JV at World Cup 2014

[MixxSRC]

Him being slightly slower is the price you pay for the muscle required to play in the NBA. Not necessarily a bad thing for the Raps, but a bad thing for Lithuania.

I wish it was just slightly slower though. He had above average quickness for his size, now he's below average. That's not normal.

He's below average? wow who are these cheetah-centres

[visionquest]

Did Not Play - Chocolate Donuts

[Riiizla]

"Why are you so fat now?"
"Because **** you, that's why."

Hahahaha awesome!

[Ari_Emanuel]

People worried about JV's mobility on the defensive and yet snails like Hibbert and Gasol are capable of being DPOY. It's always been about Jonas' being able to read the game better... see plays develop earlier and learn how to play the angles better. Once he can do these things he will be a much better defender and he'll still have his girth to help him get better positioning in the post on offense.

[Double Helix]

I really don't see how anybody could be upset about this:



Alex McKechnie's whole concept is core strength. Build up your core strength first. Adjust to having that added bulk/strength there. And then worry about the "show muscles" later. So many NBA guys are so focused on their biceps/triceps/traps, etc because those are the aspects of your body that show through a jersey but those aren't the key muscles that will help you box out, or maintain position against guys like Pekovic, Andre Drummond or Marc Gasol. NBA Cs need core strength. JV is going to be sneaky strong because of where he's focused his strength. He can add to the arms/neck later.

As I've said many times before, his speed/jumping isn't what made him truly unique in the NBA landscape even when he was skinny. He's going to end up being a finesse C with a never say quit motor and enough core strength to body most Cs and protect the net with verticality.

[TheGoodDoctor]

It's obvious Val and Lowry have been spending time together this off season.

[MEDIC]

People worried about JV's mobility on the defensive and yet snails like Hibbert and Gasol are capable of being DPOY. It's always been about Jonas' being able to read the game better... see plays develop earlier and learn how to play the angles better. Once he can do these things he will be a much better defender and he'll still have his girth to help him get better positioning in the post on offense.

Well said.

I guess these people wouldn't want Marc Gasol on the team because of his body fat %.

[Lateral Quicks]

It's next to impossible to gain a lot of muscle in a short period of time without adding lots of fat too. Obviously the dirty bulk phase has met with great success. Now we have to see if the cut phase is as successful. Ultimately I'd like to see him develop a lean, muscular frame, like a Tim Duncan.

[Thespianoid]

Him being slightly slower is the price you pay for the muscle required to play in the NBA. Not necessarily a bad thing for the Raps, but a bad thing for Lithuania.

I wish it was just slightly slower though. He had above average quickness for his size, now he's below average. That's not normal.

He's below average? wow who are these cheetah-centres

Yeah I may have exaggerated that a bit. There was a noticeable drop in quickness though.

[Young Moosehead]

Just to point out, the same guy who is unhappy with JV's new size also thinks Pek's size is a bad thing, and no one here seems critical of Pek's size when we have to play him. JV was slower last year than in his rookie year, but hardly slower than average in the league at the 5.

For all the people who having been crowing about their patience being rewarded with Demar's development, there seems to be just as many people giving up on JV. Shouldn't he have to regress or at least stay relatively developmentally stagnated for a period of time before we start predicting bad things for him and being this critical? Remember Demar's development for the 3 years after his rookie season was +0.9 PT +0.1 RB +0.7 AS -0.1 BLK -0.1 STL +0 TO -0.022 FG% +.019 FT% and +.187 3PT%. I'm not criticizing DD's progress, just trying to remind everybody how choppy growth can be.

Where are the posters who scream disloyalty when someone suggests JJ should get Ross' starting spot? Or disloyalty when anyone suggests Demar should get anything but the max? To be clear I think Ross should keep his spot until his play dictates otherwise, and if Demar continues his trajectory he has earned a huge raise. But if you want to go on about disloyalty support all the teams players.

[niQ]

Get Em.

[TheGoodDoctor]

People worried about JV's mobility on the defensive and yet snails like Hibbert and Gasol are capable of being DPOY. It's always been about Jonas' being able to read the game better... see plays develop earlier and learn how to play the angles better. Once he can do these things he will be a much better defender and he'll still have his girth to help him get better positioning in the post on offense.

Well said.

I guess these people wouldn't want Marc Gasol on the team because of his body fat %.

Or it could just be that most people would have rather seen him put on weight like Noah (a player who has already been liken to) as opposed to Gasol (who he hasn't). Personally I think trying to fill out as Noah did would have been much more beneficial than going this route which I don't think suits his pick and roll game at all, he's nowhere near the passer Marc is and not as crafty around the basket either but that's none of my business.

[Double Helix]

I think people have this idea of him doing in the NBA what he did at the FIBAU19 tourney where he was rolling and dunking on guys who'll never play in the NBA and NBA draft second rounders. He can't just be a pick and roll guy and that's it. He loves the sport, and has too much finesse potential and touch to just be a keep it simple garbage man/Biedrins part 2-type.

His athleticism was going to decline no matter what. All Cs do. Everything he's doing now and working on now will prepare him more for the future and allow him to be a better C for us years from now. JV could be with us for a decade. People realize that, right? A decade.

Stay patient. The C who'll be suiting up for the Raptors at age 25 is going to be a lot better than the one you're seeing slowly transition to that stage now.

[MikeM]

It's obvious the coaching staff's first priority with Jonas is defence. He has to be able to guard his own position without help and he has to be able to wall guys off at the rim.

Just forget about the offence for now. Even if he never improves his offence, he's still valuable at that end of the court. You gotta know Casey is all over him for defensive reasons.

[dTox]

People worried about JV's mobility on the defensive and yet snails like Hibbert and Gasol are capable of being DPOY. It's always been about Jonas' being able to read the game better... see plays develop earlier and learn how to play the angles better. Once he can do these things he will be a much better defender and he'll still have his girth to help him get better positioning in the post on offense.

Well said.

I guess these people wouldn't want Marc Gasol on the team because of his body fat %.

Or it could just be that most people would have rather seen him put on weight like Noah (a player who has already been liken to) as opposed to Gasol (who he hasn't). Personally I think trying to fill out as Noah did would have been much more beneficial than going this route which I don't think suits his pick and roll game at all, he's nowhere near the passer Marc is and not as crafty around the basket either but that's none of my business.

I love Noah (hell I think he's more valuable than Love) but there's a reason why he always went down with injuries, until this past season when he decided to bulk up.

[plainballing]

Looks a bit like Pek isn't?

Did Casey ask Jonas to work on his dribble so he can play the point next season?

[Clementine9]

Well this is disappointing.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/LithuaniaBasket/status/496410488452816897[/tweet]

Need to maximize/preserve as much natural quickness as possible, I'm sure that's within the realm of possibility.

That tweet clearly demonstrates the bitterness of the Lithuanians. If he wanted to be as quick as he was, he could be. What does that mean "he can't?" Of course he can. That doesn't even make sense. It's a question of whether he should be smaller and faster or not, not can he be.

[justinmacd]

lol @ the clowns who think JV is fat. The guy is a **** tank.

[cold_cowboy]

Well this is disappointing.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/LithuaniaBasket/status/496410488452816897[/tweet]

Need to maximize/preserve as much natural quickness as possible, I'm sure that's within the realm of possibility.

That tweet clearly demonstrates the bitterness of the Lithuanians. If he wanted to be as quick as he was, he could be. What does that mean "he can't?" Of course he can. That doesn't even make sense. It's a question of whether he should be smaller and faster or not, not can he be.

where did the man say "he can't"? am i missing something because he clearly says what you're getting fussy about, which is that the raptors require his body type to be that of the prototypical nba center. there's no bitterness, this is just coming to terms about what type of player JV will be in the future.

[M3LKM4N]

"Why are you so fat now?"
"Because **** you, that's why."

Hahahaha awesome!

INJURY REPORT: Out for 14/15 season

1. Paul George.

Reason: Broken Leg

2. Jonas Valanciunas.

Reason: Diabetes