Just how many players on that list were BUSTS? I count only 3-4, there are also a few very solid players, and the rest are ELITE players. And he's leading the list! That's pretty outstanding.
The Lithuanian national team head coach, Jonas Kazlauskas, confirmed on Tuesday that Jonas Valanciunas will be on his 12-man squad that will travel to Slovenia for EuroBasket 2013.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital Vilnius, Kazlauskas explained that the 21-year-old center will miss the start of preparations, on 15 July, but will join the national team's training camp at a later stage.
Valanciunas, who just completed his rookie NBA season with the Toronto Raptors, will play in the NBA's summer league in July.
"The delay will not be so long that we should start to panic," Kazlauskas commented.
Following almost 20 days of training camp on home soil, Lithuania will play two back-to-back warm-up games against Belgium on 5 and 6 August and then against Sweden, on 12 and 14 August.
Lithuania will then face F.Y.R. Of Macedonia, who are also their opponents in the First Round of the EuroBasket, in Skopje, before returning home to play host to Russia, Finland, Italy and the Czech Republic.
The Baltic nation's team will then participate in a tournament in Athens where they will measure forces against another of their First Round opponents, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as against hosts Greece and Italy.
They will conclude their friendly games with an encounter in Vilnius against Georgia on 1 September, three days before the EuroBasket tips off.
I think this schedule is the best of both worlds for JV.
Hopefully get a couple of weeks minimum before training camp kicks off for Toronto.
I think working with Sabonis is better than The Dream.... but that is just me.
I think for JV's post scoring, working with Hakeem is better. I think for things JV needs to work on this summer in anticipation of a heavier load (decision-making and passing from the post), Sabonis is better.
I think, ideally, working with Hakeem would be very good in the early part of the summer. Spend that time doing drills with Dream, absorbing any advice he has, so that JV can work it into his regimen for the whole summer. It shouldn't actually take anything away from what he'll work on later as he meets first with Raptors staff, then later with the national team.
*Also the article only mentions the team stuff JV is doing, both that he'll be at Summer League and at Eurobasket. They make no mention of individual training plans, which he'll clearly have.
Valanciunas takes so very long to decide what to do when he gets the ball in the post. That high dribble and indecisiveness is a recipe for disaster.
I don't find he takes super long though. He doesn't "Bosh" it at least...(take about 42 pump fakes before finally making your move). I also find that sometimes he presses far too much as well, especially when facing up compared to backing down. All in all, I trust he'll learn the right balance of patience and aggression.
I think working with Sabonis is better than The Dream.... but that is just me.
Either would be fine in my book he needs guidance, I think one of the biggest mistakes players is make is not networking to get better working with legends in the league.
I dont want JV to be lazy like DH.... which I'd say hes already proven he isn't.
Valanciunas takes so very long to decide what to do when he gets the ball in the post. That high dribble and indecisiveness is a recipe for disaster.
i would argue most of those are just broken plays by the wings. they give him the ball to give back out but no one can get open. so he starts the post up. reminder that he was 8th(?) or something in touches last season
i would argue most of those are just broken plays by the wings. they give him the ball to give back out but no one can get open. so he starts the post up. reminder that he was 8th(?) or something in touches last season
That's like the argument of what came first, the chicken or the egg? There is a reason that JVs' teammates don't have a lot of faith in his post game.
That's like the argument of what came first, the chicken or the egg? There is a reason that JVs' teammates don't have a lot of faith in his post game.
I see that more as a patience and not trying to rush/force anything, if you follow Spurs for example, you could see that Timmy is approaching it in a very similar fashion, not trying to take a bad low-percentage shot but instead reading what can be given to him. I also think, that JV suprised a lot of people (myself included) with his post game this season. I actually didn't think he was this capable on offense. It almost makes up for the fact that he's a bit of a liability sometimes on the defensive end.
Regarding that chicken/egg argument, I'd say it's definitely because of the selfish and always chucking play by the wings (Gay, DD, AA). I hope the coaching staff will make some adjustments this off season and give Jonas at least 10-15 touches every game. It seems like he could average the same point average as Gay with half the amount of shots. You can't expect to be a playoff calibre team if you build your offense around Gay or DD.
That's like the argument of what came first, the chicken or the egg? There is a reason that JVs' teammates don't have a lot of faith in his post game.
I'd say there's more than one, and none of them are JV's fault. Selfish players. Low IQ players. Poor leadership. JV was being treated like the invisible man by the team until post-injury/post-trade.
You could tell the difference Gay made in JV's game...Why? Because he showed him trust and acted like a true leader around him. He would look for him on the roll or in the post, showing confidence that JV could and should convert those opportunities. Finally there was a player (other than Amir) willing to pass to a big man to make the right play. And I'm a critic of Gay too, but the leadership difference he made, even if not astounding, was noticeable. Hopefully this trend continues, and I think JV's growth wil help that, as he seems like a natural leader. So hopefully, teammates will feel more accountable between them and look to make the right play more often.
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