2023 Lithuanian NT

[Straight forward]

Hope D-Mo will get TFA from NT with his attitude. He probably started this with lame excuses like "not having insurance" and so on and when he was 20-21yo:

"The priorities of the players are also changing, a different understanding is coming, a new generation has arrived. Watching the last generation was how to be here together, now more players are focused on the team, how to get a better contract, how not to get injured. Elementary things. Things change and there are players who opt out. We are not made of iron, everyone needs to be understood and it is everyone's personal decision."

National team doesn't need players with such attitude.

[Shawshank]

Valanciunas,Kuzminskas,Grigonis,Lekavicius,Sabonis ,Butkevicius

They played 3 last tournaments 2019,2021,2022 if they would say my body is tired and i need one summer off i can accept that


But players who had free summers in 2021 or 2022 i dont wanna hear their crying in media about tiredness

[Toruko]

Not a very good game of the next star upside European guard Rokas Jokubaitis.

[Straight forward]

Not a very good game of the next star upside European guard Rokas Jokubaitis.

Where do you find place for irony? There's none. 22yo, by far the best young PG in EL. 2 final fours in the pocket. Shots didn't fall, but 4 dimes in 15 minutes is solid.

https://twitter.com/euroleague_time/status/1660304700829315073

[Shawshank]

Jokubaitis finished with 0-5 from floor and 0 pts and eff. -2 thats solid game by dinosour expert eyes


Maybe Jokubaitis is by far best euroleague young guard ,but today 2 years younger france pg with name Strazel scored 14pts with eff. +10 playing on opponents team and they guarded each other in some moments


Overall my impression about Jokubaitis in final four. He always plays on 120% speed and in moments where it works its looks wow, but 2minutes later next few moment comes and playing on that speed all the time stupid mistakes/desicions comes. He still wild guard and need to learn when go 120 speed when put just 60 speed.

Tallent can be seen with blind eyes,but basketball iq and reading situations not there yet


Rodrigues shown what is real floor general in this final four. Jokubaitis should watch videos of him again and again.

Thats was masterfull performance by pg maestro . Rodrigues controled real offence, Tavares real defence and 4th worst roster of final four won euroleague

[Toruko]

Jokubaitis finished with 0-5 from floor and 0 pts and eff. -2 thats solid game by dinosour expert eyes


Maybe Jokubaitis is by far best euroleague young guard ,but today 2 years younger france pg with name Strazel scored 14pts with eff. +10 playing on opponents team and they guarded each other in some moments


Overall my impression about Jokubaitis in final four. He always plays on 120% speed and in moments where it works its looks wow, but 2minutes later next few moment comes and playing on that speed all the time stupid mistakes/desicions comes. He still wild guard and need to learn when go 120 speed when put just 60 speed


Rodrigues shown what is real floor general in this final four. Jokubaitis should watch videos of him again and again.

Thats was masterfull performance . Rodrigues controled real offence, Tavares real defence and 4th worst roster of final four won euroleague

He is right now not able to regulate the tempo. In such an age its not surprising. He is a very good p&r initiatior. You can see it but learning how to define the pace is important. Idk if it is the limited role or if he just doesnt feel he hasnt made a single step in this direction. Making open shots and creating from the mid range looks ok but if anything is contested things start looking ugly. Not being a good defender he must polish his offensive game and he should really forget about the NBA.

[LuDux]

"finished" did they even start?

[LuDux]

2023 N'B'T: Marekas Blaževičius, Ąžuolas Tubelis, Danielius Lavrinovičius, Arnoldas Kulboka, Gytis Nemeikša, Dovydas Butka, Deividas Sirvydis, Lukas Uleckas, Mantas Rubštavičius, Arnas Beručka, Matas Jogėla, Ignas Sargiūnas, Augustas Marčiulionis. Head coach: Darius Songaila

[Shawshank]

Good idea bring all kids together and let them show in direct competion which deserve to be invite to main camp.

If im Kulboka i would be insulted invited to this kids pre camp after his good season in eurocup

No Velicka ?


Does these young players all agreed they comming or Balciunas just make this tallent list and published to media ?

[Straight forward]

God bless current federation, it had to be done way earlier.

Velicka had turnover prone performance in FIBA windows so I think it's pretty clear current version is not sufficient for NT culture.

To me the biggest disappointment is that there's no Simas Lukosius. I guess he didn't change his mind.

Other than that I could easily find spots for Murauskas, Krivas, Lelevicius, but what the heck. I'm more than excited to see Marciulionis, Rubstavicius, Sirvydis, Tubelis. Hardcore Rytas' material (Rubsta started ANGT career playing for Rytas). That's highest upside and true NT material prospects. To lesser extent I'm interesting in Sargiunas, Blazevic, Kulboka. I see them more like borderliners at this point. The way things shaping in terms of a talent, I can see only these 4 bolded becoming long term NT pieces.

[Straight forward]

Jus additional info - Buzelis won't come this summer. The idea was to have him for a week, but the decision between federation and parents was - there's no point generally. He remains committed to LTU though.

B national team will play 3 exhibition games, against WC 2023 NTs.

I assume D. Giedraitis is a main camp candidate that he's not in the list. There might be Velicka too, but less likely. More like coaches seen what Velicka does now and decided that it's time to test others.

[Straight forward]

The biggest mystery in this list is Dovydas Butka. Because he's 2003 and will be eligable for U20. If you include Butka, why to exclude Lelevicius, Murauskas, Krivas who are by far better? No biggie, but really strange Probably the idea that coaches want to test Butka more closely while these other guys are more tested and seen. Just my try to justify this move.

[Straight forward]

Another thing - Lukas Uleckas. Dude is 5eff points scrub for Rytas. How he deserves attention? Completely out of hand, IMO.

[Straight forward]

If Sabonis won't come, and we have just JV, then we have to do what Real did to cover Tavares? To play zone? This way Tavares stayed fresh for the offense. Off course, Tavares is buch bigger and he changes much more shots than JV inside, but probably Maksvytis has to try this if Valanciunas is again our main center.

[LuDux]

Damn, Songaila is total idiot of a coach, must be that Soviet mentality