Domantas Sabonis thread

[Straight forward2]

Completely false.

He didn't give up on PnR. Raptors simply are a trash team all around, especially at PG spot. Kyle Lowry just isn't a starting calibre PG. He can't play PnR, he's very limited offensively, can't get past his man off the dribble consistently. He is just not a good fit for Jonas. Not to mention chuckers like Gay or DeRozan each jack up 20-25 shots a game and destroy the offensive rhythm and movement of the ball. In that type of basketball Jonas is limited to simply being a garbage-man - cleaning up the offensive glass and putting it back into the basket. Did I mention they have a horrendous coach and no competent big man coaches/veterans?

I always thought a crappy team like Raptors should be the best place for Jonas to develop (good minutes, time for development), but I think I might not have been completely right. His situation might not stink as in Donatas' case, but it is still not a great one.

I know all that, mister. That's why I say he gave up pick&rolls compared to how offten and how efficiently he was doing it in Europe. JV still play some pick&roll, but not so offten anymore because no-one dishes him. It still working because that way he opens all doors for all those chuckers, but he needs to get the ball to get it going, emotionally in the first place. Jonas most likely will show his best only after 4,5 years, not sooner. And that most probably will be other team, not Raptors. That's the place to avoid for any players that has ambitions. Kleiza was right saying that it was all depressing to play for the Raptors. He's the guy who won throphies in Junor level, was succesful in NCAA, than played for the strong playoffs team Nuggets, reached Euroleague's final and has 3 medal collections with the NT. So far Jonas still has a good room to improve in Raptors because some young players his age don't even see playing time. He must be patient, there will be weeks when Jonas will dominate. Let's not forget all NT players look down after the summer. However, I would like to see him playing in Strong Euroleague's club rahter than NBA because he is becoming one- dimensional.

 

[omgsomuchpotential2]

I was pretty bored, decided to learn some basic video editing. This is what I came up with:

 

[Straight forward2]

I was pretty bored, decided to learn some basic video editing. This is what I came up with

Thanks, nice work. I like his quick drive to the left, rebounding and the fact he does have a jumshot. But the thing which impresses me - his defence. Seems like he's more or less holding his ground at this level already.

It's pretty fun to think of absolutely ridiculous fronlines of NT in 5 years with JV, Dmo, Sabas and Gudaitis (who I have little doubt will turn into the beast as well, unless injuries).

 

[vaslover2]

Thanks, nice work. I like his quick drive to the left, rebounding and the fact he does have a jumshot. But the thing which impresses me - his defence. Seems like he's more or less holding his ground at this level already.

It's pretty fun to think of absolutely ridiculous fronlines of NT in 5 years with JV, Dmo, Sabas and Gudaitis (who I have little doubt will turn into the beast as well, unless injuries).

I,m very impressed with your Gudaitis in a game against our Lokommotiv Kuban.Seems like he has quite strong scoring instincts,always finds ways to put the ball in the basket. Solid rebounder and seems like competetive defensively. As i heard, he impressed even Pashutin.

 

[macleopard132]

I,m very impressed with your Gudaitis in a game against our Lokommotiv Kuban.Seems like he has quite strong scoring instincts,always finds ways to put the ball in the basket. Solid rebounder and seems like competetive defensively. As i heard, he impressed even Pashutin.

Yes, Gudaitis was quite impressive against Lokomotiv Kuban. I saw the game myself and you said everything so perfectly - "quite strong scoring instincts... finds ways to put the ball in the basket... olid rebounder and... competetive defensively." However, this is only one game that he played well. Let's not burden him with expectations and put pressure on him. Just let him continue to show us what he's got.

It's pretty fun to think of absolutely ridiculous fronlines of NT in 5 years with JV, Dmo, Sabas and Gudaitis (who I have little doubt will turn into the beast as well, unless injuries).

We do have a wealthy next generation of young talents. Besides our frontcourt consisting of Valanciunas, Motiejunas, Gudaitis and Sabonis, we also have a promising backcourt: Ulanovas (a universal and a surprisingly stable 21-year-old playing for Neptunas), Giedraitis (an exceptional athlete who's doing well in Siauliai), Grigonis (one of the leaders of his team in the 2nd Spanish division) and Dimsa (seems to be enjoying heavy minutes in the Euroleague). Once again, we'll have a big hole in the point guard spot (Cizauskas being the most promising PG of the 90s generation). Grigonis can also take the spot, but he's still very raw in terms of playmaking abilities. Lekavicius could be his possible backup (despite his size)?? The future is very uncertain, but we do have plenty of talents, so I'm not really worried.

 

[Straight forward2]

We do have a wealthy next generation of young talents. Besides our frontcourt consisting of Valanciunas, Motiejunas, Gudaitis and Sabonis, we also have a promising backcourt: Ulanovas (a universal and a surprisingly stable 21-year-old playing for Neptunas), Giedraitis (an exceptional athlete who's doing well in Siauliai), Grigonis (one of the leaders of his team in the 2nd Spanish division) and Dimsa (seems to be enjoying heavy minutes in the Euroleague). Once again, we'll have a big hole in the point guard spot (Cizauskas being the most promising PG of the 90s generation). Grigonis can also take the spot, but he's still very raw in terms of playmaking abilities. Lekavicius could be his possible backup (despite his size)?? The future is very uncertain, but we do have plenty of talents, so I'm not really worried.

I'm wondering what Rytas is doing with Šeškus. They could loan him as they are desperate about LKL these days. He's not facing any playing time. The guy looked like a baller in his age category as well.

 

[LithuanianCramWatch2]

I read through this thread with interest. Is it confirmed yet that Domantas Sabonis will be playing in the NCAA at Gonzaga?

 

[LithuanianCramWatch2]

Thanks, nice work. I like his quick drive to the left, rebounding and the fact he does have a jumshot. But the thing which impresses me - his defence. Seems like he's more or less holding his ground at this level already.

It's pretty fun to think of absolutely ridiculous fronlines of NT in 5 years with JV, Dmo, Sabas and Gudaitis (who I have little doubt will turn into the beast as well, unless injuries).

Thanks for the heads-up on Gudaitis. I will pay attention to him based on what you are saying. (I am still learning about the league and don't know many of the young up-and-comers.)

 

[Straight forward2]

I read through this thread with interest. Is it confirmed yet that Domantas Sabonis will be playing in the NCAA at Gonzaga?

Seems like he made his mind. It will be interesting how he will do in NCAA. It was a while Lithuania had a really good player there. Sabonis might be the one.

 

[auris12]

I'm wondering what Rytas is doing with Šeškus. They could loan him as they are desperate about LKL these days. He's not facing any playing time. The guy looked like a baller in his age category as well.

Injuries...
He was head and shoulders above anyone else since he was 16,and that was when i first saw him play...
I am sure we had this conversation about him a while back,and then he just became another casualty of growing too soon too young.

 

[Straight forward2]

Injuries...
He was head and shoulders above anyone else since he was 16,and that was when i first saw him play...
I am sure we had this conversation about him a while back,and then he just became another casualty of growing too soon too young.

He was dominating in NIJT being 18yo as well. Than he got that ligament tear. He's only 19yo and looks like he's healthy. I saw him coming into the game for 2-3 minutes. The problem is that Rytas can't experiment now. However he should play for U-19 this summer right? He already has a lot of "practicing" experience with PRO clubs (and played solid minutes for Sakalai last year), I would expect schooling his opponents in the U level. Unless he didn't recover from the injury.

 

[vaslover2]

I,m very impressed by Rokas Giedraitis performance tonight against TonyBet. This member of golden generation Lithuanian NT made huge step in his basketball development. Looks skinny,but it,s deceptively,because IMHO decent athlete and he plays through contact with opponent. Solid ball-handler,can beat his opponents off the dribble with a quite quick 1-st step. Good shooter. So, perhaps it,s time for him to go to LR or Zalgiris. I suppose, he,s ready to "fight" for his minutes on the court.

 

[auris12]

I,m very impressed by Rokas Giedraitis performance tonight against TonyBet. This member of golden generation Lithuanian NT made huge step in his basketball development. Looks skinny,but it,s deceptively,because IMHO decent athlete and he plays through contact with opponent. Solid ball-handler,can beat his opponents off the dribble with a quite quick 1-st step. Good shooter. So, perhaps it,s time for him to go to LR or Zalgiris. I suppose, he,s ready to "fight" for his minutes on the court.

It is not that simple.Lrytas has a terrible record in signing young players and then wasting their talents.Maybe not terrible though,but a terrific)
Zalgiris ,on the other hand,prefers players who come through the ranks of their own bb school via second team.If they are not sure,they loan them to other LKL teams...
And remember,Siauliai is his dads "home" team,where he spent over a decade (even more perhaps) as a player and a coach.So far Rokas made two wise choices over the last 2 years ,in a hindsight,of course - the choices which greatly benefited him as a player.From that "golden generation" ,in two years time,he came from the last place,a definite bench warmer to the force to be reckon of,alas in our local (LKL )league to be considered a third in the ranks.Valanciunas is Valanciunas,and i guess Ulanovas does his thing well too.
http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8...Tj0.season_2012.roundID_8745.teamID_2135.html
For those,who can not be bothered - he played 47 minutes in a whole tournament in 2012,where we won gold without Valanciunas (Fiba euro under 20),dead last alongside Pukis,where,in comparison , Ulanovas had 278 minutes.
So,last season he goes to Mazeikiai,where they become champs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2uS3ATbodY
http://www.nklyga.lt/lt/search/?q=giedraitis&submit=Paieška
I could not find his stats for that season,sorry.
This season he plays in Siauliai,the team who gets better in better throughout the season ,with some decent stats...
http://lkl.lt/lt/top/zaidejas/?player_id=4833605&season_id=87901
ppg- 11.8,rebounds-2.5 and 1.2 assist per game.
And his highlight reel -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl8xTMQsK90.

Anyway,the one thing i do not know is what he should do next.Maybe he can get third time lucky ,maybe?He will find a team where he can improve even more?Who knows.
I do not have a optimism of Mcleopard,where he seems to grant a status of future NT player left and right.But one thing is sure - Rokas will be so much closer to this (his dream, maybe ?) than his dad ever was.

No such worries for D.Sabonis ,his future is all ,but set up for him.At least for another 4 years.Probably he will be t our first NT team player who had little to nothing to do with our bb youth system per se.Yet i am immensely proud of him.He looks like a cool guy who wont mind to wear his number 11 shirt for years to come.

 

[vaslover2]

It is not that simple.Lrytas has a terrible record in signing young players and then wasting their talents.Maybe not terrible though,but a terrific)
Zalgiris ,on the other hand,prefers players who come through the ranks of their own bb school via second team.If they are not sure,they loan them to other LKL teams...
And remember,Siauliai is his dads "home" team,where he spent over a decade (even more perhaps) as a player and a coach.So far Rokas made two wise choices over the last 2 years ,in a hindsight,of course - the choices which greatly benefited him as a player.From that "golden generation" ,in two years time,he came from the last place,a definite bench warmer to the force to be reckon of,alas in our local (LKL )league to be considered a third in the ranks.Valanciunas is Valanciunas,and i guess Ulanovas does his thing well too.
http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8...Tj0.season_2012.roundID_8745.teamID_2135.html
For those,who can not be bothered - he played 47 minutes in a whole tournament in 2012,where we won gold without Valanciunas (Fiba euro under 20),dead last alongside Pukis,where,in comparison , Ulanovas had 278 minutes.
So,last season he goes to Mazeikiai,where they become champs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2uS3ATbodY
http://www.nklyga.lt/lt/search/?q=giedraitis&submit=Paieška
I could not find his stats for that season,sorry.
This season he plays in Siauliai,the team who gets better in better throughout the season ,with some decent stats...
http://lkl.lt/lt/top/zaidejas/?player_id=4833605&season_id=87901
ppg- 11.8,rebounds-2.5 and 1.2 assist per game.
And his highlight reel -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl8xTMQsK90.

Anyway,the one thing i do not know is what he should do next.Maybe he can get third time lucky ,maybe?He will find a team where he can improve even more?Who knows.
I do not have a optimism of Mcleopard,where he seems to grant a status of future NT player left and right.But one thing is sure - Rokas will be so much closer to this (his dream, maybe ?) than his dad ever was.

No such worries for D.Sabonis ,his future is all ,but set up for him.At least for another 4 years.Probably he will be t our first NT team player who had little to nothing to do with our bb youth system per se.Yet i am immensely proud of him.He looks like a cool guy who wont mind to wear his number 11 shirt for years to come.

Well extensive view about Rokas. Interesting. As for him, maybe Rokas should try to go to play elsewhere in europe, for example in Lega A (Italy)?
As for Domantas, he,s really looks confident on the court for 17 years old boy, but perhaps he shouldn,t go to Gonzaga, IMHO he could easily go to way by Splitter, when brazilian spent in TAU system 5-6 years( if i,m not mistaken, he arrived to Baskonia when he was only 15 years old.), and after that, when he was only 22 years old, he became a super star in euroleague...

 

[mazeikis2]

I like Domantino, but really donnot advice America college. if will drive to America ,he become tree resemble like Kupsas. America college make players trees. let Domantino stay to Espana, he is necessary in ther.

 

[LithuanianCramWatch2]

So evidently it is official that Domantas Sabonis will be heading to Gonzaga:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...ga-signs-arvydas-sabonis-son-damontas-sabonis

 

[Straight forward2]

21 points and 12 rebounds in the first game of U18 European Championship against France. Hopefully he proves him self as an elite athlete in this tournament. I mean, I want to see him averaging at least 18 points and +10 rebounds. In other tournaments he wasn't exactly scoring as a big time prospect (the one who would be a legit NBA prospect).

 

[Straight forward2]

Lithuania U18 and Sabonis didn't pass quarterfinals. I watched couple of games. In one of it Domantas was completely shut down offensively after few couple of misses. His offensive game is still raw and a little inconsistent. He's not finishing as confident as one would like. But I have to say guards are playing really poor basketball. Passing culture is very low and the bigs depends on guards. Having that in mind, I would say Sabonis living up the hype and shows huge promise - 15 pts, 13 rebounds, 3,4 assists, 1,3 bs. All that is team high. 42% from downtown is more than solid, even if he attempted only 7 times. It shows he does have a range. FT only 60%. Going to NCAA and working on individual skills make sense. He's a very good passer and good team player, he does have that naturally (no surprise knowing his name), so building more strenght and individual skills is what he needs now. I have to say I expected even bigger dominance in terms of scoring, but his passing pretty much impressed and he proved again he's a great rebounder. Here's video with some highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeyO_3swT-k

 

[macleopard132]

Lithuania U18 and Sabonis didn't pass quarterfinals. I watched couple of games. In one of it Domantas was completely shut down offensively after few couple of misses. His offensive game is still raw and a little inconsistent. He's not finishing as confident as one would like. But I have to say guards are playing really poor basketball. Passing culture is very low and the bigs depends on guards. Having that in mind, I would say Sabonis living up the hype and shows huge promise - 15 pts, 13 rebounds, 3,4 assists, 1,3 bs. All that is team high. 42% from downtown is more than solid, even if he attempted only 7 times. It shows he does have a range. FT only 60%. Going to NCAA and working on individual skills make sense. He's a very good passer and good team player, he does have that naturally (no surprise knowing his name), so building more strenght and individual skills is what he needs now. I have to say I expected even bigger dominance in terms of scoring, but his passing pretty much impressed and he proved again he's a great rebounder. Here's video with some highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeyO_3swT-k

Sabonis was the lone soldier in the whole tournament. If it wasn't for him, this team would have never made it past the second round. I had the "honor" to watch a couple of their games, and I must say that I'm truly disappointed with how this team played. Offense was lethargic all tournament long, passing was terrible, many silly mistakes both offensively and defensively. I didn't see any authority figure on or off-court, someone who would scream at them to pick their game up, someone who would unite them. Stombergas wasn't an authority figure, neither was Sabonis, Varnas, Paulikenas, or any other point guard, who IS supposed to be "the coach on the court". No, every man for himself - that's the atmosphere I felt watching this team. I can't wait for the conclusion of the tournament so that Sabonis can leave this sickly team behind and focus on his future.

 

[Straight forward2]

No, every man for himself - that's the atmosphere I felt watching this team. I can't wait for the conclusion of the tournament so that Sabonis can leave this sickly team behind and focus on his future.

Why? It's still useful for him. Specially mentally as he there can and feels like a leader. He can feel the game again and not to go against stronger competition day by day which might be pretty frustrating at times. Besides, he's constantly doubled so it's not easy for him. Lithuania will have monstrous frontlines with JV, DMo, Sabonis and Gudaitis in the future.