Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

[Denisaur9]

Respect Simmons decision .... Guy needs to be locked in a gym until the start of training camp working on his shot. Australia will still be a solid club ... Canada and Lithuania should be the ones advancing from our group (as long as our NBA guys show up)

I agree with this.

It surprised me that Wiggins not on the roster means he doesn't want to represent Canada, not patriotic, selfish etc.

When Ben Simmons does it it's okay because he needs to.work on his game.

Wiggins is coming off a bad year so he is probably doing the same as Simmons.

Was reading that Wiggins has been in the Gym alot all off-season.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using RealGM mobile app

[DaFroMan]

Respect Simmons decision .... Guy needs to be locked in a gym until the start of training camp working on his shot. Australia will still be a solid club ... Canada and Lithuania should be the ones advancing from our group (as long as our NBA guys show up)

I agree with this.

It surprised me that Wiggins not on the roster means he doesn't want to represent Canada, not patriotic, selfish etc.

When Ben Simmons does it it's okay because he needs to.work on his game.

Wiggins is coming off a bad year so he is probably doing the same as Simmons.

Was reading that Wiggins has been in the Gym alot all off-season.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using RealGM mobile app

Wiggins realistically doesn't have the same glaring weakness to his game and his main problem appears to be more up stairs.

Just seems like going out and being a leader on team Canada vocally and on the court is exactly what Wiggins needs right now not locking himself away in a gym, which from most accounts is why he has declined team Canada invites the last few summers; with no visible improvements to his game. If anything he has shown a decline in almost all areas.

But yea your most likely onto something with that him being our country man we are being more hard on him. I think if Wiggins did a letter similar to Simmons right now explaining why he isn't playing it would be a great gesture. right now all of us have to go with is he is being a lazy bum who doesn't care about basketball or he's still mad over the late game bench vs Venezuela.

Just let everyone know Andrew and we can try and look at you in a positive light FFS.

[Hair Canada]

Wow, CB just put out the strongest list of Canadians ever, with EVERYONE who's worth something actually on the list (including some surprising names). And yet, half of the comments here are on the one player who's not there.

I swear, it often looks like many Raptors fans are still stuck in 2014, when Wiggins was the next big thing. Have you watched a Minnesota game over the last two years? Wiggins hasn't just been bad. He's been historically bad. It's one thing that he's still not contributing anything beyond shooting (defense, passing, etc.) But it's another when the one thing he supposedly does well -- that is scoring -- he does with extremely poor efficiency. Poor shot selection, poor free-throw shooting (especially at the end of games), and just really poor shooting all around. Out of about 200 players who took a similar amount of shots over the last 20 years, Wiggins' has been ranked last in PER, value over replacement (VORP), and win share. Minnesota was substantially better with him off the court, despite not having the best bench in the league.

Could he have helped team Canada? Perhaps, mainly because of the lack of depth with have in the SF position. But I'm not even sure about that. I'd much rather the ball to be in Murray or SGA's hands at the end of the clock and if Wiggins were there, there's a real chance that they would have deferred to him.

[Double Helix]

Agreed. Let’s just stop talking about him. Tried to 2 pages ago. People tried to 2 pages before that. Jamal Murray is a a star on the rise and it’s anyone’s guess what the final group will look like.

[mojo13]

Agreed. Let’s just stop talking about him. Tried to 2 pages ago. People tried to 2 pages before that. Jamal Murray is a a star on the rise and it’s anyone’s guess what the final group will look like.

Im in.

Moving on - for the question about Lithuania, UCanWill of Mirotic may be better to able to handle this but I'll give it a shot.
Although they have an intimidating Val and Sabonis up front, and an ok Kuzminskas at SF/PF it is the guards/wings beyond that that are very questionable.

But with Lithuania as always, the sum is greater than their parts.

Their camp roster has been shortened to:

Mantas Kalnietis PG 196 cm 89 kg 32 m.
Artūras Gudaitis C 210 cm 121 kg 26 m.
Martinas Geben C 208 cm 112 kg 24 m.
Jonas Valančiūnas C 211 cm 116 kg 27 m.
Paulius Jankūnas PF 205 cm 107 kg 35 m.
Gytis Masiulis PF 207 cm 99 kg 21 m.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas SF, PF 205 cm 98 kg 29 m.
Eimantas Bendžius PF, SF 207 cm 98 kg 29 m.
Domantas Sabonis PF, C 211 cm 109 kg 23 m.
Edgaras Ulanovas SF 198 cm 92 kg 27 m.
Rokas Giedraitis SF 200 cm 88 kg 26 m.
Arnas Butkevičius SF 197 cm 96 kg 26 m.
Jonas Mačiulis SF 200 cm 98 kg 34 m.
Adas Juškevičius SG, PG 194 cm 90 kg 30 m.
Renaldas Seibutis SG, SF 196 cm 82 kg 33 m.
Marius Grigonis SG, SF 198 cm 93 kg 25 m.
Žygimantas Janavičius PG 192 cm 80 kg 30 m.
Lukas Lekavičius PG 183 cm 78 kg 25 m.
Martynas Echodas PF, C 206 cm 102 kg 21 m.

Gudaitis and Maciulis are coming off injury and are likely guys if healthy make the final twelve and are meaningful role players. They are reports they wont be healthly in time but if so the roster is likely something like this.

Lekavičius , Kalnietis
Marius, Seibutis, Rokas
Ulanovas, Maciulis
Domas, Kuzminskas, Jankunas
JV, Gudaitis

If not healthy, Butkevicius maybe instead of Maciulis, Bendzius instead of Gudaitis (Jankunas probably moves to 5 spot). The last couple spots are heavily debatable among the Lithuanians - so someone may argue against this.

In short their main guards are EuroLeague quality backups and borderline starters (not stars), good players, but could have serious trouble keeping up with Canada's higher calibre guards. Their back up big after JV is fairly week, but perhaps Domas picks up minutes there too. Most seem to think Domas and JV can be their front court pairing logging heavy minutes together but many are skeptical that will work.

Starting PG Lukas Lekavičius is the back up at Panathinaikos (EuroLeague) and he is 5'11, 25 - he is ok (Pangos calibre?) with 5 seasons in the EL but maybe a real weakness going up against our guards? Their back up, Mantas Kalnietis, is bigger at 6'5 and is a depper back up for Milano (EL) - 16 MPG, 5PPG on 38% 3pt shooting. Marius Grigonis likely the starting SG, is 6'6, 25 years old and had his first season in the EuroLeague last year with Zalgiris. 8.7 PPG, 44% 3pt shooter.
Starting SF is likely a Edgaras Ulanovas a mid career vet (27) that is the usual stater for Zalgiris the last couple years. Nothing flashy but gets the job done - glue guy. 7 ppg on 35% 3pt shooting. And then Kuzminskas who we should know about (ex-NYK) likely gets the back up SF and PF minutes - likely the 6 man in terms of minutes. He's had about 7 seasons in the EL, broken up by one with the NYKs where he played about 14-15 MPG, 6PPG, 32% 3pt shooting. He is Ok, but nothing specials.
Renaldas Seibutis (SG-6'5) is a deep back up for Zalgiris (EL). After that I think we are dipping into EuroCup calibre players among the back ups - but their seems to be one or two solid up and coming guys that I am less familiar with.

I am a bit out of my element here and ripping from other boards - so welcome some Lithuanian fans original thoughts. But as always, there are other elements to consider with Lithuania - coaching, tactics, FIBA experience, chemistry, team works which they historical excel at. However, at least Lithuanian fans don't seem too please with the current coach.


Hell - maybe the comparison is if you put Pangos, Scrubb, Doornekamp, Sabonis and Val up against Canada - who would you take? Ok maybe that is not a serious comp so ignore.

[aminiaturebuddha]

I'm in the middle of a move and just got internet hooked up at my new place. So I'm coming to this news a little later than the rest of you. Like many others, I'm extremely happy with the depth exhibited by this list.

I wonder how much of this is a wish list rather than a commitment list - in other words, no one on the list has explicitly told Basketball Canada that they AREN'T available, rather than saying that they are. Either way, I assume Basketball Canada has tried to reach out to all these guys, so the fact that none of them have specifically ruled themselves out is a good idea.

Aside from the big names, I think the two I'm most excited about seeing on the list are Brandon Clarke and Mifondu Kabengele. A couple of years ago I was starting to worry about the future of Canadian big men as the Olynyk/Thompson/Powell/Nicholson group get older and most of our upcoming prospects are guards or wings. I think Clarke and Kabengele are going to be key players in the program going forward. But as they've never played on Team Canada at any level, I'm very happy to see that they're now going to be brought into the fold, even if they don't make the final roster of this edition of the team.

[Hair Canada]

I'm in the middle of a move and just got internet hooked up at my new place. So I'm coming to this news a little later than the rest of you. Like many others, I'm extremely happy with the depth exhibited by this list.

I wonder how much of this is a wish list rather than a commitment list - in other words, no one on the list has explicitly told Basketball Canada that they AREN'T available, rather than saying that they are. Either way, I assume Basketball Canada has tried to reach out to all these guys, so the fact that none of them have specifically ruled themselves out is a good idea.

Aside from the big names, I think the two I'm most excited about seeing on the list are Brandon Clarke and Mifondu Kabengele. A couple of years ago I was starting to worry about the future of Canadian big men as the Olynyk/Thompson/Powell/Nicholson group get older and most of our upcoming prospects are guards or wings. I think Clarke and Kabengele are going to be key players in the program going forward. But as they've never played on Team Canada at any level, I'm very happy to see that they're now going to be brought into the fold, even if they don't make the final roster of this edition of the team.

That's a great point Buddha. Like you, seeing Fio and Clarke (especially!) made my day in terms of looking into the future. And you can add to that Trey Lyles (was perhaps most surprised to see his name on the list), who's also only 23 and may be eligible for at least two more campaigns. Together, that's a strong young core in the paint and others will surely come (maybe Brissett makes a leap; or the young Boakye).

[Hair Canada]

Agreed. Let’s just stop talking about him. Tried to 2 pages ago. People tried to 2 pages before that. Jamal Murray is a a star on the rise and it’s anyone’s guess what the final group will look like.

Im in.

Moving on - for the question about Lithuania, UCanWill of Mirotic may be better to able to handle this but I'll give it a shot.
Although they have an intimidating Val and Sabonis up front, and an ok Kuzminskas at SF/PF it is the guards/wings beyond that that are very questionable.

But with Lithuania as always, the sum is greater than their parts.

Their camp roster has been shortened to:

Mantas Kalnietis PG 196 cm 89 kg 32 m.
Artūras Gudaitis C 210 cm 121 kg 26 m.
Martinas Geben C 208 cm 112 kg 24 m.
Jonas Valančiūnas C 211 cm 116 kg 27 m.
Paulius Jankūnas PF 205 cm 107 kg 35 m.
Gytis Masiulis PF 207 cm 99 kg 21 m.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas SF, PF 205 cm 98 kg 29 m.
Eimantas Bendžius PF, SF 207 cm 98 kg 29 m.
Domantas Sabonis PF, C 211 cm 109 kg 23 m.
Edgaras Ulanovas SF 198 cm 92 kg 27 m.
Rokas Giedraitis SF 200 cm 88 kg 26 m.
Arnas Butkevičius SF 197 cm 96 kg 26 m.
Jonas Mačiulis SF 200 cm 98 kg 34 m.
Adas Juškevičius SG, PG 194 cm 90 kg 30 m.
Renaldas Seibutis SG, SF 196 cm 82 kg 33 m.
Marius Grigonis SG, SF 198 cm 93 kg 25 m.
Žygimantas Janavičius PG 192 cm 80 kg 30 m.
Lukas Lekavičius PG 183 cm 78 kg 25 m.
Martynas Echodas PF, C 206 cm 102 kg 21 m.

Gudaitis and Maciulis are coming off injury and are likely guys if healthy make the final twelve and are meaningful role players. They are reports they wont be healthly in time but if so the roster is likely something like this.

Lekavičius , Kalnietis
Marius, Seibutis, Rokas
Ulanovas, Maciulis
Domas, Kuzminskas, Jankunas
JV, Gudaitis

If not healthy, Butkevicius maybe instead of Maciulis, Bendzius instead of Gudaitis (Jankunas probably moves to 5 spot). The last couple spots are heavily debatable among the Lithuanians - so someone may argue against this.

In short their main guards are EuroLeague quality backups and borderline starters (not stars), good players, but could have serious trouble keeping up with Canada's higher calibre guards. Their back up big after JV is fairly week, but perhaps Domas picks up minutes there too. Most seem to think Domas and JV can be their front court pairing logging heavy minutes together but many are skeptical that will work.

Starting PG Lukas Lekavičius is the back up at Panathinaikos (EuroLeague) and he is 5'11, 25 - he is ok (Pangos calibre?) with 5 seasons in the EL but maybe a real weakness going up against our guards? Their back up, Mantas Kalnietis, is bigger at 6'5 and is a depper back up for Milano (EL) - 16 MPG, 5PPG on 38% 3pt shooting. Marius Grigonis likely the starting SG, is 6'6, 25 years old and had his first season in the EuroLeague last year with Zalgiris. 8.7 PPG, 44% 3pt shooter.
Starting SF is likely a Edgaras Ulanovas a mid career vet (27) that is the usual stater for Zalgiris the last couple years. Nothing flashy but gets the job done - glue guy. 7 ppg on 35% 3pt shooting. And then Kuzminskas who we should know about (ex-NYK) likely gets the back up SF and PF minutes - likely the 6 man in terms of minutes. He's had about 7 seasons in the EL, broken up by one with the NYKs where he played about 14-15 MPG, 6PPG, 32% 3pt shooting. He is Ok, but nothing specials.
Renaldas Seibutis (SG-6'5) is a deep back up for Zalgiris (EL). After that I think we are dipping into EuroCup calibre players among the back ups - but their seems to be one or two solid up and coming guys that I am less familiar with.

I am a bit out of my element here and ripping from other boards - so welcome some Lithuanian fans original thoughts. But as always, there are other elements to consider with Lithuania - coaching, tactics, FIBA experience, chemistry, team works which they historical excel at. However, at least Lithuanian fans don't seem too please with the current coach.


Hell - maybe the comparison is if you put Pangos, Scrubb, Doornekamp, Sabonis and Val up against Canada - who would you take? Ok maybe that is not a serious comp so ignore.

Great analysis mojo, thanks! You should write a preview before the championship reviewing all three rivals.

[MD0817]

Gudaitis and Maciulis are coming off injury and are likely guys if healthy make the final twelve and are meaningful role players. They are reports they wont be healthly in time but if so the roster is likely something like this.

If not healthy, Butkevicius maybe instead of Maciulis, Bendzius instead of Gudaitis (Jankunas probably moves to 5 spot). The last couple spots are heavily debatable among the Lithuanians - so someone may argue against this.

Gudaitis is out, it's confirmed. Not a crucial loss having JV and Domas aboard, but still a loss, could've been decent choice for some 8-12min at C, but he won't be ready in time, so will skip the tournament.
Maciulis remain in list, but he is competing against time now. We need him much more

Starting PG Lukas Lekavičius is the back up at Panathinaikos (EuroLeague) and he is 5'11, 25 - he is ok (Pangos calibre?) with 5 seasons in the EL but maybe a real weakness going up against our guards? Their back up, Mantas Kalnietis, is bigger at 6'5 and is a depper back up for Milano (EL) - 16 MPG, 5PPG on 38% 3pt shooting. Marius Grigonis likely the starting SG, is 6'6, 25 years old and had his first season in the EuroLeague last year with Zalgiris. 8.7 PPG, 44% 3pt shooter.
Starting SF is likely a Edgaras Ulanovas a mid career vet (27) that is the usual stater for Zalgiris the last couple years. Nothing flashy but gets the job done - glue guy. 7 ppg on 35% 3pt shooting. And then Kuzminskas who we should know about (ex-NYK) likely gets the back up SF and PF minutes - likely the 6 man in terms of minutes. He's had about 7 seasons in the EL, broken up by one with the NYKs where he played about 14-15 MPG, 6PPG, 32% 3pt shooting. He is Ok, but nothing specials.
Renaldas Seibutis (SG-6'5) is a deep back up for Zalgiris (EL). After that I think we are dipping into EuroCup calibre players among the back ups - but their seems to be one or two solid up and coming guys that I am less familiar with.

Our starting PG should be Kalnietis, while Lekavicius coming off the bench to bring some energy. Kalnietis is much more experienced, a real glue guy in NT, leader in lockerroom. He had good season in Eurocup with Tony Parker's owned French champs ASVEL, but usually it doesn't matter how good he did in club level - in NT he is different kind of animal. Guy is NT freak and usually overachieves with NT shirt. Rio Olympics was perfect example, where he had out of this world tournament, being one of the best guards in Olympics. Age caught him up a bit , he is prone to mistakes, so he might have troubles against young Canadian guards. Also he lacks stability and at times overdoes due to big will to do good. In one game he might shine with some 15pts/8as and good shooting, in other you can see 4pts/7TO and 2/10 fg. But still I'm relying the most on him, if we want to do good. Lekavicius might bring some energy, but he is undersized and that is haunting him all through career, he can't lift his game to higher level, also lacks leadership qualities. If I'd have to choose from him and Pangos, I wouldn't even think twice. Pangos obviously would have an upper hand. I'd put Pangos at point even infront of Kalnietis in a long run, he is simply a better player nowadays, but.. as I said, with Kalnietis in NT you can get a lot on a good day.
With SG I'm quite calm. Grigonis comes from decent EL debut season. He has it all on rather good level - offense, defense, guts, IQ and is reliable. Seibutis will be decent choice off the bench too. Btw he is not part of Zalgiris anymore for couple of seasons He plays in Spanish top league and surprisingly reached semis there with their low budget club, with Seibutis being one of the key options and playing like in his best days. So that's why I'm quite confident in our SG line. We could even add Giedraitis there. Even tho he tends to play more of SF, but with his athleticism and shooting he might be used as SG in offense too, just at defensive end your guards might kill him, he was never a good defender.
Then it all depends on tactics. We can use Kuzminskas as starting SF if we need more offense, we can use Ulanovas if we need more defense. We can use both as either can have minutes at PF. But I doubt it will be the case against you guys. Kuzminskas would be ripped apart defensively. There we'll need hustling of Maciulis and that's why he is important. Of course JV and Domas can cover both frontcourt positions and I believe they will most of the time, cause it would be too luxurious for us to keep any of them on the bench for too long in such crucial games. How it will work out it's hard to say, but in moments when they've played together in qualifiers, it was not that bad tbh. Domas is smart and can get a good position, while JV will do his job in the paint.

I am a bit out of my element here and ripping from other boards - so welcome some Lithuanian fans original thoughts. But as always, there are other elements to consider with Lithuania - coaching, tactics, FIBA experience, chemistry, team works which they historical excel at. However, at least Lithuanian fans don't seem too please with the current coach.

He is not that bad actually, but since we had Kazlauskas right before him, the best coach in our bball history, who is simply bball professor and can get the best out of anyone, then of course Adomaitis looks dull. Moreover on club level he is coaching Rytas, the rival of Zalgiris, our legendary top club, so no way coach of Rytas will have a nice welcome But I must admit, if we could expect overachievement with Kazlauskas on helm, with Adomaitis - it's hardly possible. Players talent will be vital most likely

[gundysmullet]

Back to prep hoops for a second, Karim Mane has been getting all of the buzz as far as guards go but Keyshawn Bartholomey just got an offer from Gonzaga tonight and the rumor is that he may re-classify to 2019. Can anyone tell me about him? He looks pretty good.

Watch on YouTube

[Hassassin]

Respect Simmons decision .... Guy needs to be locked in a gym until the start of training camp working on his shot. Australia will still be a solid club ... Canada and Lithuania should be the ones advancing from our group (as long as our NBA guys show up)

I agree with this.

It surprised me that Wiggins not on the roster means he doesn't want to represent Canada, not patriotic, selfish etc.

When Ben Simmons does it it's okay because he needs to.work on his game.

Wiggins is coming off a bad year so he is probably doing the same as Simmons.

Was reading that Wiggins has been in the Gym alot all off-season.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using RealGM mobile app

Just to keep things in perspective, Simmons barely played for the senior Australian national team. He only played 2 games for the senior Boomer squad -- both versus NZ back in 2013 Oceania tourney, and 8 games at the U17 WC. He hasn't suited up for them in the following tournaments since the 2013 Oceania tournament: 2014 WC, 2015 Oceania, 2016 Olympics, and 2017 Asia Cup.

Wiggins played 8 games at 2010 U17s, 5 at 2012 U18s, 4 at 2015 Tuto Marchand and 10 more in 2015 Americas qualifiers. He missed the 2015 Pan Ams, 2016 Olympic qualifiers, and 2017 Americup, the latter which Kelly Olynyk, Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson and Jamal Murray also missed. Only NBA players on the 2017 Americup roster was Andrew Nicholson and Joel Anthony. NBA players on the 2016 squad: Cory Joseph, Anthony Bennett, Tyler Ennis, Tristan Thompson, Joel Anthony, and a very young SGA who wasnt in college yet.

That being said, Wiggins wasn't particularly impressive when he played, so him not being on the roster isn't really a big deal when you have the likes of Jamal Murray and SGA potentially there. The talent level is much higher nowadays and they can get by without him.

[frumble]

Back to prep hoops for a second, Karim Mane has been getting all of the buzz as far as guards go but Keyshawn Bartholomey just got an offer from Gonzaga tonight and the rumor is that he may re-classify to 2019. Can anyone tell me about him? He looks pretty good.

Here is the link to the Brookwood Elite tweet reporting the Gonzaga offer:
https://twitter.com/brookwoodelite

Previous offers include ASU, Colorado, West Virginia, and Purdue.

I briefly checked a Gonzaga blog this morning but didn't see anything re the offer, let alone the possible reclassification to 2019.

[gundysmullet]

Back to prep hoops for a second, Karim Mane has been getting all of the buzz as far as guards go but Keyshawn Bartholomey just got an offer from Gonzaga tonight and the rumor is that he may re-classify to 2019. Can anyone tell me about him? He looks pretty good.

Here is the link to the Brookwood Elite tweet reporting the Gonzaga offer:
https://twitter.com/brookwoodelite

Previous offers include ASU, Colorado, West Virginia, and Purdue.

I briefly checked a Gonzaga blog this morning but didn't see anything re the offer, let alone the possible reclassification to 2019.

This is far and away their biggest and most popular board and their sub form called the “whelping box” discusses all of the recruiting:

http://guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?65962-2020-PG-Keeshawn-Barthelemy-Offer

[UcanUwill]

Agreed. Let’s just stop talking about him. Tried to 2 pages ago. People tried to 2 pages before that. Jamal Murray is a a star on the rise and it’s anyone’s guess what the final group will look like.

Im in.

Moving on - for the question about Lithuania, UCanWill of Mirotic may be better to able to handle this but I'll give it a shot.
Although they have an intimidating Val and Sabonis up front, and an ok Kuzminskas at SF/PF it is the guards/wings beyond that that are very questionable.

But with Lithuania as always, the sum is greater than their parts.

Their camp roster has been shortened to:

Mantas Kalnietis PG 196 cm 89 kg 32 m.
Artūras Gudaitis C 210 cm 121 kg 26 m.
Martinas Geben C 208 cm 112 kg 24 m.
Jonas Valančiūnas C 211 cm 116 kg 27 m.
Paulius Jankūnas PF 205 cm 107 kg 35 m.
Gytis Masiulis PF 207 cm 99 kg 21 m.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas SF, PF 205 cm 98 kg 29 m.
Eimantas Bendžius PF, SF 207 cm 98 kg 29 m.
Domantas Sabonis PF, C 211 cm 109 kg 23 m.
Edgaras Ulanovas SF 198 cm 92 kg 27 m.
Rokas Giedraitis SF 200 cm 88 kg 26 m.
Arnas Butkevičius SF 197 cm 96 kg 26 m.
Jonas Mačiulis SF 200 cm 98 kg 34 m.
Adas Juškevičius SG, PG 194 cm 90 kg 30 m.
Renaldas Seibutis SG, SF 196 cm 82 kg 33 m.
Marius Grigonis SG, SF 198 cm 93 kg 25 m.
Žygimantas Janavičius PG 192 cm 80 kg 30 m.
Lukas Lekavičius PG 183 cm 78 kg 25 m.
Martynas Echodas PF, C 206 cm 102 kg 21 m.

Gudaitis and Maciulis are coming off injury and are likely guys if healthy make the final twelve and are meaningful role players. They are reports they wont be healthly in time but if so the roster is likely something like this.

Lekavičius , Kalnietis
Marius, Seibutis, Rokas
Ulanovas, Maciulis
Domas, Kuzminskas, Jankunas
JV, Gudaitis

If not healthy, Butkevicius maybe instead of Maciulis, Bendzius instead of Gudaitis (Jankunas probably moves to 5 spot). The last couple spots are heavily debatable among the Lithuanians - so someone may argue against this.

In short their main guards are EuroLeague quality backups and borderline starters (not stars), good players, but could have serious trouble keeping up with Canada's higher calibre guards. Their back up big after JV is fairly week, but perhaps Domas picks up minutes there too. Most seem to think Domas and JV can be their front court pairing logging heavy minutes together but many are skeptical that will work.

Starting PG Lukas Lekavičius is the back up at Panathinaikos (EuroLeague) and he is 5'11, 25 - he is ok (Pangos calibre?) with 5 seasons in the EL but maybe a real weakness going up against our guards? Their back up, Mantas Kalnietis, is bigger at 6'5 and is a depper back up for Milano (EL) - 16 MPG, 5PPG on 38% 3pt shooting. Marius Grigonis likely the starting SG, is 6'6, 25 years old and had his first season in the EuroLeague last year with Zalgiris. 8.7 PPG, 44% 3pt shooter.
Starting SF is likely a Edgaras Ulanovas a mid career vet (27) that is the usual stater for Zalgiris the last couple years. Nothing flashy but gets the job done - glue guy. 7 ppg on 35% 3pt shooting. And then Kuzminskas who we should know about (ex-NYK) likely gets the back up SF and PF minutes - likely the 6 man in terms of minutes. He's had about 7 seasons in the EL, broken up by one with the NYKs where he played about 14-15 MPG, 6PPG, 32% 3pt shooting. He is Ok, but nothing specials.
Renaldas Seibutis (SG-6'5) is a deep back up for Zalgiris (EL). After that I think we are dipping into EuroCup calibre players among the back ups - but their seems to be one or two solid up and coming guys that I am less familiar with.

I am a bit out of my element here and ripping from other boards - so welcome some Lithuanian fans original thoughts. But as always, there are other elements to consider with Lithuania - coaching, tactics, FIBA experience, chemistry, team works which they historical excel at. However, at least Lithuanian fans don't seem too please with the current coach.


Hell - maybe the comparison is if you put Pangos, Scrubb, Doornekamp, Sabonis and Val up against Canada - who would you take? Ok maybe that is not a serious comp so ignore.

As a Lithuania fan, I am conflicted about the fact Ben Simmons aint playing. I honestly scared of Patrick Mills way more than Simmons, I thought such a non shooter guard is so easy to exploit in a FIBA setting.

As about Lithuanian team, some intelligence :

PG. I think veteran Mantas Kalnietis will still start at PG. He had a very good season in France, and just always been one of those players who kinda suck in his club play, but elevates his game when playing for Lithuania. He always been a very weird player, he never mastered some fundamentals, like setting his feet after dribble, his dribble is very lose, but he is tall, athletic and has tons of experience
Lukas Lekavicius is 5'10 very quick spark plug, but he is just not a playmaker or defender to be primary PG at this level.

SG. Marius Grigonis. Probably the best Lithuanian player after Valanciunas and Sabonis. He is very good 3 and D player, can play D and is good off the dribble 3 point shooters, just as he is spot up shooter.

SF. Mindaugas Kuzminskas started the season in Italy very poorly, but ended the season shooting 47% from 3 in Euroleague. If he can hit shots, he is exactly what Lithuania needs from their SF, guy who is athltic, tall and can hit an open 3. i expect we will see a lot of reliance on Jonas Valanciunas, who is very hard to stop in the post, and when defense collapses, we count on Jonas finding open guys like Grigonis and Kuzminskas, and we count on them making shots.

PF. Sabonis will start, he is more of the center, but this team doesnt have the luxury to have this caliber player of the bench. Not sure how he fits with Valanciunas, but sabonis is very good passer with high bbiq, so I hope he will be big time contributor.
Paulius Jankunas. First big off the bench. He had a terrible season, but he was injured most of the year. If he is back to his 2018 form, he is very good, NBA caliber but not at all NBA style big. He is terribly unathletic, he cant block shots at all, but he plays hard, he plays dirty and he plays smart. He is Andres Nocioni type player and if we get good version of him, NBA fans could be shocked how good this guy is. His calling card is mid range and he is pick and pop beast. He and Pangos were insane in pick and pop, some of that BArcelona Pangos contract belongs to Jankunas.

C. Arturas Gudaitis will miss world cup due to knee injury. He would have been without a doubt primary back up center, but now i expect either Geben or Echodas to make the team. I am not very well familiar with these players. I really like Echodas when he was with junior teams, he was playing mostly PF back then, but he is a center, i honestly havent watched Rytas games in years, so I am not sure hows hes doing, but i was very big on him back in the day and I am not surprised at all he is playing well on a strong Lithuanian team at age 21. went undrafted this year, and if Raptors are looking for a project big, rather have echodas than Dragan Bender.

[frumble]

This is far and away their biggest and most popular board and their sub form called the “whelping box” discusses all of the recruiting:

http://guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?65962-2020-PG-Keeshawn-Barthelemy-Offer

Thanks!

[LuDux1]

Is it crowded here or what?

I believe Lithuanian NT rotation assuming Maciulis is healthy is.. C Valanciunas, C/PF Sabonis, PF/C Jankunas, PF/SF Kuzminskas, SF/PF Maciulis, SF Ulanovas, SG Grigonis, SG Seibutis, PG Kalnietis, PG Lekavicius

Grigonis stats above are misleading because first half of season he spent mostly in Saras' Tough Love House. Sabonis and Jankunas are arguably smartest players in NT and should co-exist pretty well

Now candidates to round up team.
Front line. Echodas and Gebenas are roughly JV Jr's, Echodas is Cassey Era JV and Gebenas Nurse Era JV. At PF Bendzius and Gytis Masiulis are stretch forwards. First one is pure shooter, other could become stretch center if he adds weight as he ages.
Backcourt. Robertas Giedraitis and Arnas Butkevicius (both members of legendary JV youth teams) are athletic swingmen, difference being that Giedraitis excels on offense and Butkevicius at defense/rebounding/assisting. Guards Janavicius is defensive playmaker and Juskevicius is shooting combo

If I had to bet I'd pick Giedraitis and Juskevicius as 11th and 12th players

[UcanUwill]

Is it crowded here or what?

I believe Lithuanian NT rotation assuming Maciulis is healthy is.. C Valanciunas, C/PF Sabonis, PF/C Jankunas, PF/SF Kuzminskas, SF/PF Maciulis, SF Ulanovas, SG Grigonis, SG Seibutis, PG Kalnietis, PG Lekavicius

Grigonis stats above are misleading because first half of season he spent mostly in Saras' Tough Love House. Sabonis and Jankunas are arguably smartest players in NT and should co-exist pretty well

Now candidates to round up team.
Front line. Echodas and Gebenas are roughly JV Jr's, Echodas is Cassey Era JV and Gebenas Nurse Era JV. At PF Bendzius and Gytis Masiulis are stretch forwards. First one is pure shooter, other could become stretch center if he adds weight as he ages.
Backcourt. Robertas Giedraitis and Arnas Butkevicius (both members of legendary JV youth teams) are athletic swingmen, difference being that Giedraitis excels on offense and Butkevicius at defense/rebounding/assisting. Guards Janavicius is defensive playmaker and Juskevicius is shooting combo

If I had to bet I'd pick Giedraitis and Juskevicius as 11th and 12th players

Can you give me info on Martinas Geben? I honestly havent seen him play. by the way, its a very weird name for Lithuanian, Martinas Geben,

[Mattd97]

That being said, Wiggins wasn't particularly impressive when he played...

Why do you say that? I, and the stats and the voting committee, thought he was our best player, and one of the best in the tournament. We were mowing through the competition until that stupid Venezuela disaster. He was on the all-tournament team (only canadian), was 5th in the tournament in scoring (shooting nearly 50% from the floor and over 50% on 3 made 3s a game) in far fewer minutes than the top 4, while respectably being 4th on the team in total (only metric FIBA has) rebounds and assists, and 2nd on the team in total steals and blocks.


Obviously hes stagnated (at best) as a player and who knows how he fits now but I think he played very well then

[gundysmullet]

This is far and away their biggest and most popular board and their sub form called the “whelping box” discusses all of the recruiting:

http://guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?65962-2020-PG-Keeshawn-Barthelemy-Offer

Thanks!

My pleasure. There are actually quite a few Canadian posters on the board that have become Zags fans over the years because of Sacre, Olynyk, Wiltjer, Pangos and now Clarke

[gundysmullet]

With all due respect, why are there almost a dozen posts about the Lithuanian national team in this thread?