Jonas Valanciunas 11/12 Season Thread III

[xprt]

Fk Samardziski blew such a nice crosover- pass by Roberts

[Laure]

Rytas still in the game, down by 3 after 3rd. Good stuff from Rice, he deserves an invitation to tryouts.

[xprt]

No he doesnt he is chucker who is lucky today

[Regulio]

Man that Samardjiski dude is ridiculously bad.

[Regulio]

Man that Samardjiski dude is ridiculously bad.

at least he repaid for his mistake now

[Laure]

He's way better than Jonas today, guy is fighting and scoring ( 15 pts ). Jonas likely to sit down for the rest of 4th Q.

[Regulio]

yeah and missing open shots from 2 feet away.
anyway Rice sinking his team once again

[nelabai]

Jonas did not look confident today at all

[Laure]

He missed a layup, but on the next attack he grabbed an ORB and dunked after the play. Jonas just looked afraid out there , couldn't catch the ball, lacked hustle, lost coach's trust after the CSKA frontcourt frustrated him , resulting in such a poor display and decreased playing time. A big letdown, considering the close game and a big occasion. But I guess JV is just 20, so games like these might come across.

[Regulio]

Samardjiski was better today, no question, but overall he is awful at basketball. It is that Jonas had probably one of the worst games of the season.
He is still very young and can't control his emotions and stay level-headed.
Tomorrow they will play another match I think for 3rd place.

[Darknemo2000]

Jonas did not look confident today at all

He looked slower and tired. He and Seibutis are eventually going down due to the schedule. Not looking as sharp as they did most of the season.

[Laure]

I agree , he's a sloth, an Aaron Gray - lite. That's why JV is the main center of this team. Tomorrow against Lokomotiv for 3rd. 11AM.

[lothy]

Jonas Valanciunas who? Raptors should rather take a look at Samardziski.

[Elastic]

What is discouraging about JV, is that what works for him against mediocre teams, often doesnt work against superior teams like CASK, for example, he can use his length to out-rebound mediocre teams, but today it was a no-go; he can use his length to block or alter shots against mediocre teams, but today it was a no-go. And why doesnt he learn or at least show flashes that he is capable of using his left arm, especially when he is spinning over his right shoulder towards the basket?

[BalticGiants]

Just don't start to panic after Jonas' bad game. And argument he "doesn't deliver against stronger teams" is also funny as he delivered plenty of times against strong teams. He blocked Kirilenko, Noah, M. Gasol and plenty of other stars this summer, but that doesn't mean he'll come up and play well against NBA stars every day. He's still a kid, remeber? He played better last time against CSKA. Get used to that, he will need at least few years to become consistent and polished player. As for his transition time - it will depend with the guys he'll play with also. He would be better in this CSKA team, he's better in NT as well were he plays with player that CAN PASS. Not a single guard in Rytas can pass. Another thing, he seems to be down physically and mentally lately and it's not JV that comes with full energy. Samardziski played his best game of the season and man oh man it was so few games like this...

Well after I defended JV a little bit, I have to say he played very bad tonight and he will have such games in NBA as well, so be patient as he will need time to get bigger, more experienced and polished. Don't expect too much in the first year. However, he'll be a different player in NT and I'm so sick and tired to follow that f... Džikič's basketball, but I have no choice.

And yes I can blame Rytas coaching staff for JV not knowing what to do with the ball when he's 3 meters from the basket. He needs to be agrressive in these situations, to go right or even left (yes he can do that, but has no confidence in that). Look at 2:06 in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCMXxQGhGzQ

With his soft touch he should be really more involved in Rytas offence and I'm thinking that all season long. Maybe he learned few things from DŽikič this season, but he forgot about some skills he has and that we saw this summer (including Eurobasket). Another than that - it's school, he needs time.

[Laure]

Reality checks like this one are just as valuable as a dominant performance against someone who's a few levels behind. I trust JV and staff will figure out what's happening and fill the holes and lapses in his game. If this was a matter of fatigue, which is likely, well, the NBA schedule will be even harder.

[lothy]

Sometimes miserably failing is the best way to learn. I imagine that JV should have nightmares for a week or two, but that should help him figure out what went wrong and learn from his mistakes.

[dagger]

Didn't see the game. but keep this in mind, too. CSKA would beat Charlotte in four straight in a playoff series and they would probably win a game or two against a few other lottery teams. CSKA might be the best team in EUrope and they are superbly organized and coached. They gameplan like an NBA team. And this game meant something to them, it wasn't some random mid season game.

[from24ft]

...please dagger, stop.


(maybe in a preseason game they may get lucky, when guys are out of shape, but a best of 4 game playoff... not even a farting chance.)

[blocked]

You have a guy who is very young, is building his muscles for Raptors, had to play as the only center for quite some weeks so that Samar*** could recover for this particular game.
Also, you have older guys who don't give him the leadership role, because his contract is all set for the next year, and they need to fight for their new contracts. The result is obvious - games like the last one. Give him some time to grow, and the situation will be different.
Of course, he is not an NBA starting center yet. However, if Raptors figure out how to pass him the ball, and will do it often enough, he might take the pressure away from Bargnani...