heart of a career that everyone predicts will be brilliant.
"You have to have 100% success in order to develop your talent"
“She is already capable of bringing small things to the team and I see her explode in the next two or three years, announces Valéry Demory.
We have a very large team, and to pass in front of several recognized players, that does not happen overnight.
There will be a reflection to determine if we make room for his position to integrate it more next season.
"
The stakes will be there in the months to come, and Marie-Sophie Obama is well placed to define the importance that this 15-year-old Lithuanian teenager has in Lyon's ambitious plans: “With Juste, we put pressure on ourselves and we don't you can't miss it, you have to have 100% success in order to develop your talent ”.
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