JV at EuroBasket 2013 is Done, Lithuania Gets Silver

UcanUwill · Post #81 » by **UcanUwill** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 6:16 pm

Kalnietis is a real PG.

VanGuard · Post #82 » by **VanGuard** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 6:20 pm

UcanUwill wrote:Kalnietis is a real PG.

The coach and he himself says that he is not true PG

, but he is still #1 option

GoSu · Post #83 » by **GoSu** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 6:21 pm

UcanUwill wrote:Kalnietis is a real PG.

No, he is not, never was. He's much better at SG where he mostly plays now in Lokomotiv. Coach Kazlauskas just told in recent interview Cizauskas is the only PG current NT has.

UcanUwill · Post #84 » by **UcanUwill** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 6:29 pm

AK47MVP wrote:He has right mindset and skill combo to be very good. All he needs is experience playing vs men. Obviously he will make mistakes but which young player doesn't? I know Eurobasket might not be the best place to let kid develop but he will LT's main playmaker in the future for years to come, so why not give him a chance to learn from the best on biggest stage in Europe?

I am not talking about experienced. I am talking about him lacking the skill at protecting and handling the ball. If you press him, he couldn't pass the court. At least thats how he used to be.

I dont think he will be LT playmaker in the future, thats what I am saying. If he proves that he could, then ok. But he has to be improved a lot. From that junior team, JV, Ulanovas and probably Skucas were the only players who looked like they had a chance to make the transition. Redikas and Cizauskas always looked like a huge busts to me.

Darknemo2000 · Post #85 » by **Darknemo2000** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 6:37 pm

Anyone caught that moment when Val (sitting on the bench) caught the ball and stood as if preparing to shoot before Kleiza knocked it out of his hands?

UcanUwill · Post #86 » by **UcanUwill** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 6:39 pm

GoSu wrote:No, he is not, never was. He's much better at SG where he mostly plays now in Lokomotiv. Coach Kazlauskas just told in recent interview Cizauskas is the only PG current NT has.

I have to disagree with them then... :lol:

He and Calathes were both play makers on that team, Calathes was just primary ball handler. I mean Kalnietis averaged 5 assists per game last season. His passing and facilitating has been evolving his whole career.

He never played SG in his life, he cant shoot, cant move without the ball, cant use off screens, what kind of SG is he? He may has shady handles and pick and roll game for a PG, but he is way better PG than he is SG, thats for sure.

Juscius · Post #87 » by **Juscius** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 7:05 pm

UcanUwill wrote:
GoSu wrote:No, he is not, never was. He's much better at SG where he mostly plays now in Lokomotiv. Coach Kazlauskas just told in recent interview Cizauskas is the only PG current NT has.

I have to disagree with them then... He and Calathes were both play makers on that team, Calathes was just primary ball handler. I mean Kalnietis averaged 5 assists per game last season. His passing and facilitating has been evolving his whole career.

He never played SG in his life, he cant shoot, cant move without the ball, cant use off screens, what kind of SG is he? He may has shady handles and pick and roll game for a PG, but he is way better PG than he is SG, thats for sure.

Completely agree. Kalnietis cant play good SG because he is just an average shooter.
But imho he has good court vision and many times I heard people name him "pass first pg". Unfortunately his passing skills are quite bad and his court vision doesn't help as it should.

hopefuly tomorrow both Kalnietis and JV play significant minutes and we can see some good Pick & rolls

UcanUwill · Post #88 » by **UcanUwill** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 7:20 pm

Juscius wrote:Completely agree. Kalnietis cant play good SG because he is just an average shooter.
But imho he has good court vision and many times I heard people name him "pass first pg". Unfortunately his passing skills are quite bad and his court vision doesn't help as it should.

hopefuly tomorrow both Kalnietis and JV play significant minutes and we can see some good Pick & rolls

I would say he is pass first. And his passing improved in the past few years. He is filling assisting top tens quite regularly nowadays.

He was a very raw player from the start. His career took a weird turn, he was thrown in the fire out of nowhere very early. He grew into very raw and unorthodox player. Looks like a player who missed on important part of development somewhere. He is unorthodox, but he is a PG, hes not even a combo.

JV4MVP · Post #89 » by **JV4MVP** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 8:00 pm

GoSu wrote:
Regression2u wrote:If D-Mo and JV were one person = HOF

The roster allows 12 right:

1. Valanciunas
2. Kleiza
3. D-Mo
4. Javtokas
5. Kalneitis
6. Pocius
7. Maciulis
8. Kuzminskas
9. Seibutis
10. Lav 1
11. Lav 2
12. Delininkaitis

Only one PG (which ain't even real PG) in your line up, so yeah.. I can guarantee that won't be the final cut.

The thing is that #6 and Cizauskas are not ready to play against PGs at the Eurobasket level. And this is not a tournament where you develop players. Delininkaitis is arguably the 2nd best PG option... I recall that he played well in this role in 2010 WC.

You can replace one of the Lav brothers for another guard but who would it be? My bet would be Gecevicius. And Maciulis can play SG, so even without Gecevicius LTU still has 5 guards.

Sad to not see Jasaitis. He is a great defender, 3 pt shooter and sometimes dribbled the ball up the court. It is too bad he got married to that "fill in the blank".

xprt · Post #90 » by **xprt** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 8:13 pm

Pocius can handle ball too. Remember what a great job he did against USA PG's pressure in Olympics as main ballhandler ?

Detective · Post #91 » by **Detective** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 8:13 pm

Darknemo2000 wrote:Anyone caught that moment when Val (sitting on the bench) caught the ball and stood as if preparing to shoot before Kleiza knocked it out of his hands?

Where the hell was this lockdown defense when he was with us?

Only one reasonable explanation.

Witchcraft.

Gntts · Post #92 » by **Gntts** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 8:26 pm

Regression2u wrote:
GoSu wrote:
Regression2u wrote:
Sad to not see Jasaitis. He is a great defender, 3 pt shooter and sometimes dribbled the ball up the court. It is too bad he got married to that "fill in the blank".

I miss Jasaitis and Jankunas.

KobeDwightPau · Post #93 » by **KobeDwightPau** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 10:06 pm

why the fudge no JV>?

JV4MVP · Post #94 » by **JV4MVP** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 10:39 pm

How about this?

Valanciunas/Javtokas
Kleiza/Motiejunas/Lavrinovic
Maciulis/Kuzminskas
Seibutis/Pocius/Gecevicius
Kalneitis/Delininkaitis

Think this would be a balanced team with defense and offense on 1 & 2 squads. Team 1's offense would revolve around Kleiza and JV, and Team 2 based on opportunities. As mentioned earlier, the weakness will be at PG. The strengths will be depth and size.

Depending on the matchup you can also start Javtokas and Pocius. If I recall correctly LTU always struggles at PG against aggressive pressure, even with Jasikevicius, and I can see Seibutis, Pocius and Maciulis helping to break the press.

UcanUwill · Post #95 » by **UcanUwill** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 10:51 pm

Regression2u wrote:How about this?

Valanciunas/Javtokas
Kleiza/Motiejunas/Lavrinovic
Maciulis/Kuzminskas
Seibutis/Pocius/Gecevicius
Kalneitis/Delininkaitis

Thats what I thinking. Gecevicius should be on the team, he is a good fit. People are down on him because he was riding the bench for the last 2 years, but he is not bad. Has some experience playing point and is the best 3 point shooter available. Looks like they gonna be inside scoring team, they gonna need spot up shooters, and they desperately need anyone who can fill the PG minutes. Not saying he will be their back up PG, but he might fill few minutes here and there.

xprt · Post #96 » by **xprt** » Mon Aug 5, 2013 11:51 pm

I dont like Kleiza at 4 in this situation. Sure in past then coach was Kemzura game plan was to outrun opponents so he tend to play small lineups. But Kazlauskas philosophy is just like Popovic to outsmart opponents. LTU will be playing slower pace and I think it would be smarter to stick with big lineups. Donut is 7'1'', Lavrinovic brothers are 6'11'' and Kleiza is only 6'8'' . Those inches means a lot .

Valanciunas/Javtokas/Lavrinovic2
Lavrinovic1/Motiejunas/Lavrinovic2/Kleiza
Kleiza/Maciulis/Kuzminskas
Seibutis/Pocius/Kuzminskas
Kalnietis/Delininkaitis

You can also play Pocius or Seibutis as PG few minutes a game.

JV4MVP · Post #97 » by **JV4MVP** » Tue Aug 6, 2013 2:01 am

xprt wrote:I dont like Kleiza at 4 in this situation. Sure in past then coach was Kemzura game plan was to outrun opponents so he tend to play small lineups. But Kazlauskas philosophy is just like Popovic to outsmart opponents. LTU will be playing slower pace and I think it would be smarter to stick with big lineups. Donut is 7'1'', Lavrinovic brothers are 6'11'' and Kleiza is only 6'8'' . Those inches means a lot .

Valanciunas/Javtokas/Lavrinovic2
Lavrinovic1/Motiejunas/Lavrinovic2/Kleiza
Kleiza/Maciulis/Kuzminskas
Seibutis/Pocius/Kuzminskas
Kalnietis/Delininkaitis

You can also play Pocius or Seibutis as PG few minutes a game.

I'm sort of indifferent about choosing Lav2 over Gecevicius but it would be risky having so few guards. If 1 or 2 guys get injured it would be a disaster.

I also would like to see Maciulis start. He's a great intangibles guy: defense, rebounding, open jumpshot, slash to the basket.

I've lost faith in Kleiza after the injuries, expect him to be only above average at his position from the top 12 countries. I just hope he won't turn out to be a chucker. Rather see him work in the post than on the perimeter.

KobeDwightPau · Post #98 » by **KobeDwightPau** » Tue Aug 6, 2013 7:43 am

Is Jonas playing tommorow or is he still too far behind since he missed that week

Darknemo2000 · Post #99 » by **Darknemo2000** » Tue Aug 6, 2013 7:45 am

xprt wrote:I dont like Kleiza at 4 in this situation. Sure in past then coach was Kemzura game plan was to outrun opponents so he tend to play small lineups. But Kazlauskas philosophy is just like Popovic to outsmart opponents. LTU will be playing slower pace and I think it would be smarter to stick with big lineups. Donut is 7'1'', Lavrinovic brothers are 6'11'' and Kleiza is only 6'8'' . Those inches means a lot .

Valanciunas/Javtokas/Lavrinovic2
Lavrinovic1/Motiejunas/Lavrinovic2/Kleiza
Kleiza/Maciulis/Kuzminskas
Seibutis/Pocius/Kuzminskas
Kalnietis/Delininkaitis

You can also play Pocius or Seibutis as PG few minutes a game.

Pocious turns the ball way too often and has no court vision. He would be bad as a PG. Seibutis can, I guess. But I would still take Gecevicius cause he is the best 3pt shooter on the team and the team with very strong frontline needs downtown shooters otherwise opponents will be clogging the paint all the time. And only Gecevicius is the guy who can make 3 point shot regularly.

Dri3er · Post #100 » by **Dri3er** » Tue Aug 6, 2013 8:47 am

Jonas Valanciunas is PLAYING TODAY 12:15 AM Canada time (7:15 PM Lithuania time) against Belgium. It's a preperation games in Lithuania.
Today won't be playing: Robertas Javtokas, Ksistofas Lavrinovicius, Renaldas Seibutis.

Official Streaming links:
http://www.sportotv.lt/
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sportotv-lt

Highlights from 1st preperation game:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjbMfHn4rR4[/youtube]