Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) 2023-24

[Straight forward2]

I will say this. If D. Giedraitis had been checking Normantas tonight, he would see 12-14pts at best. And the fatass doesn't understand how legit and priceless weapon is that. You thrown him at any guard and he will neutralize that piece. Only complete idiot can voluntary cut that. And that's Maksvytis. Specially when he has defenseless team.

 

[Dreamcatcher2]

Healthy Iggy in and Zalgiris still winning the series, IMO.

What Iggy has to do with this Zalgiris? He wasn't a part of this season's Zalgiris. You can name like that any previous player. A crucial thing is Evans' injury.

 

[Straight forward2]

What Iggy has to do with this Zalgiris? He wasn't a part of this season's Zalgiris. You can name like that any previous player. A crucial thing is Evans' injury.

You said without a good offensive American Zalgiris is screwed. I said if Iggy never left and Zalgiris still winning. Iggy was with Zalgiris at the start of the season and they let him go.

 

[Shawshank2]

Thats is 2020s basketball your main guards must take over in 4querters In all levels.

Without such guards goodluck winning any endings with post ups type offence.


Thats why i was saying putting Jokubaitis in to this limit zalgiris offensive team isnt fixingno problems.Thats not what Rokas does the best. How he didnt fix NT ending problems,he wouldnt fix zalgiris ending minutes.


Zalgiris guards cant score versus Rytas joke defence in game endings.... vs euroleague defences they would be struggling scoring 70pts playing without skilled scoring american.

Who was lkl finals MVP last year and why zalgiris barely won finals ? Because other scoring american Taylor was really good in finals.


Is not rockets science answers is very clearly can be seen what the is diffrence between lossing by 2 pts and winning by 2pts.

Which teaam have better skilled perimeter player that can take the ball and play 1 vs 1 in endings ?

 

[Shawshank2]

Trinchieri must put finger on zalgiris guards and demand way more if they want to make comeback.

Birutis 24pts+Ulanovas18pts they cant give more than that.


Guards must give way more no if or buts thats the only way to comeback for zalgiris.

Even without Evans zalgiris still have more tallent,but if zalgiris guards in last 5 minutes again will look like impotents offensively they will lose the finals


Because those rytas 2 skillled americans will score atleast something in last 5minutes playing 1 vs 1

 

[Straight forward2]

You're forgetting one important moment. Zalgiris had long and tough season in EL. And you're making too direct analogy with NT and Zalgiris. Jokubaitis would be the best waking piece in this final counting both teams. In this game Rytas was led by Normantas Stop this silly praise of second rank Americans. Taylor was released by Zalgiris cause he was trash in EL and didn't play too much, thus was fresh for LKL. Lukas BTW was scoring at will and only gassed himself later. He is short stretches player, nit 35mpg player.

You're praising second rate Americans too much. With Jokubaitis it wouldnt even be series here. 3:0 or 3:1 Zalgiris.

 

[Straight forward2]

Ince Delininkaitis was Zalgiris finals MVP. By no means he was a stud in EL.

 

[Dreamcatcher2]

In this game Rytas was led by Normantas

So what? You speak like he's a trash player. Giedraitis who you praise all the time would never score 26 pts in a big game. For you it's not a problem that he missed almost everything in the second half and in the same second half Foster provided scoring 10 pts and slashing through defense with few assists.

 

[Shawshank2]

Main zalgiris shooting guard Giedraitis played 36minutes scored 6pts on 22% 2/9 with 4 assists

Main Rytas shooting guard Foster played 35minutes scored 12pts on 38% shooting 5/13 with 4 assisits


Who won the battle between main shooting guards LTU NT candidate or second rate american?

If we giving Giedraitis credit for good defence on main rytas SG,who gets credit for holding main zalgiris shooting guard to 6pts in 36minutes ?


Normantas is so laughable level guard that him comming of the bench in 19minutes scored just 26pts,but guard who ale played very well scored even 6pts in 36minutes ? in critical season game when everybody played very hard.

 

[Straight forward2]

Normantas played well, I emphasize that, and ask to stop praising those Eurocup level Americans who were not the key players in the second game.

Marcus Foster is the leader of Rytas. He was dropping 20ppg in CL and 16ppg in LKL. Usually in such games Foster is a game changer, he's 100% into it and wants to show up badly. Ant yet Giedraitis shut him down. It's not about those 12pts, it's how he did it, taking tons of difficult shots and he mainly scored those points not on Giedraitis, specially in the first game. In last 3 games Dovis did sensational job against Foster leaving him with 10, 12, 12 points games and trashy efficiency. Bad shots is all what Dovis basically gave him. Yes, he made some difficult floaters and helped a bit down the stretch, but overall those 5 and 6 eff game is meh for Foster. Very bad. If there wouldn't be Giedraitis, Zalgiris would be in so much trouble with Foster and now they have Rytas best player off.

You'e praising Foster like he won a matchup for you, but this is far from true. Foster with 5.5eff in the final and 14eff in the final. Besides, defensive players never pick high efficiency. So Dovis impact is fantastic so far.

Personally the way Normantas looks on the best days, I would prefer him rather than Dimsa. Way higher motor and he's tougher also. He is just like Dimsa inconsistent at both ends, but he has bigger heart and motor in my book. And that toughness helps him to get some lay ups and so on. If Normantas would have a consistency, he could easily be usable Zalgiris player.

 

[Straight forward2]

I just want to emphasize how false conclusions SS did after this game. Not only D. Giedraitis has been huge with 14eff and amazing defense, but also basically washed out Lekavicius, who barely can play in EL and already doesn't have enough burst to be truly effective as previously, basically almost carried Zalgris in both games. In first he dropped 21pts with great%, in second 17pts with good % and only got gassed in the overtime. He's not 30mmpg player. So this washed out Lekavicius almost killed Rytas. Imagine what kind of fiesta current Jokubaitis would have againt this Rytas defense? It would be total domination. Like no-one could stand in front of him. Maybe they would put Normantas in front of him, but Jokubaitis would put him into foul trouble quickly.

Praising those second rate Americans is funny cause they are not even EL players. And Lekavicius ATM is not pure EL player wither and yet he almost killed Rytas. Any top 4 NT guard would make Zalgiris unbeatable in this series IMO. Jokubaitis, Grigonis, Brazdeikis and even Sirvydis would be enough. If Zalgiris now would have a ballhanlder of Jokubaitis level, it would not be a series, nothing even close

 

[Shawshank2]

SG its called shooting guard position that guard must shoot and score points.Not dissapear in offence and play only on side of the floor.

When our NT head coach is saying "its not just about defence"... maybe he means something ? He knows those players very well after 1,5 years coaching them.


With Birutis+Ulanovas zalgiris slightly but is winning frontcourt battle versus Rytas froncourt


Rytas 2 second rate americans + Normantas is clearly outplaying zalgiris guards without Evans. Enough to look at last 5 minutes


Rytas guards created something in last 5 minutes endings,zalgiris guards didnt create and left Sf Ulanovas to do something 1 vs 1



Thats why its 2-0. One teams guards step up in game endings other teams guards dissapeared.

 

[Dreamcatcher2]

I just want to emphasize how false conclusions SS did after this game. Not only D. Giedraitis has been huge with 14eff and amazing defense, but also basically washed out Lekavicius, who barely can play in EL and already doesn't have enough burst to be truly effective as previously, basically almost carried Zalgris in both games. In first he dropped 21pts with great%, in second 17pts with good % and only got gassed in the overtime. He's not 30mmpg player. So this washed out Lekavicius almost killed Rytas. Imagine what kind of fiesta current Jokubaitis would have againt this Rytas defense? It would be total domination. Like no-one could stand in front of him. Maybe they would put Normantas in front of him, but Jokubaitis would put him into foul trouble quickly.

Praising those second rate Americans is funny cause they are not even EL players. And Lekavicius ATM is not pure EL player wither and yet he almost killed Rytas. Any top 4 NT guard would make Zalgiris unbeatable in this series IMO. Jokubaitis, Grigonis, Brazdeikis and even Sirvydis would be enough. If Zalgiris now would have a ballhanlder of Jokubaitis level, it would not be a series, nothing even close

First of all, where did you take Giedraitis' 14 eff? It's 6 pts and 9 eff in 36 min.

Secondly, you are clueless regarding Lekavicius. I already pointed out that he always provides against Rytas in these games. Offensively he's doing very well just as i expected. He simply provides against us more than usually against others. So, you make a wrong conclusion that if Lekavicius almost killed Rytas then some Jokubaitis would make Rytas a piece of shit whore.

Finally, when i personally spoke about necessity to have a strong American guard it was about achieving smth serious in EL. These two LKL final games just support my opinion. That's it. Of course, maybe any of your mentioned players would solve those games, but i prefer few best Lith guards play in a better EL team than Zalgiris (like Grigonis). If such matured player is in Zalgiris then it means he possibly not good enough for a better EL teams (may be Jokubaitis next season). And again, for LKL it may be enough, but not for aiming highier in EL. F.e. look at Baskonia, who was the last team to make play offs. They had a top EL scorer Howard. Could they do the same with Jokubaitis' level Spanish player instead of Howard?

 

[Straight forward2]

SG its called shooting guard position that guard must shoot and score points.Not dissapear in offence and play only on side of the floor.

When our NT head coach is saying "its not just about defence"... maybe he means something ? He knows those players very well after 1,5 years coaching them.


With Birutis+Ulanovas zalgiris slightly but is winning frontcourt battle versus Rytas froncourt


Rytas 2 second rate americans + Normantas is clearly outplaying zalgiris guards without Evans. Enough to look at last 5 minutes


Rytas guards created something in last 5 minutes endings,zalgiris guards didnt create and left Sf Ulanovas to do something 1 vs 1



Thats why its 2-0. One teams guards step up in game endings other teams guards dissapeared.

Giedraitis scored 22pts in 2 games, Dimsa 10pts. Giedraitis 28eff, Dimsa 3eff. Go tell me about what your nutcase learned in freakn' "1,5" years (like I care what was happening 1.5 years ago when Giedraitis and Sirvydis were wearing diapers, it's a little bit about now you know).

Margiris efficiency in 2 games is also 28, but Giedraitis played way better D. So he's the best SG in the finals so far. Like Giedraitis now is the only guard in the final having elite skill which translates to the highest level (EL). If you don't get it I can't help you. And we'll see if Maksvytis won't be begging for that one-dimensional defensive guard against PR. We'll see. And no he doesn't mean anything, just means to justify another idiotic and ridiculous decisions. He also was one of those who let Brazdeikis go, we know now how that impacted the season.

Rytas looked freshier and hungrier last year also, and Zalgiris was in much better position, but it was still drama in the final. Rytas is much more motivated, fresh and so on. It always happen like that with none EL teams. They barely had games outside LKL this season and lost everything.

And where's your beloved American Sumner? Which you preferred instead of Sirvydis and wanted to have him long term? Why he's not delivering? Because he's complete trash and Zalgiris made yet another horrible pick together with Maksvytis. They waited so long just to get a scrub. All I see is Maksvytis nonsenses both Zalgiris and NT. Never could imagine Maksvytis story with Zalgiris and NT would be so bad. Never. It's beyond pathetic.

 

[Straight forward2]

First of all, where did you take Giedraitis' 14 eff? It's 6 pts and 9 eff in 36 min.

Secondly, you are clueless regarding Lekavicius. I already pointed out that he always provides against Rytas in these games. Offensively he's doing very well just as i expected. He simply provides against us more than usually against others. So, you make a wrong conclusion that if Lekavicius almost killed Rytas then some Jokubaitis would make Rytas a piece of shit whore.

Finally, when i personally spoke about necessity to have a strong American guard it was about achieving smth serious in EL. These two LKL final games just support my opinion. That's it. Of course, maybe any of your mentioned players would solve those games, but i prefer few best Lith guards play in a better EL team than Zalgiris (like Grigonis). If such matured player is in Zalgiris then it means he possibly not good enough for a better EL teams (may be Jokubaitis next season). And again, for LKL it may be enough, but not for aiming highier in EL. F.e. look at Baskonia, who was the last team to make play offs. They had a top EL scorer Howard. Could they do the same with Jokubaitis' level Spanish player instead of Howard?

As usual you're too slow to react. I meant 2 games. Is it that tough to realize? I said "in the final". Use your head bro, you're better than that.

Second, Lekavicius is delivering, but watch his EL season. He can't anymore. His % from 2 is trash, his efficiency trash. Rytas is getting gunned by Eurocup level guard. That's my point. And yes, Jokubaitis would be tearing it up in this final cause Rytas perimeter D is trash.

As for the last paragraph, it's solid. Mainly I agree. But it shouldn't be a random second rank American. Such stories as Evans is very rare and with him Zalgiris still didn't reach PO (probably would had if Trinch was there from the start of the season). But it's not easy to find good American at all. And I think people a bit underrating Jokubaitis presence down the stretch. People should remember how many games he closed for Barca. Playing in Zalgiris he would have different status, role, confidence, freedom. For such club as Zalgiris, Jokubaitis would be good enough closer, specially if next him there's true staring level SG. Zalgiris goal is to stay relevant in PO hunt all season long and to make it once in 4 years. For that task Rokas is surely good enough.

 

[Dreamcatcher2]

Margiris efficiency in 2 games is also 28, but Giedraitis played way better D. So he's the best SG in the finals so far. All I see is Maksvytis nonsenses both Zalgiris and NT. Never could imagine Maksvytis story with Zalgiris and NT would be so bad. Never. It's beyond pathetic.

It would be nice to mention that Normantas has averaged 21 min and Giedraitis about 36 min. Trinchieri overplays him right now (of course Evans' injury influenced it). Is he the best player in both teams to play the most minutes? On the other hand, Maksvytis underrate him not taking him to NT camp or making him only defensive role player in Zalgiris. I think an average coach would treat him smth like between Trinchieri and Maksvytis. Look at his minutes and pts/eff in semifinals. It's close to what i mean.

You don't know if Makvytis could have influenced that situation and kept Brazdeikis in Kaunas. If it was Ignas' desire then it anyway was complicated. If a player doesn't want to stay then a solid buy-out makes more sense. A true failure was not being able to find a proper substitution.

 

[Shawshank2]

Im comparing rytas guards vs zalgiris guards and explaining why seriuos is 2-0


Dinosour expert comparing zalgiris guards 1 which plays 36minutes and other 10 minutes combined stats of such diffrent playing time my god what level of arguments

So next time compare Smit 18min combined eff stats vs Manek combined stats in 0 played minutes. Your point will look even better


Maksvytis won lkl finals 2023 vs this Rytas team with Foster and without Evans too.

Trinchieri better start coaching his ass and zalgiris guards start delivering something in last 5 minutes or it will become total fiasco

 

[Straight forward2]

Im comparing rytas guards vs zalgiris guards and explaining why seriuos is 2-0


Dinosour expert comparing zalgiris guards 1 which plays 36minutes and other 8minutes combined stats of such diffrent playing time my god what level of arguments

So next time compare Smit 25min combined eff stats vs Manek combined stats in 0 played minutes. Your point will look even better


Maksvytis won lkl finals 2023 vs this Rytas team with Foster and without Evans too.

Trinchieri better start coaching his ass and zalgiris guards start delivering something in last 5 minutes or it will become total fiasco

Any ideas WHY Dimsa is playing so little?

LOL

 

[Straight forward2]

It would be nice to mention that Normantas has averaged 21 min and Giedraitis about 36 min. Trinchieri overplays him right now (of course Evans' injury influenced it). Is he the best player in both teams to play the most minutes? On the other hand, Maksvytis underrate him not taking him to NT camp or making him only defensive role player in Zalgiris. I think an average coach would treat him smth like between Trinchieri and Maksvytis. Look at his minutes and pts/eff in semifinals. It's close to what i mean.

You don't know if Makvytis could have influenced that situation and kept Brazdeikis in Kaunas. If it was Ignas' desire then it anyway was complicated. If a player doesn't want to stay then a solid buy-out makes more sense. A true failure was not being able to find a proper substitution.

The narrative is that Maksvytis didn't particularly enjoy working with Iggy. How much that impacted the decision to let him go we can only speculate, but the fact is it turned out horribly. They wasted those money on bad signings like Sumner and whatever the guy left Zalgiris during the season. Simply Zalgiris let go one of established, reliable leaders who was basically the main reason why Zalgiris made playoffs in 2022/2023 season.

 

[Straight forward2]

To me it's funny how redneck Maksvytis homers here treat Maksvytis as equal figure to Trinchieri Like hey different coaches different priorities. Let me make it clear. Trinch is tier A coach in EL. Maksvytis is not even EL coach. Period. Maksvytis is scrub coach, Trinchieri - elite. Maksvytis opinion is profane compared to Trinch. Trinch didn't do anything wrong. He simply has only one ballhanlder, washed out Lekavicius. Maksvytis had at least 2 ballhandlers. Much better Lekavicius, who shaped EL playoffs for Zalgiris in 2022/2023 and Taylor. Now Trinch has only declined Lekavicius. Slower and less explosive version despite still shooting well. Besides, Maksvytis had healthy Smits and Iggy was still available. Way different teams. Now Zalgiris is left without starting PG and didn't get anyone in Evans place (no Taylor), they don't have starting SG (cause Sumner sucks and he was bought for it) and he has post injury Smits and Butkevicius. Way different situations.