Finally Rytas played a good game which was very exciting to watch. The emotional state of the team seems to be getting better and the win against Barca should add to that as well. Now the question is whether we'll see any changes in the roster if Rytas qualifies to Top 16. The main problem for Rytas is their lack of funds so it's probably pointless to talk about potential additions to the team but it's still interesting nonetheless. They need a good center desperately. Even though Nalga started playing above his abilities he's still very poor while Valanciunas is too weak in defence.
Since Saras is on the roster, Rytas could use an athletic center. Right now Bjelica, Nalga and sometimes Valanciunas get blocked. The first two are too slow to make the most of the passes that they get.
Newley is the biggest disappointment to me so far. He has decent speed and jump but he stays at the three point line almost all the time. And only once or twice during the game he makes a run inside. When you think that Jasaitis is still without a contract, wouldn't he be much better choice than Newley? There are some signs that Newley is getting better so hopefully he will be better next year.
If only El-Amin was taller and would play as SG instead of PG. He creates nothing in offence for Rytas as a point guard apart from his own points. In other words he is not play making at all. Yesterday wasn't the first game when Rytas played better with Saras as PG. The idea of using Saras as PG and El-Amin as SG is good and it's nice to see that Trifunovic using it.
The main weakness of Gecevicius - his slowness - doesn't let him become a great player. Now every team knows that he is a great shooter so he gets no space for an open shot and since he can't create shots for himself he's forced to take unprepared quick shots. Fortunately he hits some of them. Though if he was faster he would be on a different level.
Athletic center and Lithuanian - Petrukonis. But he isn't properly used even in Perlas. However, thinking how strong his body is and Å aras could make him play better, he could do something.
The problem is that Nalga is still from another world. Few buckets and few random rebounds don't change the simple thing - last year's Baynes would kill him any time. If Rytas gets to top 16 they should really get some proven thing besides ValanÄiÅ«nas.
Newley is a bust and I don't like to say that. He can explore only in some random games, but generally is lacking BB IQ, consistency and psychology. But, the good news is that Babrauskas is getting back and I noticed that Rytas playing the best BB when it's Å aras, GeceviÄius and Babrauskas filling 1-3 positions. No surprise, quality and proven Lithuanian BB. If Jomantas would somehow get his shape back, Newley couldn't get any minutes basically.
Now another problem is that Johnson and El- amin can not pass literally. It's good good that El- Amin can shoot in the crunch time, but he is useless as the point, bouncing the ball in this hands 24 seconds.
Vilius, GeceviÄius has issues with speed and athleticism, but let's not forget now he has El- Amin and Å aras besides him, while last year Kurtinaitis did a perfect job for creating the space for him. Another thing, as you said, he's having that "second" year after a great brake-out and every team that comes to Vilnius knows that they have to mark GeceviÄius. Having all that in mind, he still having almost the same stats as last year in Euroleague. I think he's even improving on playing one -on -one. Basically I think he has all he needs to become a great player and it's only a matter of time. On other words, I don't see many young players in Europe having that BB IQ. Only few players could be found.
[quote name='straight forward' timestamp='1292759950' post='27075']
The problem is that Nalga is still from another world. Few buckets and few random rebounds don't change the simple thing - last year's Baynes would kill him any time. If Rytas gets to top 16 they should really get some proven thing besides ValanÄiÅ«nas.
Newley is a bust and I don't like to say that. He can explore only in some random games, but generally is lacking BB IQ, consistency and psychology. But, the good news is that Babrauskas is getting back and I noticed that Rytas playing the best BB when it's Å aras, GeceviÄius and Babrauskas filling 1-3 positions. No surprise, quality and proven Lithuanian BB. If Jomantas would somehow get his shape back, Newley couldn't get any minutes basically.
Now another problem is that Johnson and El- amin can not pass literally. It's good good that El- Amin can shoot in the crunch time, but he is useless as the point, bouncing the ball in this hands 24 seconds.
Vilius, GeceviÄius has issues with speed and athleticism, but let's not forget now he has El- Amin and Å aras besides him, while last year Kurtinaitis did a perfect job for creating the space for him. Another thing, as you said, he's having that "second" year after a great brake-out and every team that comes to Vilnius knows that they have to mark GeceviÄius. Having all that in mind, he still having almost the same stats as last year in Euroleague. I think he's even improving on playing one -on -one. Basically I think he has all he needs to become a great player and it's only a matter of time. On other words, I don't see many young players in Europe having that BB IQ. Only few players could be found.
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Of course Rytas needs backup in front line. <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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What about SF - I can't see Babrauskas as a starting player...Jomantas should recover and be useful, but Newley really can make some noise around Europe if he would be used properly. <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> Also I want to see ButerleviÄius playing more and more - he has all what needs to become Euroleague's level player.
GeceviÄius is very good and he will develop. Don't try to forget that he is '88 born. Do you know many Lithuanian players at his age playing like that? <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> Usually Lithuania has strong youngsters, but 19-24 years old players do nothing in men basketball.
Rytas is close to bringing Jasaitis back
After qualifying to the Euroleague's Top 16 Lietuvos Rytas is looking to improve the roster by adding some new players. According to the latest report by balsas.lt, Lithuanian champions are holding talks with Simas Jasaitis and the player is very close to signing a deal with his former club.
28-year-old small forward played for Galatasaray in Turkey last season but was unable to find a contract he's looking for so far despite successful performances for the national team in FIBA World Championship. Reigning Euroleague champions Regal FC Barcelona were interested in Jasaitis recently but signed Australian international Joe Ingles instead.
In spite of the interest shown by several teams in Jasaitis's services the player chose to wait for a better offer to come by. It seems that Jasaitis is now prepared to accept any offer in order to start playing again. Jasaitis told to 15min.lt that hopes to sign a deal until the New Year and that Rytas would be his first choice. The native of Vilnius declared that if he can't reach an agreement with Rytas or any other high level team, he is prepared to play for any team.
Jasaitis left Rytas after 2005-2006 season to join Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was unable to stay at one team for more than one season and has also played for TAU Ceramica (now Caja Laboral), Joventut and Galatasaray.
The return of Jasaitis to Rytas could result the departure of Brad Newley since the Aussie hasn't lived up to the expectations so far. Rytas is also looking a center to strengthen their thin front line for the upcoming Top 16 battles.
From what I'm hearing Rytas GM says he is not interested in Jasaitis...
Yeah, he denied that they are going to sign him. Only Jasaitis' agent was offering his client for Rytas. And unfortunately seems like Rytas is not going to sign new center. Great, I'm going to curse watching Nalga again.
Too bad, I would've liked it to see Jasaitis play for Lietuvos Rytas. He's a good player and much better than Newley
Lietuvos Rytas and Igor Milosevic reach an agreement to terminate the player's contract
Rytas signed Jasaitis, Saras to Fenerbache Ulker.
Jasaitis had chosen the 33 number <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/3a.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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I was wondering will we see Kelys on the court this year finally? <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/huh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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[quote name='Al Bundy' timestamp='1293969515' post='27300']
I was wondering will we see Kelys on the court this year finally? <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/huh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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That's probably the only positive thing after Å aras left. If he's finally ready to play, he'll get his chances in LKL, VTB. Maybe he could even compete with Johnson, the latter is probably not Euroleague's quality player. I'm not impressed with his skills at all and he's struggling in defence.
[quote name='straight forward' timestamp='1293983868' post='27304']
That's probably the only positive thing after Å aras left. If he's finally ready to play, he'll get his chances in LKL, VTB. Maybe he could even compete with Johnson, the latter is probably not Euroleague's quality player. I'm not impressed with his skills at all and he's struggling in defence.
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This is what you get when you let your club be patronised by shadowy NBA agents/scouts...
They get a good player in Jasaitis. He will help them a lot. He's a fighter, a good shooter, a good basketballplayer who gives it all.
I don't understand Saras. I thought that he would finish his career with Lietuvos Rytas. Why did he come back when he would leave a couple of months later? I wish him the best at Fenerbache because he's still a good player and he's a living legend but he has treated Rytas bad.
Jasaitis is a good player when he's in shape but his arrival will not compensate the departure of Saras IMO. Simply because of Saras personality which in my opinion played a major role in Rytas qualification to Top 16. It is also interesting what is the shape of Jasaitis and how long will it take for him to become a key contributor for Rytas. Saras + Jasaitis would be great especially if they had added a center. Maybe there would have been some hope in Top 16 then.
It's no secret that Rytas needs a solid center but it seems that there will be no such addition. If they manage to sell Nalga to some team (is that possible?) then there would be a chance to see a new center in the team.
I waited from the start of the season for Rytas to switch to another gear and become a different team. The arrival of Saras had some potential especially since Rytas beat Cibona comfortably at home. But the following week they looked hopeless in Siena. Then there was a win against Barca which was my favourite game of Rytas this season. But even after that game Rytas don't seem to make that next step in terms of the quality of the game they play. Their defence is often horrible. And I think that a large part of that is a result of the fact that they have very slow players. Bjelica, Bajramovic and Gecevicius are slow, especially the first two. Then there are two quick players in El-Amin and Newley but only the former is a key contributor.
Rytas will probably finish Top 16 with a 0-6 or 1-5 run unless they make another miracle.
Trifunovic simply can't get as much Kurtinaitis could, not even close. And that's sad. They sacked strong Lithuanian coach to very limited (or horrible) coaches of balcans. Defence probably is not even the biggest problem. The problem is that El-Amin is pathetic point guard and all he has is decent scoring skills (and weak frontline). Basically Rytas offense stuck again when Å aras left. GeceviÄius could give way more things for Rytas if he would handle the ball more consistently, but now El- Amin bouncing the ball aimless and Johnson is horrible. I have no doubt even Kelys would over compete him if would be healthy. Hating that Trifunovic' "dedvocina" shit - "18yo can't be the main center of Euroleague's team. Team should be ruled by nominal point guard".
Even having these fatal mistakes of Rytas management, they still have a fair chances playing at home, specially if Jasaitis can consistently contribute.
Jasaitis will need some time to adjust to his new teammates. Nobody knows who much time that will take. He's a good player but he can't do it on his own. It is a sad case that Saras left. I thought he would have stayed.When Saras came back you saw that they had a leader, he was the general on the field. Now I will be very difficult for Rytas. In my opinion Rytas needs to get Rimas Kurtinaitis back. He is the best headcoach for Rytas and he will get good players for them.
unfortunately for rytas, they couldn't aford bot saras and jasaitis. Saras wants to be in a competitive team, so rytas made a fast move and grabbed the best they could at that moment. They wouldn't have advanced further, even with saras imo
suricata maybe you're right but you never know. Maybe they would have played good if Saras stayed. He was adjusted to the team so maybe good this may have happened. I don't say that would have qualified for next round. But they would have fought every game. Now Jasaitis has to be the leader but he ain't a leader like Saras is. Saras wanted to be on a contentor and that's why he chose Fenerbache. They are a dark horse but they will have to play very well to go to the next round
Jerry Johnson leaves Rytas to join Galatasaray
Lietuvos Rytas parted ways with one more point guard following the departure of Sarunas Jasikevicius. 28-year-old American point guard Jerry Johnson is also heading to Turkey to sign with Turkish league leaders Galatasaray, according to lrytas.lt. Johnson joined in Rytas in summer from Belgian champions Spirou Charleroi.
Johnson was supposed to be the team's starting point guard but he got injured before the start of Euroleague. The player missed the entire Euroleague regular season due to an injury. He only played in six LKL games averaging 6.3 points and 3.2 assists per game.
The departure of Jerry Johnson leaves Rytas with only two point guards - Khalid El-Amin and Zydrunas Kelys. The latter is yet to make his debut for Rytas as he is still recovering from an injury. 23-year-old Kelys has no serious experience other than LKL which makes the point guard position seriously weaker for Rytas.
Lithuanian champions are likely to add at least one more player for the Euroleague Top 16. Rytas will face Greek champions Panathinaikos, Spanish champions Caja Laboral and Unicaja in Group E.
Rytas's primary goal was to strengthen the centre position, however, the loss of two experienced point guards could raise new problems on the roster.
Jerry Johnson is the third player to leave Lietuvos Rytas this season. Previously Igor Milosevic and Sarunas Jasikevicius left the team to sign with teams. All these players are point guard and all of them chose to continue their career in Turkey.
http://www.talkbasket.net/news/jerry-joh...-3979.html
http://www.lrytas.lt/-129449265512942830...%C4%97.htm
Rytas is looking for another PG, but won't try to find the player by any price.