Jonas Valanciunas Summer Discussion II

nelabai · Post #1021 » by **nelabai** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 10:45 am

Coach doesn't like Jonas, he could clearly let him in in 4th quarter when they needed a spark, but let Songaila in again.

galeon110 · Post #1022 » by **galeon110** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 10:48 am

Should've just played in the Summer League, at least then we'd get to see him in a more focal position...

kiriux · Post #1023 » by **kiriux** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 11:03 am

Motiejunas made a smart decision coming to SL instead of NT, he knew he isn't gonna get PT. Never seen a worse coach than Kemzura. I 'm sure he's fired as soon as olympics end. He is the reason of some of the shameful losses in Lithuanian basketball history.

trenekas · Post #1024 » by **trenekas** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 11:17 am

kiriux wrote:Motiejunas made a smart decision coming to SL instead of NT, he knew he isn't gonna get PT. Never seen a worse coach than Kemzura. I 'm sure he's fired as soon as olympics end. He is the reason of some of the shameful losses in Lithuanian basketball history.

Agree.

Regulio · Post #1025 » by **Regulio** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 11:30 am

Yes, it seems Kemzura has lost confidence in Val.
Strange decisions on his part.
Sure Kemzura doesn't want to risk with Val, but I really can't say that anyone else is doing a better job.
Anyway, I hope he gets sacked after Olympics, because since WC in 2010, everything is going downhill fast.

Morse Code · Post #1026 » by **Morse Code** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 11:58 am

Hoping Valanciunas plays summer league next year, but he might go for NT again if Kemzura is gone. What a shame...

RPzB · Post #1027 » by **RPzB** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 12:06 pm

Morse Code wrote:Hoping Valanciunas plays summer league next year, but he might go for NT again if Kemzura is gone. What a shame...

If Kemzura is gone, Vlanaciunas will be treated differently and will be given role other than being a scapegoat while playing 6 minutes. I'm wandering whom will Kemzura blame now? Prolly will be old story - "Valanciunas played poorly in those 5 minutes 50 seconds that I gave him, so we lost".

dTox · Post #1028 » by **dTox** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 12:50 pm

This is pretty much why I wanted to have JV in the summer league over the olympics, he clearly isn't getting much experience or going up against NBA players. The only basketball time he's getting is against his own teammates in practice.

ATLTimekeeper · Post #1029 » by **ATLTimekeeper** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 1:13 pm

Better to ride the bench in a pressured environment than dunk on a bunch of nobodies in a SL scrimmage.

NiL8r87 · Post #1030 » by **NiL8r87** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 1:15 pm

I wonder if the coach was just going with a small lineup since Batum and Parker were the ones doing the real damage.

Yoga · Post #1031 » by **Yoga** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 1:30 pm

ATLTimekeeper wrote:Better to ride the bench in a pressured environment than dunk on a bunch of nobodies in a SL scrimmage.

+1, the Olympics is a good overall experience for any young player. SL is every year, but the opportunity to play in a international competition does not happen yearly

I'm sure Jonas V is learning a lot more from this Olympic experience -- than any low level SL competition

ATLTimekeeper · Post #1032 » by **ATLTimekeeper** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 1:33 pm

NiL8r87 wrote:I wonder if the coach was just going with a small lineup since Batum and Parker were the ones doing the real damage.

I don't know, he had Kavaliauskas and Songalia in most line-ups. It was just a benching. After JV went out of the game for good Diaw started heating up (4 makes inside the paint). The final score wasn't indicative of how easily France tore the game apart in the 4th quarter. You have to wonder wtf is wrong with the coach for only playing Pocius 16 minutes in a game where he was the only guy hitting the three or even Kleiza only 29 minutes. These guys are your stars. They need to play 30+ against the better teams. Look at France playing Diaw almost the whole game.

hankscorpioLA · Post #1033 » by **hankscorpioLA** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 1:38 pm

ATLTimekeeper wrote:
NiL8r87 wrote:I wonder if the coach was just going with a small lineup since Batum and Parker were the ones doing the real damage.

I don't know, he had Kavaliauskas and Songalia in most line-ups. It was just a benching. After JV went out of the game for good Diaw started heating up (4 makes inside the paint). The final score wasn't indicative of how easily France tore the game apart in the 4th quarter. You have to wonder wtf is wrong with the coach for only playing Pocius 16 minutes in a game where he was the only guy hitting the three or even Kleiza only 29 minutes. These guys are your stars. They need to play 30+ against the better teams. Look at France playing Diaw almost the whole game.

I don't get it either.

He's played 12 guys in every game so far.

That's ridiculous. At this point, you should know who your best players are and play them. The only team in this tournament who should be playing 12 players is the USA.

lobosloboslobos · Post #1034 » by **lobosloboslobos** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 1:38 pm

This is a question to our Lithuanian posters:

Supposedly basketball is as popular there as say hockey is here, right? if the Canadian hockey coach was benching our biggest young star in the winter olympics and losing there would be a huge outcry. Given JV's popularity in Lithuania, how are people there reacting? When the coach answers the media about why he won't play JV more what does he say?

dagger · Post #1035 » by **dagger** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 1:47 pm

Bargnani gave the Italian NT a pass a couple of times because of a patently inept coach, but once there was a coaching change he became the lynchpin of the last two Italian teams - showing much better and carrying some of that over to his NBA performances. Simply put, the current Italian coach is running with his young studs. Bargnani's NT performance last summer was dominant, and fed right into the good start he had last season with the Raptors.

Lithuania has a comparable situation with Kemzura - I wouldn't be surprised if the young players refuse to play for him, and veterans like Saras, Javtokas and Songaila are just about done. Lithuania has to recalibrate and find a coach to whom the younger guys can relate, and who will use an obvious rebuilding situation to give them the court time they need to grow as a group. Kemzura is trying to ride an old horse that is dying under him, and doesn't have the good sense to cut his losses by playing guys like Jonas (or enticing Motiejunas to play for the NT). It would be a lot more respectable for Lithuania to lose with the young players on the pretext that they are the foundation of future successes at Eurobasket, the World Championships and the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

EFF3KT · Post #1036 » by **EFF3KT** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 1:55 pm

Didn't watch the game but from the box score..

4 points from 2/3 made field goals
0/1 free throws made
0 Rebounds
1 Block
2 fouls

.. 7 minutes played.

Did I miss something here? This makes absolutely no sense to me to why he played the least amount of minutes on the team while only having 2 fouls. I don't even see a match up issue here. I'm sure Val could easily keep up with Seraphin or Turiaf. Is his hand injury worse than they are publicizing? Did Val sleep with Kemzura's wife? What on earth am I missing here?

JV4MVP · Post #1037 » by **JV4MVP** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 2:03 pm

Everyone relax. He'll come to the NBA and everything will be fine. LTU will likely only have 3 more meaningful games left.

BalticGiants · Post #1038 » by **BalticGiants** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 2:07 pm

We have a BUST in the team - it's the head coach Kemzura. Enough said.

LithuanianOne · Post #1039 » by **LithuanianOne** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 2:11 pm

EFF3KT wrote:Didn't watch the game but from the box score..

4 points from 2/3 made field goals
0/1 free throws made
0 Rebounds
1 Block
2 fouls

.. 7 minutes played.

Did I miss something here? This makes absolutely no sense to me to why he played the least amount of minutes on the team while only having 2 fouls. I don't even see a match up issue here. I'm sure Val could easily keep up with Seraphin or Turiaf. Is his hand injury worse than they are publicizing? Did Val sleep with Kemzura's wife? What on earth am I missing here?

That's the most sensible suggestion. Even Lithuanian fans are puzzled why JV only got 7 minutes of playing time.

Post #1040 » by **Double Helix** » Thu Aug 2, 2012 2:27 pm

In some ways, the limited minutes he's getting at the moment is probably the wakeup call some needed. Young centres take longer to become comfortable with the NBA than any other position by a considerable amount. It's not uncommon to see Cs not take their first big step forward in the NBA until they're 23 or 24.

Jonas is only 20.

20 years old is like a baby in the NBA at the C position, especially since he'll also be adjusting to an entirely different culture/league. We need to be prepared for the very real possibility that he is going to take YEARS to develop. I know waiting patiently isn't exciting but it's going to be a necessity with Jonas. If we turn on him quick and the fans start booing him in year 1 or 2 during his adjustments and struggles we're going to run the best C prospect we've had out of town.

Remind yourself how old Joakim Noah was when he started becoming a dominant +17.0 PER type C with defence. Remind yourself how old Al Horford was when he broke 17.0. Take a look at Tyson Chandler. These guys were 22-24 years old when they started becoming "above average" and "good" NBA Cs and they had just as much hype (if not more) and just as much pedigree or athleticism (if not more) than Jonas, not to mention a better comfort level for NA basketball. And the list, barring HOF Cs, goes on and on. 20 years old is just a pup for an International C. As frustrating as it is to watch him get limited minutes during the Olympics... maybe it's the wakeup call we all needed. We need to be patient with this guy. Like 2 or 3 years minimum patient.