I’d like to think that I’m fairly similar to Matt Lottich ‘04. We both came to Stanford from Chicago, we both played three sports in high school and we both bought Slingboxes so we could follow our beloved (yet increasingly woeful) Chicago sports teams while away from home. That’s where the similarities in our paths diverge, though.

The former Cardinal shooting guard — a key contributor to the 2003-2004 men’s basketball squad which many believe to be the greatest in Stanford history — now plays professional basketball for the Osaka Evessa of the “Basketball Japanese League.” He is in his third season in the land of the rising sun, having played one season beforehand with the Harbour Heat in New Zealand’s professional league (where he averaged over 20 points per game).

And just as Lottich enjoyed great success with the Cardinal teams of the early 2000s, he’s doing the same in Osaka. The Evessa are two-time defending champions, and even though they are currently tied for first place this season, Lottich thinks the team is actually overachieving.

“We lost a key part of our team [to injury], a power forward who played at Indiana [University],” he said.

The injury has forced the team to adjust and begin playing what Lottich calls “small ball.”

“Our offense is very fast paced, kind of like the Phoenix Suns,” he said. It’s an offense that Lottich is essentially in charge of — after playing shooting guard throughout his college career, he has had to adjust to playing the point.

“One of our Japanese players, a former national team player, plays the two [guard],” said Lottich. “He can’t really play anywhere else.”

Still, Lottich maintains that the transition was easier than he thought it would be, probably because he played point guard for both his high school and AAU teams.

In any case, the position switch hasn’t slowed him down. While he doesn’t like to check his stats until the end of the year, he guesses that he’s averaging “around 20 [points] a game, and five [rebounds] and five [assists].”

With stats like those, there’s a good chance he’ll make the All-League team again, as he did two years ago.

Those stats might also suggest that Lottich could move to a bigger, more prestigious, league — like one in Europe, where basketball is much more popular than in Japan. In fact, he says he was contacted by a team in Spain, where another former member of the Cardinal, Chris Hernandez, plays. Lottich, however, turned them down.

“In Europe, guys get cut all the time, and they don’t always pay you what they say they will,” he explained. “I’m happy here, they pay you well . . . I could see myself playing out my career here.”

He’s enjoying life in Japan outside of basketball, too.

“Communication has probably been the biggest issue, [but] I’m learning a little Japanese,” Lottich said. “This year I’ve had my wife [Kylan] with me, which has made things a lot easier. I love Japan; it’s been good to me.”

One other minor problem that Japan presents, though, is that it is harder for Lottich to keep tabs on the current Stanford basketball team. The Slingbox has helped a bit, but he’s only been able to catch a few of the team’s games this season.

However, he still considers himself a big Cardinal fan, and keeps in touch

with many of his former teammates, mainly through instant messaging.

After all, as he admitted, “my best memories [of Stanford] pretty much all have to do with basketball . . . the thing I miss the most about Stanford and being in a college atmosphere is just being close to your teammates. Being professional, you’re not as close to your teammates. You know, a lot of them have families.”

Besides the camaraderie, many of his best memories come from his senior season in which the team was ranked No. 1 in the country and went undefeated until the final game of the regular season. During that famous 2003-2004 season, Lottich started every game. He averaged 12.3 points per game, was second on the team in assists and provided invaluable senior leadership as the Cardinal basketball team had arguably its best season in program history.

Taking everything into account, it becomes clear: whether he’s leading his college

team to a 30-2 season on one side of the Pacific or gunning for a third straight championship on the other, Matt Lottich just wins.