Zalgiris Kaunas 2018-19

[Mindozas6]

It will be interesting to see how roster will look, because if Grigonis comes, there will be a lot players that can play 1-3 position. From what I heard and red, the most optimistic roster would be:

PG Nigel Williams-Goss, Walkup, Jokubaitis/Valinskas
SG -------, Milaknis, Arlauskas
SF Ulanovas, Grigonis, Jogela
PF Jankunas, White, Masiulis
C Davies, Kavaliauskas, Birutis, Gebenas

Walkup has decent courtvision, can find open teammate, can dribble past the halfcourt line with the ball like f.e. the same Toupane did at times, but he is not a PG, not the one who organizes the game. Walkup can be considered as SG/SF more. I believe with him on court there always will be one pure PG. So Zalgiris needs 2 PGs (or combos) now one way or another.

 

[ZalgirisFanForLife2]

Look one more time at him and Toupane. Toupane couldn't dribble the ball and was a very bad disher. Walkup is way better at dribbling the ball and dishing it, playing 2v2. Toupane was 8 cm bigger, than Walkup. I agree, that Walkup can defend on switch vs PG's, SG's and SF's, but he is a creator, and Toupane was a very bad one, and that is the main difference. Toupane will be replaced by Grigonis (I hope so), and he is way better creator that Toupane as well. He is 198cm, he can play 2v2, decently dribble the ball and shoot, also he is good defender, but not that good like Toups.

 

[Mindozas6]

Look one more time at him and Toupane. Toupane couldn't dribble the ball and was a very bad disher. Walkup is way better at dribbling the ball and dishing it, playing 2v2. Toupane was 8 cm bigger, than Walkup. I agree, that Walkup can defend on switch vs PG's, SG's and SF's, but he is a creator, and Toupane was a very bad one, and that is the main difference. Toupane will be replaced by Grigonis (I hope so), and he is way better creator that Toupane as well. He is 198cm, he can play 2v2, decently dribble the ball and shoot, also he is good defender, but not that good like Toups.

Why should I look at him or Toupane? I didn't compare them at all, what for? All that has been written that Walkup is not a PG. I could write not "Toupane", but i.e. that he can dribble past the halfcourt line the same way Milaknis did at times, or Ulanovas. That doesn't change the idea

 

[Mindozas6]

So after keeping Ulanovas and signing Grigonis, which both were major success for us, basically it's 3 things needs to be cleared: will White continue with Zalgiris or will go to Wizards, which should be clear till July 15th and the most important - who will be our two PGs, which is vital for Saras tactics

 

[Straight forward2]

So after keeping Ulanovas and signing Grigonis, which both were major success for us, basically it's 3 things needs to be cleared: will White continue with Zalgiris or will go to Wizards, which should be clear till July 15th and the most important - who will be our two PGs, which is vital for Saras tactics

Very nice! One of may favourite NT players. If only Zalgiris had kept Lekavicius. Anyway, I think it's huge that Ulanovas stayed, he most likely will play his best season. He surely can be 10pts, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 teals kind of player with great defensive insticts. I think last season he a bit underperformed offensively.

Grigonis is a growing player who does a little bit of everything and can cover two positions SG/SF. It will be ineresting to watch how much he will progress under Šaras guidance. I think he just needs to be polished, we might even see him playing some point forward after some time. Saras usually improves his players decision making skills.

 

[bakas2]

After Nigel Williams-Goss agreed with Olympiakos, who else could Zalgiris be eyeing? I think, that we're pretty sure what the profile of this player looks like - a ~190 (or higher) point guard, with decent basketball IQ, passing skills and I'm pretty sure that the player has to be able to penetrate the paint and be agressive. The other has to be energetic, smaller and better on fast break, high-IQ needed.

I'd like to see a player like Udrih in the team again, a PG with great experience, calm, very-high IQ, very creative.

Any ideas?

 

[ZalgirisFanForLife2]

We need 2 PG's, and one of them I hope to see either Pierria Henry or Josh Adams. Other one could be either good scorer, with good 3pt shot (a.k.a John Roberson or Peyton Siva) OR calmer and very very creative player with good D (a.k.a Leo Westermann).

White I think will stay after yesterday's Wizards signings like Jeff Green and Dwight Howard.

Ideal roster for me:

PG Henry, Westermann, Jokubaitis
SG Walkup, Milaknis, Uleckas
SF Ulanovas, Grigonis, Arlauskas
PF Jankunas, White
C Davies, Kavaliauskas, Birutis

HC Jasikevicius

And young players like Gebenas, Jogela, Masiulis and Valinskas should go on loan to LKL teams, because I believe, they could get on a Birutis level after one or two years in LKL team. Next year on loan could go Uleckas, Jokubaitis and Arlauskas.

 

[bakas2]

We need 2 PG's, and one of them I hope to see either Pierria Henry or Josh Adams. Other one could be either good scorer, with good 3pt shot (a.k.a John Roberson or Peyton Siva) OR calmer and very very creative player with good D (a.k.a Leo Westermann).

White I think will stay after yesterday's Wizards signings like Jeff Green and Dwight Howard.

Ideal roster for me:

PG Henry, Westermann, Jokubaitis
SG Walkup, Milaknis, Uleckas
SF Ulanovas, Grigonis, Arlauskas
PF Jankunas, White
C Davies, Kavaliauskas, Birutis

HC Jasikevicius

And young players like Gebenas, Jogela, Masiulis and Valinskas should go on loan to LKL teams, because I believe, they could get on a Birutis level after one or two years in LKL team. Next year on loan could go Uleckas, Jokubaitis and Arlauskas.

There's no way Westermann is coming back. We can all just dream about it.

I'd like a player like Stefan Jovic, but as Bayern is getting to Euroleague, there's no way of getting him. But I like players like him and Micic - tall, tough, creative and determined.

 

[Mindozas6]

There's no way Westermann is coming back. We can all just dream about it.

I'd like a player like Stefan Jovic, but as Bayern is getting to Euroleague, there's no way of getting him. But I like players like him and Micic - tall, tough, creative and determined.

There's a chance with Westermann, his price dropped after injury plagued season and he is most likely leaving CSKA. But even if I like him as a player, the last back/hip injury is really worryin', it's not ACL, which he had before and which can be healed and you can forget about it if everything goes properly. With back/hip you never know what will happen, it can haunt you all career long.

Btw we signed Nate Wolters. Pretty mixed feelings. Wasn't really impressed with his season in EL with Zvezda, but I believe that Saras knows who is he signing

 

[ZalgirisFanForLife2]

I hope my wanted Pierria Henry will sign with us, he have elite EL player potential. With him, our shortest guards would be Walkup and Wolters with 1.93m. That's some switch D potential. Also, we lost one very good shooter (Pangos), a decent shooter (Udrih) and two bad shooters (Micic and Toupane). We got one good shooter (Grigonis) and two decent shooters (Walkup and Wolters) and still waiting for one more, maybe Henry will be that one. I'm exited for next season.

 

[bakas2]

I really wanted to see Pierria Henry as well, I liked that he seems like a very electrifying player, with a lot of passion and determination. But shit happens, I saw some rumors about Alex Caruso, who I liked as well, saw some game footage - I liked his creativity, team work, athleticism and strong defense. Being a PG at 196, it would mean that the shortest person on the roster would be Valinskas - 191.

I'd really love to see our guard line-up like this, where everyone from 1 to 3 can switch and can attack weaker, smaller players.

I'm really hyped for the upcoming season.

Here are some highlights of Caruso as well - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjgTNyQ6cZg

 

[ZalgirisFanForLife2]

I really wanted to see Pierria Henry as well, I liked that he seems like a very electrifying player, with a lot of passion and determination. But shit happens, I saw some rumors about Alex Caruso, who I liked as well, saw some game footage - I liked his creativity, team work, athleticism and strong defense. Being a PG at 196, it would mean that the shortest person on the roster would be Valinskas - 191.

I'd really love to see our guard line-up like this, where everyone from 1 to 3 can switch and can attack weaker, smaller players.

I'm really hyped for the upcoming season.

Here are some highlights of Caruso as well - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjgTNyQ6cZg

I hope source isn't krepsinisnet comments And I didn't took Valinskas as our shortest player, because he sits almost all game time. He's not really a player that you have to count. Caruso would be a nice pick-up for us. Maybe Josh Adams could be a choice for us as well.

 

[Straight forward2]

I love how Zalgiris didn't sign Kalnietis and Maciulis. They are just not at the level of current Zalgiris. Specially Kalnietis.

 

[edvinas92]

Any thoughts what we're going to sign in 2nd PG position?

 

[ZalgirisFanForLife2]

Any thoughts what we're going to sign in 2nd PG position?

Motiejunas said, that it should be a good point guard overall, with Europe experience. Some rumours about Josh Adams, if he doesn’t get an NBA offer, it would be quite good. None or less, there are still a couple of players that can come to us, but I would prefer a good shooter, not a slasher, there already are Wolters, Walkup and Ulanovas for that. Some 3pt fire power would be nice, even tho we have Grigonis and Milaknis already.

 

[Nemanja2]

Grigonis is good aquisiton,Valters isnt ,his creating ability is on low level ,Walkup 26 years,little experince in regard to age,I dont know him ,I dont like two Americans on postion point guard and guard .Its good staying of Davies ,I dont know maybe he will leave ,I surprised with transfer Toupane after one years ,could be problematically .Zalgiris also have some very talented young players .In large ,miss one point guard,seems to me team is less compact,some players are risky on sensitive positions ,and this in uncompleted situation even with transfer of point guard,some changes will be neccessarily before or durign the season .

 

[bakas2]

Grigonis is good aquisiton,Valters isnt ,his creating ability is on low level ,Walkup 26 years,little experince in regard to age,I dont know him ,I dont like two Americans on postion point guard and guard .Its good staying of Davies ,I dont know maybe he will leave ,I surprised with transfer Toupane after one years ,could be problematically .Zalgiris also have some very talented young players .In large ,miss one point guard,seems to me team is less compact,some players are risky on sensitive positions ,and this in uncompleted situation even with transfer of point guard,some changes will be neccessarily before or durign the season .

Honestly, last year I had the same feelings about all the new players. White seemed worse than Motum, Davies seemed like a total cat in a bag, coming from a mediocre club, Micic - injury prone, Bost - average scorer at best, Toupane - someone who is fast, but does not do anything well. Let's see how this turned out: White and Davies were amazing, Davies is already one of the better C's in Euroleague, Micic and Toupane both turned out to be great defensive players, who contributed a lot to our success. Only Bost was a bad transfer.

Jasikevicius buys players for his system and though they might not be decent players overall, they have something that they're good at and they have team-mates that cover-up their weaknesses. Wolters has a decent floater, good IQ, is tall for his position, will be able to cover 1-3. Walkup is strong, creative guy for his position.

I'm quite confident that these acquisitions will be very good for Zalgiris. And maybe with their age, Zalgiris will have higher chances with keeping them on their roster for more than two years.

Though I really hoped that Wolters was a 2nd and not the 1st option for the PG position. After Motiejunas statement we now know he's our no.1 option as pg, which I'm not really fascinated with.

 

[the_black_planet2]

Honestly, last year I had the same feelings about all the new players. White seemed worse than Motum, Davies seemed like a total cat in a bag, coming from a mediocre club, Micic - injury prone, Bost - average scorer at best, Toupane - someone who is fast, but does not do anything well. Let's see how this turned out: White and Davies were amazing, Davies is already one of the better C's in Euroleague, Micic and Toupane both turned out to be great defensive players, who contributed a lot to our success. Only Bost was a bad transfer.

Jasikevicius buys players for his system and though they might not be decent players overall, they have something that they're good at and they have team-mates that cover-up their weaknesses. Wolters has a decent floater, good IQ, is tall for his position, will be able to cover 1-3. Walkup is strong, creative guy for his position.

I'm quite confident that these acquisitions will be very good for Zalgiris. And maybe with their age, Zalgiris will have higher chances with keeping them on their roster for more than two years.

Though I really hoped that Wolters was a 2nd and not the 1st option for the PG position. After Motiejunas statement we now know he's our no.1 option as pg, which I'm not really fascinated with.

On the other hand Wolters has some great qualities for a PG, he is also a tall guard like Micic and most people I know expected him to have a great career in Europe, maybe that happens now under Sara's guidance because I think he has the tools

 

[Mindozas6]

Though I really hoped that Wolters was a 2nd and not the 1st option for the PG position. After Motiejunas statement we now know he's our no.1 option as pg, which I'm not really fascinated with.

I don't know to which interview you are reffering to, but the one I've read, he said: ieskome antro izaidejo (or smth like that). With "antro" I don't think he meant that Walters will be a starter, just that Walters was signed first, then X will be second signing to that position. With Saras it isn't that important actually, we'll have two different type of PGs what so ever I suppose

 

[ZalgirisFanForLife2]

I don't know to which interview you are reffering to, but the one I've read, he said: ieskome antro izaidejo (or smth like that). With "antro" I don't think he meant that Walters will be a starter, just that Walters was signed first, then X will be second signing to that position. With Saras it isn't that important actually, we'll have two different type of PGs what so ever I suppose

Motiejunas said "naujokas padės Woltersui". That means Wolters will be our main guy.