Lithuanian NT 2016 Olympics

[Shawshank]

Shawshank, I said it's a fantasy team. Where did I say Sabonis won't be a role player? Did I say he'll be a key player or leader? You have a tendency to misquote or misinterpret posters writings, but at least you tried to attack my post so I have something to write about NT (thanks for that). Sabonis did OK in Eurobasket when he faced playing time and I thought he could play even more (he already has advantage in rebounding and defensive quickness, flexibility compared to Jankunas), but Jankunas had a solid performance (still too unpredictable to be starting units' option for such team as Lithuania and he was bricking those wide open threes in the final; you never know which Jankunas you'll see given day). To mark 3 young players out of the whole team which I identified as ready to go is another brilliant example of the lack of education (no offence though). I can only say that if there would be D-MO and ready to go Kleiza, Jankunas wouldn't see much of the playing time if any (having in mind how good Kuzminskas looked in the kock-out stage while playing at 4), as well as Kavaliauskas because D-Mo would surely play as a center as well, so at the best case scenario I don't see much of the difference who will be warming the bench and playing a little role - Kavaliauskas/Jankunas or Gudaitis/Sabonis.

Before i championship is said to you i would be very suprised if Sabonis get atleats 10minutes average... you wrote long comment about how good,strong,smart Domantas is and he is perfect for this team watching those meaningles friendly games and bla bla...
Im not attacking you,im saying youngsters team goes nowhere in playoofs and i gonna say you that every day,because that is true.Im not attacking youngsters,im saying that we have better players than they are right now thats all and those better players have to be in Olympics 2016 !
comparing Jankunas/Kavaliauskas to Sabonis/Gudatis and say its the same thing jeezas...In all moments when our team strugled all we could trust was 7-8 players...Maciulis,Valanciunas,Kalnietis,Jankunas,Seibutis,K uzminskas,Kavaliauska,Milaknis and to some degree Javtokas thats all this 8 men won that medal and ticket to Olympics. If choose between experienced and 31 years old big men like Jankunas/Kavaliauskas (that is still on their best years right now) ,that have been and won and lose some games there in Olympics i choose them over unproven and unexperience youngster any day without too much thinking as 90% of coaches would do.Every Olympics is the same: best players play,and more youngsters will be when new olympic cycle begin next year after Olympics.Always was like that and always will be.Stop fooling yourself with those rookies youngsters on biggest basketball stage Olympic games.That wont work,but if you have to do that its because there is no other way for example: like Sabonis was last summer.

[Shawshank]

Stop saying that Lekavicius was bad in EB. If he had played like he had in preparation games media would be calling the next Marciulionis now.
I would call his performance realistic. He didnt harm the team, just that he didint make his shots.

On the other note I would say that there is a pretty big chance we wont see DMO next year. Considering his back, contract issues and Rockets wiew on NT's. So Sabonis could get his chance once again.

The last of the three Gudaitis. I dont see what the whole fuss is about. He is a good prospect and he will probably play for NT one day. But he has miles to go, specialy on defensive end.

Im sorry but for me Lekavicius performance was bad.

in 9,1 minutes he averaged 0,6points ,1,3 assist and shoot from the floor 12,5% (2 of 16)...Even javtokas scored more points with his 4 attempts in entire tournament and averged the same assist average as Lekavicius did...And every time he played PG our team stopped and kazlauskas coulndt even rest Kalnietis for 3 minutes...That is not good no matter how you look at it. Because he was so popular last season in zalgiris so mostly defends him,if such performance would be for other PG everybody would be saying no need even to invite him next year.Vasiliauskas even had better stats.If i see that player played bad i say that.I dont give a shit how popular or not player is in front of other fans.Lukas is 21years old and i understand he couldnt handle that pressure,but that doesnt change the truth: he played badly in eurobasket.Hopefully he learned his lessons that will help him in the future,maybe even wearing national team uniform again.But how he started new season doesnt look good,we will see...

[Straight forward]

I think you really treating Lekavicius role in a wrong way. He played very solid, good defence, he was able to handle the ball, he was able to make a right pass (not an assists) to keep combination working, he wasn't lost or confused. He felt pressure and was a bit too exited (that's why he missed some of his very makable jumpers), but he was able to stick to the role and to be useful even in the knock out stage. Now Vasiliauskas on other hand couldn't handle the pressure, he looked simply lost, he couldn't handle the ball, he could break defensive pressure, couldn't pass. Vasiliauskas made some threes and buckets there and here, but overall he just failed to play his role and that was more than obvious. In the knock out stage he basically was ruled out of rotation. Now Lukas went to EB just to give some rest for the team and he gave just a little less than people expected offensively, but managed to cope with the rest (and actually he made less TOs and avoided mental chaos better than I expected). And Kazlauskas could trust him for defensive reasons in some very important moments.

[Svajunas]

Friendly games are a good indicator of a player's potential, but not his readiness at the moment. We see youngsters beasting in friendlies every year, but actual competitive games are a completely different thing. I'm sure Lekavicius' time will come, but he will not be a serious contributor next year, even if he has a good season this year.
Same goes for Sabonis, I think his massive potential is clear for everyone to see, but 20 year olds don't lead teams to significant victories at any high level competition, be it NBA, Euroleague or National team.
And you must not have seen Marciulionis play, because comparing Lekavicius to him is sacrilege

Where did I say that they have to lead the team. Did you read my comment at all?
and where did I compare Lekavicius to Marciulionis?

After good performance in friendly games people where expecting too much of the guy. Now people are saying jhe played bad, wich he didint.

[Svajunas]

I think you really treating Lekavicius role in a wrong way. He played very solid, good defence, he was able to handle the ball, he was able to make a right pass (not an assists) to keep combination working, he wasn't lost or confused. He felt pressure and was a bit too exited (that's why he missed some of his very makable jumpers), but he was able to stick to the role and to be useful even in the knock out stage. Now Vasiliauskas on other hand couldn't handle the pressure, he looked simply lost, he couldn't handle the ball, he could break defensive pressure, couldn't pass. Vasiliauskas made some threes and buckets there and here, but overall he just failed to play his role and that was more than obvious. In the knock out stage he basically was ruled out of rotation. Now Lukas went to EB just to give some rest for the team and he gave just a little less than people expected offensively, but managed to cope with the rest (and actually he made less TOs and avoided mental chaos better than I expected). And Kazlauskas could trust him for defensive reasons in some very important moments.

I agree 100%.

Shawshank watches stats and thats it. He probably thinks JV is NBA star because shoots high %.

[Modis]

We will see how he performs for Zalgiris this season..His defence looks really good. Just needs to work on his shooting, and take more responsibility.

[Straight forward]

How about Milaknis? The guy is continuing to prove he's a real deal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qAFViHTdB8

Jasaitis continues to play well.

And Grigonis continues to be really solid in ACB. Do you think he'll get invitation this year? Highly unlikely though it would be nice just to get feet wet in the camp already before seriously competing for the spot in 2017.

[Svajunas]

How about Milaknis? The guy is continuing to prove he's a real deal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qAFViHTdB8

Jasaitis continues to play well.

And Grigonis continues to be really solid in ACB. Do you think he'll get invitation this year? Highly unlikely though it would be nice just to get feet wet in the camp already before seriously competing for the spot in 2017.

I hope he does get invited just to see what he is like. I dont think I have ever seen him play.

[Shawshank]

To Straight forward

Still Jankunas need to proove something after this performances on the road in euroleague or eurobasket 2015 ? Jankunas right now is on the peak of the powers ,when he still has all his abilities and very valuable experience.Very smart,solid,tough nose PF. He is lock for our Olympic 2016 team.Never seen Jankunas playing so smart and good in entire his career (on both ends of the floor).

Kuzminskas and Jankunas both had briliant starts of new season.

[Straight forward]

To Straight forward

Still Jankunas need to proove something after this performances on the road in euroleague or eurobasket 2015 ? Jankunas right now is on the peak of the powers ,when he still has all his abilities and very valuable experience.Very smart,solid,tough nose PF. 100 % national team player in Olympics 2016 doesnt matter who comes to the camp.He is lock for our Olympic 2016 team.Never seen Jankunas playing so smart and good in entire his career (on both ends of the floor).

Kuzminskas and Jankunas both had briliant starts of new season.

Kuzminskas so far is perfect (we'll see tonight what he'll bring) and Jankunas very solid. He's not perfect because he had a crappy game against Lokomotiv and shoots threes only 16,7%. But yeah he's probably playing his best basketball. Jankunas will surely make a team if healthy. There's a good chance D-MO won't be in Olympics, Kleiza might not be there as well. However, in the best case scenario I would want exactly those 2 to fill 4 position in the first place. No idea if Kleiza still can be a good player though, he's doing his rehab and that leaves hope alive. Ready to go Kleiza coming of the bench and giving offensive boost would still be huge for Lithuania.

[Straight forward]

BTW, this guy still can be deadly in transition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr0_PmqmSKA

I expect Kalnietis to regain his physical and technical tools completely and to be better player in Olympics. He specially needs to regain his optimal physical condition, he can be one step more athletic than he currently is. The most importantly not to overuse him and that's what Krapikas does right now exactly.

[Mindozas]

BTW, this guy still can be deadly in transition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr0_PmqmSKA

I expect Kalnietis to regain his physical and technical tools completely and to be better player in Olympics. He specially needs to regain his optimal physical condition, he can be one step more athletic than he currently is. The most importantly not to overuse him and that's what Krapikas does right now exactly.

I don't see any problem here, everything is fine with Kalnietis. He is not some oldie, so these 25-30mins in the beginning of the season won't harm him and so far he doesn't show any signs that it does. Moreover he is main PG, coming into new team after missing whole preparations phase, so naturally he needs more time on court and afterall we don't have any good substitution for him. When Zalgiris will have easier games, no one will force him to play too long. Most likely it'll happen already in next 3 LKL games vs Pasvalys, Nevezis and Lietkabelis. It should also be a chance for Lekavicius finally to wake up

[Shawshank]

So far dissapoints Pocius a lot atleast me...He was preparing for a new season entire summer (he said that himself),but all those that played for national team looks way better.Pocius lost basicaly all this athletism of 2010.He looks slow and dont show that explosiveness anymore.Hopefully he will find his form,because otherwise again Kalnietis and Seibutis will have to play30+ min in Olympics...Kalnietis dunk againts turkish teams,showed slowly, but he is coming back to better form.As i said before eurobasket it will take him atleast year to comeback to prevous form,after not playing more than a year.So i wont put to many hopes on kleiza as 2016 Olympics goes,when you are not playing basketball for so long,1-2 months traning wont help to get to prevouss form...You will lose feel for the game when you are not playing seriuos basketbal.

If Motiejunas wont play because of new contract/injury... kleiza very questionable in many aspects...Darjus will be 36 next summer.Again will be same problems in PG and PF positions. God protect Kalnietis and Jankunas health

[Mindozas]

So far dissapoints Pocius a lot atleast me...He was preparing for a new season entire summer (he said that himself),but all those that played for national team looks way better.Pocius lost basicaly all this athletism of 2010.He looks slow and dont show that explosiveness anymore.Hopefully he will find his form,because otherwise again Kalnietis and Seibutis will have to play30+ min in Olympics...Kalnietis dunk againts turkish teams,showed slowly, but he is coming back to better form.As i said before eurobasket it will take him atleast year to comeback to prevous form,after not playing more than a year.So i wont put to many hopes on kleiza as 2016 Olympics goes,when you are not playing basketball for so long,1-2 months traning wont help to get to prevouss form...You will lose feel for the game when you are not playing seriuos basketbal.

IMO it's not fair, atleast so far, to compare Kleiza and Kalnietis situations. First of all it's different injuries - Kalnietis with shoulder injury of shooting hand = big problem not only for his shooting abilities, but he lost his agressiviness at offense (not explosiviness), was (and still is) tryin' to avoid contact. Kleiza's injury is more serious, cause there's no known deadline when he'll be ok, might be month, might be end of career, but it'll be easier for player like Kleiza to comeback to playin' shape when healthy. He won't lose his shooting touch, which is important for him, he will lose speed, quickness, part of explosiviness, but he can live with that, cause he was never speedy/quick player.
Another thing - both are having very different roles in NT, one is brains of it, so with Kalnietis in poor shape all the teamplay is suffering, meanwhile Kleiza isn't that crucial anymore, he won't show up - there'll be other players that can step up.
Also Kleiza missed only few months so far, not entire year like Kalnas, so he still has lot of time to be in quite good shape till summer, even if he will play only since some March. Of course if he'll decide to play for NT at all. So let's wait a bit.

On a good note. Pocius and Lekavicius today showed some signs of bein' alive. Of course Pasvalys is not some big team, but you must start from smth I guess For Pocius it was all these small injuries, which damaged his start of the season, he was in quite good shape in preps, but when real games started all that problems began. Lekavicius problems was in his head, heared that coach was asking him to take few days off, to relax a bit, clear his mind after all busy summer, tough start of the season, but he refused, kept practising, blamed himself, was nervous. Hope with this game he will shake it all off

[Straight forward]

I could argue that peaking Kleiza (playing for Nuggets) was pretty quick even for 3 position in NBA, but it's not all that important. Kleiza still can shoot threes and that's very important because most of our 4 are inconsistent 3 point shooters (except D-MO hopefully who shot 37% last season and hopefully will keep it up). Jankunas, Kuzminskas, Sabonis are simply not good 3 point shooters, they are average. Kleiza shot 35% last season and that's decent number and he had tournaments where he was shooting over 40% from downtown. So Kazlauskas would have a very solid option when he would want to stretch the flour which is a great fir for either JV or D-Mo as both nearly unstoppable in the paint. We all remember how Jankunas was missing those open threes in the final against Spain. That's where reality ticket appears - we need players who just makes those shots. Spain had those and Lithuania lacked such players as D-MO and Kleiza who could make things done. Defensively Kleiza might not be good, but playing with Spain, France, not to mention USA, you won't win only with defence, you have to compete offensively as well. We needed 34 points ffromMačiulis to pass Georgia at the end of the day. So if we'll have both JV and D-MO, I would take even current Kleiza just for his ability to stretch the floor.

As for guard rotation, It's very realistic Jasaitis might face some time at 2 if he finally can be a scoring player again. Let's face it, 100% ready Jasaitis can compete with both Pocius and Milaknis. But he needs to bring both offence and defence just as he used to do in 2006-2012.