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Lithuanian Point Guards

  • Thread starter Thread starter Straight forward2
  • Start date Start date
I feel very good vibes about Jakucionis. The way he executes his shot, you can feel there's the potential. I get the vibes of late 90s and 00s greats such as Karnisovas, Stombergas, Jasikevicius, Siskauskas, Macijauskas when I see that bouncy pull up three and that range and confidence in taking the shot. Kalnietis was a bad shooter, Jokubaitis shoots without leaping from three, but Jakucionis can be like Jasikevicius at shooting threes. I get the feeling he will be lighting up.

It's crazy. 2 ACB games, again only few minutes, 2 bank threes in similar situation pretty much :)

https://twitter.com/ACBCOM/status/1728833613750235245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5 Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1728833613750235245%7Ctwgr% 5Eadfa501c6a97b819c433192e7ba27e20cbcef6e5%7Ctwcon %5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.krepsinis.net%2Fn aujiena%2Fk-jakucionis-pranoko-m-susinska-o-barcelona-sutriuskino-varzovus%2F331610

Grimao really waited till the end while Barca was sweeping the opponent all day long. Could easily give him 8-10 minutes of action.
 
That's the Marciulionis I was preaching here via exhibition game. Dominant one. 5 steals is nasty. Physical, can get inside, facilitate. In last 4 games he's averaging 13,2ppg. That's what I want to see. His finishing skills still needs much more polishing, but if he continues to improve in that department, look out:

https://twitter.com/EHoopsScouting/status/1731034132770119968
 
Jakucionis is proving that he has nothing to do in 4th Spanish division with Barca's U18. In last 5 games he drops 22,6ppg and ridiculous 28,2eff. He is totally dominating and I think he reached that line when he can't develop further in such environment. He needs to step up to higher level. Most Barca's games in ACB are tight so I don't see him getting minutes. Barca's management would make a right decision loaning him to some weak ACB team where he would get constant minutes.
 
Yup, Mr. fundamental at 1, or Mr. European Chris Paul strikes it again. 18pts + 4as. Obviously he plays tons of minutes now and that's exactly what he needs. He needs big minutes, big role, big pool where he can master his craft, can go through his ups and downs. Rock solid sharp passes, strong slashes inside and he showed quite a lot of jump shooting which is his main weakness. In his last 6 games he averages 13,3ppg now. I would love to see this becoming his status quo average from now on. Obviously he will still have shooting slumps inevitably, but also shows that he reached new level overall and he's still 21yo which means he still have like solid 5 years till his prime to polish his game. Very promising picture and I think in Europe he will be even better where pick roll offense is the king and Marciulionis is the best in p'n'r dominated basketball. Good news he also have terrific chemistry with Tubelis. Throw these 2 off the bench and will have a great connection.

https://twitter.com/CBB_Europe/status/1733822657345311093
 
My goodness, what a dominant streak by Kasparas Jakucionis. Last night again 31eff and the guy made 15/16 FTs. 24pts, 9as. In last 4 games he is averaging 32,5eff per game. That's insanity. Even his season efficiency now is going through the roof 22,3eff and he exceeds Dame Sarr who is treated as legitimate NBA prospect, who has 18,5eff. Jakucionis is stud prospect and I can't wait to see his further development. I think his built and explosiveness is too much for this level. He gets to the line at will, no-one can contain him.
 
I'm watching Jakucionis' highlights and I'm smiling :) His scoring potential great. He takes his threes so effortless and overall seems to be hardcore scorer at 1. Today's shooting first PG a la Curry/Lillard. 25pts, dropped 2 big threes in last minute thriller against Real's U18. It's the clash of two best Youth club systems in Europe. And Jakucionis is leading Barcelona's side. In his last 6 games he averages 24,4ppg. Can't wait to see how he will fair with U18 team in his own age group:

https://twitter.com/imLuckyD/status/1736485420710408285
 
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Marciulionis heating up. 18 and 17 points games. I have no idea why he struggled so badly at the start. He could do much better. But now he's doing really well. In his first 7 games -
19% threes (5/26) and in last 7 - 40% 3pt (11/27). Now he stands where Jasikevicius was standing as junior with 10.7ppg, 3,4as, 40% FG in 30min. Their stats are surprisingly similar. Jasikevicius was one year younger I think though. However, their NCAA careers are like a flashback thus far.

https://twitter.com/EHoopsScouting/status/1738941840856920201




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I waited for that kind of article. I think the clash between U18 Real and Barca should attract much more attention. The author called Jakucionis top 4 international 2025 NBA drafts prospect and says that if Jakucionis will do things like he did in 2023 (I called this year sensational for Jakucionis, didn't expect he will rise so strong after his U16 campaign, which was solid, but not great) he will be selected in the first round. The author is not trashy at all, cause he worked with The Stepien and Sports Illustrated previously which both I respect a lot and well FIBA (less respected platform :D).

Personally, I think this projection is slightly too favorable, I would definitely think about the second round naturally if drafted at all, but to be fair I think that Jakucionis has the best chances to play in the NBA because of his shooting ability in the first place from LTU PGs. His trigger is legit and he can score in all possible ways, and specially his smooth looking three (spot up and off the dribble) is the key here. I think Jakucionis has more chances to be a role player in the NBA than Jokubaitis who lacks more convincing off the dribble shooting from three. Besides, Jakucionis is a bit more athletic, tougher and better defender than Jokubaitis.

I agree that Hugo Gonzalez is hands down the best prospect of 2006, but it's pleasure to witness that Jakucionis may actually be the second most talented and Indrusaitis is among top 5-6 Euro 2006 prospects as well. This is pretty crazy.

(1998-2007 is a very good stretch for Lihuania or make it 1996- 2007 if you want to snatch Sabonis as well. I project that specially 2000-2007 stretch of generations will be golden, just as 1973-1980 was (starting with Stombergas and finishing with Macijauskas). So it took basically 20 years of gap between one deep talent pool and another. I hope in the future we don't have such long years of drought).
 
Kasparas Jakucionis | 6-4 Guard | 2006 (Barcelona)


Kasparas Jakucionis had an excellent tournament and it’s a travesty he wasn’t named to the All-Tournament Team. Although teammate Dame Sarr has the higher upside, he was by far the team’s most consistent and reliable performer. He possesses good size and although he is not an explosive athlete, he is very functionally strong for his age. Jakucionis has shown nice potential as a combo guard for the pro level and is actually playing extensively as the primary ball-handler for his current team. Versatile and assertive, he has a tendency to hold on to the ball too often and can be turnover-prone. He’s an adept pick-and-roll player and is more of a slasher than a shooter at this stage. Jakucionis can get to the rim and can score amidst contact, but will need to prove that he can do the same at higher levels of competition. His three-point shot is currently pretty streaky. He hit a clutch trey in the final seconds of the championship game to give his team the lead before they ultimately lost at the buzzer. On the defensive end, Jakucionis is clearly better against strength than speed as he can defend bigger wings well, but he may struggle to defend smaller, quicker ball-handlers. He is a polished, mature prospect with a very Euro-style game.
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https://www.prospectiveinsight.com/post/2023-lhospitalet
 
Terrific stretch for Marciulionis. Last night 22pts, career high, in previous game 10 assists, career high. IDK what happened to him in first 4 games, but after that he has been having terrific season. Most importantly he led Geals for a close win last night. Now he has very solid 11,5ppg, 4as, 41.4% in the season. In last 5 games he has 16,2ppg, 6,6apg, 48% FG, 55% 3FG. Elite numbers. And this stretch shows where he can get if he will put all his things together. Maybe he will be like Sedekerskis. Highly praised early, then lost in translation for quite a bit of time and then slowly fighting all back and eventually kicking asses. Really happy to see his creativity unleashed again. He can be really creative passer, one of the best in Europe (best 2002 gen passer), but Gaels BB wasn't very comfy for this part of his game, now he showed it:

https://twitter.com/EHoopsScouting/status/1743300225370919351
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Well, it's really refreshing too see fired up Marciulionis. He showed his explosiveness and competitiveness of his game in this one. He goes hard on you on his drives, he won't avoid the contact. It's obvious he wants some blood after those 2 frustrating seasons. He's balling and there and you can see he doesn't avoid the emotions. He has sneaky athleticism. At times you could even think he lacks athleticism, but then he explodes and shows that he has it. It's really hard to contain him when he goes to his left (obviously Rooney genes). Hitting 9/9 FTs was really nice, specially those 2 clutch one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCUErdZsuG4&ab_channel=SublimeBasketball
 
Holly shit, Jakucionis is not slowing down. After great showing in the recent Youth tournament, he continues to completely dominate Spanish EBA league. Monster game - 29pts, 14rbs, 8as, 5stls, 46eff. Sunk 6/9 threes.In his last 6 games, he has 34,5eff per game. That's flat out domination. Dude's gonna get drafted and likely the most dominant LTU PG in the making.
 
Well we can only wish that this will transition into men basketball. There are a lot of case where physically dominant youth players loose their edge against men.
 
Svajunas said:
Well we can only wish that this will transition into men basketball. There are a lot of case where physically dominant youth players loose their edge against men.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say Jakucionis game and success based on his superior physicality. If anything he doesn't even particularly has elite athleticism (for NBA standards) when it comes to first step or lateral quickness, but he has very nice combination of mobility, toughness and feel for the game and he unites all that with tremendous motor and lust for the game. Any prospect can fail, but Jakucionis is tier above prospects as Seskus, Cizauskas, Redikas, the ones who likely benefited from being sturdy and more physically matured. The most positive moment was that playing among older guys last summer for U18, against whom Jakucionis didn't have obvious physical advantage surely, he still managed to be really good.

The most mind blowing stat is that one year younger Jakucionis was putting up nearly similar numbers as TOP 5 drafty one year older Topic this summer. I wouldn't suggest their upside somewhat similar, but Jakucionis is a real deal. To me it would be a shock if he's not EL guard star at the end of the day.
 
Few things. People don't understand in what luxurious situation Jokubaitis has been last 3 years and even before the Zalgiris stint in EL. Being 23yo he is EL vet already basically with 148 total games and he's not even close his prime yet. He became second youngest EL player to reach 1.500 min with Barca's jerseys. He is in the most luxurious position of all young players in Europe and no-one has been having better career as a young player in EL in long years.

https://twitter.com/DariusGaruolis/status/1748095419442475377

Marciulionis' FG % remain shaky, but his assists rates in last 5 games increased. 7,2as to 2.8 TOs. He will still need time to polish his game for 1-2 seasons, but he is slowly putting all together. In the highlights I saw some things that really promises good thing. He looks more and more polished in his driving game, got even fancy with some dribbles, moves and finishes. He executed ridiculous behind the leg pass and he has that strong bullet pass which he executes nearly in every possession. That touch can't be taught. You either have it or not and it comes from his dad, that crazy crazy strong grip. He moves basketball like a tennis ball. Still one of most special PG commodities in entire Europe, specially passing and defensing wise. And he seems perfect option for the NT as a back up with his profile. Lithuania will have tremendous scoring power in the near future, and to have a guy who looks to create for others in the first place and play bulldog D is just spot on.

Watch 2:50 and 3:40:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX-QNYQrzRs&ab_channel=SublimeBasketball

https://twitter.com/saintmaryshoops/status/1748931249371242499

https://twitter.com/saintmaryshoops/status/1748921251710816484


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Jakucionis is crazy. He nailed few more threes given a chance in ACB in just 2 minutes. He also grabbed 2rbs, 1as. So, what is he, now 14pts in some 6 minutes with Barca's jerseys. Crazy trajectory so far. Whatever you look at it, not every 17yo could do that, far from it.

https://twitter.com/FCBbasket/status/1749060791725101069


Spanish fans raise an obvious question - who will be better, Jokubaitis or Jakucionis? My gut feeling says it's Jakucionis, but both will be star level EL PGs, IMO. Jakucionis became 5th most young player to suit with Barca.
 
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Good article on Marciulionis. It's a blessing to read from Bennett, really respected NCAA coach, that Augustas is the stud defensively and he gives him the best opposing players. Recently Marciulionis shut down 2 stars leaving them nearly empty. I read some comments on Twitters, like "Marciulionis should be the most underrated defender in NCAA". I believe he will be the best perimeter defender of LTU, better than Giedraitis, cause Marciulionis is stronger, more physical and more athletic, also has longer hands.

Makvsytis must invite Marciulionis to the main camp and Jakucionis to the reserve NT if that's not overlaps with U18 campaign.

The numbers tell only part of the story, but they are impressive: Over these past 12 games, he is averaging 12.4 points, 5.8 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and shooting 38 percent from the 3-point arc.

“And, he takes the best guard every game,” Bennett said, alluding to the fact that Marciulionis took the lead in limiting Santa Clara’s Adama-Alpha Bal and San Francisco’s Marcus Williams to a combined 2-for-17 shooting and six points in decisive road victories the past two Saturdays. “Most people don’t measure defense. He’s a stud there.”​

https://wccsports.com/news/2024/1/25/mens-basketball-guiding-the-gaels.aspx
 
Marciulionis better and better. I'm starting to like his body again after looking a bit too overweight and heavy for 2 seasons. Now he resembles his dad the most ever. He added muscles, but brought back previous athleticism and agility and now he really loves to finish with the contact, also he coasting the courts as quick as he did being 17-18yo pretty much while being a muscular big PG. I'm really positive about our PG section now. While last 2 seasons there still were some doubts, no I'm 100% certain Marciulionis will reach EL level. Zalgiris, IMO, won't sleep on his and try to take him, but I wouldn't mind Rytas giving him serious minutes at first:

https://twitter.com/CBB_Europe/status/1751534361290088867
 
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