Lithuanian talents.

[Dreamcatcher]

Kulboka 1/8 3pt in another game. It's 3 of 27 in the last 4 games and 11/44 (25%) overall. Stankevicius who's also playing in Germany made the same number of 3pointers making 20 attempts less - 11/24 (45%). The bad and a strange thing is that he is a fat guard

Masiulis made only 4 of 18 (22%). In NKL he made 44 of 126 (35%) last season. In regular season it was 29/66 (44%). He shoots many threes for a PF. He did it well, then worse and now bad.

[LuDux]

Kulboka 1/8 3pt in another game. It's 3 of 27 in the last 4 games and 11/44 (25%) overall. Stankevicius who's also playing in Germany made the same number of 3pointers making 20 attempts less - 11/24 (45%). The bad and a strange thing is that he is a fat guard

Do you think Mazeika is fat too?

[Hepcat]

Kulboka 1/8 3pt in another game. It's 3 of 27 in the last 4 games and 11/44 (25%) overall.

Yes, I noted that as well. Kulboka saved his worst for last.

[Modis]

Yes, I noted that as well. Kulboka saved his worst for last.

At the moment it looks like second Kuzminskas is growing up with much better handling skills tho.

[Straight forward]

I don't think U20 has less talent. Or it's probably better to say it has less pure talent, but such players like Echodas, Birutis, Bieliauskas and Berucka have been doing well recently. They improved in the last years. Add here Varnas who used to be a real talent for many years and in terms of quality this team looks even better than U19. It has quite a weak bench though.

U20 doesn't have a single prospect who has the upside of Sedekerskis, Kulboka, but this team is simply more fundamentally sound, way more balanced. Ehodas is a beast these days, Birutis is not far from him and 2 great guards in Varnas and Bieliauskas. Those 4 can kill anyone at this level.

BTW, Varnas dropped 21 (against Turkey, a loss) and Velicka 29/7 (win against Russia). Maybe Velicka will explode with big numbers playing under his age.

[LuDux]

U20 stats in Turkey tournament

http://www2.tbf.org.tr/organizasyonlar/turgut-atakol-turnuvasi/takimlar?name=TakimProfili3&Sezon=160&Lig=8974&subname=TakimIstatistik3&KulupKodu=75093

[vaslover]

If i,m not mistaken Varnas looks like he gained muscle mass and weight. So, in this case we can,t say that he still has a degree of size. In the past he struggled to finish through traffic, but with his current body Martynas eventually be able to solve these lacks and gaps. I really like this player,with solid basketball IQ and quite nice versatility for combo guard. Finds open man nicely in drive and dish situations. I hope this summer or in the next year he,ll find a team in Liga Endesa. In Spain as nowhere else in europe knows how to work with backcourt players.

[Straight forward]

If i,m not mistaken Varnas looks like he gained muscle mass and weight. So, in this case we can,t say that he still has a degree of size. In the past he struggled to finish through traffic, but with his current body Martynas eventually be able to solve these lacks and gaps. I really like this player,with solid basketball IQ and quite nice versatility for combo guard. Finds open man nicely in drive and dish situations. I hope this summer or in the next year he,ll find a team in Liga Endesa. In Spain as nowhere else in europe knows how to work with backcourt players.

Varnas was 17/6/5 type of prospect at U16. He's a good prospect. Better be this summer. He needs to play. Last season he barely seen BB court (injury). If he will consistently improve every year, he seems to be a lock for Olympic team 2020. Basically he's the most talented SG prospect out the bunch of Grigonis, Valinskas, Sargiunas (unless we would use Kulboka as a giraffe SG, but when he'll gain mass he most likely won't be agile enough at D for 2).

[Straight forward]

Remember Varnas was considered real prospect and the next big thing when he was 16 or 17 or so. Too bad he has not been progressing, still poor defender and can't make shots from inside the arc. He might play in Zalgiris next season but will see little minutes most likely. He is Tomas Dimsa case, best case good Eurocup player, nothing more.

Varnas issues was soft body and inconsistency (specially finishing inside and bringing physical presence). Now he gained mass and I was impressed how he hold his grown in the post defence against Sedekerskis, way bigger player than him. This upcoming tournament will reveal what's the current situation with Varnas, but he surely not Dimsa. Dimsa never ever was so talented. He was always behind (way behind, IMO) Grigonis, just go a bit overhyped by media and Zalgiris fans. And Varnas is even more talented than Grigonis, has more skills, athleticism (leaping ability, explosive first step), flexibility.

[Modis]

Lithuania lost but Sedekerskis once again showcasing some leader qualitities and at least gave some hope towards the end . Few other players i liked in this tournament were Jokubaitis , Stankevicius, also Vasiliauskas shoots with some accuracy Biggest disappointment was Kulboka his main weapon 3pt in the last three games was 3 out of 23 and i think his shooting could stunt when he'll build some mass.

[madmax]

so I still stand by my point that the only outstanding talent in this generaion is Sedekerskis...and he truly is a special kind of player - we've never seen a lithuanian wing player with this kind of skillset and athleticism in a long time. Despite everyone egging him for his shooting woes, he still ended up the competition with the best shooting % of the tournament - so much for not being able to shoot I guess And he should have taken way more shots anyway, instead of letting that Kobe Bryant wannabe Kulboka shooting bricks game after game lol

[Straight forward]

Sedekerskis had a good tournament 15.4/6.7/4.9 (amazing 77.3% from 2 and poor 26.3% from 3) and his efficiency (4th in the tournament) was somewhat equal to a new sensation Barrett, but I think he needs to play more like Kleiza, specially now when he's so young. To be more egoist and to play much more decisive in terms of a pure scoring. Too many times I was thinking he's not aggressive or assertive enough in terms of creating his own shot. He is very hesitant taking jumpers. Just make things simple, few moves and go to the basket hard, take a jumper or pass. Too often he bounces the ball meaninglessly instead of utilizing his advantages. Anyway, a great prospect, NBA material and for our NT perspective, possible high profile 3 which we didn't have since Siskauskas basically (assuming Kleiza was 4).

Masiulis had a solid second phase of the tournament, second best player, but he's just not impressive by any means. He makes things done, but he missed so many FT and jumpers and still lacks a go to move. I don't know what kinda of a players he'll be in PRO. Not too high on him.

Kulboka showed some flashiness and some miserableness. Started the tournament well, but later collapsed. I still think he made a huge step forward and being a raw long term prospect, he showed that he's improving. However, his IQ is questionable and he has a bit of soft naive character at the moment. Everything in his hands, should work hard and migh be a special player one day.

16yo PGs did a great job. Specially Jokubaitis, but both are very promising. Great experience for both of them.

Biggest disappointment is Gaidliauskas. Some folks here talked about him as some real prospect who is playing in Spain and so on. Most of the time he was horrific, specially at the second phase of the tournament when team really needed him. Just a long tree. Really don't see anything special about him as of yet.

[vaslover]

Sedekerskis had a good tournament 15.4/6.7/4.9 (amazing 77.3% from 2 and poor 26.3% from 3) and his efficiency (4th in the tournament) was somewhat equal to a new sensation Barrett, but I think he needs to play more like Kleiza, specially now when he's so young. To be more egoist and to play much more decisive in terms of a pure scoring. Too many times I was thinking he's not aggressive or assertive enough in terms of creating his own shot. He is very hesitant taking jumpers. Just make things simple, few moves and go to the basket hard, take a jumper or pass. Too often he bounces the ball meaninglessly instead of utilizing his advantages. Anyway, a great prospect, NBA material and for our NT perspective, possible high profile 3 which we didn't have since Siskauskas basically (assuming Kleiza was 4).

Masiulis had a solid second phase of the tournament, second best player, but he's just not impressive by any means. He makes things done, but he missed so many FT and jumpers and still lacks a go to move. I don't know what kinda of a players he'll be in PRO. Not too high on him.

Kulboka showed some flashiness and some miserableness. Started the tournament well, but later collapsed. I still think he made a huge step forward and being a raw long term prospect, he showed that he's improving. However, his IQ is questionable and he has a bit of soft naive character at the moment. Everything in his hands, should work hard and migh be a special player one day.

16yo PGs did a great job. Specially Jokubaitis, but both are very promising. Great experience for both of them.

Biggest disappointment is Gaidliauskas. Some folks here talked about him as some real prospect who is playing in Spain and so on. Most of the time he was horrific, specially at the second phase of the tournament when team really needed him. Just a long tree. Really don't see anything special about him as of yet.

What i,ve seen during the whole tournament Grigas "pulled" Gadiliauskas. He couldn,t catch the rhythm of the tournament. Because even for an innocent mistake Grigas immediately showed bigman his place on the bench. Definitely that after that Gadiliauskas was psychologically depressed. I,ve almost no doubt that in 2-3 years Gadiliauskas will be solid bigman in Liga Endesa.

[Straight forward]

What i,ve seen during the whole tournament Grigas "pulled" Gadiliauskas. He couldn,t catch the rhythm of the tournament. Because even for an innocent mistake Grigas immediately showed bigman his place on the bench. Definitely that after that Gadiliauskas was psychologically depressed. I,ve almost no doubt that in 2-3 years Gadiliauskas will be solid bigman in Liga Endesa.

You got a point, but again he was sucking at defence and had an oily hands at the offence. He can blame only him self. Sure, he will be a solid big most likely, but he's not special.

U18 beats Croatia (83:64). It's only friendly games, but Velicka might be on the mission this summer. Again impressive line 17/7r/5a.

[Hepcat]

I must say. I mainly follow only NBA basketball and FIBA summer tournaments these days....

Were you then a big Sakalai supporter and found yourself without a team when Sakalai folded? If so, why didn't you adopt Kėdainiai Nevėžis or maybe an NKL team in your general area to support?



Backing one of those teams would be doing your part to help Lithuanian basketball as opposed to following the NBA which does nothing.