[quote name='Black Urum' date='19 May 2009 - 10:10 PM' timestamp='1242760235' post='15849']I can't understand why Kalnietis isn't called in A team directly. I mean, Lithuania has a problem at the PG as it is and with Jasikevicius situation being unclear and even if he does play how many minutes per game can he stand when he is playing the whole season and averaging less than 20mpg with Panathinaikos?
I'm sorry but Gustas is nowhere near Kalnietis, not at this moment anyway.
I guess both Butautas and Kazlauskas hope that the Greek finals end in 3-0 score, to any team, so their players get an extra 10 days of rest, 10 extremely valuable days, especially for players like Saras, Diamantidis and Papaloukas who have been playing non-stop since 2003.
As for Macijauskas, will Olympiacos even allow him to join the Lithuania NT or will they continue their cold war tactics?[/quote]
That's a good point. Kalnietis showed that he can be a good player this season. The fact that he was playing big minutes is also important. Even Salenga had a nice season because of that. Kalnietis improved his three-point shot significantly.
I am not sure about FIBA regulations. Who makes the verdict if a player is healthy or not. If the club makes the decision then I can see Olympiacos trying to stop him and continue killing his career. Otherwise club can't stop a player from playing for his NT. So even if Macas is on trial with Oly he should be able to play for NT.
[quote name='Black Urum' date='19 May 2009 - 10:10 PM' timestamp='1242760235' post='15849']I can't understand why Kalnietis isn't called in A team directly. I mean, Lithuania has a problem at the PG as it is and with Jasikevicius situation being unclear and even if he does play how many minutes per game can he stand when he is playing the whole season and averaging less than 20mpg with Panathinaikos?
I'm sorry but Gustas is nowhere near Kalnietis, not at this moment anyway.
I guess both Butautas and Kazlauskas hope that the Greek finals end in 3-0 score, to any team, so their players get an extra 10 days of rest, 10 extremely valuable days, especially for players like Saras, Diamantidis and Papaloukas who have been playing non-stop since 2003.
As for Macijauskas, will Olympiacos even allow him to join the Lithuania NT or will they continue their cold war tactics?[/quote]
Could you tell me more about Gustas? How is he doing in Greece and what is the weak spots in his play here? As for Lithuanian second PG (I hope), there's no much questions if Gustas can't compete with Kalnietis. The situation could be different if JanaviÄius would be available, but he'll play for U20.
Å aras actually skipped the NT in 2005 and 2006 due to NBA career and his wife; and his 20mpg in PAO seems like a big advantage for Lith NT, IMHO <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
Macijauskas most likely won't play. The trial with OLY doesn't seem to be over ever, so he won't be able to join.
[quote name='straight forward' date='21 May 2009 - 05:58 PM' timestamp='1242917921' post='15868']Could you tell me more about Gustas? How is he doing in Greece and what is the weak spots in his play here? As for Lithuanian second PG (I hope), there's no much questions if Gustas can't compete with Kalnietis. The situation could be different if JanaviÄius would be available, but he'll play for U20.
Å aras actually skipped the NT in 2005 and 2006 due to NBA career and his wife; and his 20mpg in PAO seems like a big advantage for Lith NT, IMHO <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
Macijauskas most likely won't play. The trial with OLY doesn't seem to be over ever, so he won't be able to join.[/quote]
You can see his total stats for the season (well, half a season) here:
ftp://ftp.esake.gr/statistics0809/ba109t14.htm
I just believe, from what I've seen anyway which is not much, Kalnietis is more talented and aggressive on the offensive end.
Gustas is doing fine here, after all with such experience and playing in such a weak team I would be surprised if he didn't do well. If he stay next season too he will do better because he joined Kavala in mid-season and Kavala itself joined the league 1 month after it started and this was their 1st season ever in A1.
When does the U20 play? If it is not the same time as the senior team Janavicius could be called for Eurobasket too. These tournaments are not to be missed, maybe this will be his last chance to be tutored by Saras.
Is Macijauskas turning into a new Ilgauskas? I mean every year Lithuanians hope that he will show up at last and play. Now for the past 3 years Lithuanians are hoping Macijauskas will play high level basketball again.
[quote name='Black Urum' date='21 May 2009 - 07:13 PM' timestamp='1242922400' post='15871']Is Macijauskas turning into a new Ilgauskas? I mean every year Lithuanians hope that he will show up at last and play. Now for the past 3 years Lithuanians are hoping Macijauskas will play high level basketball again.[/quote]
In a way he does. But the difference is that Ilgauskas could make a choice even if he was under the pressure of the Cavs unlike Macijauskas who was inured. The situation between Macas and Oly can't last forever so if he gets back on the court and he's still a good player then we will see him in NT.
[quote name='Black Urum' date='21 May 2009 - 07:13 PM' timestamp='1242922400' post='15871']You can see his total stats for the season (well, half a season) here:
ftp://ftp.esake.gr/statistics0809/ba109t14.htm
I just believe, from what I've seen anyway which is not much, Kalnietis is more talented and aggressive on the offensive end.
Gustas is doing fine here, after all with such experience and playing in such a weak team I would be surprised if he didn't do well. If he stay next season too he will do better because he joined Kavala in mid-season and Kavala itself joined the league 1 month after it started and this was their 1st season ever in A1.
When does the U20 play? If it is not the same time as the senior team Janavicius could be called for Eurobasket too. These tournaments are not to be missed, maybe this will be his last chance to be tutored by Saras.
Is Macijauskas turning into a new Ilgauskas? I mean every year Lithuanians hope that he will show up at last and play. Now for the past 3 years Lithuanians are hoping Macijauskas will play high level basketball again.[/quote]
Thanks for reply on Gustas.
You should know better cause U20 will be hold in Greece <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> July 16-26. So it's pretty possible to see Janavicius, Vasiliauskas and Motiejunas in the senior NT camp.
It seems that we will have to deal without Saras - [url="http://www.talkbasket.net/news/saras-is-likely-to-skip-eurobasket-2009.html"]http://www.talkbasket.net/news/saras-is-li...asket-2009.html[/url] That would be a big loss for us. It is about time for another high quality PG to appear in Lithuania.
It will be crazy not to include Kalnietis to the squad now.
Saras is a huge loss to Lithuania, more than anyone else, it's like a body without a brain. Practically dead.
Seems that a lot of teams will suffer from top players not playing. Gasol, Calderon, Kirilenko, Jr Holden, Saras, Milicic, Stojakovic and so on. Madness.
Butautas will try 5 point guards- Kalnietis, Gustas, MaÃ
¾utis, KaukÄnas, Delininkaitis. The last two are not even point guards, but Delininkaitis would be better than PrekeviÄius any time, IMHO. What would you go after? I think Kalnietis and Gustas. MaÃ
¾utis is just another experiment of Butautas (we know he's not very good at this point...).
i see these as the main expectants:
PG: Kalnietis, Gustas
SG: Kaukenas, Lukauskis, Delininkaitis
SF: Jasaitis, MaÄiulis, Jomantas
PF. K. LavrinoviÄius, L. Kleiza, P. Jankunas.
C: R. Javtokas, D. Lavrinovicius, M. Petravicius.
It will be really hard to cut 2 players. I think both Gustas and Kalnietis is needed while JasikeviÄius is not here. Delininkaitis proved he's really worth to play for NT, specially now when Ã
 iÃ
¡ka is out and Lukauskis is not stable offensive player so Delininkaitis would be a great choice from the bench. I don't see what to cut from forwards as well. Jomantas is a need while he can dribble, penetrate and to create the game. PetraviÄius had a little minutes in Olympics, but it would be to hard to cut him as well.
I think Butautas will have to prove something this time. The roster isn't the black hole even if we will lack sharp leadership. What comes to my mind is that this roster would have a good defenders as well, imagine this lineup:
Jomantas (I believe he's worth for a try at PG position)
Lukauskis
MaÄiulis
D. LavrinoviÄ
Javtokas
As for the scorers, BÅ«tautas should create all conditions for KaukÄnas and Kleiza to feel comfortable as well as to use our front line.
Kalnietis and Gustas seem to the only real options out of that list. There must be at least two point guards in the squad. And we can already say that point guard will be our weakest link on the team. Kaukenas and Delininkaitis can play in that position too but then they lose their offensive productivity. Especially Kaukenas. There will be less improvisations for sure as those players are not real PG's. Maybe Kalnietis is the only who could do some unexpected moves but not much either.
We desperatelly need new point guard who would be EL level. It's another discussion but I think that it all comes to our basketball school. PG's are not being used enough and players who play in that position don't get enough attention from the coach. So unless someone with an extraordinary talent shows up, we will have the same situation.
It's a shame that Macas won't play most likely. I'd pick him instead of Lukauskis depsite all the time he spent injured. Lukauskis is too unstable. So if we had Macas as a backup SG the risk wouldn't be higher in my opinion.
Your lineup is the only one possible at this time. Seibutis could be also considered. And that's the only name I can think of.
Honestly I can not understand how can it be that even after Saras' decision so sit out of Eurobasket some people even debate about Kalnietis being in the squad.
Not only that Lithuania does not have a PG without him, but comparing him to Gustas? Come on...
One plays for eurochallenge calibre teams in Estonia or worse in Kavala and the other one is a regular in Zalgiris, a Euroleague calibre team. And from what I hear, going to a top level team like Benetton Treviso.
I think he is more talented than any other Lithuanian PG right now, except Saras, and is the only one capable of doing something different with the ball in his hands, with flair.
As for Kaukenas being a PG, it will work out much worse than even Macijauskas being a PG in 2006. Kaukenas not only does not posses the world class game of Macijauskas but he is also a hot headed guy who loses his temper easily, not a quality most PGs must have.
In any case I think Lithuania doesn't stand many chances being in the final with the current situation.
Indeed Kalnietis is the only real PG worth consideration. The team needs at least two real PG's in my opinion. That's why Gustas is mentioned. There should be no discussion whether to pick Kalnietis or Gustas because they are players from two different levels. Kalnietis is not the best choice either but he is much better than Gustas and besides he is still young and could improve (although I doubt that).
To be honest I am not optimistic about our chances either. Eurobasket 2005 looked like it would be a disaster when the final roster was known but we got 5th place anyway defeating every team comfortably. But when we got a tough opponent (France) the team looked lost and the leadership of our stars was missing. We then scored just above 40 points. Hopefully the story won't repeat itself this time but if we reach semis then it would be a big achievement in my opinion. And hopefully the team won't turn into turnover machine as it happened everytime when Saras was out.
Ã
 aras' agent announced that Ã
 aras might join NT after all.
"Sarunas Jasikevicius underwent a light surgery to clean his left knee, that bothered him throughout the last part of the Greek play-offs. He twisted it after the Euroleague Final Four and he was very much limited in following games, especially in the final series against Olympiacos. Anyway, surgery went well and Saras will be able to join LTU National Team for preparation towards the 2009 Eurobasket."
[url="http://www.protalent.it/news/WinArchiveH.asp?ID=15775"]http://www.protalent.it/news/WinArchiveH.asp?ID=15775[/url]
Let's hope that it means that Saras will play in Poland. Now he has no real excuse not to play because he didn't play much for PAO to get tired. The main obstacle was his health and injury which now seems to be cured. If he play for NT then we can again have high hopes.
It looks like his agent hasn't talked with Saras about his plans regarding NT. Rehabilitation after a surgery will take at least one month and there. So there is no chance to see him playing for NT in my opinion.
i think lithaunia is one of the favorite teams in this eurobasket even tauge sars will not play
who will run the point if saras doesn't go? Gustas? Kalnietis?
[quote name='suricata' date='27 June 2009 - 12:27 AM' timestamp='1246051666' post='17486']
who will run the point if saras doesn't go? Gustas? Kalnietis?
[/quote]
Kalnietis is the favourite and in my opinion he's the only choice for starting point guard. I don't want to even remember Gustas in that role. As sad as it is but he is likely to be in NT. It is unbelievable how poor we are at pg position in general.
Without Saras I think we are among top 5-6 teams.
Ramunas Butautas was interviewed by 'Kauno Diena' (
http://kauno.diena.lt/naujienos/sportas/...rta-225418 ) here are some of the most interesting quotes:
Quote:- National team with Sarunas Jasikevicius, Ramunas Siskauskas and Darius Songaila is totally different than the team without them. Don't you think that NT should have lower aims?
- The fact that we lost three leaders makes our mission more difficult but I can't be ridiculous and say that it is enough to play in the final round for NT. Our and our fans' ambitions demands us to always fight for the medals. That's we are going for it. We will fight with everyone. Lithuanians can't say that we are going to test young players and that change of generations is taking place. It is very important for us to qualify for World Championship so that the next year is not empty. In my opinion, the higher aims you have the higher results you may achieve. If you go [to Eurobasket] just to reach quarter-finals, watch out that you don't finish 12th. Besides, our players are sacrificing the summer to win medals, not just to play. It is very difficult to us and the task became three times harder but we will fight.
- Have you talked to Rimantas Kaukenas when returned from Italy? Maybe there's another shock coming?
- The situation regarding him is not clear. If Rimantans is not on the team then our problems with the guards become even harder. But the life goes on, the change of generations will start sooner or later, every team faces that and we shouldn't cry because of that. We must look for new players, leaders who could play in that position. And look for new playing schemes so that our playing quality does not drop.
- So which point guard has most chances to become a starter and how many point guards you plan to take to Eurobasket?
- I'll take all three candidates to China with the reserve squad - Mantas Kalnietis, Giedrius Gustas and Andrius Mazutis as I want to test them all. At first I planned that Mantas would join the main camp but then I decided that it would be a good practice for him to play with me coaching. Mantas is great guy - he changed his summer plans immediately.
I think that tactical decisions might help to cover the lack of a strong point guard. I have prepared many different schemes already. But first of all I am considering how many point guards to take to the final squad. There is an option to take only one while the other would a shooting guard - Rimantas Kaukenas, Tomas Delininkaitis or Mindaugas Lukauskis. They aren't point guards but have played in that position episodically. I have a plan to test Arturas Jomantas in that position too. Having a tall point guard is an advantage, Ettore Messina and Croatian teams like to play that way. In that case you can use height advantage. Arturas has played as a point guard in teams - youth NT and Siauliai, though these words of mine would be a surprise to him as I haven't talked to him about that yet. When he reads this interview he may start to get used to that. Nobody wants to play out of his position but we need to find a solution.
We will have to be very aggressive in defence. I have several schemes in my mind how to defend depending on the players that we have on the floor. What does the active defence mean? Firstly - rebound and a fast break. We are definitely going to use so-called transition play - an early two vs. two play. I think we will be playing through our big guys a lot. We have some strong defensive players, fast players and players able to play 2 vs. 2.
- Will the tactic of NT change much this year?
- Yes. We will change our offence completely. There will be no combinations from last year. There will be some serious changes in defence as well. This year's NT will be almost completely new so might leave some questions for our opponents.
- Probably you have the least headache regarding the offensive line?
- There is a headache but a different one - how to use everyone. Robertas Javtokas, Marijonas Petravicius, Paulius Jankunas and Lavrinovic brothers - all had a great season. The competition among big men is huge just as it is among small forwards. I will be hard to choose from them. Four power forwards and centers should be enough but we have more than that. What if we add Linas Kleiza to this group? It is impossible to use six big men in a game.
- Which position is planned for Linas Kleiza?
- He plays more time as a small forward but his favourite position is power forward. He always ask us to put him in that position.
There will be a competition among small forwards too - Jonas Maciulis, Arturas Jomantas, Simas Jasaitis and Kleiza himself. We will be forced to puch one of them to the shooting guard position. I can't see much difference between these two positions, moreover, our small forwards can defend against shooting guards.
- Which of the young NT players have chances to become leaders?
- I think that this year's Eurobasket will answer this question. I am a bit concerned that we don't have such a pure leader as Jasikevicius or Siskauskas. Though we will play many preparation games and I hope that our attacking force will reveal itself.
Klanietis and Gustas were invited to the main training camp which starts on Monday. Wtf is Gustas doing there? To me was simply the worst point guard in B squad which is visiting China these days. Even Mazutis looked more solid to me. If I had to pick two players from the B squad then they will surely be Kalnietis and Seibutis. Kalnietis seems to be not trying too hard in these preparation games. At least that's my impression. He let's his opponent penetrate too often. Such behaviour could probably be explained by the fact that he knew he will make it to the final squad even before the first training camp started. Still he's one of the better players on the team.
Meanwhile Seibutis is working really hard. I like his attitude. He wants to make to the final squad and does everything to get there. He definitely deserves the chance. Though Butautas wants two point guards as it seems. But just not Gustas! How may times a coach can make the same mistake? He should rather pick Mazutis. If he fails then I doubt anyone would blame him for not picking Gustas.
The third player that impressed from the B squad is Katelynas. But since we have Kleiza, Maciulis and Jasaitis in his position he has no chances to make it to the final squad in my opinion.
[quote name='Vilius' date='17 July 2009 - 06:13 PM' timestamp='1247847187' post='18123']
Klanietis and Gustas were invited to the main training camp which starts on Monday. Wtf is Gustas doing there? To me was simply the worst point guard in B squad which is visiting China these days. Even Mazutis looked more solid to me. If I had to pick two players from the B squad then they will surely be Kalnietis and Seibutis. Kalnietis seems to be not trying too hard in these preparation games. At least that's my impression. He let's his opponent penetrate too often. Such behaviour could probably be explained by the fact that he knew he will make it to the final squad even before the first training camp started. Still he's one of the better players on the team.
Meanwhile Seibutis is working really hard. I like his attitude. He wants to make to the final squad and does everything to get there. He definitely deserves the chance. Though Butautas wants two point guards as it seems. But just not Gustas! How may times a coach can make the same mistake? He should rather pick Mazutis. If he fails then I doubt anyone would blame him for not picking Gustas.
The third player that impressed from the B squad is Katelynas. But since we have Kleiza, Maciulis and Jasaitis in his position he has no chances to make it to the final squad in my opinion.
[/quote]
Klanietis sounds very funny in greek <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> (klania=fart)
Why the heck invite gustas and not janavicius???