Lithuanian Point Guards

[Straight forward]

I really don't understand what Barca is doing with such players as Jakucionis and Sarr. Both should be playing PRO somewhere. Both have nothing to do in 4th League of Spain. In last game they swept the opponents +33. Jakucionis played only 16 minutes but scored 12pts, grabbed 5rbs, 15eff, nearly perfect shooting (5/6). This year seems to be a gap year for Jakucionis. He is held stuck. Maybe the only positive is that he has plenty of time to work on his individual game.

PS: Butajevas with a double double 12/12 and 19eff in Eba League in his first game:

https://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Spain/2023/1001_61023_1020.asp

[Straight forward]

Very interesting battle between Jokubaitis and Satoranski now. After 4 games in ACB Rokas has 11eff, Sato 11,2eff. Rokas playing 16mpg, Sato 25mpg, yet their stats are nearly identical. So far Rokas demonstrates incredible shooting % in ACB 60/62,5/80. In EL Rokas 8eff, Sato 5eff, but only one game. I would love to see how it would look if Jokubaitis gets 25mpg, his numbers would jump up.

[Hepcat]

Martynas Arlauskas is a 23 year old well worth watching because he really seems to be blossoming with Pieno Žvaigždės after gaining some much needed muscle tone:

[Straight forward]

One of these games when Jokubaitis carries Barca in the 4th quarter. Great week for him cause he was big in EL too. So far he's playing better than Sato.

https://twitter.com/GIGANTESbasket/status/1713631495875645912

[Dreamcatcher]

Martynas Arlauskas is a 23 year old well worth watching

He is not a pg though.

[Straight forward]

Yup, it's happening. Marciulionis dropped 22pts, dished 6assists in 26min. of action. Nailed 7/7 FTs, and 1/2 threes. He looks really good. There's no doubt he will be much more aggressive attacking the basket and overall. You could clearly see that his confidence and aggression level reached new level in the NT camp. I expected that leap. He also will be the best defender on his team. In other words, he's ready to be unleashed for 25-32mpg and put up some numbers in NCAA.

https://twitter.com/saintmaryshoops/status/1715611347936006208

PS: Marciulionis and Mahaney will make one of the best guard duets in entire NCAA. Both are posed for great season. Marciulionis is dominant floor general and Mahaney is a heck of scorer, big time bucket. They gonna be cooking from perimeter. If they had dominant big they could make some real noise in NCAA this season.

[Straight forward]

With the great pleasure got to see whole Marciulionis game against Hawaii (I'll share the link). One thing that instantly gets in your way - he's confident and playing within his own rhythm. You could also feel that in NT, the game slowed down for him. In first 2 seasons with Gaels he felt a bit anxious, a bit hesitant, but now he just runs with it as a true flour general which he has in himself naturally and showed many times in Youth NTs. What I like about Gaels is that they are playing fundamentally sound basketball, very disciplant, they share the ball precisely, no ball hogging and off course they known for defense.

It hurts Marciulionis a bit that they don't have good rolling bis which would make him even more deadly in terms of facilitation, but he is just one fundamentally sound passer. Aside pick and roll dishes, he can make a sneaky pocket pass, dish skip pass without any thinking, bullet quick cross court pass, baseball pass through all the court and so on. He has it and does it with precision. I barely seen him missing with his passes badly. Only 1 to and 6 assists in the game, but he made much more good passes than that.

Another thing is that his defense is very sticky and very consistent. I never seen a single moment when he slept on his man and being caught unready. Super consistent. He's strong and agile, and most importantly has both good strong legs and strong quick hands. Elite defender at 1 Europe wise. I don't know if there will be better defenders at 1 in Europe.

Now about scoring which had been the biggest issue with him transitioning to PROs. He is just going left like his father He's right handed, but he slashes left all the time and it's really hard to contain him. In great resemble to his father, he has special combination of mobility and toughness. He makes a little hesitation move during his driving and than explodes with a strong stride and finish. He was cooking that all game long and opponents had no answers. In front of him he had sturdy, but a bit smaller guard so he just ate him for breakfast. For Augustas the key is polishing his go to moves. As his father taught - you need to polish your go to moves. He's much more confident in his touch these days compared to last 2 seasons. He missed three and in few seconds he took long mid range jimmy - nothing but the net. It shows confident. He missed one floater badly, but in next possession he laid it in with confidence. In first half he scored 14 points and played as a go to guy for The Gaels. He has that dominant left side penetration which seems to be polished already, and with his size and toughness he can get there all night long. But when it comes to floaters, right side drives, jumper - he will still need to work on that.

That's the main question with Augustas. How further he can polish scoring profile. His floor is more or less Nick Calathes - great D, faclitation, slashing. Or he can be something more than that, if he polishes some of his scoring ways and I think naturally he has more tools, skills and talent to score in more variety of ways than Calathes. Marciulionis is still elite PG prospect Europe wise. You don't find many so fundamentally sound PGs. He has special connection of old school passing and discipline with the ball, lock down defense and the very sturdy mobile body which is rare just as in his father's case (obviously his father was one tier above in terms of explosiveness, agility, toughness which made him literal beast, but Augustas has a lot of that in him). I still treat him as top 5 PG prospects in Europe. To me Topic, Jokubaitis, Nunez, Zagars, Marciulionis, Kriisa are the best PG prospect ATM (I keep some younger guys as Saint-Supery or Jakucionis out of conversation yet, it's too soon to judge them). I would mention Killian Hayes, Maledon, Miro Little, Mannion, Madar also, but all lack certain fundamentals as PGs. Marciulionis may be the best 2 ways PG in Europe in his prime if his polishes his scoring profile to proper extent, but that's a long shot.

At the very least we have another elite PG next to Jokubaitis. We badly need to integrate him to the NT as soon as possible. Both his defense and fundamentally sound facilitation/creativity is just priceless. NT soon will be run at elite level for 40 minutes at position 1 with those two. If Maksvytis will screw again in 2024, and boy he sucked balls so far rosters wise in 2023-2024 (including FIBA windows), those 2 should be locked for 2025. Even Maksvytis being an obstacle of NT development this OC won't prevent that. Marciulionis simply too good, he will be long term piece for the NT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAuyZ9MiXqg&ab_channel=TheDraftmatic

[Serbian_Layup]

With the great pleasure got to see whole Marciulionis game against Hawaii (I'll share the link). One thing that instantly gets in your way - he's confident and playing within his own rhythm. You could also feel that in NT, the game slowed down for him. In first 2 seasons with Gaels he felt a bit anxious, a bit hesitant, but now he just runs with it as a true flour general which he has in himself naturally and showed many times in Youth NTs. What I like about Gaels is that they are playing fundamentally sound basketball, very disciplant, they share the ball precisely, no ball hogging and off course they known for defense.

It hurts Marciulionis a bit that they don't have good rolling bis which would make him even more deadly in terms of facilitation, but he is just one fundamentally sound passer. Aside pick and roll dishes, he can make a sneaky pocket pass, dish skip pass without any thinking, bullet quick cross court pass, baseball pass through all the court and so on. He has it and does it with precision. I barely seen him missing with his passes badly. Only 1 to and 6 assists in the game, but he made much more good passes than that.

Another thing is that his defense is very sticky and very consistent. I never seen a single moment when he slept on his man and being caught unready. Super consistent. He's strong and agile, and most importantly has both good strong legs and strong quick hands. Elite defender at 1 Europe wise. I don't know if there will be better defenders at 1 in Europe.

Now about scoring which had been the biggest issue with him transitioning to PROs. He is just going left like his father He's right handed, but he slashes left all the time and it's really hard to contain him. In great resemble to his father, he has special combination of mobility and toughness. He makes a little hesitation move during his driving and than explodes with a strong stride and finish. He was cooking that all game long and opponents had no answers. In front of him he had sturdy, but a bit smaller guard so he just ate him for breakfast. For Augustas the key is polishing his go to moves. As his father taught - you need to polish your go to moves. He's much more confident in his touch these days compared to last 2 seasons. He missed three and in few seconds he took long mid range jimmy - nothing but the net. It shows confident. He missed one floater badly, but in next possession he laid it in with confidence. In first half he scored 14 points and played as a go to guy for The Gaels. He has that dominant left side penetration which seems to be polished already, and with his size and toughness he can get there all night long. But when it comes to floaters, right side drives, jumper - he will still need to work on that.

That's the main question with Augustas. How further he can polish scoring profile. His floor is more or less Nick Calathes - great D, faclitation, slashing. Or he can be something more than that, if he polishes some of his scoring ways and I think naturally he has more tools, skills and talent to score in more variety of ways than Calathes. Marciulionis is still elite PG prospect Europe wise. You don't find many so fundamentally sound PGs. He has special connection of old school passing and discipline with the ball, lock down defense and the very sturdy mobile body which is rare just as in his father's case (obviously his father was one tier above in terms of explosiveness, agility, toughness which made him literal beast, but Augustas has a lot of that in him). I still treat him as top 5 PG prospects in Europe. To me Topic, Jokubaitis, Nunez, Zagars, Marciulionis, Kriisa are the best PG prospect ATM (I keep some younger guys as Saint-Supery or Jakucionis out of conversation yet, it's too soon to judge them). I would mention Killian Hayes, Maledon, Miro Little, Mannion, Madar also, but all lack certain fundamentals as PGs. Marciulionis may be the best 2 ways PG in Europe in his prime if his polishes his scoring profile to proper extent, but that's a long shot.

At the very least we have another elite PG next to Jokubaitis. We badly need to integrate him to the NT as soon as possible. Both his defense and fundamentally sound facilitation/creativity is just priceless. NT soon will be run at elite level for 40 minutes at position 1 with those two. If Maksvytis will screw again in 2024, and boy he sucked balls so far rosters wise in 2023-2024 (including FIBA windows), those 2 should be locked for 2025. Even Maksvytis being an obstacle of NT development this OC won't prevent that. Marciulionis simply too good, he will be long term piece for the NT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAuy...=TheDraftmatic

If his floor is Nick Calathes, then his ceiling must be Chris Paul, right? If his floor truly is Nick Calathes type of player, then you have an elite Euro player and one of the best two way point guards in the next decade. I haven't watched much of Marculionis, only junior tournament where he struggled to shoot the ball and finish around basket. I did notice a good physical appearance and ability to play defense.

[Straight forward]

If his floor is Nick Calathes, then his ceiling must be Chris Paul, right? If his floor truly is Nick Calathes type of player, then you have an elite Euro player and one of the best two way point guards in the next decade. I haven't watched much of Marculionis, only junior tournament where he struggled to shoot the ball and finish around basket. I did notice a good physical appearance and ability to play defense.

Well, that's why I wrote more or less, probably having in mind sort of poor man's Calathes at the very least. Calathes had a bit better size which gave him certain advantages at this position. But essentially I think Marciulionis has many traits that can match that level. Maybe he will be a bit lesser of facilitator. Maybe defensively he won't be exactly that good as prime Calathes. But my point is that Marciulionis has a profile that matches Calathes type pretty well and yet he's more talented scorer, IMO. His offensive game slowly shaping up. My projection is that as a prospect Marciulionis poised to have somewhat similar career to Calathes. Maybe I'm expecting too much. As you said it, looking from certain angle it's a lot to ask, as Calathes is all time leading facilitator in EL if we look at the total assists.

Ok, how about that, his floor is Papaloukas or Prigioni (a bit worse than Calathes) and his ceiling...I feel like Marciulionis is more about the floor than ceiling...He's just more about being rock solid and fundamentally sound rather than having staggering upside, so in his case I think that the ceiling should be something close. Rich man's Calathes let's say.

[Straight forward]

Here are some individual workouts by Marciulionis. To me that finishing lay-ups with a contact is what I want to see. That is legitimate. You either have physicality and explosiveness for that, or you don't. I disagree that this full arm extended shot is recommended on a daily basis as it is very hard to make, but if you can make it is deadly. And don't tell me that Nick Calathes had that mechanics from three, Marciulionis shooting form is much more natural.

I also share here Jogela's impression about Marciulionis from the camp. To me he's the key prospect this year from NT borderliners because of his position and what things he can bring:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwWxRvwsD5F/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwHdk0esTq1/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwFp-0LsMbm/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvq-s6GN4Iu/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvuRusvNgjf/?hl=en

[Straight forward]

Kasparas Jakucionis averaging 20.5ppg in his last 4 games in Spain EBA (4th division). I wished he played in LKL already, in some Nevezis, just as I think Marciulionis had to stay in Europe. But it will be interesting to see how it will work for Jakucionis overall. In ANGT and U-NT he looked really good. Velicka spent just some time there and run away or was kicked out. Kasparas goes through this system entirely. Maybe Spain will develop us a great guard. Nevertheless, I have some doubts whenever playing in 4th division is really beneficial. He could be learning some real PRO things already.

[Straight forward]

Jakucionis must be the best shooting PG since Jasikevicius. That jumpshot and a step back three is legit. It's pretty refreshing to see PG with a true shooting upside after all Kalnietis, Lekavicius, Jokubaitis (good spot up shooter, but not off the dribble), Kariniauskas, Marciulionis and so on. He shot 38.5% in U18 and now shoots 37,8% in the season for Barca 2. For a guy who takes some wild range and step back shots, it's really good %:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy313RBoHoz/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/Czjbc6vNd8I/?hl=en

Seems like he's bigger and added weight. For 17yo he's really bulked and ready physically. No wonder he was nearly on the same tier with Topic in U18. Next season some real PRO league is must, IMO:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyyFGQ6ITPZ/?hl=en

[Svajunas]

Upper body looks big. At 17yo thats crazy. Could end up having Walkup type of body.

[Straight forward]

Upper body looks big. At 17yo thats crazy. Could end up having Walkup type of body.

17yo Jakucionis nearly matched what 18yo Jokubaitis did in U18 EC. Both played 23mpg. Similar scoring numbers, Kasparas more rebounds, Jokubaitis more assists. Jakucionis is more of a scoring first PG with better three point game. Jokubaitis is better facilitator and decision maker. Jakucionis more physical and better defender. It will be interesting to see who will prevail as better PG. I have these 2 as best prospects at 1 in the country, followed by Marciulionis as best defender from this trio and old school pass first facilitation.

IMO, there will be tournaments when all 3 will suit for one team at 1.

Velicka is decent/solid, but not exactly what you need at 1. He's still only 23 and will improve even further. If that was 10s, I would still see Velicka as valuable piece in his prime. But now it may turn out that he will never even suit for the NT. Laurencikas development is questionable. He has fundamentals, but ATM a bit lost in transition and looking for his own identity. Maybe Stuknys can be added around these fellows, but I treat them all less talented than top trio.

Dovydas Buika (16y, 2007 gen) is actually pretty good facilitator too. 2.5as in NKL, just in 15mpg. I think he will be elite guard, but I see him at 2 nevertheless.

[Straight forward]

Marciulionis getting there. Tonight 17pts. Previously scored 14pts. That's more like Marciulionis I saw in exhibition, where he dropped 22pts and looked dominant. I watched that 14pts game and it was all clear. It's about mentality. He was coming from bad streak (like 8 missed threes) and looked hesitant, missed one floater, but then later he mad his triple and things started. He started to attack the basket aggressively, his confidence grew, it helped that he played a long stretch without Maheney and was a main guard go to. Now it's just a continuation of that confidence. His shot looks really well, it's not an ugly or technically incorrect shot. Meaning his missing streaks have more to do with confidence. He never will be a great shooter, but I don't see why wouldn't he have 32-37% career numbers. I think these two games are brake out games for Marciulionis this season. He needed that in official games. He can play even better. The way he played against Hawaii was still another level and he can get there on a daily basis eventually.

https://twitter.com/saintmaryshoops/status/1728162325834723578