All time NT

[Shawshank]

One basketball site ranked best 10 ltu players in this decade (2010-2019)

1.Valanciunas 2.D.Sabonis 3.Maciulis 4.Kleiza 5.Jankunas 6.Kalnietis 7.Motiejunas 8.Kuzminskas 9.Seibutis 10.Pocius

As NT fan I will remember and rank this 5 players that really carry our NT team jersey through this decade


Valanciunas, Kalnietis,Maciulis,Seibutis, Jankunas


That would be my ltu basketball 2010 decade team.



Funny enough 4 of them were main core 4 players from unforgettable 2010 team.Also that was NT starting 5 from our last medal winning team of 2015 Eurobasket.


For me Sabonis and Grigonis is more from next decade team players.They simply didn't played enough in this decade.

If Kleiza would have stay atleast till 2016 he obviuos would have been in.

[Mindozas]

Every such ranking is very subjective. If base on individual talent, it'd be one thing, but if to look at a bit wider picture, my team would be: Kalnietis, Seibutis, Maciulis, Kleiza, JV. 6th man - Jankunas. As success with NT, contribution in my book has the edge over individual talent. It's little bit too early for Domas.

[Straight forward]

The guy who wrote that article is 23yo punk. I'm anti-ageist, but the guy was 14yo in 2010 or so, we hire this fellow exactly to make conclusions of the decade? I swear I will stop reading Lith media. Can't blame the punk, I probably would had given even worse ranking at such age, but he blew it.

FOA, if that's about the level of player's quality, D-Mo stands flat out at top 3 material. Pre-injury D-Mo was that good and he was balling at elite level for the Rockets in that season. In that stretch he played in the NBA better than Kleiza ever did. I won't even mention that Kleiza in this case would surely be in front of Maciulis.

SOA, if the punk meant the impact and the significance of contributing to the NT, than Kalnietis stands at position 1 by far, like by far. Second, Maciulis. Than goes Kleiza, Seibutis, Valanciunas and the last but not least Jankunas. A player to mention: Kuzminskas.

Conclusions, punks shouldn't write articles.

[Mindozas]

You say age.... Miklovas put Ball Family visit in LT as 4th most important thing in LT basketball last decade... Even over 2010 bronze, which ended up 6th or 7th... I don't give a rat ass about such rankings, these are not some official rankings of smth important, just opinion of one single individual like all of us, but still, that's just beyond ridiculous. Maybe he still was drunk, holidays and etc, the only excuse I find, he is surely not that dumb

Overall, age doesn't matter much. 23 is perfectly fine to write about decade. Afterall, nowadays its easy to find info, games, highlights, but another thing is to understand what you have found

[Straight forward]

Good old "make the article spicy", nothing more. The same "Romanov Zalgiris era"...

Well, what I've missed probably are these:

- Karnisovas becoming first Lithuanian NBA team general manager.
- Neptunas reaching LKL final (good reflection of power changes and overall situation in LKL)
- The worst NT stretch since 1992 results wise (2016-2019).
- Sabonis becoming president of federation.
- Retirement of Jasikevicius (IMO, the most significant (not the best one) NT player ever. Marciulionis and Sabonis simply didn't have enough time)

EDIT:

- Kleiza's 10/11 season injury and D-Mo's 2014/2015 injury highly decreased our talent level and were braking points regarding NT upside. Specially hurt Kleiza's injury because he played at the true guy to go level in 2010 and could drop quality 20-22pts per game. Perfect fit to FIBA at 4 as well. We never had such breed since than.

[Mindozas]

Romanov era I think had to be there, as it was important thing in Zalgiris history. We lived with that whole decade basically. No matter how it ended, but at first he really helped, club couldn't choose the saviour, and then not only his presence was important, but also what he left behind - millions of debts, we were coping with it all decade long and still feeling consequences. So notable thing, at least in top10 IMO.
Also thinking about it - Vainauskas leaving Rytas also could be an option, it was really huge thing bearing in mind his influence. But maybe that would have been wiser to put in one place with "wind of changes in LKL", adding Neptunas , Lietkabelis making it to finals as you noted.
Yeah, Saras should've been there too. Not only finishing career, but becoming a coach right away, especially bearing in mind where he is now, in Euro elite.
As you mentioned Sabas, I could mention Kazlauskas return to NT, that was a big thing. But Sabas of course comes first

[Straight forward]

I don't get one thing. In 90's we had absolutely ripped and beast guards in Marciulionis and Chomicius





In 00's we got only one ripped Kaukenas



In 10's basically zero

It doesn't make sense. Did our physical preparation regress? Take top 10 NBA guards, all ripped, even such sort of "softies" as Curry, ripped





Why we're not producing guard athletes? Like real ripped athletes. We had and have ripped forwards, Kleiza, Domas, Sedekerskis just to name few, but no guards. The trend is obvious, if you want to be truly elite guard you have to ripped. Why we're ignoring that? Seems like pretty much have perfect working ethics, but our guards are not building their bodies towards true athletes. Kalnietis, Seibutis, Grigonis, Jokubaitis, Giedraitis ect. I only pretty much like Lekavicius' and Velicka's physical preparation, I'm pretty sure A.Marciulionis may truly work on his body, but it seems we regressed since 90's in that regard (even if Marciulionis and Chomicius got ripped rather randomly rather than consiquence of our school). I don't get it how such BB nation as Lithuania is so mediocre in coaching (tactical and physical) overall. The deeper I get into BB, the more I ashamed of our poor BB school, it's all talent and heart it seems.

[LuDux]

What about Darius Sirtautas? He's certainly ripped now, but somehow I can't find 90s pictures of him



Was Marciulionis the only ripped European basketball player in 80s?

[Straight forward]

What about Darius Sirtautas? He's certainly ripped now, but somehow I can't find 90s pictures of him

Yeah, he still is. And Sirtautas example is much better because he was true borderliner of NT and only some off court mistakes didn't allow him to make NT at least for on tournament. But I had NT material in the first place and our best guards. Even Saras, Macas, Siska (even if naturally Siska ws very gifted athletically) never were ripped and I bet they could achieve more if had done that. Than in 10's - Kalnietis, Seibutis, Pocius (pretty muscular, but not ripped surely), Juskevicius, Milaknis...the desert of thin chubbies

[Straight forward]

[IMG]

Was Marciulionis the only ripped European basketball player in 80s?

Nikos Galis? I think Marciulionis was the only trully ripped.

[Hepcat]

I recall Don Nelson saying that you couldn't keep Šarūnas Marčiulionis out of the weight room. Coaches would have to tell him to leave and get some rest.

[Shawshank]

Marciulionis himself said in recent podcast celebration to his 30years debut in nba that he never was big fan of weight lifting training.He couldnt or didnt want to explain himself why he was so strong compared to other europeans/lithuanians.Nba training helped + he was gifted by strenght from nature my gues would be.

Lithuanian basketball culture was always 3 main elements big heart,togetherness and understanding of the game. This 3 elements its hard to teach or you have or you dont.

We never were best prepared neither tactically ,we never had best athletes. Thats never was our thing and foreign people dont understand how we achieve such results for so long having tiny population,i always repeat people dont value characters and heart in sports enough.You wont find true champions without those elements in any sport i dont care what tactic you will use,you have to have firstly those 2 things if you want to achieve something seriuos on world stage and sustain that for long time.

In order to achieve big things on world stage only preparation and tactics wont do that others is doing the same things(some even on higher level),you have to have strong skin,big heart to be ready go over your limits in order to overcome other best athletes.You cant teach that you have or not.Thats what seperates very good sportmens and champions.

best Jasikevicius tactic he brought back to zalgiris 'luptis' and go over your limits and simply want it more than others if you want something on that level. Thats relates well with our NT team indentity historically.

[Straight forward]

Marciulionis himself said in recent podcast celebration to his 30years debut in nba that he never was big fan of weight lifting training.He couldnt or didnt want to explain himself why he was so strong compared to other europeans/lithuanians.Nba training helped + he was gifted by strenght from nature my gues would be.

He was lifting, bruh. He may say now whatever he likes, he may even regret some of the things like overworking which probably had to do with his early, career changing injuries, but prime Marciulionis was maybe the most physical guard in the world. He was literally a freakin' BEAST. Here's Warriors physical coach on him:

Mark Grabow, a renowned strength-and-conditioning coach who worked with the Warriors during Marciulionis’ prime, remembered a man of exceptional gifts. “I’ve trained guys in the NFL, big-league baseball, the NBA, pro tennis, and he’s probably the best athlete I’ve ever worked with,” said Grabow. “This is a guy who could have crossed into any number of sports with ease. He would have been a world-class soccer goalkeeper, rugby player, javelin thrower, boxer. I remember going to his house one day before practice and he’s sparring with the European kick-boxing champion from Lithuania, totally holding his own. Around the Warriors, his weightlifting feats were astounding. And it was all about his will and courage. He’s one of those guys who never took a step backwards – on or off the court.”

https://www.nba.com/warriors/news/jenkins-sarunas-marciulionis

Lithuanian basketball culture was always 3 main elements big heart,togetherness and understanding of the game.
.

That's part of out identity, surely.

But your narrative is too romantic. We did have and still have great athletes. Specially had! In 90s you won't find better athletes duo than Rooney and Sabas. Simply best athletes in whole freakin' Europe and best players as well, with only few sticking around with the same calibre guns (Petrovic, Kukoc, Shrempf). In 00's we had Stombergas. 204cm all around and athletic wing who could shoot the lights out any day. IMO, today prime Sombergas would have a shot being NBA starting line-up material. I remember young Stombergas dunking 360 in Atletas pre-game warm-ups. Look at what kind of dunks he was able to produce - (at 53:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXAygvRPdEk). We had athletic freaks in Kleiza and Javtokas. Also young Siskauskas was physical freak, impressive agility, coordination and leaping ability for his size. In 90s and 00s we had as much athletes as any other European country and we had talent. That's the bottom line. Either you have elite athletes, talents or you don't. In 90s and 00's we got and we were contending all the time. In 10s we didn't and even if we grabbed some medals with a lot of luck, we felt flat in both Olympic tournaments and were just average. You can have whatever coherence and heart (and we have great one usually), but talent and elite tools (physical and IQ) is bottom line. You won't win nothing with only coherence and heart.

[Straight forward]

Why we're not producing guard athletes? Like real ripped athletes.

This guy seems to up to trends of contemporary basketball though. Greets Klay Thompson's shooting form and works on his body as a stud:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B71HtpZidmT/

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByapP1eCSp0/

And I also have to greet Zalgiris' system. Jokubaitis really added strength this season, one of his issues as a player. This means Zalgiris pushes away the bullshit that young players can't work on their bodies. 19yo Jokubaitis is almost there where he has to be in terms of size - ~88kg and I guess 92kg would be optimal for PG of 6'4 (that was Jaikevicius' weight even if find 88kg in FIBA pages):

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0_W_oghn9p/

[Svajunas]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B71HtpZidmT/?utm_source=ig_embed