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Žalgiris Kaunas already preparing for the new season. They already signed new coach Aco Petrovič. So, let's take a look to the options Žalgiris has for the next season and let's discuss possible signings.



PG: M. Kalnietis (most likely will stay), A. Čapin (He has contract, but I would let him go), Š. Vasiliauskas (He looked like on of the most promising Lithianian point guards, but after these months on the bench I have no idea what kind of a player he is at the moment. Should be loaned, IMO), Ž. Janavičius (I think he's ready physically and even technically, but he needs a coach who would trust him and support him, otherwise he should be loaned). And Žalgiris is looking for another PG, I guess for the starting lineup.



SG: M.Brown (He has a contract right? I would let him go with respect, his price is too big for his current effectiveness, but not a tragedy if they'll keep him). M. Pocius (A guy who I would hope will become a starting lineup SG and will improve a lot in upcoming season. He already knows European BB better and he should improve some skills as well. The guys has potential (not a big time though) and the last long, intensive season had to be really useful for him). A. Juškevičius (He's a good prospect, we'll see what they'll decide. I hope he won't warm the bench). A. Milaknis (Despite ability to nail some triples when he's opened I don't see much of the progression in this guys. He should be loaned or sold, IMO. Šiauliai could be a perfect place).



SF: D. Šalenga (He's staying, no doubt), M. Kuzminskas (He confirmed by Žalgiris, I would say he should be a first pick from the bench at the 3 spot), S. Vene (Please, let him go somewhere seriously). V. Lipkevičius (He could be picked if he will show something in the preparation camps).



PF: T. Watson (I would release him as soon as possible, but I guess he's staying), T. Klimavičius (His price was funny compered to that what he produced in the second half of the season), M. Delaš (I think he'll get more chances, he deserves that), P. Butkevičius (I would loan him). Čepukaitis (He might join here, but I guess he would be come one of these bench warmers for couple of years).



C: M. Begič (They'll give him one more chance. Not the worst option for substitution if he'll improve a little bit), P. Čiukinas (I doubt he'll stay). Žalgiris is looking for the main center (Archibald seems to be the priority).



No idea how they will solve all this, but I guess there will be 14-16 players on the team and again some young prospects will warm the bench big time (let it be, I already used to the fact that Rytas is produsing stuff for the NT), but I would let Čapin, Brown and Watson go and would look for some fresh players.

Great post man, I don't have so deep knowledge but I will give my shot. Just a question, what is the limit of foreigners in LKL? Is there a separation between EU and non-EU players? What will be the budget? Anyway, I will make a little "Basketball Manager" squad.



PG: I would definitely keep Kalnietis. He did well I think last season and even if an American PG would be brough (unlikely) I'd like him as backup, it's nice to see local players who stay in a club for long times and things like this create bond between fans and team. I have watched Janavicius live once, great talent, time to get some playing time. Maybe Zalgiris can try and bring back DJ Collins? A great signing would be Billy Keys. I see Capin is not liked by many Zalgiris fans, no wonder.



SG: I would let Brown go too. He is such a ballhogger. He puts self before team and is not physically up to defence anymore. If Hansen doesn't get some good offers from ACB I would like him to replace Brown. I hear ASVEL might release Lukauskis, would be an interesting case for Zalgiris as he is Lith. There are also two very interesting Greek cases that would suit Zalgiris perfectly, Kalabokis or Charalabides.



SF: I want Maciulis back! But unlikely with the season he had in Italy. But I got no complaints from Salenga, he stepped up big time this year. Still this position needs some addition.



PF: Definitely let Watson go. Tanoka #2. Would be great if Zalgiris could afford Andre Hutson. How about Marc Salyers?



C: Hopefully Begic gets serious next season, but I doubt it. Klimavicius staying right? Now, if Buratinov wants to sell season tickets for the new arena he should go for Papadopoulos. The guy is leaving PAOK and Greece and says he wants to play as a starter for a Euroleague club. Knowing the guy the idea of playing at the same position and club as his beloved Sabonis he would definitely accept. Money is not an issue for him. Screw Archibald. You know there is something wrong when the most historic Lithuanian team is looking for a Brit to start at C position. Another good case could be Levon Kendall.

[url="http://www.talkbasket.net/news/lkl-teams-will-be-able-to-register-6-foreigners-3073.html"]The foreign player limit in LKL is 6 non-Lithuanians[/url].



PG: Capin and Kalnietis will most likely stay. Fans dislike Capin but he has a couple of years in his contract I think so he's not leaving especially with Serbian coach coming to the club. Kalnietis had a worse season than the previous one. He isn't progressing anymore or he's doing that very slowly. The only improvement is is his three-point shot which is still far from being good. And with the line moving further from the basket he will have even more problems hitting shots from downtown. Besides, Kalnietis supported Maskoliūnas when Buratino wanted to fire him. This might mean nothing but on the other hand he wasn't on the side of Romanov and that could be enough for him to be forced to leave. Still, I don't think he'll leave.



Darius Washington is reportedly a candidate to strengthen the PG position. Collins is old lazy. He showed the best he could while playing for Žalgiris but that's past and he's nowhere close to being at this level right now in my opinion.



The team needs a solid starting PG. Someone will be signed anyway. So if Kalnietis and Capin both stay plus a new PG is signed then there's no room for Vasiliauskas and Janavičius. And I'm not worried about them to be honest. They should get playing time when they reach the level needed to play for an EL club. And in order to achieve that they should play in teams like Šiauliai and not Aisčiai where they play 40 minutes per game and score 20 points. You can put such players in weak teams if they are injured and need playing practice to get back in shape but not if you want them to make progress.



SG: Brown is under contract and he's the favourite player of Buratino. Pocius is under contract too. Milaknis should have been released before last season. He has nothing apart from his 3pt shot. No defence, no offence, no speed. Juškevičius might get his chance next season as there are no plans to sign another player for the SG position.



Lukauskis is getting old plus he is the most inconsistent player ever. Would he accept the role of a 3rd SG? I don't think so. In this case I'd be in support of getting the chance to some young player instead.



It would interesting to see Greek player in Žalgiris but again I don't think a new SG will be signed.



SF: Šalenga is getting old and Kuzminskas seems to be a decent sub. Vene hasn't convinced me he deserves to be on this team. Whatever his talent is, it is not being used with him sitting on the bench for most of the time. Sine he's likely to be the 7th foreigner on the team I'd say he should either be released or loaned out (again, to a better team than Aisčiai. I think Estoanian teams would like to take him).



PF: Klimavičius will probably stay. Watson should be released and replaced with someone better. Salyers or Hutson would be great signings. Get rid of Butkevičius! Delas can also be used in rotation as PF.



C: The search is on-going for the starting center. Archibald seems like a good choice. I'd prefer someone younger though. Other centers - Begic, Delas. It's difficult to imagine Begic playing more than 5 minutes without collapsing but maybe miracles happen. Delas is showing promise and might contribute even more next season. Are they seriously considering to keep Čukinas?



So what we have:



PG

Foreign PG

Kalnietis

Capin



SG

Brown

Pocius

Juškevičius



SF

Å alenga

Kuzminskas



PF

Watson or a new PF

Klimavičius (?)





C

New C

Begic

Delas



If the new center is foreigner, which is very likely to happen, then there will be 6 foreigners + Vene.



Also under contract:

Janavičius

Vasiliauskas

Vene

Butkevičius

Milaknis



Žalgiris will probably have 14-15 players in rotation next season. Probably 2-3 of the above listed players will take the last spots in the roster or some new young players will be brought.

That's right. Most likely Žalgiris will sign main center and point guard and all current foreigners will stay (Vene might stay and will remain the guy who is registered only for some games). They will send youngsters for a loan - that's a good chance for Šiauliai to get Janavičius foe example, he really can be effective at Eurocup, maybe even as the main PG.



Žalgiris surely won't get Mačiulis or Lukauskis. The first one is too expensive and obviously staying in Armani (besides they have Šalenga playing the best BB in his career, Pocius who can play some minutes here and big prospect - Kuzminskas, this position is fine) and the latter is no better than Pocius if you ask me (with potential to be way better in the future). So, they won't sign any of Black Urum's suggested players, not even Papadopoulus because we never heard this rumour this year (you never know though, they were interested in him last season).

I wonder what happened with Katelynas? Is he going to Šiauliai? His club announced he's going back to Lithuania, I suppose he had some sort of agreement, now Rytas is complete, Žalgiris is not even mentioning him.



On the positive note, I believe Žalgiris will be better team this year if they will sign solid first PG and a good center. More over, Kalnietis and Pocius should produce better things. And I also think that for some youngsters it will be better to play somewhere else this year and to get playing time.

Signings Darius Washington would be a mistake. He is not a pass-first PG and I would never trust him a starting place in an EL team. Billy Keys is better both in passing and scoring (he was top scorer of A1 once) and he is relatively cheap too... 150K euros.



I like Pocius, but he must become a more balanced player and not only home arena player.



Any chance that Khimki releases Jankunas?

[quote name='Black Urum' date='02 July 2010 - 06:30 PM' timestamp='1278084657' post='23462']

Any chance that Khimki releases Jankunas?

[/quote]



I don't think so. They will keep Watson and they have Klimavičius, Delaš. Jankūnas is simply too expensive.

[quote name='straight forward' date='03 July 2010 - 11:45 PM' timestamp='1278189959' post='23493']

I don't think so. They will keep Watson and they have Klimavičius, Delaš. Jankūnas is simply too expensive.

[/quote]

<img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pleasantry.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



Very nice front line coming together if you ask me.

[quote name='Black Urum' date='26 July 2010 - 12:53 AM' timestamp='1280094781' post='23943']

<img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pleasantry.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



Very nice front line coming together if you ask me.

[/quote]



Yes that is a surprise. After Klimavičius' brake out I didn't think they will bring such player as Jankūnas. I guess that made Rytas to sign another big guy.

It's exciting to see the clubs compete like this.



After the rumour about Washington to Zalgiris, Rytas wants now to replace Milosevic with someone better.

[quote name='Black Urum' date='31 July 2010 - 12:41 AM' timestamp='1280526093' post='24007']

It's exciting to see the clubs compete like this.



After the rumour about Washington to Zalgiris, Rytas wants now to replace Milosevic with someone better.

[/quote]

Exactly. Hopefully both teams will be much stronger than last season. I heard some rumours about Zalgiris being interested in Jasaitis. That seems unlikely though.

Žalgiris adds 34 yo old PG DeJuan Collins and still thinking about Jasikevičius. I hope Collins still can do some things, but I'm not too optimistic about it. Žalgiris will have a stronger roster next season, that's a fact, but basically I'm starting to understand that legendary club has no team* for maybe 8 years.



*Team: smart president, smart GM (maybe the most important), good coach (I don't know about current coach, but Sireika was the last coach who was solid, maybe Grigas was close to that).

[quote name='straight forward' timestamp='1282862527' post='24422']

Žalgiris adds 34 yo old PG DeJuan Collins and still thinking about Jasikevičius. I hope Collins still can do some things, but I'm not too optimistic about it. Žalgiris will have a stronger roster next season, that's a fact, but basically I'm starting to understand that legendary club has no team* for maybe 8 years.



*Team: smart president, smart GM (maybe the most important), good coach (I don't know about current coach, but Sireika was the last coach who was solid, maybe Grigas was close to that).

[/quote]



Now it seems next season will be nice for both teams. <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> I can't wait it <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> Rytas and Žalgiris this season are much stronger than last one. <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

A step back for Zalgiris in my opinion... bringing back 34 year old after 2-3 seasons? Of course Rytas' weakest position is PG... so this might be the motive behind the signing...



Still much better names on the market, out of my mind Aaron Miles would be twice as better...

[quote name='Black Urum' timestamp='1282911553' post='24432']

A step back for Zalgiris in my opinion... bringing back 34 year old after 2-3 seasons? Of course Rytas' weakest position is PG... so this might be the motive behind the signing...



Still much better names on the market, out of my mind Aaron Miles would be twice as better...

[/quote]



Weakest? <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> Rytas have Jerry Johnson, Igor Miloševič and Žydrūnas Kelys as PG. Rytas's weakest position is C.

[quote name='Sagenas' timestamp='1282918358' post='24442']

Weakest? <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> Rytas have Jerry Johnson, Igor Miloševič and Žydrūnas Kelys as PG. Rytas's weakest position is C.

[/quote]



I have to agree here. Johnson should be a solid player, Miloševič has room to improve, Kelys is talented as well (not that these two will surely give good numbers for Rytas in Euroleague though). While Žalgiris has Kalnietis and basically this is it - Čapin is useless for Euroleague and no-one knows what's left from Collins. Having in mind Rytas also has Gecevičius who can be effective at PG, only Šaras can make Žalgiris' backourt superior, IMO.

I'm impressed with Žalgiris. They have so good roster this season that maybe only some inside problems could prevent them to have very good season.



Pocius is becoming a great player, if he'll continue to play like that I will completely change the opinion about this player (last season with his inconsistency he seemed to have only mediocre potential at Euroleague's level).

Pocius had 0.5 point per minute in Euroleague last season. Which is amazing for a rookie. I was sure that he would be a great player.



Also the home/away performance gap will be covered with maturity and psychology in which time is only on his side...

I guess you right, his inconsistency also means there was a bright side and the dark side might vanish already this season.

Also let's not forget that Zalgiris got 5/12 of Lithuania 2010 bronze team + Salenga. That's some serious talent, chemistry, ability and potential right there.



I think Zalgiris will make it to Top8. Or to rephrase it, I hope they do.

[url="http://www.talkbasket.net/the-cheerleader/revenge-of-the-nerds-goes-lithuania-3753.html"]Revenge of the Nerds[/url]