Jonas Valanciunas

brassviews · Post #221 » by **brassviews** » Sun May 1, 2011 3:40 pm

Bat wrote:Videos like this scare the hell out of me. His athleticism looks like it is nowhere near NBA standards, he's awkward to say the least, and like David Locke points out, his game awareness just looks bad.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS_-RMKoX9Y&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

He's basing his opinion off a Youtube video. Enough said......

doc.end · Post #222 » by **doc.end** » Sun May 1, 2011 5:58 pm

I am an idioit in Pablonis' world. Not even close.

Satoransky · Post #223 » by **Satoransky** » Sun May 1, 2011 8:18 pm

DirtyDez wrote:I wonder how these guys would play against american college competition not that we'll ever know. I bet teams next year like North Carolina would smash these Euro teams.

What do you mean? Did you know that Barcelona beat Lakers this year? And Rytas (Valancuinas team) beat Barcelona, so? Valanciunas, Kanter, Vesely, Mirotic, Motiejunas and Biyombo are great players.

John Doe [MIN] · Post #224 » by **John Doe [MIN]** » Mon May 2, 2011 11:07 am

Jonas Valanciunas: converts wide-open dunks with near Hickson-like efficiency.

freestyler34 · Post #225 » by **freestyler34** » Mon May 2, 2011 11:51 am

Valanciunas is overrated ,all i see in the videos was pick and rolls and wide open plays around the rim, if thats his best game (im assuming so since its a mixed video not highlights from one game) hes not even worth top 15 in the draft.

sisibilio · Post #226 » by **sisibilio** » Mon May 2, 2011 2:45 pm

freestyler34 wrote:Valanciunas is overrated ,all i see in the videos was pick and rolls and wide open plays around the rim, if thats his best game (im assuming so since its a mixed video not highlights from one game) hes not even worth top 15 in the draft.

that's what he mostly does in Lietuvos yea, but playing with guys of his age where he has a bigger role he shows a quite good post game and driving ability from the high post, remember he's just 18.

Darknemo2000 · Post #227 » by **Darknemo2000** » Mon May 2, 2011 2:55 pm

freestyler34 wrote:Valanciunas is overrated ,all i see in the videos was pick and rolls and wide open plays around the rim, if thats his best game (im assuming so since its a mixed video not highlights from one game) hes not even worth top 15 in the draft.

His rebounding is what makes him good. His skills on offense are lacking but he never needed to work on them as he is perfect for pick ad rolls (good hands, good reaction, good agility, good finishing around the rim). He almost ever plays with his back as they (Rytas) dont want him to score (they play off guards).

He is mostly a rebounder and defender. They never run iso's on him. He is there to get off-rebounds ad pick'n'rolls. His role is very limited on the team because of the coatching staff position but on U-18 when they needed him to play with the back - he did. His half-hook is getting more polished to bad that because of his role we don't see much of that.

gensu3k1 · Post #228 » by **gensu3k1** » Tue May 3, 2011 9:24 am

freestyler34 wrote:
Valanciunas is overrated ,all i see in the videos was pick and rolls and wide open plays around the rim, if thats his best game (im assuming so since its a mixed video not highlights from one game) hes not even worth top 15 in the draft.

If Valanciunas had more polished skills this wouldn't even be an argument, he'd be a lock for the top 3.

That's because everything else is awesome-- motor, length, offensive rebounding. When you think about him not being a top 15 pick, you need to remember that much rawer and less talented centers than he go top 15 all the time- Petro, Sene, Swift etc.

Dr Positivity · Post #229 » by **Dr Positivity** » Tue May 3, 2011 5:35 pm

Those guys didn't deserve to go top 15. That's the point.

brassviews · Post #230 » by **brassviews** » Wed May 4, 2011 6:33 pm

The point is that GMs have taken worse players in the top 15 than Valanciunas. To say that Valanciunas is not a top 15 talent is a bit much considering previous draft picks involving big men (some of whom never played at high level prior to NBA entry). Valanciunas, in spite of people's dislike of him, has played in Euroleague and quite well. That's the one thing going for him that can't be discredited. Neither Biyombo or Kanter, who everyone loves, have played in Euroleague.

Secondly, Valanciunas is a very good defensive player with defensive mind. He's not someone who needs to be taught to play defense. He does it out of instinct. Even if he never develops into an all-around player, his defense will certainly keep him prevalent in the NBA. In the worst case scenario, I say he becomes a Tyson Chandler type of player. He may be a bust if that were ever the case. But given the lack of quality centers in NBA, a career like Chandler would not be a bad thing for Valanciunas.

Jazzfan12 · Post #231 » by **Jazzfan12** » Wed May 4, 2011 6:41 pm

Tyson Chandler is a top 5 center in the NBA, not really sure that's a worst-case. Tyson Chandler is almost certainly going to have had better peak years than everyone in this draft.

brassviews · Post #232 » by **brassviews** » Wed May 4, 2011 6:57 pm

It is the worst case scenario considering Valanciunas has the potential to be a very good all-around player (20 and 10 type of player with defensive game).

And I don't think Chandler is a top 5 center. He's more of a top 10-15 center. He doesn't possess the offensive game to be at the top of the list.

Post #233 » by **Worm Guts** » Wed May 4, 2011 7:25 pm

Jazzfan12 wrote:Tyson Chandler is a top 5 center in the NBA, not really sure that's a worst-case. Tyson Chandler is almost certainly going to have had better peak years than everyone in this draft.

I would doubt that.

Dr Positivity · Post #234 » by **Dr Positivity** » Wed May 4, 2011 8:28 pm

Chandler is more talented than Val. Much better athleticism and he filled out pretty well which I'm not sure is a given for Val.

How is a Val a very good defensive player with a defensive mind - He gets ripped defensively in Europe and has awareness issues, plus he averages 8 fouls per 40. Val's defensive potential is based on him having a long wingspan and moving around pretty well, not a great defensive mind

Val averaging 20 and 10 with impact defense would make him one of top 10 players in the NBA. If that happens I'll retire my Dr. Mufasa account

Jazzfan12 · Post #235 » by **Jazzfan12** » Wed May 4, 2011 8:40 pm

brassviews wrote:It is the worst case scenario considering Valanciunas has the potential to be a very good all-around player (20 and 10 type of player with defensive game).

And I don't think Chandler is a top 5 center. He's more of a top 10-15 center. He doesn't possess the offensive game to be at the top of the list.

Unless you count Horford and Amar'e as centers, I don't think you can list five better than contract year Chandler. Bogut, Bynum, and Noah also have the offensive and injury issues that Chandler has.

droponov · Post #236 » by **droponov** » Wed May 4, 2011 9:14 pm

Dr Mufasa wrote:How is a Val a very good defensive player with a defensive mind - He gets ripped defensively in Europe and has awareness issues, plus he averages 8 fouls per 40. Val's defensive potential is based on him having a long wingspan and moving around pretty well, not a great defensive mind

Not correct. Have you bothered to watch more than Youtube clips?

droponov · Post #237 » by **droponov** » Wed May 4, 2011 9:22 pm

It's kind of funny that if Valanciunas wasn't playing in the Euroleague but had spent the season in some minor club racking up points in the domestic league, these know-nothings would mostly talk about his dominant performances in the U-18 Championships, the NIJT and other youth tournaments and he would be overrated because they'd see him making lots of moves, dominating defensively and nobody woudl be able to match up with him from an athletic standpoint.

Btw, I also think it's funny how Valanciunas' biggest weakness (at least IMO) is never mentioned. Even though it's a fairly evident one.

Dr Positivity · Post #238 » by **Dr Positivity** » Wed May 4, 2011 9:34 pm

Having crappy athleticism and no lower body strength has been mentioned plenty

droponov · Post #239 » by **droponov** » Wed May 4, 2011 9:42 pm

His athleticism is more than fine and I don't really know what to tell someone who believes that 18 year old bigs are supposed to have great lower body strength. How many of the current interior defensive aces in the NBA had more lower body strength than Valanciunas at the same age? Honest question, I'm really curious.

Btw, why haven't you answered the other question?

Dr Positivity · Post #240 » by **Dr Positivity** » Wed May 4, 2011 9:45 pm

I do not need to watch Vals game live to know he has defensive awareness and foul issues. It has been written plenty, it has been confirmed plenty by posters in threads like this, it has been shown in videos like that Locke breakdown. That is enough for me to confirm Val is question mark in terms of his defensive head for the game - at the very least, it should not be considered a strength