Jonas Valanciunas: 7-footer has the makings of a star

[backstreetboy]

Val = vitaly potapenko

[Scout Taron]

Looks like a slightly more skilled Varejao to me. I feel like his athleticism/offensive game are a bit overrated.

[peja drobnjak]

yeah this is the raptor realgm hype machine in full swing

he'll have varejao type numbers and i just hope he has varejao or gortat level impact. the ft stroke is promising though, if he gets a decent jumper, he gets pretty valuable

[EddieJonesFan]

I like that his blocks went up a lot last year.

[sikma42]

I have been watching JV for awhile and have talked about him on this board before. I think he has great potential. But, the people saying he is more athletic than Pau was are really off. Pau is/was a much better athlete. Guy is bigger, longer. more coordinated, more agile, quicker and had a better touch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoZpllEL ... re=related

Pau is an extremely gifted athlete. I don't think Jonas is quite that class.

[Tirion]

this thread will go well

so this is worth a suspension now?

note to self: do not mock the legitimacy of threads claiming a raptors player to be a superstar after a preseason game around raptors mods

Jonas will be a superstar!

This Yuri Vaultin guy sure takes his "job" to heart.

[sca]

Young Pau Gasol was a great athlete. Maybe not as strong as Val, but very fluid. People seem to have forgotten about that.

[clockwork]

this thread will go well

so this is worth a suspension now?

note to self: do not mock the legitimacy of threads claiming a raptors player to be a superstar after a preseason game around raptors mods

Jonas will be a superstar!

don't cry on behalf of some idiot who's intentions to derail the thread were obvious from the get-go. either that or he's aching for attention.

i actually want to see some opinions on val from non-raptors fans and i bet i'm not alone so why have this twerp ruin it.

you must be the clever guy in the group who questions everything.

[sca]

this thread will go well

so this is worth a suspension now?

note to self: do not mock the legitimacy of threads claiming a raptors player to be a superstar after a preseason game around raptors mods

Jonas will be a superstar!

Come on now, he was obviously trolling in hopes of getting an unproductive conversation going... while adding absolutely nothing to the discussion. Posters like that should be warned every time, IMO.

[clockwork]

IMO he has Pau Gasol potential. Coming into the league he's more athletic, runs the floor better and is stronger yet less offensively gifted, lower basketball IQ. I think he is going to surprise us all and given starter minutes will easily put 16/9/1,5 in his rookie season.

He will definitely be in the rotation playing solid minutes (At least 22). I can see him putting 10/6/1,2 in 22 minutes. I will definitely root for him, can't wait for the season to start!

the rebounding and blocking predictions look realistic, but his teammates don't nearly pass the ball enough for him to average that many points.

more around ~10 points or so is more likely although i could see him bulking up and making a huge leap scoring-wise going into his sophomore year.

[sca]

IMO he has Pau Gasol potential. Coming into the league he's more athletic, runs the floor better and is stronger yet less offensively gifted, lower basketball IQ. I think he is going to surprise us all and given starter minutes will easily put 16/9/1,5 in his rookie season.

He will definitely be in the rotation playing solid minutes (At least 22). I can see him putting 10/6/1,2 in 22 minutes. I will definitely root for him, can't wait for the season to start!

16 PPG is way too much. His post game is still a work in progress and no one seems to know how effective his shot is.

[MemphisX]

Pau is a good potential comparison offensively. He shot around 80% from the line last year, has yet to miss this pre-season and is already developing a mid-range jump shot. He's also long, and mobile for a 7 footer.

The old Pau maybe, at 20 Pau was strictly a face up player who even played sometimes as a SF still.
Jonas has a wider frame and i'm sure will get bigger, i think he'll end up looking more like Howard than Pau. On the other hand he doesn't have the insane coordination and ball handling ability that Pau has for a guy his size, and he's nowhere near the passer Pau is.

Pau plays face up now much more than he ever did in Memphis. In fact, we used to complain about the coach using Pau in the low post and having Darko in the high post. Pau Gasol is in the upper 10 of most skilled bigs to ever play this game (and I am a big Pau hater). I always considered Pau the offensive twin to KGs defense.

[ImissJordan]

Pau plays face up now much more than he ever did in Memphis. In fact, we used to complain about the coach using Pau in the low post and having Darko in the high post. Pau Gasol is in the upper 10 of most skilled bigs to ever play this game (and I am a big Pau hater). I always considered Pau the offensive twin to KGs defense.

The funny thing here is that Garnett was superior to Gasol offensively...

...anyways, yeah. Valanciunas is going to be a stud.

[Mr. Krabs]

I was excited about him, didn't show much in the preseason yet.

[LordBaldric]

this thread will go well

so this is worth a suspension now?

note to self: do not mock the legitimacy of threads claiming a raptors player to be a superstar after a preseason game around raptors mods

Jonas will be a superstar!

This Yuri Vaultin guy sure takes his "job" to heart.

Indeed. This mod should be stripped of his powers.

[[SJJ]]

I was excited about him, didn't show much in the preseason yet.

People are raving over his pre-season performance - what have you been watching?

[OhMyBosh]

I think people are forgetting how skilled offensively Pau was when he entered the league. He was a very good rookie from the get-go.

Pau had a decent arsenal of post moves (both with his left and right hand) as a rookie with a good mid-range jumper. Over the years, he just worked on being even more efficient with his offence like passing out of double teams.

Jonas doesn't have a post game yet that he can fully rely on. So he'll get his points less consistently this year from pick and rolls, put backs, and pump fake/drives.

I think the only real comparisons are in their mobility on the court. Both are lanky, can rebound, contest shots, and are able to run the floor.

[Durant Durant]

Too early to tell. He's not wowing anybody so far except homers imho

[TheCustodian]

Yea, but lets be honest - he's white so he doesn't have a lot of upside. And he's from Europe, which means still pretty soft even if he's a bit tougher than other Euros. And no way he will ever be better than Gasoft.

[ComboGuardCity]

I think he's going to be an above average C. I think he's Noah. He hasn't shown enough offensive game to be seen as Pau. People forget how great Pau was.