Lithuanian Point Guards

[Straight forward]

Sylvain Francisco just stole a game winner from Jokubaitis. Rokas nailed a lay up with 6sec to go, Francisco tied it and sent it yo overtime. ACB is a fun league.

Edit: Barsa's dramatic loss in over time. Hayes missed open three in last seconds. Jokubaitis sees plenty of last seconds thrillers this season and that should even spurt his maturity even more.

[Straight forward]

Velicka leads Italian league in Fouls Drawn. He draws 5 fouls per game.

To have perspective, Micic leads EL with 4,8, Larkin 4.6, Clyburn 4.5

All time EL leader D. Lukovski 6 and K. Langford 5.8.

From Lithuanians, all time EL Macijauskas s the leader with 5.2 (5th result overall in EL). Surprisingly K. Lavrinovic is second with 3,6 and Marius Grigonis is third with 3.5, Siska 3,47, Gudaitis 3.4, Timinskas 3,13, Kaukenas 3,11,

Interesting that Milos Teodosic is 157th and Saras is out from 160.

[Straight forward]

Rokas Jokubaitis became 3rd youngest player to reach 200 total PIR for FC Barcelona.

https://twitter.com/DariusGaruolis/status/1489363623440957441

Now his ceiling looks absolutely intriguing.

[Straight forward]

Velicka with huge performance: 25pts, 7as, 7df, 30eff.

[Straight forward]

Marciulionis' season over. Have to conclude that the first NCAA season has been a failure. However you would look he could benefit much more from the season with Rytas. Now he looked lost, added weight too fast, IMO. Defensively he's a beast, but he absolutely couldn't find himself offensively in Gaels. Next season may be much better for him, but now it seems like NCAA is bad news for him. Looking forward to see how he'll deal with U20 campaign.

Velicka with couple of good games after NT campaign. He needs more games to play. I hope next season he will be in CL or Eurocup, has to make that step further.

[Straight forward]

Jokubaitis with a strong game in ACB. 8pts, 8as, 4st. Maybe aggressive Jokubaitis is back. Barsa badly needs this version of him. He's the best Barselona's slasher and probably most all around offensive player with the ball in his hands. He's like one or two years away from dominating EL. It may even happen next season if Saras is ready to play him +25mpg.

https://twitter.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1520781178013429761

[Straight forward]

Surprisingly spot on take on Jokubaitis, knowing the author is American. Interesting comparison with Kevin Porter Jr. when it comes to scoring, never heard this before. I like how he emphasizes that IQ moment which is never exaggeration in Rokas' case. Doncic (and Dragic) taught NBA a thing or two. They already understand that not exactly athletic Euro can come and dominate because of high IQ and fundamentals. Rokas will never be Doncic, but think his IQ would prevail in NBA too. He's not some Jasikevicius either who couldn't play 1 vs 1 at all basically. Jokubaitis, IMO, would be looking more of Dragic (or Udrih, and to some extent Rubio) type of careers rather than Calderon's, Satoranski's, Teodosic's, Jasikevicius' esque (p'n'r only point guards essentially). I don't see many players with Jokubaitis IQ and that would be a game changer for his career if he will end up at the right spot and around smart coach. But not next season, please.

Here's the best part:

From a general standpoint, Jokubaitis is a poised point guard with respectable, shifty scoring chops and a passing ability that could see him slot directly into an NBA rotation right now. Despite averaging just 2.7 assists per game last season, his best passes set up his teammates seamlessly as opposed to making them perform extra work for a shot. He hits them directly in their shooting pocket or on the run; some of his better moments come on the break, where Jokubaitis surveys the floor like a side-to-side lighthouse beacon, only 55 times quicker.

He’s a European lefty, so the natural comparison has to be Goran Dragic. Not only is Jokubaitis’ shooting motion somewhat similar to Dragic’s in speed and purity, but he’s as shifty as prime Dragic was, too. While Dragic was hardly weaving his way through defenses like a scythe through a wheat field, he was crafty, dribbling enough to find a great shot or dump pass option, but not too much.

Remarkably, Jokubaitis rarely turns it over—just 1.3 giveaways per game, regardless of his frequent touches and his incessant energy on the offensive end. Some of his passes can border on erratic and dangerous—of the games and highlights I watched, I found more than one occasion on which Jokubaitis attempted to thread a pass through his opponent’s closed legs, which, not great—but more often than not, he’s composed and direct with his ball movement. The word that might fit his play the most? Purposeful. He would sooner pull the ball back out than force up a leaning layup over tight defense, a shot he can (and does) make quite often.

And yet, there is concern when it comes to his shotmaking against elite athletes, particularly those that are broader and stronger than the lean Jokubaitis can beat. His high I.Q. is one thing, an advantage that he might have over most average NBA defenders. But he’s while not unathletic, he’s not exactly explosive either, and his deep ball leaves plenty to be desired. His release isn’t as quick as Dragic’s is—it’s methodical, almost molasses-like on occasion. On a team that lacks pure scorers like the Knicks do as presently constituted, that would make him a problematic perimeter fit.

Offensively, I might liken him a bit closer to a less athletic Kevin Porter Jr. or Tomas Satoransky type—the kind of player that can pass and create their own shot but sometimes falls into the trap that comes with being less dexterous than the opposition. His finishing ability and confidence as a passer more than make up for any of those detractions, though, and though I mentioned it already, you literally can’t say enough about his I.Q. on the offensive end.

Defensively, he’s a bit more of a mixed bag. He plays above his size, which helps his defense at the rim. And he has an Alvarado-esque acumen in the passing lanes (I just love that I can make that comp now, even if it’s semi-forced). But he has difficulty fighting through screens due to his slighter build, and when a shot goes up, he fails to focus on boxing out, almost as though he’s thinking about the pass he plans to make before he pulls down the rebound (he often doesn’t). But again, in the passing lanes, and in the backcourt, he’s a fiend.

That sort of offensive boost and defensive irritant is something the Knicks desperately need in their backcourt… today. On top of that, he’s already embracing the New York vibe: Back in January, he told Eurohoops that he likes to read things about him that are “more negative, not positive.” Additionally, he noted, “Every time someone asks what I have to improve, is making decisions with the right hand, three-point shooting and defense. If we are talking about NBA—and EuroLeague of course—it’s physicality, speed, shooting. When I think about it, these scouts are right.”

It’s imperfect, the idea of stashing a draft pick and not allowing them to immediately make an impact or an impression on the NBA level. Players like Doncic, Porzingis, and Alperen Sengun bring excitement upon arrival, whereas prospects like Jokubaitis and Boston’s Yam Madar inevitably draw criticism preemptively. But there’s plenty for the Knicks to love about Jokubaitis and plenty that he can bring upon arrival.

https://theknickswall.com/how-knicks-draft-stash-rokas-jokubaitis-factors-rotation-next-season/

[Shawshank]

Velicka one more loosing season.Record 11-19 Napoli finished on 14th place in 16 team league.

30 games in 7 months? 1 game per week.

comon enough choose bottom teams that plays only in national championship.

At such age to make bigger steps youngster should play 2-3 games per week not one game on weekend like some 32+veteran.

Playing in loosing situation once per week is not what is needed at such age for tallented kid.

[Straight forward]

Lietkabelis would be a good place for him. Now he's ready. Definitely better than Radisevic, IMO.

Velicka is highly underrated by basically anyone in Lithuania. Maksvytis invites Zemaitis to NT and leaves Velicka aside Arnas was way better player playing for better club the last time he played in LKL. In 2019/2020 he was much better by all means, while he's almost three years younger.

Something is still very wrong with the way we treat our prospects. The fact that neither of D. Giedraitis (and Velicka only after some ridiculous force majeure) got serious stint with B NT under Maksvytis yet says a lot. While scrubs as Cizkauskas are balling...

I see Nikola Jovic, Petrusev, Djusric, Trifunovic balling for Serbia (and winning). Those are kids. But these kids fill soon be killing still too conservative LTU NT...

I see Ziga Samar, Gregor Glass in Slovenian B roster...

Now we have prospects, but we don't have a coach with huge balls to utilize and spurt their development. If Maksvytis was that kind as Garastas, Kazlauskas, Sireika he would not only look how to survive this day, but he would have a take long term too.

[Toruko]

Well, sometimes player doesnt develop as expected, as hoped. Actually many of them. Robin Benzing I remember quite well was proclaimed to be the next Dirk Nowitzki in Germany but he turned out to be nothing.

Its natural to try to be competitive and to find a way to implement young guys but often the guys are just not ready for such kind of a role and I dont think Velicka is ready for such a role. Off course he needs to play more but he should also start showing some improvements. Italy is a very lousy league btw. the level of defense is very low in this league.

[Straight forward]

But he also dominated in French and German leagues too Actually last season he looked better. Mainly because he had more consistent stint in Germany schedule wise I think. One of the problems is that he has been playing too little and the schedule has been a mess. He also dominated in LKL as 20yo and his team (led by him as main piece) was competitive in LKL. Velicka is not particularly elite IQ guard and he tends to go too ISO at times, like losing his willingness to go after the best play and instead to jack off some jimmies (inconsistent jimmy) or to go wild to the basket, he's a bit lousy defensively like overhelping or losing his focus boxing out his opponent, those are concerns. But he also has funny physical profile, athleticism, explosiveness, feel for assists and etc. He still can be good. So we'll see.

Look at 1:15 pass, not every guard can make this. And explosiveness at slashing 2:02:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAe_WCDK4m0&ab_channel=LBA

I still think there's more chancea that Velicka will pan out into long term NT piece and some EL back up PG than not...

[Toruko]

I am not a Velicka expert. Watched him in the U18 and in FIBA window games here and there and I can understand your coaches. He is not even near at the point to contribute or survive NT level games.

[Straight forward]

I am not a Velicka expert. Watched him in the U18 and in FIBA window games here and there and I can understand your coaches. He is not even near at the point to contribute or survive NT level games.

Well, we should all be a little bit better experts of Velicka But he's not ready for senior NT, that is true.

[Straight forward]

Here's a stint of highlights of Velicka with Lithuanian commentators. I don't see much problems in his shooting form. The problem is however that he is not consistent. Just as say T. Dimsa. His shooting form is good, but somehow he lacks something to be consistent shooter. But his 32.3% knowing that he takes many super long distance threes is not all that bad. As 22yo he can still add a bit more consistency and better shot selection going further. If he can reach 35% he can easily live with that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qABUGF3OIyo&ab_channel=Delfi

[Straight forward]

Jokubaitis shaping up again I think. 25eff points in ACB is his career high. Couple of impressive highlights:

https://twitter.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1525620271834701824