Sasha Cowan, Russian center who wins the championship

Does anyone still remember Sasha Cowan? A Russian center who only played in the NBA for one year and won the championship.

Sasha Kaun, full name Alexander "Sasha" Olegovich Kaun (English: Alexander "Sasha" Olegovich Kaun/Russian: Александр Олегович Каун), 6-foot-11 inches (211 cm), plays as center (C), was born in Tomsk, Western Siberia, Russia in May 1985, is from Russia, produced by the University of Kansas. He was ranked 26th in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft (56th overall) by the Seattle Supersonics (now known as the Oklahoma City Thunder) (Sasha Cowan is the last rookie selected by the Supersonics, and since then Seattle Supersonics The team was renamed Oklahoma City Thunder), and its signing rights were immediately traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he did not choose to go to the NBA immediately, but joined the CSKA Moscow and won 5 Russian League championships, 5 VTB league championships and 1 Russian Cup championship. In 2015, he officially landed in the NBA and played for only one Cavaliers in his NBA career. He won the NBA championship with the Cavaliers in the 2015-2016 season.

As a traditional center, Sasha Cowan has a high pick-and-roll quality, can create breakthrough space for his teammates, and has a certain sense of passing. He can complete passes in low or high positions, helps the team sort out the offense, has a positive defensive attitude, is good at blocking positions and grabbing rebounds, especially when defending pick-and-roll, has a strong awareness of filling up positions, can form a certain deterrent force in the penalty area, and does not occupy the ball rights on the court, and can efficiently complete the defensive and cover tasks assigned by the coach.

However, Cowan's independent offensive ability is limited, mainly relying on the downward ending or secondary attack after pick-and-roll. His singles skills are rough at low posts, his mid- and long shots are insufficient, his footwork is slow, and he is easily targeted when facing a speed-type inside line or requires large-scale assistance. His defensive mobility is weak, his physical energy reserves are average, and his performance is prone to decline under long-term high-intensity confrontation. Moreover, in NBA-level physical confrontation, his strength advantage is not outstanding enough.

In the NBA, Sasha Cowan played 25 games in the regular season and failed to get the starting chance. He averaged 3.8 minutes per game, scored 0.9 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.1 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.2 blocks. He did not get a playoff chance, nor did he have any outstanding performance. He only scored three 4 points in a single game. On April 13, 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Detroit Pistons at home 110:112. This is the last game of the Cavaliers' regular season that season. The main player of the Cavaliers, who has confirmed a playoff spot, got a chance. He played for 23 minutes on the bench, scored 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocks. His playing time and rebound block data were the best in a single game in the NBA career.

In the offseason in 2016, Sasha Cowan was traded to 76ers by the Cavaliers and was immediately cut. Later, due to a right ankle injury, he decided to end his career. Looking at Sasha Cowan's entire basketball career, he not only had a lot of honors in the Russian League, but also realized his NBA dream at the end of his career and won the NBA championship. He can be said to be a winner in life. After retirement, Cowan rarely appears in the public eye. I hope he can enjoy life well.