All time NT

[Straight forward]

I agree with usagre. I think Kalnietis already proved he should be in (even if we discussed about Chomicius here a lot). Talent wise Ilgauskas maybe could take JV's spot at the moment, but that's about it.

[Hepcat]

PG. S. Jasikevicius. (30) /. S. Marciulionis (10)
SG. S. Marciulionis. (20) /. A. Macijauskas. (20)
SF. A. Karnisovas. (24) /. R. Siskauskas. (16)
PF. L. Kleiza. (28) /. D. Songaila. (12)
C. A. Sabonis. (30) / J. Valanciunas. (10)

That would be my 9 man rotation with approximate minutes.

10-12 men would be Kalnietis, Stombergas, and Kurtinaitis.

Good luck beating these guys.

Talent wise Ilgauskas maybe could take JV's spot at the moment, but that's about it.

Can't disagree.

[auris1]

I agree with usagre. I think Kalnietis already proved he should be in (even if we discussed about Chomicius here a lot). Talent wise Ilgauskas maybe could take JV's spot at the moment, but that's about it.

There might have been a discussion regarding Kalnietis vs Chomicius , but, alas , many of you just weren't there alive or consent
when Chomicius has started . Some foreign dudes , chiming in? Please .
Chomicius woildl never make top 12 in my book. But. he will be always above Kalnietis .

[usagre]

There might have been a discussion regarding Kalnietis vs Chomicius , but, alas , many of you just weren't there alive or consent
when Chomicius has started . Some foreign dudes , chiming in? Please .
Chomicius woildl never make top 12 in my book. But. he will be always above Kalnietis .

I thought this was about selecting players from the Lithuanian national team not the Soviet national team. Chomicius was over the hill by then. Mid 80's Chomicius is a different story.

[Straight forward]

I thought this was about selecting players from the Lithuanian national team not the Soviet national team. Chomicius was over the hill by then. Mid 80's Chomicius is a different story.

So was he better overall player than Kalnietis, do you think? (having in mind NT performances in the first place I guess).

[usagre]

So was he better overall player than Kalnietis, do you think? (having in mind NT performances in the first place I guess).

Yeah I would take Kalnietis this decade over Chomicius 1992-1995 version. Kalnietis has always played his best basketball for the national team as opposed to clubs. But as a player I would prefer Chomicius 1982-1986 over him. Better scorer and overall player in my opinion.

[Mindozas]

Yeah I would take Kalnietis this decade over Chomicius 1992-1995 version. Kalnietis has always played his best basketball for the national team as opposed to clubs. But as a player I would prefer Chomicius 1982-1986 over him. Better scorer and overall player in my opinion.

Exactly. In 1992 or later Chomicius was simply past his prime, even tho in 1992 he did a lot to help us to win bronze. Of course Kalnietis may look better as player than Chomicius was in 1992-95, especially if people didn't see Valdas back in his prime, so people might consider Kalnietis as an option, depends on criterias. But overall Chomicius was better player. People might get misleaded cause he never was a main option in offense, there were always Sabas+Kurtis in Zalgiris, Sabas+Marcela and other in Soviet NT,so it was a great achievement to make it to such NT alone. Lot of great players were left out. So he was in shadow a bit everywhere, but he was a player, who could score a lot when it was needed, I mean A LOT, cause there were games with Zalgiris in Soviet champ, European cups (not only vs scrubs), when he scored even 40-50pts. He had high bball IQ, was verstile in offense, physically gifted, could defend really well too and what I liked a lot, guy was a real fighter on court

[LuDux]

https://youtu.be/l_UTndTz3LA?t=17

[usagre]

Exactly. In 1992 or later Chomicius was simply past his prime, even tho in 1992 he did a lot to help us to win bronze. Of course Kalnietis may look better as player than Chomicius was in 1992-95, especially if people didn't see Valdas back in his prime, so people might consider Kalnietis as an option, depends on criterias. But overall Chomicius was better player. People might get misleaded cause he never was a main option in offense, there were always Sabas+Kurtis in Zalgiris, Sabas+Marcela and other in Soviet NT,so it was a great achievement to make it to such NT alone. Lot of great players were left out. So he was in shadow a bit everywhere, but he was a player, who could score a lot when it was needed, I mean A LOT, cause there were games with Zalgiris in Soviet champ, European cups (not only vs scrubs), when he scored even 40-50pts. He had high bball IQ, was verstile in offense, physically gifted, could defend really well too and what I liked a lot, guy was a real fighter on court

He was clutch too. Like game winner against USA at '85 world university games and furious comeback attempt in 1986 world championships final against USA in which he spearheaded with his three point shooting.

[usagre]

https://youtu.be/l_UTndTz3LA?t=17

That's fucking hilarious. He's one of my favorites now. I can only imagine the look on the refs face when he looked over and saw him on the ground like that.

[LuDux]

That's fucking hilarious. He's one of my favorites now. I can only imagine the look on the refs face when he looked over and saw him on the ground like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR9nBwuUvtU&feature=youtu.be&t=42

[auris1]

I thought this was about selecting players from the Lithuanian national team not the Soviet national team. Chomicius was over the hill by then. Mid 80's Chomicius is a different story.

Ah , OK then , it is a good point actually . In this case , Kalnietis is clear favourite . Then again, Chomicius was born in 1959 , so he was already 33 in Barcelona .

[Babajas]

Exactly. In 1992 or later Chomicius was simply past his prime, even tho in 1992 he did a lot to help us to win bronze. Of course Kalnietis may look better as player than Chomicius was in 1992-95, especially if people didn't see Valdas back in his prime, so people might consider Kalnietis as an option, depends on criterias. But overall Chomicius was better player. People might get misleaded cause he never was a main option in offense, there were always Sabas+Kurtis in Zalgiris, Sabas+Marcela and other in Soviet NT,so it was a great achievement to make it to such NT alone. Lot of great players were left out. So he was in shadow a bit everywhere, but he was a player, who could score a lot when it was needed, I mean A LOT, cause there were games with Zalgiris in Soviet champ, European cups (not only vs scrubs), when he scored even 40-50pts. He had high bball IQ, was verstile in offense, physically gifted, could defend really well too and what I liked a lot, guy was a real fighter on court

Thank you for your insights Mindozas! I've always wondered about some of the more famous Sabonis/Marciulionis generation of players and lacked a clear sense of their basketball skills. This makes me wonder whether Jovaisa deserves a mention here since he was a fairly important player for Zalgiris and, at one point, played for Soviet Union NT (where only the best of the best competed in international tournaments). He also played for Team Lietuva in 1992, but was way past his prime then. I would be curious to get a sense of how he compared to, say, Siskauskas in his prime, taking into account that Lithuania's borders were closed at the time and he couldn't sign a contract with a foreign team.

[LuDux]

http://bcneptunas.lt/images/darbenaiii.jpg

[LuDux]

Jovaisa was first Lithuanian after M.Paulauskas to make USSR NT, played in 6 final tournaments (1978, 81, 82, 83, 85, 87), 2nd in scoring in 1983 EC, 9.0 points in 45 games


(1984 olympic qualification tournament included)
Chomicius ....9 trn, 64 gm, 644 pt, 10.1 ppg
Sabonis ......7 trn, 51 gm, 799 pt, 15.7 ppg
Jovaisa ......6 trn, 45 gm, 407 pt, _9.0 ppg
Kurtinaitis...5 trn, 38 gm, 516 pt, 13.6 ppg
Marciulionis..3 trn, 20 gm, 360 pt, 18.0 ppg