Lithuanian Point Guards

[Straight forward]

I still have no answer who will be better - Jokubaitis or Marciulionis. Literally.

[Straight forward]

KJ with six 20pts games in a row. And what's exciting he hit 2 big clutch shots leading his team to a win. He said he doesn't feel any pressure down the stretch. That fade a way mid range jimmy is deadly. He seems to provide more on more mid range jimmies that he didn't show much in BARCA:

https://x.com/bjpf_/status/1871279972981367188

[Straight forward]

Spot on take on Jakucionis including concerns:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ_ngwuoLUc&ab_channel=HoopIntellect

[Straight forward]

Jakucionis put on a show again against strong team. He put 16pts, 6as, 6rbs all in second half. He can make an amazing spurts and played limited 22min. Young Jasikevciius had that cheakiness to make some fancy plays, but Jakucionis is on another level. I have to say we have to say thanks to Spanish BB school. If KJ stayed in LKL, he would probably be making screens and be a cautious crap (ok, ok, I'm exceeding cause Macas was cheaky even if he never played else where for a long time). But really KJ provides some silly passes, some mind blowing creativity. I watched him a lot and then I watched Zalgiris Lithuanians and I can't believe we have Kasparas. He's so amazingly good, so amazingly good. People call him NBA player this very moment. He became NBA ready being 18yo. He's that good and the level is surreal. He became consensus top 5 and more like he's locking himself at 3 spot for the most serious scouts. I just watch what he does on the court, his level of manipulation, skill and flexibility and I have hard time to believe we have this gem after this 15 years disappointing stretch of LTU basketball. Hell, I can't believe we have it overall historically. This is really surreal moment for me as NT and LTU BB fan.

https://x.com/JKnowsfootyy/status/1875047379852034196

https://x.com/CBBonFOX/status/1875042178831118524

That last dance, holly shit:

https://x.com/Recru1t1ng_Guru/status/1875060081638998159

[Straight forward]

Jakucionis in action. He's unstoppable playing with 2 shooting bigs. It's just clinics. He can find them rolling or popping and he can finish himself 3-level. Unstoppable. Too bad Lithuania doesn't have shooting bigs. One deadly shooting center would explode FIBA competition IMO. Having KJ operating with the ball, Buzelis at the wing, and shooting center would be literally deadly (specially with shooting wings filling the gabs as Sirvydis, Rubstavicius, Indrusaitis, Lelevicius).

At the moment, my main issue - the lack of true shooting center. Other than that, LTU has everything they need to start climbing up big time (starting with some 2028).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McMpWktRKJc&ab_channel=SublimeBasketball

[Serbian_Layup]

Jakucionis in action. He's unstoppable playing with 2 shooting bigs. It's just clinics. He can find them rolling or popping and he can finish himself 3-level. Unstoppable. Too bad Lithuania doesn't have shooting bigs. One deadly shooting center would explode FIBA competition IMO. Having KJ operating with the ball, Buzelis at the wing, and shooting center would be literally deadly (specially with shooting wings filling the gabs as Sirvydis, Rubstavicius, Indrusaitis, Lelevicius).

At the moment, my main issue - the lack of true shooting center. Other than that, LTU has everything they need to start climbing up big time (starting with some 2028).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McMp...limeBasketball

I haven't watched much of Jakucionis yet, and I don't like to label players as stars before I see them at PRO level, but I see that he is very talented, especially as off the dribble shooter. Very fluid and crafty step back or side step threes. As a passer, he is rather flashy than consistent. He can make some wow passes but not as a true floor general type of player. Another thing I noticed (from the small sample I've seen so far) is that his first step in not exactly all that impressive, could have troubles breaking first line of defense against serious defenders at PRO level. Seems like a solid finisher around the rim, even if he lacks vertical explosiveness. All in all, I get the buzz around Jakucionis, he could be the real deal and someone who could make Lithuanian NT competitive. I would like to see him playing at Eurobasket to get to know his game better, even if that is unlikely to happen. FIBA basketball is a real test, in college basketball there are like 80-90% players who don't make it at PRO level, so the real question for all those talents is whether they can make transition to senior basketball. In Jakucionis' case, he is the type of player who has to dominate to be successful, he won't succeed as a role player, so every aspect he is dominanting right now would have to translate to NBA or FIBA level to live up to expectations. That can be tricky sometimes.

[Toruko]

I haven't watched much of Jakucionis yet, and I don't like to label players as stars before I see them at PRO level, but I see that he is very talented, especially as off the dribble shooter. Very fluid and crafty step back or side step threes. As a passer, he is rather flashy than consistent. He can make some wow passes but not as a true floor general type of player. Another thing I noticed (from the small sample I've seen so far) is that his first step in not exactly all that impressive, could have troubles breaking first line of defense against serious defenders at PRO level. Seems like a solid finisher around the rim, even if he lacks vertical explosiveness. All in all, I get the buzz around Jakucionis, he could be the real deal and someone who could make Lithuanian NT competitive. I would like to see him playing at Eurobasket to get to know his game better, even if that is unlikely to happen. FIBA basketball is a real test, in college basketball there are like 80-90% players who don't make it at PRO level, so the real question for all those talents is whether they can make transition to senior basketball. In Jakucionis' case, he is the type of player who has to dominate to be successful, he won't succeed as a role player, so every aspect he is dominanting right now would have to translate to NBA or FIBA level to live up to expectations. That can be tricky sometimes.

He still lacks core strength and upper body strength rn. He over dribbles and pick up his dribbles too often. He would be forced to take outside shots in the NBA rn and he is not ready to create those shots in the NBA. He is indeed very talented and I would take him to the NT too but hell struggle.

Now I understand why it was said that he might stay one more year in the NCAA.

[Straight forward]

SL, yes, it's interesting that KJ is better shooter off the dribble than catch and shoot which is very rare, like Harden comes as the best example first. For LTU is a blessing cause we need guys who can create their own shot. Jokubaitis is not very good three point shooter off the dribble, that's one of his weaknesses. I think KJ has the best step back three package after Doncic from white players globally. This weapon is deadly, it changes the game cause he can take a difficult three as a solid shot. Regarding play making, it was a misunderstanding previously that he is combo, but he is true floor general, extremely aggressive play maker who reads the game differently. He will turn the ball over (so I see what you mean), but even in those situation you get the idea what he tried to do. He can switch his focus from scoring to passing depending on situations, we will see 20 assists games in his career, he's that good. First step is indeed not overly impressive and biggest question is how he will finish inside in the NBA. Does he have enough burst and explosiveness to create his shot inside. I think he'll be fine cause he has good brakes and acceleration and all the manipulative moves, feel for the game. And he's special with screens. So there will be times when big agile athletic guards will lock him, but it shouldn't be his NBA career changing issue. Regarding him being dominant on ball or fail...I wouldn't agree entirely even if I also think that's the best situation for him and most natural since he was the main guy anywhere he played and always had huge freedom to lead the team, so he should look for lead guard role in the NBA. But the thing is he is good off ball guard too. He's No.1 option for Illini and he generates most of possessions, but he also plays nicely off ball when Kylan Boswell plays at 1, they kinda switch all the time naturally. That's why I say KJ has a lot of Bogi in him, he can play successfully on and off, but essentially he has to play with the ball as the guy to be in most perfect situation. His EB 2025 status is more like not available because of draft and our yet again "fishy" coaching staff.

One more thing has to be said about KJ. He's 6'6 which is great size for PG, but he has plus winspan. So when he gets inside, even with reserved burst and leaping ability, he still is tough to cover and he is good with deflections and rebounding because of long hands. This makes his profile even more intriguing.

Toruko, he became consensus top 5. I really don't see a scenario where he's staying.

[Straight forward]

All the insane hype about KJ was spot on. No-one ever cared about Illini, but KJ was so good that people started to talk about them. And now he carried them to the point when they are racked top 5 in NCAA. He carried them to such heights through tough schedule as a freshman. Iowa State with Indursaitis are 7th so they are elite as well, but so rookie doesn't get PT. What KJ does is amazing. Only few freshman in last 16 years did what he does now and one of them "Lithuanian wanne be". It's really ironic. Srry, Russel we have younger version of you who will end up much better player in NBA and way bigger winner :P I love players that hear with whom KJ is compared: Doncic, Dragic, Bogdanovic, Nash, SGA. I warched SGA's 40pts game recently and I was surprised how much moves I see as KJ provides. I was really surprised. And then I remembered that he is always naming Luka and SGA when asked what players he study the most so there' no surprise. He steals everything from these guys.

https://x.com/JoeySmoke14/status/1875044324024697022

https://x.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1875299435460358389

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Wow. The craziest thing about Jakucionis, if he was in Buzelis 2024 NBA draft class he would be consensus No.1 pick 2025 draft is so deep and peoople put KJ at top 3 often and top 5 almost everywhere:

https://x.com/sixringsofsteeI/status/1875579844089803160

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Not stopping. Dude has consistency and nailed clutch shots. So far he either matched that funny hype or exceeded. As I expected, he's basically the most complete guard in competition and only few freshmen did what he's doing right now:

https://x.com/Recru1t1ng_Guru/status/1876129680195285286

[Straight forward]

Back to back +20pts games for Marciulionis. I expected even better three point shooting % than 35%. Nailed 4/5 last night which is a career high. His shot looks much more established, like polished. I believe he will be better shooter than Jokubaitis. I mean three point shooting. He can shoot more off the dribble, he has quicker release in catch and shoot situation.

It will be really fun to follow who will have an upper hand fighting for back-up PG spot long term between Jokubaitis and Marciulionis. Jokubaitis better enjoy his +25mpg in Eurobasket cause it's probably the last tournament when he will have such luxury.

https://x.com/saintmaryshoops/status/1876868432223785184

[Straight forward]

Watch that steal and intensity that he elevates. Tell me that there's no little vibes of his pops there.

https://x.com/saintmaryshoops/status/1876863696980320374

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Today for the first time I seen people dropping KJ as second overall in twitter.

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Dude without offense, shooting, self creation. Basically a scrub offensively

Yeah, right. He will be roasting EL players asses offensively if not even having some kind of NBA affair:

https://x.com/saintmaryshoops/status/1884790834836680914