My little conclusions after the tournament:
The times when we won something with Kalnietis as a main PG is over, IMO. He can't handle intense schedule any more, played like 36yo veteran who slows everything down, but even so gassed out rather quickly. He can't be flexible controlling the tempo simply because he is already declining physically, his defensive effort declined compared to 2013-2015 period as well. His future is veteran role player both NT and club BB. Hopefully he'll be able to adjust to this new role, concentrating on facilitating in the first place. Lekavicius is probably already a better player, way much more explosive, aggressive and there's no doubt he should be a starting PG in 2019 WC.
Grigonis is a good option 2 in the future. His defence is very solid and with time he will be able to contribute much more offensively as well. Seibutis as a defensive veteran role player is still very much needed this Olympic cycle, unless he will decline badly. We need to integrate new blood at the guard section because we are going no-where with such as Gecevicius, Milaknis and so on. New blood here is a must. The way I see things, we had to use Ulanovas at 2 as well. He wouldn't play D as bad as Gecevicius and Milaknas anyway, even against most agile guards. So in 2019 I'm waiting for one of young guns prevailing, be it Valinskas, Varnas, Kulboka, Velicka or anyone else.
This Olympic cycle belongs to Kuzminskas . He should suck most of the time at 3 and to gather some minutes at 4 as well. We should build around him even more than we did (too many times we tried to utilize bigs which doesn't work that easily in the most intense games, specially against solid opposition such as Greece). He's one of the most impressive all-arounders in Europe at the moment. Maciulis career of NT is not necessary over, but it would be a great time for him to retire. He looks gassed and out of bulldog attitude. He doesn't have the same hunger for the game. Ulanovas should step up and be an aggressive back up for Kuzminskas. Besides I think it's 1 or 2 years away from Sedekerskis threatening both of these guys, surely a big time competitor.
D-Mo might never bounch back as a big time PRO. Maybe he will and he will eventually play some great tournaments, but the patience is gone. Dude never lived up the expectations. Sabonis is big time stud in this position (as well as the light and agile center). We badly lack him. We also lacked Jankunas, but heading to the 2019 I think it's save to say Sabonis will be by far our most dominant beast at 4. Another young gun who might even be ready for 2019 (or 2010) is Ehodas. Knowing that we can use Sedekerskis at 4 as well, we will draw the young and dominant line-up complimented with one of the veterans if needed (Jankunas or D-Mo).
JV proves he's one of the most efficient and dominant centers in Europe at the moment, but he shouldn't be a corner stone player of NT. He's a great starter who can dominate the game playing under correct role. With time he will develop a midrange jumper, so all he will need to do is to run p'n'r, crushing offensive boards and hit some open jumpers. Gudaitis is solid back-up, with time will get even better and more consistent. Knowing we can comfortably throw Sabonis at 5, this position is very well covered.
To sum up, we need more dynamic backourt which can run and play D to compete with best NTs in the world at the moment. The defence is the key because we can't play mid-tempo BB emphasizing bigs at O if we can't slow down oppositions backourt. Speaking about this Olympic cycle, we need a third star player along JV and Kuzminskas and the only one who has the potential to be that soon is Sabonis . I see those 3 players and Lekavicius (because he is the one that can really cover most important position this Olympic cycle) as 4 key players. I hope coach, whoever that will be, will use different line-ups- one composed of such players as Lekavicius, Ulanovas, Kuzminskas, Sabonis and other Kalnietis, Jankunas, (maybe Maciulis), Valanciunas.
Still sticking up to prediction that next Olympic cycle will be way wealthier.
