Leksas unleashed his 2028 projection and mostly I agree, but I would move some players positions wise and maybe even roles wise.
That's mine.
Jakucionis, Jokubaitis, Marciulionis
Indrusaitis, Rubstavicius, D. Giedraitis
Buzelis, Sirvydis, Lelevicius/Brazdeikis
Murauskas, Sedekerskis (*Matas)
Sabonis, Tubelis, Krivas, Valanciunas
To me, this starting 5 is needed for a serious chance to sneak into contenders territory. I have almost no doubt that Jakucionis will be the best guard at the time if his development will be smooth. Indrusaitis may not yet be the main SG at 22, but I would hope for it. He is nearly as talented as Macijauskas. Less shooting, but much more versatility inside. People don't get that Indrusaitis versatility is super rare and that's the top talent (some people I mean). He's at the tier of Siska, Macas essentially talent wise. His essentiality is overlooked by mediocre LKL BB figure. If we pack our SG position with him as top piece, it's fantastic. Buzelis is the key off course (a long with Jakucionis). No need to say anything else, just look what Franz doing. Murauskas has to stretch the floor (essential) and here and there add his ISO talent. Sabonis will have more freedom too if all these pieces will pan out.
What might be an issues of this potential starting 5? Depends how 1-4 positions shooting develops. That's the main question. All guys have very promising shooting profiles, but none of them are at Kurtinaitis/Karnisovas/Macijauskas/Stombergas soil shooting wise. I think all will be solid shooters, but it shouldn't be anything less if we want success. If say all these guys will be shooting only 32%, that's not gonna be good enough. Sure, all are extremely versatile and they will punish people with their driving and mid range game. Like literally all 1-4 guys have driving/midrange game and that's a big plus, but for this line-up to mesh, their shooting should be developing well in upcoming 4 years. Defensively this team would be pretty OK.
Why I don't put Jokubaitis and Rubstavicius as a starting line-up? Simple. Jakucionis is better than Jokubaitis. Rubstavicius maybe...but he's not as versatile and much worse defender than Indrusaitis. Off course, in 2028 Jokubaitis and Rubstavicius may still be starters, but for LTU BB is the key to wait my starting line-up to pan out. Then we have ENOUGH scoring power, versatility and talent to match any opponent (I mean truly compete and even win). Lithuania can't expect to have more talent that this line-up (assuming panning out) cause it is simply impossible. That line-up essentially means 3 NBA players (Jakucionis, Buzelis, Sabonis) and 2 boderline NBA players (Indrusaitis, Murauskas). I actually still think that Indrusaitis may sneak into NBA and we will have 4 legitimate NBA players into starting line-up.
Back-ups are great for back-ups. The problem only is that most of them as Jokubaitis, Rubstavicius, Sirvydis, Lelevicius, Brazdeikis are poor defenders. That will limited their upside. But prime Jokubaitis and Rubstavicius can be that good offensively that they would still be huge addition to success with their roles. Here it's important to fill the gaps with grindy guards as D. Giedraitis and A. Marciulionus. You have to have those hard workers who would bight the floor literally.
NT coach will have tons of options how to manage the rotation. Hope he won't screw as much as Maksvytis who completely mishandled this Olympic cycle. Completely. We need more grip defensively and that's why I think some of offensive talents that could thrive in 10s, like (I'm guessing) Brazdeikis, Sirvydis, Lelevicius, will have to be a bit sidelined for the sake of result.
For my tastes, I play that starting line-up a lot and throw some gutsy players defensively from the bench like Marciulionis, D. Giedraitis, Sedekerskis. This way we can have very spot on 2 way presence. And NBA scrubs as Alvarado wouldn't make a joke of us. And I play only true offensive standouts as my rotation pieces - Jokubaitis, Rubstavicius (maybe Sirvydis depending how consisten he'll become).
It's funny, but I even see the scenario when players as Jokubaitis, Rubstavicius, Sirvydis, Brazdeikis, Lelevicius (one way offensive players) will be barely needed for the NT in 2028 or 2029. If that starting 5 is ready and I have great defenders (who can play quality offense too) as my bench, I have a team, and for former offensive players I can see only little roles.
We'll have way more talent compared to 10's. The key however is that Jakucionis, Indrusaitis, Buzelis would turn out into standouts. NBA players. Only this way we can build contending NT in 20s. Talent level is crazy in FIBA competition. But if these 3 players pan out - We're good. Cause we will have even superior bench to most NTs (yes, maybe even including big players as Serbia, Germany, France, Spain). Having pieces like Jokubaitis, Rubstavicius, Sirvydis, Sedekerskis, Tubelis, Krivas off bench....Not every NT can field that.
That's mine.
Jakucionis, Jokubaitis, Marciulionis
Indrusaitis, Rubstavicius, D. Giedraitis
Buzelis, Sirvydis, Lelevicius/Brazdeikis
Murauskas, Sedekerskis (*Matas)
Sabonis, Tubelis, Krivas, Valanciunas
To me, this starting 5 is needed for a serious chance to sneak into contenders territory. I have almost no doubt that Jakucionis will be the best guard at the time if his development will be smooth. Indrusaitis may not yet be the main SG at 22, but I would hope for it. He is nearly as talented as Macijauskas. Less shooting, but much more versatility inside. People don't get that Indrusaitis versatility is super rare and that's the top talent (some people I mean). He's at the tier of Siska, Macas essentially talent wise. His essentiality is overlooked by mediocre LKL BB figure. If we pack our SG position with him as top piece, it's fantastic. Buzelis is the key off course (a long with Jakucionis). No need to say anything else, just look what Franz doing. Murauskas has to stretch the floor (essential) and here and there add his ISO talent. Sabonis will have more freedom too if all these pieces will pan out.
What might be an issues of this potential starting 5? Depends how 1-4 positions shooting develops. That's the main question. All guys have very promising shooting profiles, but none of them are at Kurtinaitis/Karnisovas/Macijauskas/Stombergas soil shooting wise. I think all will be solid shooters, but it shouldn't be anything less if we want success. If say all these guys will be shooting only 32%, that's not gonna be good enough. Sure, all are extremely versatile and they will punish people with their driving and mid range game. Like literally all 1-4 guys have driving/midrange game and that's a big plus, but for this line-up to mesh, their shooting should be developing well in upcoming 4 years. Defensively this team would be pretty OK.
Why I don't put Jokubaitis and Rubstavicius as a starting line-up? Simple. Jakucionis is better than Jokubaitis. Rubstavicius maybe...but he's not as versatile and much worse defender than Indrusaitis. Off course, in 2028 Jokubaitis and Rubstavicius may still be starters, but for LTU BB is the key to wait my starting line-up to pan out. Then we have ENOUGH scoring power, versatility and talent to match any opponent (I mean truly compete and even win). Lithuania can't expect to have more talent that this line-up (assuming panning out) cause it is simply impossible. That line-up essentially means 3 NBA players (Jakucionis, Buzelis, Sabonis) and 2 boderline NBA players (Indrusaitis, Murauskas). I actually still think that Indrusaitis may sneak into NBA and we will have 4 legitimate NBA players into starting line-up.
Back-ups are great for back-ups. The problem only is that most of them as Jokubaitis, Rubstavicius, Sirvydis, Lelevicius, Brazdeikis are poor defenders. That will limited their upside. But prime Jokubaitis and Rubstavicius can be that good offensively that they would still be huge addition to success with their roles. Here it's important to fill the gaps with grindy guards as D. Giedraitis and A. Marciulionus. You have to have those hard workers who would bight the floor literally.
NT coach will have tons of options how to manage the rotation. Hope he won't screw as much as Maksvytis who completely mishandled this Olympic cycle. Completely. We need more grip defensively and that's why I think some of offensive talents that could thrive in 10s, like (I'm guessing) Brazdeikis, Sirvydis, Lelevicius, will have to be a bit sidelined for the sake of result.
For my tastes, I play that starting line-up a lot and throw some gutsy players defensively from the bench like Marciulionis, D. Giedraitis, Sedekerskis. This way we can have very spot on 2 way presence. And NBA scrubs as Alvarado wouldn't make a joke of us. And I play only true offensive standouts as my rotation pieces - Jokubaitis, Rubstavicius (maybe Sirvydis depending how consisten he'll become).
It's funny, but I even see the scenario when players as Jokubaitis, Rubstavicius, Sirvydis, Brazdeikis, Lelevicius (one way offensive players) will be barely needed for the NT in 2028 or 2029. If that starting 5 is ready and I have great defenders (who can play quality offense too) as my bench, I have a team, and for former offensive players I can see only little roles.
We'll have way more talent compared to 10's. The key however is that Jakucionis, Indrusaitis, Buzelis would turn out into standouts. NBA players. Only this way we can build contending NT in 20s. Talent level is crazy in FIBA competition. But if these 3 players pan out - We're good. Cause we will have even superior bench to most NTs (yes, maybe even including big players as Serbia, Germany, France, Spain). Having pieces like Jokubaitis, Rubstavicius, Sirvydis, Sedekerskis, Tubelis, Krivas off bench....Not every NT can field that.
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