JV at EuroBasket 2013 is Done, Lithuania Gets Silver

[pufonD]

65.9% FG and 77.3 FT.. nice nice, especially considering how it was a bit worrying that his Free Throw shot went a bit off in the beginning

[Thelonious]

He's averaging a double-double per 36. Not sure what to make of it but cool I guess.

[Zhilvis]

Only 5 hours till the final..cant wait
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy1psCHJGGY#t=262[/youtube]

[JV4MVP]

I think Kalneitis will be key for Lithuania. He needs to have a good shooting day and protect the ball from Parker.

Lithuania also needs to control the boards and dictate the tempo of their game. Perimeter shooting will also be huge, especially from Maciulis, Seibutis and Pocius. Hopefully Kleiza will be disciplined after playing well against Croatia.

Tony Parker will get his #s but I think he will be contained. I also think he will get tired by the 2nd half. The question for France will be whether someone will step up in addition to Parker and Batum. I'm worried that Gelabale and Pietrus can light it up from 3. Diot may have some confidence after beasting on Spain late in the game. Ajinca on the other hand struggled against Spain, finishing with I think just 2 pts.

JV's role will be to rebound and defend the paint. I'm not trying to see him in ISO opportunities. The team's PnR game is also sloppy so ideally most of JV's buckets will come from cleaning up around the basket. Perhaps his biggest enemy will be the refs... they seem to call a lot of chippy fouls on him.

[DG88]

Good read from ESPN

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Jonas Valanciunas watched the game unfold in his mother's living room, the 11-year-old's heart beating ever faster, his imagination running wild. Lithuania held a 14-point lead over Spain at the end of the third quarter in Stockholm in the EuroBasket final of 2003. It seemed so easy, so predictable.

Then Pau Gasol stepped up, on his way to scoring 36 points. Tensions rose.

"I remember how they came back," recounts Valanciunas, now a center for the Toronto Raptors.

In the end, however, Arvydas Macijauskas led a resistance movement and Gasol was left in tears after his singular mission was thwarted. An impressionable young kid danced in celebration.

"We won the championship," Valanciunas said, smiling. "It was amazing."

On Sunday, Lithuanians will gather around their televisions and a nation will hold its collective breath. This time, it will be Valanciunas who will be one of the 12 men shouldering a small nation's hopes, knowing that their names will never be forgotten if they secure victory over France in the 2013 EuroBasket final in Ljubljana.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/97029 ... nal-heroes

[Thelonious]

I think Kalneitis will be key for Lithuania. He needs to have a good shooting day and protect the ball from Parker.

Lithuania also needs to control the boards and dictate the tempo of their game. Perimeter shooting will also be huge, especially from Maciulis, Seibutis and Pocius. Hopefully Kleiza will be disciplined after playing well against Croatia.

Tony Parker will get his #s but I think he will be contained. I also think he will get tired by the 2nd half. The question for France will be whether someone will step up in addition to Parker and Batum. I'm worried that Gelabale and Pietrus can light it up from 3. Diot may have some confidence after beasting on Spain late in the game. Ajinca on the other hand struggled against Spain, finishing with I think just 2 pts.

JV's role will be to rebound and defend the paint. I'm not trying to see him in ISO opportunities. The team's PnR game is also sloppy so ideally most of JV's buckets will come from cleaning up around the basket. Perhaps his biggest enemy will be the refs... they seem to call a lot of chippy fouls on him.

I don't think you should worry about Pietrus (Florent) lighting it up from 3. His role is as a defensive stopper and as a strong mobile rebounder in the paint. He did hit that huge 3 pointer down the stretch vs Spain but if you watched that sequence, he wasn't even considering shooting despite being wide open until Tony Parker yelled at him to let fly. His role is somewhat similar to a Tyler Hansbrough, Udonis Haslem or even Chuck Hayes.

[Volcano]

At the same time I would love to have TT on the Raptors.
Obviously he isn't as good as Jonas but he is strong defensively and can put up points in the right situation.
If Bynum and Varejao can't play could see a trade involving Raptors and Cleveland if a decision is made to tank.
Gay and Amir for TT, Varejao, Bynum, Gee and either 1st. Miami 2016 or Karasev.
Amir can play C better than TT.

what are we getting out of that trade? TT's not even better than Amir..probably a back-up PF level player. Bynum and Gee are nothing. Varejao's highly injury prone. Miami 1st will be like a 2nd round pick. Dunno who Karasev is.

[lobosloboslobos]

65.9% FG and 77.3 FT.. nice nice, especially considering how it was a bit worrying that his Free Throw shot went a bit off in the beginning

yeah, there have been ups and downs, but he's certainly been a key piece of their team success at both ends, though not as dominant as we'd have wanted or given the minutes we'd have hoped for. but his numbers are better than good, his team is in the finals, and he has a chance to contribute to what would be for him an absolutely epic and historic victory that can only give him an enormous ego boost.

I think as raps fans we need to really hope for LTU to come out on top. If JV has a big game that is a bonus, but the key is for him to be a legit part of a legendary championship team at the age of 21.

Go Lithuania!

[VanGuard]

65.9% FG and 77.3 FT.. nice nice, especially considering how it was a bit worrying that his Free Throw shot went a bit off in the beginning

yeah, there have been ups and downs, but he's certainly been a key piece of their team success at both ends, though not as dominant as we'd have wanted or given the minutes we'd have hoped for. but his numbers are better than good, his team is in the finals, and he has a chance to contribute to what would be for him an absolutely epic and historic victory that can only give him an enormous ego boost.

I think as raps fans we need to really hope for LTU to come out on top. If JV has a big game that is a bonus, but the key is for him to be a legit part of a legendary championship team at the age of 21.

Go Lithuania!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihYwcaxEEUk[/youtube]

[carl_english]

Only 5 hours till the final..cant wait
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy1psCHJGGY#t=262[/youtube]

Ajinca showcasing his post move!

[Dri3er]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5TZ9rC9hxk&fb_source=message[/youtube]

[MoMan24]

WHERE CAN I WATCH THE GAME

[Laure]

WHERE CAN I WATCH THE GAME

http://www.tv3play.lt/ , though you can catch a stream with english commentary on streamhunter or such.

[carl_english]

5 minutes in, NO JONAS

[AK47MVP]

WHERE CAN I WATCH THE GAME

http://www.tv3play.lt/ , though you can catch a stream with english commentary on streamhunter or such.

This one gives me error and does not work. Steamhunter sucks today, every link is lagging like crazy or does not load. WTF!!!

[xprt]

Kleiza on fire 11 points in 1 quarter.

[AK47MVP]

Found english link which works ok:), just in time for little run at the end. Kleiza is hot!

http://www.sport24.lt/embed/16178/4/fra ... uania.html

[Inevitable]

All my links suck

edit: thanks ^^^

[Mr Burns]

No Jonas, end of the first quarter. Looks like he isn't going to get a lot of burn today, like usual.

[HSOB SIRHC]

Guessing JV will only play this game if the bigs get into foul trouble?