A Pure Shooter Develops Some U.S. Flash : Basketball: Lithuanian Sarunas Marciulionis of the Warriors has a goal: ‘I want to be an All-Star.’

He was known internationally as a pure shooter, his smooth, left-handed launches leading the Soviet Union to the 1988 Olympic gold medal.

But in his first National Basketball Assn. season, Golden State Warriors guard Sarunas Marciulionis has displayed a flashy, penetrating style that would make one wonder whether he’s been studying tapes of Nate Archibald.

“A lot of players in Lithuania are like that,” Marciulionis said, matter of factly.

The Soviet Union’s leading scorer in the 1988 Olympics with an 18.1 points-per-game average (19 points in the 82-76 victory over the United States), Marciulionis has made a smooth transition with the Warriors this season.

Going into Monday night’s game against the Washington Bullets, the 6-foot-5 guard was averaging 12.5 points and 22.5 minutes per game. And his 54.7% shooting from the field ranked sixth in the league, tops among NBA rookies.

“He was far and away the best player outside of the United States,” said Warriors Coach Don Nelson. “More ready to play in the United States than any other player.”

He was good enough for the Warriors to select in the sixth round of the 1987 NBA draft, only to have the selection disallowed because he is too old (he’s 26) to be eligible. But even if the pick had been allowed, his chances of playing in the NBA were slim at the time because of the Soviet Union’s desire to keep its players eligible for the Olympics.

“At the time, I started dreaming about playing in NBA,” said Marciulionis, who does not discuss politics during interviews. “But deep in my heart, it was not possible.”

Basketball is the top sport in Lithuania, but it was impossible to follow the NBA there. The universal appeal of the NBA managed to find its way to Marciulionis via tapes of games that he occasionally would see.

“I liked the way Jordan, Magic and Bird play,” Marciulionis said. “I also liked Boston Celtics too.”

He finally got his chance to play in the NBA when a ruling allowed professional basketball players to play in the Olympics. And last year he signed a three-year contract with the Warriors, becoming the first player from the Soviet Union to join the NBA.

Grasping the English language was tough. He took lessons three times a week, only recently doing interviews without an interpreter.

“It was difficult the first couple of months; my English was terrible,” said Marciulionis, who speaks broken English and sometimes has difficulty understanding questions. “Now my English is terrible, still. It’s good the game is a lot of basketball language.”

A less difficult adjustment for Marciulionis has been coming off the bench, something he hardly did while playing with the Soviet team.

“There are many good players on the bench, because all NBA players are good players,” said Marciulionis.

Although the season is half over, Marciulionis still finds himself in awe of some of the league’s superstars.

“I feel a little different, I feel a little scared,” he said. “All the time I saw their posters, and the magazine covers and knew they were superstars. It’s a little scary playing against them at first, but in time it will get better.”

Marciulionis no doubt hopes his superstar run-ins will be better than his first game against Bird last month in Boston. A loose ball sent the two on a collision course, and Marciulionis ended up sprawled over the court-side seats.

“Sometimes I like the body game, sometimes no,” he said. “I don’t lift weights much, but I feel I must because all players in the NBA are so strong.”

The knock against Marciulionis has been his unselfishness, with Nelson and teammates urging him to shoot more.

“When I get the ball, the first thing I look for is to pass, not to shoot,” he said. “I’ll have to change that. I need to hit my outside shot better. I have to start believing myself.”

Marciulionis is unsure whether he will stay in the United States after his playing career is over. His wife and daughter are with him at his home in Alameda, Calif., but his mother, father and sister still live in Lithuania.

“(Future plans) are too far; all I think about is the next game,” said Marciulionis, who plans to play for Lithuania, not the Soviet Union, in the 1992 Olympic games. “I miss friends and family, but I don’t have too much time thinking about home.

“Life in America is no problem. I can give more energy to basketball here,” he said. “In Lithuania it takes a lot of energy to get things, like food. No problem here.”

He has dreams of being an All-Star, like teammate Chris Mullin. But for Marciulionis, the vision is just like the dreams he had years ago about playing in the league.

“All soldiers want to be generals, true; I want to be an All-Star,” Marciulionis said. “But most important I want to help the team.

“I don’t know if being an All-Star is possible. I just want to be a good player.”