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Jonas Valančiūnas thread
#61
I bet 50/50 he plays in NBA this year!

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/...n#comments

Quote:Valanciunas to play in NBA this season?

December, 3, 2011

DEC 3

4:33

PM ET

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By Chad Ford

ESPN.com

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The Toronto Raptors drafted Jonas Valanciunas with the No. 5 pick in the 2011 NBA draft knowing it would be at least a year before he came to the NBA.

But a source close to the team told ESPN.com on Saturday that there's a small chance they might be able to get him this season.

The source said that the team reached out to Valanciunas' agent over the weekend to gauge the center's interest in joining the Raptors in 2011-12. If Valanciunas has interest, the Toronto would have to work out a buyout with his team in Lithuania, Lietuvos Rytas.

Valanciunas does not currently have an NBA buyout for this season in his overseas deal, but things have changed for Lietuvos Rytas over the past five months. They failed to qualify for the Euroleague this season and the team will likely lose critical sponsorship money. Given the current situation, they need money more than Valanciunas.

Does the Lithuanian center want to come to the NBA this season? Valanciunas told NBA teams prior to the draft that he felt he needed at least one more year in Europe to get stronger and play more minutes at the highest level before coming abroad.

But the Raptors believe Valanciunas may be better served by joining the NBA now. The 19-year-old big man spent the entire summer and fall playing in Lithuania, giving him valuable experience. He showed what he was capable of in U-19 play, averaging a tournament-high 23 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game to lead Lithuania to the gold medal. Against Team USA and Florida's Patric Young, a projected first-rounder in 2012, Valanciunas had 30 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

With the shortened NBA season, expectations also won't be as high. If Valanciunas came to the Raptors, he can practice with the team, get minutes off the bench and use the season to acclimatize to the NBA. By the start of training camp next fall, the Raptors believe he would be ahead of where he would be if he stayed in Europe.

If the Raptors are able to get Valanciunas now, it will be a major coup. Many NBA scouts believe he was the best long-term big man prospect in the 2011 draft and Toronto has a major need at the 5.

The news would also come as a blow to the Cavs. Cleveland had been high on Valanciunas and was expected to select him with the No. 4 pick. However, concerns about his buyout situation in Lithuania arose the week before the draft and the Cavs opted to play it safe and instead take Texas' Tristan Thompson after taking Duke's Kyrie Irving with the first pick. Had they known Valanciunas could come over this season, they likely would've taken him at No. 4.
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#62
If that would be the start of the season I would say it's bullshit and tragedy. Now seeing he's just wasting his time in Rytas (compared with progression in NT) I don't really care. As I said it would be better for him to play with such player as Calderon. If he would go to NBA I would be only concerned that they would pump him up too much in the gym - traditional mistake of NBA teams (but they are getting aware of international BB and things). Anyway, I really doubt he's going anywhere.
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#63
http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_YuEuHjhLJ...de_on.html

http://www.hoopsworld.com/jonas-valanciu...-nba-r-o-y
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#64
He definitely didn't deserve FIBA young player and Best Lithuanian player awards.
Respect and thanks for everything:

Alvertis, Bodiroga, Jasikevicius, Radja, Wilkins, Vrankovic, Fotsis, Rebraca, Kattash, Gentile, Koch, Middleton, Kutluay, Rogers, Papadopoulos, Becirovic, Tomasevic, Siskauskas, Pekovic, Lakovic, Vujanic, Chatzivrettas, Maljkovic, Spanoulis and many more to follow in the near future.
[Image: vspa.jpg]

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#65
(Feb 19, 2012, 4:47 pm)Black Urum Wrote: He definitely didn't deserve FIBA young player and Best Lithuanian player awards.

Who do you think deserved these awards?
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#66
Mirotic and Kaukenas.
Respect and thanks for everything:

Alvertis, Bodiroga, Jasikevicius, Radja, Wilkins, Vrankovic, Fotsis, Rebraca, Kattash, Gentile, Koch, Middleton, Kutluay, Rogers, Papadopoulos, Becirovic, Tomasevic, Siskauskas, Pekovic, Lakovic, Vujanic, Chatzivrettas, Maljkovic, Spanoulis and many more to follow in the near future.
[Image: vspa.jpg]

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#67
(Feb 19, 2012, 9:56 pm)Black Urum Wrote: Mirotic and Kaukenas.

Debatable IMO. Specially for Kaukė—nas. The guy produced some nice numbers, but nothing clutch! Ironically Valančiūnas was more of a clutch player in Eurobasket, playing big time basketball against Serbia and Germany + his dominance in WC19 that overall could be even at the higher level than U20 Euro. As much as I like Kaukė—nas, it's more like some numbers stats sheets, I'm missing that impact when Šaras, Šiška or Kleiza were nominated. In terms of this - JV had more impressive year than Kaukė—nas.
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#68
This has been a great year for the development of Jonukas. He helped Rytas make it to the Eurocup Semifinals, the LKL Finals (ongoing) and the VTB Semifinals (ongoing). Considering what a huge disappointment it was when Rytas was knocked out of the Euroleague qualification by Galatasary, it seems to have worked out quite well for Valanciunas as he averaged about 11 points and 8 rebounds in both the VTB and Eurocup.
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#69
Heck of a complement from Dwayne Casey.

Quote:"€œI saw him last summer with the Lithuanian national team and the Euro games in the championships — big-time energy, runs the floor, rebounds. At the worst, we'€™re getting a Joakim Noah from Chicago — a guy who mans the middle, challenged a little bit in terms of scoring in the paint but as far as of pick-and-rolling to the basket, he has great hands to roll and finish. He hasn'€™t developed that consistent outside jumpshot at the elbows yet, but something that you can'€™t teach — and I do know that it'€™s an NBA skill — is each every time he walks on the floor, he'€™s gonna hit people, he'€™s gonna play with energy, he'€™s gonna play hard, he'€™s gonna bring an energy to the court that is an NBA skill. And being seven-foot, that'€™s a plus when you can have your big man with that type of energy and that type of aggression.€"
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#70
I can't wait to see how good he can be in the NT this summer. I think there will be the best picture to see how much he improved over one year (no question he did) because Rytas guards are terrible, literally can't pass the damn ball.

As for his NBA season the expectations are a little bit sick (like JV will be the main facor for Raptors going playoffs next year). Even Raptors staff hyping him a lot and that means pressure. To say that Valančiūnas' floor is Noah is some interesting statement... Biggrin I see personal fouls and the lack of mass as the main issues in the first NBA season though I have different feeling on what numbers can he bring there first year. Probably It will be clearer when will see how he'll look against world class bigs in Olympics (hopefully).
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#71
(May 5, 2012, 11:59 pm)straight forward Wrote: I can't wait to see how good he can be in the NT this summer. I think there will be the best picture to see how much he improved over one year (no question he did) because Rytas guards are terrible, literally can't pass the damn ball.

As for his NBA season the expectations are a little bit sick (like JV will be the main facor for Raptors going playoffs next year). Even Raptors staff hyping him a lot and that means pressure. To say that Valančiūnas' floor is Noah is some interesting statement... Biggrin I see personal fouls and the lack of mass as the main issues in the first NBA season though I have different feeling on what numbers can he bring there first year. Probably It will be clearer when will see how he'll look against world class bigs in Olympics (hopefully).

I hope that ain't irony because Jonas would be satisfied to be as good of a player as Noah.
[Image: panathinaikos-basket-opadoi.jpg]
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#72
(May 6, 2012, 12:55 am)TeoTheGreek13 Wrote: I hope that ain't irony because Jonas would be satisfied to be as good of a player as Noah.

How do you know? Smile Probably I guess. His idol is Howard thoughSmile As a homer of JV I would be a little bit dissapointed if he'll be Noah's level player at his very best seasons of career. Still saying that Noah is his floor might sound as overrating a player while he haven't eben played a game in NBA yet.
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#73
(May 6, 2012, 1:31 pm)straight forward Wrote: How do you know? Smile Probably I guess. His idol is Howard thoughSmile As a homer of JV I would be a little bit dissapointed if he'll be Noah's level player at his very best seasons of career. Still saying that Noah is his floor might sound as overrating a player while he haven't eben played a game in NBA yet.

To me, and for many people, Noah is a top-5 center in the NBA.

That's a pretty good floor for JV.

I'm not saying he can't be better(even Noah hasn't reach his peak yet) but if he's at Noah's level he'll have a great career.
[Image: panathinaikos-basket-opadoi.jpg]
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#74
Season with Toronto Raptors so far:

Points per game: 12.2

Rebounds per game: 8.8
Minutes per game: 26.8
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#75
JV just had a career-high 32 points in the season opener against the Pistons. One of the highlights of the day was his dunk over Boban Marjanovic. It was nice to see him taking a mid-range shot without hesitation. Obviously Jonas won't have games like this every night but he could definitely score more if he got the ball from his teammates more often.

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#76
Im always want more from JV (like performance like this) but in the other hand he has stable stats in one of the leading teams in Easter Conf (can believe Raptors become a good team Biggrin) maybe we are to harsh to JV. Keep it up Jonas, dont let us down.
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