Jonas Valanciunas 11/12 Season Thread III

[raptor21_85]

aint Kleiza undersized to be PF?? rather him on the arc for open 3s.. talkin about the Raps, not his NT

Kleiza is 6'8. That's a bit undersized for a PF in the NBA and the Raps. However, it is completely fine in Europe and his NT.

That said, 6'8 is not a terrible disadvantage either. Chuck Hayes is 6'6 and he tends to cover at C as well. Shelden Williams is 6'9 and mostly plays Center.

David West is 6'9 and he has been an All-Star. So, 6'8 is not something terrible especially since Kleiza plays in the Raptors' 2nd unit.

im against the Kleiza experiment at PF, even more the C.. if we play him PF, it could be due to a small line up and for a few minutes.. i remember that when Kleiza was in his first year in the Raps, he tried to play the low post with more frequency, and he tended to lose the ball a lot of times, to the point of being the most hated player in this board.. hes doing a great job now under Casey, and I think hes a good back up for SF (talking about the Raptors)

[UcanUwill]

Argentina can drop bad in FIBA rankings. They need to win Olympic gold just to keep their current number of points, and I totally see them as a possible 5th. team in group A. They are a very good team, but they are also old, and they were old for years now.
They would have motivation and vengeance factor against Lithuania tho.

[Nuntius]

im against the Kleiza experiment at PF, even more the C.. if we play him PF, it could be due to a small line up and for a few minutes.. i remember that when Kleiza was in his first year in the Raps, he tried to play the low post with more frequency, and he tended to lose the ball a lot of times, to the point of being the most hated player in this board.. hes doing a great job now under Casey, and I think hes a good back up for SF (talking about the Raptors)

Look, I'm a Pacers fan. Our 2nd unit bigs are Tyler Hansbrough and Lou Amundson. They are great at what they do and I love them as players but they are 6'9.

I'll agree that Kleiza's best position in the NBA is SF. But he can fill in as a PF. He has to play in the perimeter though. He can shoot and he can drive but he doesn't have a good enough post game to be a solid low post option.

However, all of the above is valid for the NBA. In Europe he can play PF. That's his natural position over here.

[raptor21_85]

Argentina can drop bad in FIBA rankings. They need to win Olympic gold just to keep their current number of points, and I totally see them as a possible 5th. team in group A. They are a very good team, but they are also old, and they were old for years now.
They would have motivation and vengeance factor against Lithuania tho.

yeah, actually they are bringing Oberto from the world of the dead..
i wanna know how Argentina will rebuild after Emanuel Ginobili, Andres Nocioni and the rest of veterans retire..

[Yoga]

Thanks for the detailed info about the Lithuanian NT. Why is Kleiza starting at PF and not SF?

He always played more PF than SF in Europe.

Okay, got ya...I didn't follow Kleiza's career in Europe.

[Raptor_Claw]

Argentina can drop bad in FIBA rankings. They need to win Olympic gold just to keep their current number of points, and I totally see them as a possible 5th. team in group A. They are a very good team, but they are also old, and they were old for years now.
They would have motivation and vengeance factor against Lithuania tho.

yeah, actually they are bringing Oberto from the world of the dead..
i wanna know how Argentina will rebuild after Emanuel Ginobili, Andres Nocioni and the rest of veterans retire..

Argentina has a young point guard named Facundo Campazzo that is pretty good.

As far as Kleiza at PF, that's what he played in the Euroleague, as a stretch 4. He played as a 4 that stood at the 3 point line and it worked well for him on offense.

On defense he struggled some, but he also struggled some on defense at the 3 position, so it didn't matter. Basically, he was not good defensively at either position, but on offense he was best suited as a stretch the floor power forward.

[BalticGiants]

Kleiza played 4 all season long in Olympiacos and was the best scorer of Euroleague that season and Olympiacos reached the final (lost against Barsa though). Than in summer he dominated in WC playing also as 4. This summer he surely plays 4 as he is really big and not that fast now, but I would like to see Kleiza losing some wight and sticking to 3 as in the future I see Motiejunas locking 4 position and we need both of these beasts active As for NBA, I would like to see more experienced Nuggets' version of Kleiza. I don't know if he can get back to that athleticism after his injury, we'll see, but he has room to become even more consistent shooter and to be valuable NBA player for long years. Wouldn't mind to see him Euroleague as well.

Anyway, as Kemzura (Lith NT coach) expressed, Linas wants to come back early to Lithuania and to improve his leg's mascules, his physicality and to get ready for Olympics as good as he can

[HSOB SIRHC]

Next game is in 2 hours. This is a late game compared to the rest which usually start around 12 here.

[raptor21_85]

Game at 1:00 PM.. I'll have my lunch ready

[HSOB SIRHC]

Hopefully we'll get to see how Kirilenko plays too.

[mcray]

damn I wish lrytas could win, unfortunately this will most likely be a one way slaughterfest...

[kiriux]

http://www.lshunter.tv/streams/1/lshrytas.html

[xprt]

Jonas against Kristic

[GooniesNeverDie]

terrible fadeaway by Jonas early in the game

[nelabai]

Jonas can't give up on a play, foul trouble again, will be out till the start of the 3d quarter

[xprt]

AK seems in form...

[xprt]

Rytas coach facepalming today a lot

[Laure]

Dreadful match from Jonas, he's the biggest minus on this team on probably the most important match of the season. Really disappointed so far, Rytas is helding it's own against CSKA, all they need is more production from JV.

[trenekas]

Jonas still not ready be Raptors strating C. Maybe next year...

[Regulio]

cmon, what 19 year old is ready to be a starting center on NBA team ?