Kansas’ Sasha Kaun talks about watching former teammates Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, how different it is to watch Kansas games as a fan and what his future plans are beyond his contract with CSKA Moscow of the Euroleague (run time is 3:28).
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Lost Lettermen: This is Jim Weber from LostLettermen.com and I’m joined by Kansas’ Sasha Kaun, now playing with CSKA Moscow.
Do you keep in touch with your former teammates? A lot of those guys are in the NBA now and I know that’s a huge time difference for you.
Sasha Kaun: Yes, definitely. It’s very difficult to keep in touch by calling or anything like that. I might send an e-mail once in a while but not to everybody because it’s so much different in terms of the time difference. By the time I get home from practice, their days starts and I just get off from practices and stuff and I go to bed. And I can’t call them in the middle of the day either because it’s their nighttime.
So it’s just really hard in terms of time differences.
LL: Do you ever watch KU on television? Did you get the game verses Missouri?
SK: Yes, I actually did. I have a Slingbox here that I can watch U.S. television and I recorded it and watched it this morning when I woke up. It was a great game.
LL: Yeah. What do you think so far of the season? It looks like Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich have come a long way since that 2008 season.
SK: Definitely. They’ve both been playing great. Cole is coming around, too. He had a little bit of a slow start at the beginning of the season but he had so many things that he had to deal with and Sherron is playing unbelievable.
I think it’s a very good team. There’s a lot of experience that’s maybe lacking on the team because everybody is so young besides Sherron and Cole but other than that they have a definitely talented team and I think they have a really good chance at going far this year.
LL: Have you been back to Lawrence since graduating?
SK: Yeah I was there last summer. I had a chance to come in for a couple of weeks and spend some time with the team and the coaches and some friends so definitely looking forward to coming back this year.
LL: And what’s it like for you to watch on TV and see “Phog” Allen Fieldhouse? I know that holds a special place in all the hearts of former players.
SK: It’s different. I feel like I want to be back there and play another game but it’s definitely a lot of fun, bringing up a lot of memories of from the three years that you’ve been there. But it’s different and it’s nice to be just a fan and get a smile going on your face from just watching the game.
LL: Last question for you; I know your contract; your original contract was for three years, so that means you’ll be a free agent next year. Is there a chance you’ll return stateside and try and play in the NBA or are you across seas forever?
SK: There’s definitely an option there. It would depend a lot on how things go this summer and if we can get a contract with an NBA team, right now being Cleveland unless they trade my rights to another team. Definitely we’re going to look into it with my agent and see what my opportunities are and going to go from there.
Right now definitely there’s no talk about it. You know, focus on this season and if anything comes up I’m definitely going to weigh that option in and try to come up with a decision.
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