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  • #16
    It's hard to say how and why these back problems started for Macas, it might have been longterm problem,and it was getting worse bit by bit, it might be sudden injury, might be some mix of it or maybe too much of physical workouts as you say. Such back ruptures (or how its called medically) has so many different ways to appear. You don't even have to be an athlete. We should search for some intrviews maybe to know, if he ever said that in details, at least I don't remember. So hard to draw any conclusions. Anyway it's one of the saddest cases in LT basketball. Basically we had our arguably the best ever SG and shooter only for 2 years and then in 2006, where nor Macas, nor NT was at best. And potentially guy could've played till some 2012 Olympics... I have no doubts that our trophy collection could've been bigger

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    • #17
      FIBA notices the recent shift. However, Velicka is overlooked. He will make his impact to NT as well:

      VILNIUS (Lithuania) - For the past decade and a half, critics have cited the lack of point guard depth as the glaring weakness of Lithuania's national team.
      LTU NT will snatch Eurobasket 2029 title with this roster:

      Jokubaitis, Marciulionis, Laurencikas
      Indrusaitis, Brazdeikis, Rubstavicius
      Buzelis, Lelevicius
      Murauskas, Sirvydis
      Tubelis, Krivas

      Comment


      • #18
        Snatched Chalons game in Youtube, I think Velicka didn't play about a month because of Covid situation in France till this game, but it seems that it didn't impact his shape all that much. Maybe the opponent not the strongest, as it's 16 finals of French cup, but Arnas was extremely active and aggressive from first minutes. Very quick, aggressive, even cheeky passes, it's like the ball would be itchy, he was so eager to make a pass and to sharpen things up with intensity. No ball kneading, just instant aggression, Walkup should watch his tape Wasn't looking for his own shot all that much, mad 14 assists and I thought it could be even more, he was making so many passes which leaded to other guys shots. Off course, BB is very uptempo, very liberal, typical France LNB BB, but Velicka is already different player than we seen in Prienai. His skip crosscourt passes are already pretty much elite, the ball is flying like a bullet, his decision making is much better, he's reading the game much more willingly and seems to have much more pride in passing. Physically looks great. I think he should surprise people in the NT, his progress should visible and he deserved a chance. On a negative side he made few harsh mistakes defensively, his focus as usually not always there, and his three point shot was completely off. Nevertheless, he's a bull PG who shows obvious stints of improvements, eager to see him next week:

        Favoris sur le papier Ch?lons-Reims tentera de confirmer sur le terrain face ? Besan?on (NM1). Dans le sillage du meilleur marqueur de JEEP ELITE, Jalen Adam...
        LTU NT will snatch Eurobasket 2029 title with this roster:

        Jokubaitis, Marciulionis, Laurencikas
        Indrusaitis, Brazdeikis, Rubstavicius
        Buzelis, Lelevicius
        Murauskas, Sirvydis
        Tubelis, Krivas

        Comment


        • #19
          Originally posted by madmax View Post
          I'm still not convinced by Jokubaitis progress and Lekavicius is who he is, which is an energy guy off the bench to provide some scoring burst for the second unit...
          I tend to agree with you about Lukas Lekavičius. He just doesn't have the size to be a good defender and thus a starting PG.

          With age becoming a factor for Mantas Kalnietis, I really do hope that a couple of good PGs emerge from among the trio of Arnas Velička, Rokas Jokubaitis and Augustas Marčiulionis.

          And I'm not yet completely convinced that Vaidas Kariniauskas is a lost cause. He does seem to have gotten his head together to play some good basketball for Lietkabelis.

          Last edited by Hepcat; 11-23-2020, 06:03 PM.

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          • #20
            I take it that Žygimantas Janavičius is injured right now?

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Hepcat View Post
              I take it that Žygimantas Janavičius is injured right now?

              He is, for some month already, but should be back soon enough, but that's more important topic to struggling Neptunas, not NT anymore

              Comment


              • #22
                Few cents on Velicka's debut in NT. One thing that really excited me was his attitude. Velicka used to have a reputation of emotionless and sort of laid back, maybe even slightly cocky youngster, but I though his carriage was great. He was excited, nervous, it was obvious he WANTED IT. He cared and really wished to do it right. I think now he's sort of an underdog keeping in mind Jokubaitis and Marciulionis. He knows society and even coaches now invite those 2 in the first place and expect the most from them, so I think Arnas had some additional motivation to prove he's on the map. Kept strictly with coache's requests, if going p'n'r then p'n'r, if sending the ball to the left (Girdziunas p'n'r) then it is. No bullshit messing around, crazy threes, unpredictable decisions. He looked like a really coachable player. A bit eager, urgent and too excited here and there, yes, but overall really poised. And knowing his age and excitement I thought he stuck strictly with the game plan nicely, maybe even too much. Only 1 turnover per 2 games in 31min, 12 points, 7 assists. That's a solid numbers. We should also have in mind he had one game in more than a month in France due to Corona, and came late to the camp having really little time to prepare. So he's not into his 100% playing shape as well. I loved how his slashing prevails instantly, even against athletic Belgians, I thought he could be even more aggressive here and there, he nailed 6/6 FT and that's good because his legs were shaking a little bit, it was seen.
                Now on the negative side, I thought he blew couple of really good lay ups that he could really make, he was hesitant shooting three while open (later took the contested one), he didn't really felt comfortable controlling the team in the broad sense, but then again it could be coaches asking to stick to his strong sides particularly. Compared to even more vital debut of Jokubaitis, Velicka couldn't express him self as all around facilitator, was a little bit disturbed with those stretches when the tension begun to grow, didn't felt comfortable taking over the control of the game entirely, something what Jokubaitis didn't cease to do against Czeck Rep.
                Overall, I think very promising performance, somewhat more matured than probably one could expect from Velicka. He shows clear signs of development, improving both as player and the person. I thought his body language and communication was really spot on, I didn't track anything fishy about his carriage while he was linked with some attitude issues by some people. IMO, we are witnessing a flat out long term NT guard member. I predict him making 2022EC roster (oh, snap, now I can't even predict such thing...).

                Last edited by Straight forward; 12-01-2020, 02:08 PM.
                LTU NT will snatch Eurobasket 2029 title with this roster:

                Jokubaitis, Marciulionis, Laurencikas
                Indrusaitis, Brazdeikis, Rubstavicius
                Buzelis, Lelevicius
                Murauskas, Sirvydis
                Tubelis, Krivas

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by Straight forward View Post
                  Few cents on Velicka's debut in NT.... I think now he's sort of an underdog keeping in mind Jokubaitis and Marciulionis. He knows society and even coaches now invite those 2 in the first place and expect the most from them....

                  Compared to even more vital debut of Jokubaitis, Velicka couldn't express him self as all around facilitator, was a little bit disturbed with those stretches when the tension begun to grow, didn't felt comfortable taking over the control of the game entirely, something what Jokubaitis didn't cease to do against Czeck Rep.
                  Right this moment I think Arnas Velička is far more ready for the big time than is Rokas Jokubaitis.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Originally posted by Hepcat View Post
                    Right this moment I think Arnas Velička is far more ready for the big time than is Rokas Jokubaitis.
                    Why do you think so?
                    LTU NT will snatch Eurobasket 2029 title with this roster:

                    Jokubaitis, Marciulionis, Laurencikas
                    Indrusaitis, Brazdeikis, Rubstavicius
                    Buzelis, Lelevicius
                    Murauskas, Sirvydis
                    Tubelis, Krivas

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Rokas Jokubaitis was born on 19 November 2000 while Arnas Velička was born on 10 December 1999. Velička is therefore almost a year older which makes a big difference at that age.

                      Last February Rokas Jokubaitis had a PER of 8 in 22:35 minutes of play against the Czech Republic, a relatively weak opponent. In the July friendly tournament against Estonia and Latvia Jokubaitis' PER over 16:35 minutes of play was 5. In comparison during the two just completed games against Denmark and Belgium, Arnas Velička had an average PER of 8.5 in 15.7 minutes of play.

                      Jokubaitis had a PER of 8.9 over an average of 16:50 minutes of play in 19 LKL games in 2019-20. Jokubaitis has a PER of 6.5 over an average of 17:22 minutes of play in 8 LKL games this year. In 2019-20 Velička had a PER of 13.9 over an average of 26:25 minutes of play in 24 LKL games.

                      That's all the objective data I have but it favours Velička.

                      Last edited by Hepcat; 12-01-2020, 11:00 PM.

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                      • #26
                        Hepcat, bruh, we already discussed that, stats do not show all the picture Either you following a player, or you don't. If you don't, you don't know anything about him. That's is a fact. Velicka is underrated, but Jokubaitis has been magnificent in Euroleague this season (I assume you haven't snatched a single game of Zalgiris this season) and really stood up compared to last season. At the moment he's surely better than Velicka, but it's a bit more close than most people think in Lithuania, or at least they did prior these windows.
                        LTU NT will snatch Eurobasket 2029 title with this roster:

                        Jokubaitis, Marciulionis, Laurencikas
                        Indrusaitis, Brazdeikis, Rubstavicius
                        Buzelis, Lelevicius
                        Murauskas, Sirvydis
                        Tubelis, Krivas

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          2022-2024 guard lineup we have like 4 locks

                          lekavicius,jokubaitis
                          grigonis,giedraitis

                          sf will be loaded if your prediction with sirvydis and brazdeikis will come true with ulanovas there as main one.

                          so you saying that Velicka will overcome Dimsa or your even beloved D.Giedraitis ?

                          im not so sure at all we need 3pg in every tournament,usually we had only 2 pg.

                          I would rather have more sg-sf in todays type game. My guess would be velicka will be like juskevicius if everybody healthy he will be 13th player.By time Lukas will get old marciulionis gonna be close to be ready by your future prediction no ?

                          you know that team cant have like 7 guards right ?

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                          • #28
                            I agree with these 4 locks, maybe questioning R.Giedraitis just a little bit, not because doubting his current level, but he may just be not a spot on fit for the NT. I think next tournament will show where he is now and can he bring his things for the NT as well. If not, he may be at question because most likely we will have interesting options going further now.

                            As for 2022, now I would see something like this:

                            Jokubaitis, Velicka,
                            Grigonis, Lekavicius, R.Giedraitis

                            I would use Lekavicius as 2 more, as both Jokubaitis and Velicka are better facilitators. At some point I would even consider to have six guards, be it D. Giedraitis, or a bit later A. Marciulionis, because we can't leave aside stud guards. It's a guard orientated game and I would sacrifice one center or forward, but would take a guard who can change the game with a good stretch. To me, Velicka is too good to be some borderliner. If my projection is spot on, I see him developing into a really strong long term player, providing very solid stretches from the bench. I don't really see T. Dimsa as some long term piece. I don't really even think he will make NT if all the pieces will be there.

                            If we will have a lot quality guards, it will be a great problem to have. IMO, both Marciulionis and Jokubaitis are very versatile scorers as well. They will be able to play 2 rather comfortable, the same Jokubaitis now is playing off his position basically. Velicka not so much, I think his primarily force lays on p'n'r, passing and dominant slashing, but he doesn't have mid range game and overall not so versatile scorer, so I have him at 1 primarily. At some point I think we'll have six guards tournaments. And, yeah, despite the fact I'm a huge fan of Lekavicius, I don't foresee him having a very long career for the NT. This summer he'll be 27yo, I project him to play since some 31. Most likely he will have to step aside for stronger guards, but it's just a speculation now.
                            LTU NT will snatch Eurobasket 2029 title with this roster:

                            Jokubaitis, Marciulionis, Laurencikas
                            Indrusaitis, Brazdeikis, Rubstavicius
                            Buzelis, Lelevicius
                            Murauskas, Sirvydis
                            Tubelis, Krivas

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              It's not some big prospect, and he's nowhere near three youngsters we discussing here, but I think Jokubas Rubinas deserved just to be mentioned. However you watch at it, it's a rare occasion that 18yo PG would dominate NKL the way he does this season. 15.6pts, 6.1ast. Off course, that comes in 33:15min and Perlas this season is not so strong as in previous years, but Rubinas numbers are worth considering. F.e. 19yo Lekavicius had 12.1pts, 5.6ast in 32min (stronger team and bigger competition likely). Rubinas is 186cm crafty PG who lacks a bit more explosiveness and toughness, but surely can shoot threes. We don't seem to be lacking PGs this decade, but he might be an interesting borderliner:

                              LTU NT will snatch Eurobasket 2029 title with this roster:

                              Jokubaitis, Marciulionis, Laurencikas
                              Indrusaitis, Brazdeikis, Rubstavicius
                              Buzelis, Lelevicius
                              Murauskas, Sirvydis
                              Tubelis, Krivas

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Another lefty... wtf

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