Everything Valanciunas

[planetmars]

Any news on how far along JV's healing is? Any timetable for his return to action? Practice at least? Anybody?

On Jan 2nd, there was a report that he was still 3-4 weeks away. So if we assume 3 weeks, he'll be back around Jan 23rd. We play Indiana on the road that day (second game of B2B though). Perhaps the 25th against the Rockets on the road.

If we go by 4 weeks, that would be Jan 30th. We play the Mavs on the 27th at home, and the Bucks on the 30th at home. So if 4 weeks, than possibly one of those games.

[BadDinosaur]

Any news on how far along JV's healing is? Any timetable for his return to action? Practice at least? Anybody?

[consmap]

A few years ago Dwane Casey said, in reference to JV: "the days of the center has gone by." That wasn't just Casey's opinion, in fact it still is the prevailing notion in the NBA these days.

But a funny thing has happened this year. If you look at impact stats, i.e. PIPM, you notice that 7 of the top 20 impact players in the NBA this season are centers. Even more interesting is that all of those guys have good to great defensive impact stats.



Earlier in the season, Serge Ibaka was hailed for transitioning to the prototypical mobile, stretch 5, rim protecting unicorn center for the modern NBA, but it's become painfully obvious that we need JV's size, toughness and finishing ability to compete at a high level. In Nurse's 'jazz solo' offense, JV is one of the few guys who can consistently create his own efficient shot and he cleans up misses which would be even more important with FVV & Wright conducting the offense way out of rhythm.

Chr1s1anL: where you @?

Jonas is our bass player in the quintet. Come back soon big fella

[DanH]

A few years ago Dwane Casey said, in reference to JV: "the days of the center has gone by." That wasn't just Casey's opinion, in fact it still is the prevailing notion in the NBA these days.

But a funny thing has happened this year. If you look at impact stats, i.e. PIPM, you notice that 7 of the top 20 impact players in the NBA this season are centers. Even more interesting is that all of those guys have good to great defensive impact stats.



Earlier in the season, Serge Ibaka was hailed for transitioning to the prototypical mobile, stretch 5, rim protecting unicorn center for the modern NBA, but it's become painfully obvious that we need JV's size, toughness and finishing ability to compete at a high level. In Nurse's 'jazz solo' offense, JV is one of the few guys who can consistently create his own efficient shot and he cleans up misses which would be even more important with FVV & Wright conducting the offense way out of rhythm.

Chr1s1anL: where you @?

The other thing about Nurse's offence is even if you want your players to read and react, you need the defence to move to give them something to react to, and there is one tried and true method for making the defence move - setting a screen. And JV is by a couple orders of magnitude the best screen setter (and threat after a screen) on the team. The raw talent of Lowry and Kawhi has led the team to great success regardless, but take one out and we're seeing how much the offence has relied on that, and without JV there, we're seeing how ugly the offence can get without those two papering over the issues and without real screen actions to move the defence around.

[golden]

A few years ago Dwane Casey said, in reference to JV: "the days of the center has gone by." That wasn't just Casey's opinion, in fact it still is the prevailing notion in the NBA these days.

But a funny thing has happened this year. If you look at impact stats, i.e. PIPM, you notice that 7 of the top 20 impact players in the NBA this season are centers. Even more interesting is that all of those guys have good to great defensive impact stats.



Earlier in the season, Serge Ibaka was hailed for transitioning to the prototypical mobile, stretch 5, rim protecting unicorn center for the modern NBA, but it's become painfully obvious that we need JV's size, toughness and finishing ability to compete at a high level. In Nurse's 'jazz solo' offense, JV is one of the few guys who can consistently create his own efficient shot and he cleans up misses which would be even more important with FVV & Wright conducting the offense way out of rhythm.

Chr1s1anL: where you @?

[KeonClark]

The toughness JV provides is a vastly overlooked skill. Impossible to quantify by stats, but painfully obvious to see with the eye test.

Jv is a "big game" player. Serge was a big part of a finals run. We all know Danny and kawhis resumes. I feel good knowing Lowry is now surrounded by super confident players. No offense to the demars and the "open look, I'm shook" Patterson or t ross' of the world..

[golden]

The toughness JV provides is a vastly overlooked skill. Impossible to quantify by stats, but painfully obvious to see with the eye test.

[Mitch P]

Though we pulled out the game tonight against Miami, the first half was another painful reminder about how much JV is missed. I am ready to admit that Nurse has been using him wisely for the most part. With the current NBA style of play he might never become a 30 minute a night player. But I have the impression that JV is the consummate teammate, extremely valuable in certain situations and in some games able to dominate. His defence has improved, especially rim protection. As his trade value is probably limited I suspect he will stay a Raptor for a long time and that pleases me.

[Scraptor]

We're at 35 games so I think the real plus/minus data is starting to solidify... and our boy JV is at 10th among all 61 centres in the NBA!

This is a serious improvement staked largely on his jump to 22nd in defensive RPM. Kudos to JV. He may not be perfect at everything, but what he does do, he does very well.

[G__Deane]

Love the guy and this team misses his presence. Plus the great fashion sense

[jacobdr4]

Jonas was on Danny Green's show this week. Love this series, nice to get a little extra look at the guys.

[Nilanka]

So I try and watch the opposing team's broadcast whenever possible, just to see what others are saying about the Raptors. And so far this season, everyone's been impressed with the way Jonas has handled his "demotion" to the bench.

"Here's a guy who's been a starter his whole life, and he takes a back seat for the betterment of the team, and not a single complaint. True professionalism"

There's one thing Colangelo did right...even if he did pass up on Kawhi

[inthepaint]

Actually, throughout the years I observed one consisten thing with JV and his matchups with bigs. He consistently outplays his contemopraries and younger bigs like Drummond, Whiteside, Embid and he suprisingly outplays those quick bigs or at least it's a wash performance against guys like Anthony Davis and all the other young star and superstar bigs.
Where he struggles most often is against veteran centers like Marc Gasol, Steven Adams or even Gortat.
Good thing is, those guys are getting old quickly and won't be bothering JV for much longer.
JV's defence has also improved dramatically over the last 2 seasons. Many fans still hang on to his reputation as a defensive liability, but if you observe him this season with a fresh eye without any pre-conception on his D, you'll observe a big who plays with a tremendous sense for space that he occupies and where he should be at any time when patroling the paint. He manages to position himself between the ball handling guard and the big to take away angles for the 2 man game and does a great job of contesting at the rim, whoever tries to finish.
The proof for that is when you look at driving guards, they rarely look to finish at the rim over JV anymore and there are very few opportunities for a drop-off pass to a big. Most guards are forced to either keep their dribble and move back out to the perimeter or try the long floater or a mid-range shot in the p&r set. This is exactly what you want from your D, encourage the opposing team to take as many mid-range shots as possible. In the long run, it's the best solution possible and JV has become a really good at forcing those plays.

Well said, and that's true. It's annoying to see a midrange floater by a guard on the p'n'r to go in, but the reality is that statistically, that's the shot you want to allow if you have to choose one. A straight drive by the guard (when you over-focus on defending the big) or a lob to the big (when you over-focus on defending the guard) it's a much better/higher % shot for the offence.

Allowing a floater by the guard also lets the defending big to immediately rotate to box out the opposing big, which is the best/most efficient away to secure the defensive rebound if the floater doesn't go in.

JV may look undecided at times, but that's exactly what you gotta do if the defending guard is already beat on the pnr.

[BadDinosaur]

Actually, throughout the years I observed one consisten thing with JV and his matchups with bigs. He consistently outplays his contemopraries and younger bigs like Drummond, Whiteside, Embid and he suprisingly outplays those quick bigs or at least it's a wash performance against guys like Anthony Davis and all the other young star and superstar bigs.
Where he struggles most often is against veteran centers like Marc Gasol, Steven Adams or even Gortat.
Good thing is, those guys are getting old quickly and won't be bothering JV for much longer.
JV's defence has also improved dramatically over the last 2 seasons. Many fans still hang on to his reputation as a defensive liability, but if you observe him this season with a fresh eye without any pre-conception on his D, you'll observe a big who plays with a tremendous sense for space that he occupies and where he should be at any time when patroling the paint. He manages to position himself between the ball handling guard and the big to take away angles for the 2 man game and does a great job of contesting at the rim, whoever tries to finish.
The proof for that is when you look at driving guards, they rarely look to finish at the rim over JV anymore and there are very few opportunities for a drop-off pass to a big. Most guards are forced to either keep their dribble and move back out to the perimeter or try the long floater or a mid-range shot in the p&r set. This is exactly what you want from your D, encourage the opposing team to take as many mid-range shots as possible. In the long run, it's the best solution possible and JV has become a really good at forcing those plays.

[DerozansSpurs]

Yeah.. he seems to always do well against plodding bigs like Embiid, Cousins, Gobert, Drummond, Whiteside, Jordan.

But struggles against most other teams.. well, and Gortat for some reason.

Also struggles against Steven Adams, but then again, Adams plays incredibly physical and reckless.