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So, JV is now back in Lithuania and is going to join the NT tomorrow. You guys should know by now how crazy Lithuanians are about basketball, so there should be a TON of JV news in Lithuanian news outlets. So as to not clutter the forums, I am going to use this single thread to post any info that I deem you guys will find interesting, translated from Lithuanian. I encourage other Lithuanian posters to do the same thing if you see that something is missing

Here's to great and injury free summer!

inb4 the flood of small ball/dwane casey jokes.

For now, this is what we got as far as remaining friendly games:

1. 08-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Finland (you might think Finland is weak, but they have showed some promise in recent years, and a couple days ago has trashed France in a friendly game)

2. 12-08-2015 at 12.30PM ET - Lithuania vs Austria (lol wut)

3. 17-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Turkey (no Kanter )

4. 18-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs FYROM (that's Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)

5. 19-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Croatia (not sure about the line-up, hopefully we can also watch some Hezonja and Saric)

6. 27-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Turkey

7. 28-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs The Netherlands (insert some obvious all Dutch players are tall/high as **** joke)

8. 29-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Greece (the last friendly before the championship)

Pretty solid starting times for you guys I think, in a sense that there is no need to wake up in the middle of the night. Maybe you can sneak a peek during your lunch break, since I can guarantee that all games will be available to watch online (can't guarantee good quality though).

Side note: A. Bogut should refuse to play vs Lithuanians cause we don't like him much.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uzY76_PTAk[/youtube]

probably the best JV moment in his entire career so far (maybe the pump-fake-drive-dunk on Okafor beats this, but this is on Bogut!)

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC4Gv8ATD3c[/youtube]

M. Kuzminskas jams on Bogut in the last LTU NT friendly.

First two games against Australia made me really excited. This team can go far.

Just Passing By wrote:5. 19-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Croatia (not sure about the line-up, hopefully we can also watch some Hezonja and Saric)

Let's hope the Lithuanians don't indulge on luxury food too much, like McDonalds. One of my bigger curiosities is seeing what kind of freedom and attitude JV plays with. If he's less robotic, more intuitive playing for Lithuania.

Saric, Hezonja, Bogdanovic and former Raptor great Ukic are in for Croatia.



I'm looking forward to watching these guys attempt to play together again. Galinari and Bargnani. And if someone isn't aware, 37 year old Dirk is playing at home for Germany... it's the last chance to see him on the international stage. So make sure to watch. As a bonus we can see Schroder as well. Very tough group, Spain, Serbia, Turkey, Italy, Germany.

Dirk Nowitzki wrote:Let's hope the Lithuanians don't indulge on luxury food too much, like McDonalds.

Say what now ?

Just Passing By wrote:For now, this is what we got as far as remaining friendly games:

1. 08-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Finland (you might think Finland is weak, but they have showed some promise in recent years, and a couple days ago has trashed France in a friendly game)

2. 12-08-2015 at 12.30PM ET - Lithuania vs Austria (lol wut)

3. 17-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Turkey (no Kanter )

4. 18-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs FYROM (that's Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)

5. 19-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Croatia (not sure about the line-up, hopefully we can also watch some Hezonja and Saric)

6. 27-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Turkey

7. 28-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs The Netherlands (insert some obvious all Dutch players are tall/high as **** joke)

8. 29-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Greece (the last friendly before the championship)

Pretty solid starting times for you guys I think, in a sense that there is no need to wake up in the middle of the night. Maybe you can sneak a peek during your lunch break, since I can guarantee that all games will be available to watch online (can't guarantee good quality though).

That is a lot of friendlies, I don't think I've ever seen the dutch team.. which is odd, cuz like you said, they're a massive people.

There's gonna be a lot of people upset that Jonas isn't playing 40MPG in these exhibitions.

Listas wrote:

Dirk Nowitzki wrote:Let's hope the Lithuanians don't indulge on luxury food too much, like McDonalds.

Say what now ?

I don't know if this is the same ignorant poster from before who suggested that Lithuanians find food like Mcdonalds to be luxurious. The Lithuanian posters deemed this to be ludicrous and said the only thing remotely luxurious about that food is the price.

I was really hoping Ball Streams would cover this... I guess not...

nahom1319 wrote:

Listas wrote:

Dirk Nowitzki wrote:Let's hope the Lithuanians don't indulge on luxury food too much, like McDonalds.

Say what now ?

I don't know if this is the same ignorant poster from before who suggested that Lithuanians find food like Mcdonalds to be luxurious. The Lithuanian posters deemed this to be ludicrous and said the only thing remotely luxurious about that food is the price.

I was making an ironic reference to that post.

Dirk Nowitzki wrote:

nahom1319 wrote:

Listas wrote:Say what now ?

I don't know if this is the same ignorant poster from before who suggested that Lithuanians find food like Mcdonalds to be luxurious. The Lithuanian posters deemed this to be ludicrous and said the only thing remotely luxurious about that food is the price.

I was making an ironic reference to that post.

Ahhhhh I thought as much but when another poster called it out I had doubts. Green font my friend, saves a lot of explanation in these parts.

In OT news, Dante Exum just suffered knee injury. Stayed in locker room.

pbj wrote:

Just Passing By wrote:For now, this is what we got as far as remaining friendly games:

1. 08-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Finland (you might think Finland is weak, but they have showed some promise in recent years, and a couple days ago has trashed France in a friendly game)

2. 12-08-2015 at 12.30PM ET - Lithuania vs Austria (lol wut)

3. 17-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Turkey (no Kanter )

4. 18-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs FYROM (that's Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)

5. 19-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Croatia (not sure about the line-up, hopefully we can also watch some Hezonja and Saric)

6. 27-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Turkey

7. 28-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs The Netherlands (insert some obvious all Dutch players are tall/high as **** joke)

8. 29-08-2015 at 12PM ET - Lithuania vs Greece (the last friendly before the championship)

Pretty solid starting times for you guys I think, in a sense that there is no need to wake up in the middle of the night. Maybe you can sneak a peek during your lunch break, since I can guarantee that all games will be available to watch online (can't guarantee good quality though).

That is a lot of friendlies, I don't think I've ever seen the dutch team.. which is odd, cuz like you said, they're a massive people.

There's gonna be a lot of people upset that Jonas isn't playing 40MPG in these exhibitions.

The tall Dutch athletes are mostly kickboxers.

Dirk Nowitzki wrote:

nahom1319 wrote:

Listas wrote:Say what now ?

I don't know if this is the same ignorant poster from before who suggested that Lithuanians find food like Mcdonalds to be luxurious. The Lithuanian posters deemed this to be ludicrous and said the only thing remotely luxurious about that food is the price.

I was making an ironic reference to that post.

At first I was like



But then I was like

Any idea if this is on tv anywhere in US?

hopefully no injuries occur during the friendlies. i can't take another kalnietis-type disappointment.

SwiftyV wrote:Any idea if this is on tv anywhere in US?

on TV, probably not. There SHOULD be a high quality stream, but it might be limited to Lithuania, in which case a proxy would be needed. There will definitely be regular quality streams though

Here goes, first small interview with JV. Source: http://www.krepsinis.net/naujiena/j-valanciunas-apie-raptors-pokycius-savo-kuno-prieziura-ir-zaidimo-naujoves/252974

Sadly no pictures

Translation is mine, so bear with me I tried to translate not word-for-word to make it more fluent.

JV: It's great, guys are working hard. Everyone has great attitude, so it's a great feeling.

Journalist: : Do you feel like you are lagging behind the rest of the guys?

JV: I have to learn the plays. We will be polishing them during the evening practice. During the morning practice we were working on the technical aspects, so I didn't feel behind there.

Journalist: Will you play in the next friendly game?

JV: It depends on the coach. When I learn the plays, when I understand our defense, that's when we'll see.

Journalist: You spent a lot of summer training individually. What aspects of your game did you work on?

JV: I had some really good coaches. I wanted to introduce something new to my game. I wasn't only working on my post-up game, but also tried to improve my play further from the basket.

Journalist: Will we see these new aspects of your game in the European Championship?

JV: Basketball is the same everywhere - you have to put the basket through the hoop. So you will probably see it.

Journalist: What is your clubs opinion on you playing for LTU NT?

JV: They simply requested me to stay in Toronto for a bit and not join the NT right away, but now I'm finally here.

Journalist: How do you evaluate the changes to the Raptors roster this summer?

JV: I think we really got better. Demarre Carroll will definitely help a lot with his defensive play and his play from the perimeter.

Journalist: Everyone sees big changes in your body. Can you elaborate on them?

JV: Nothing major. It wasn't some sort of weight loss, simply taking care of my body.

Jstock12 wrote:

Dirk Nowitzki wrote:

nahom1319 wrote:I don't know if this is the same ignorant poster from before who suggested that Lithuanians find food like Mcdonalds to be luxurious. The Lithuanian posters deemed this to be ludicrous and said the only thing remotely luxurious about that food is the price.

I was making an ironic reference to that post.

At first I was like



But then I was like

Is the great tank commander playing for Lithuania this year?