Linas Kleiza - The Rising Star

[andreafan]

stop talking about jose and bargnani, thats not what this thread is about

Sorry was never my intention i kinda got dragged into it , excellent thread btw sir.

[roundhead0]

Kleiza is having a nice tournament, but you should have already had a fair idea of his game since he's been in the NBA for 4 years. I haven't seen anything that really changes my opinion. He's the typical Colangelo tweener both in terms of position, and also being too good and paid too much to just be a backup but probably not good enough to be a good starter either.

And it's not his offensive game but his lack of mobility on defense that hurt him.

[FirstInkTDot]

stop talking about jose and bargnani, thats not what this thread is about

There's always a fight on the Raptor board threads

[redred9]

^^^^^^
his contract is really pretty decent and I'm sure he could come off the bench without any complaints. You talk like this is the second coming Hedo- it won't be. I like the fire that Kleiza brings with his game, which seems to be on the upswing.

He should fit in great imo.

[hoop_head]

Kleiza will have ample opportunity to show what he can do playing for the Raptors. I see him as a guy that will do a little bit of everything while on the floor. I don't expect him to become a different player, but he should be significantly more of a plus while on the floor than a minus.

[dagger]

Kleiza is having a nice tournament, but you should have already had a fair idea of his game since he's been in the NBA for 4 years. I haven't seen anything that really changes my opinion. He's the typical Colangelo tweener both in terms of position, and also being too good and paid too much to just be a backup but probably not good enough to be a good starter either.

And it's not his offensive game but his lack of mobility on defense that hurt him.

Listen, at this stage, you accrue quality and what wine drinkers call good QPR (Quality/Price Ratio). I don't care that much about his four years backing up Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin. Players improve, and not every young player shows you his very best in his first four years. Kleiza went to Europe, proved his mettle as a starter, led the Euroleague in scoring, and now is leading his NT to some big victories at the Worlds.

Is he a star? No. But is he a quality player with a potentially great QPR? Absolutely. As for his D, you're right, he's not a lockdown defender, although better at SF than PF. but then we don't need him to be a lockdown defender, we just need him to work hard at Team D. Just like everyone else on our team of weak defenders.

But he has something we sorely lacked last year. He has GRIT. GRIT is swagger with substance. Aside from Jarrett Jack, no Raptor last year had that. Certainly not Bosh, for all of his stats. And grit is something Supersub can't measure, but which can allow a player to transcend his statistical value. It's a key element of leadership, which means you don't only score, you show your teammates how to win, like he did today.

[Valard]

Having watched most of the FIBA games I will say that Kleiza has impressed me BIG time.

Prior to the FIBA's I will say I was a fan of his while he was in Denver. Whenever he had extended burn he put up big numbers. His year back in Europe has really helped him develop his midrange game and it is showing big time in this FIBA tourney.

His play at the end of this Spain game with 30 seconds left was clutch. Being tightly guarded he broke past Garbo with a few seconds left on the shot clock and finished at the rim for the go ahead.

Watching him play he is extremely fiery. He gets on his team to work hard. He comes across as a leader.

He will be a great contributor to this Raps team. Superstar material? Maybe not--- but if the only players people can appreciate around here are superstars... then **** off and go jump on the Miami bandwagon.

[Valard]

Kleiza is having a nice tournament, but you should have already had a fair idea of his game since he's been in the NBA for 4 years. I haven't seen anything that really changes my opinion. He's the typical Colangelo tweener both in terms of position, and also being too good and paid too much to just be a backup but probably not good enough to be a good starter either.

And it's not his offensive game but his lack of mobility on defense that hurt him.

Listen, at this stage, you accrue quality and what wine drinkers call good QPR (Quality/Price Ratio). I don't care that much about his four years backing up Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin. Players improve, and not every young player shows you his very best in his first four years. Kleiza went to Europe, proved his mettle as a starter, led the Euroleague in scoring, and now is leading his NT to some big victories at the Worlds.

Is he a star? No. But is he a quality player with a potentially great QPR? Absolutely. As for his D, you're right, he's not a lockdown defender, although better at SF than PF. but then we don't need him to be a lockdown defender, we just need him to work hard at Team D. Just like everyone else on our team of weak defenders.

But he has something we sorely lacked last year. He has GRIT. GRIT is swagger with substance. Aside from Jarrett Jack, no Raptor last year had that. Certainly not Bosh, for all of his stats. And grit is something Supersub can't measure, but which can allow a player to transcend his statistical value. It's a key element of leadership, which means you don't only score, you show your teammates how to win, like he did today.

Beauty.

EXACTLY what needed to be said.

[red_ace]

I'll wait and see what he brings to Toronto before I get overexcited. As a starter, I hope he averages at least 13 and 5.

[raptoradical]

Having watched most of the FIBA games I will say that Kleiza has impressed me BIG time.

Prior to the FIBA's I will say I was a fan of his while he was in Denver. Whenever he had extended burn he put up big numbers. His year back in Europe has really helped him develop his midrange game and it is showing big time in this FIBA tourney.

His play at the end of this Spain game with 30 seconds left was clutch. Being tightly guarded he broke past Garbo with a few seconds left on the shot clock and finished at the rim for the go ahead.

Watching him play he is extremely fiery. He gets on his team to work hard. He comes across as a leader.

He will be a great contributor to this Raps team. Superstar material? Maybe not--- but if the only players people can appreciate around here are superstars... then **** off and go jump on the Miami bandwagon.

[theSkinny]

So OP is this your way of telling us that you like the Kleiza signing?

Jus wonderin'

[R1G]

So OP is this your way of telling us that you like the Kleiza signing?

Jus wonderin'

Yup

I'll admit, I never watched Kleiza play before, when he was in Denver. But my friend who's a fan of the Nuggets was always raving about how much he liked Kleiza at the time.

I've been watching these Worlds and he has impressed me with an all around offensive game, and has shown some defense as well, being very physical and using his body well.

I'm going to assume he has improved drastically since he was with the Nuggets.

[Kabookalu]

The thing I love about Kleiza the most is like Dagger said, grit. On a gritty and aggressive Denver team, I thought Kleiza was their most gritty and aggressive player. He didn't take **** from anyone and treated every player the same; scrub or superstar it didn't matter who you were, he came at you hard all the same. Especially on this board there's this image the "Euro" label is given to players that they're soft and floppers. The image I get whenever I think of Kleiza is those post war european soldiers with this nasty mug on their face always carrying a machete at their side

[andreafan]

Btw, i like kleiza,he's white and euro to boot , but not ready to put him on a pedestal yet.

[dinosaur_dan]

40+ point games in the NBA:

Kleiza: 1
Bargnani: 0

Must mean he's better, right?

30-39 point games:

Kleiza: 0
Bargnani: 3

20-29 point games:

Kleiza: 20
Bargnani: 65
--------
Bargs is the more consistent scorer at the NBA level. Kleiza has to have improved a lot just to be as good as Bargnani. Yes, this is a totally arbitrary stat I've cherry picked to show what I want. Just making sure that's clear to everyone.

[roundhead0]

Is he a star? No. But is he a quality player with a potentially great QPR? Absolutely. As for his D, you're right, he's not a lockdown defender, although better at SF than PF. but then we don't need him to be a lockdown defender, we just need him to work hard at Team D. Just like everyone else on our team of weak defenders.

Wow...you make it sound like he's an ok defender. He's not. One of the reasons he left for Europe is because even Denver (!!!) found his defense too poor to play him in the playoffs, and he was completely benched a couple of games and barely got any minutes in several others.

And it's not an effort problem on his part. His problem is that he was too slow. You can work hard at team D, but if your man is getting past you and the rest of the defense can't give much help, it's a problem.

FWIW, I think he's an ok player. But it's not like he's the second coming of anything great. Borderline starter or starter on a bad team unless he can really raise his game a full level higher.

[redred9]

Wow...you make it sound like he's an ok defender. He's not. One of the reasons he left for Europe is because even Denver (!!!) found his defense too poor to play him in the playoffs, and he was completely benched a couple of games and barely got any minutes in several others.

And it's not an effort problem on his part. His problem is that he was too slow. You can work hard at team D, but if your man is getting past you and the rest of the defense can't give much help, it's a problem.

FWIW, I think he's an ok player. But it's not like he's the second coming of anything great. Borderline starter or starter on a bad team unless he can really raise his game a full level higher.

and that's what he's going to get paid to do. Come off the bench and score in bunches- then sit down before his defence becomes a liability. And I think he will thrive in that role. If we need him to play a bigger role than that because we suck, well that's not his fault. His contract is pretty good as well.

There's really not much to complain about imo.

[Lionel Messi]

Kleiza is having a nice tournament, but you should have already had a fair idea of his game since he's been in the NBA for 4 years. I haven't seen anything that really changes my opinion. He's the typical Colangelo tweener both in terms of position, and also being too good and paid too much to just be a backup but probably not good enough to be a good starter either.

And it's not his offensive game but his lack of mobility on defense that hurt him.

Listen, at this stage, you accrue quality and what wine drinkers call good QPR (Quality/Price Ratio). I don't care that much about his four years backing up Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin. Players improve, and not every young player shows you his very best in his first four years. Kleiza went to Europe, proved his mettle as a starter, led the Euroleague in scoring, and now is leading his NT to some big victories at the Worlds.

Is he a star? No. But is he a quality player with a potentially great QPR? Absolutely. As for his D, you're right, he's not a lockdown defender, although better at SF than PF. but then we don't need him to be a lockdown defender, we just need him to work hard at Team D. Just like everyone else on our team of weak defenders.

But he has something we sorely lacked last year. He has GRIT. GRIT is swagger with substance. Aside from Jarrett Jack, no Raptor last year had that. Certainly not Bosh, for all of his stats. And grit is something Supersub can't measure, but which can allow a player to transcend his statistical value. It's a key element of leadership, which means you don't only score, you show your teammates how to win, like he did today.

Ya, you're right, because clutch offensive rebounds and defensive stops don't show the rest of the team how to win.

[andreafan]

? Are there any white defensive studs in the nba. Being white and being slow on the defensive side of the ball tend to go hand and hand. Nothing racist in that analogy but comon lets keep it real ok.

[gamer4Life]

As long as we land a high lottery pick, I'm fine with anybody chucking away.