Everything Valanciunas

[rocwell]

Jonas 19 pts, 8 rebs.

Lithuania won.

[DanH]

Wait didn't that guys used to play for the Raptors? I remember he was huge. If JV is doing that against such a big defender that is a good sign for the upcoming season. Btw is the game over?

Nathan Jawai. Picked him in the second round. Aussie Shaq.

[mcHAPPY]

Nathan Jawai. Picked him in the second round. Aussie Shaq.

Let's hope the Brazilian KD is not the same outcome.

[BadDinosaur]

Game's over, coach didn't use JV and D-Mo much in the second half. JV finished with 19 points and maybe 10-12 boards. Had one more nice spin move and finish in the post. Looked really impressive. Very coordinated and quick. What stood out was his control of the ball, showed really good hands when catching and dealing with double D. Last year's Jonas would have had about 4-5 turnovers in this game. He had none in this one, as he was absolutely aware of his position and the position of his opponents, dealt with them very calmy, quickly and decisively.

[Puffer]

Game's over, coach didn't use JV and D-Mo much in the second half. JV finished with 19 points and maybe 10-12 boards. Had one more nice spin move and finish in the post. Looked really impressive. Very coordinated and quick. What stood out was his control of the ball, showed really good hands when catching and dealing with double D. Last year's Jonas would have had about 4-5 turnovers in this game. He had none in this one, as he was absolutely aware of his position and the position of his opponents, dealt with them very calmy, quickly and decisively.

"I'm feelin' them good vibrations. Their givin' me excitations."

[GLF]

Game's over, coach didn't use JV and D-Mo much in the second half. JV finished with 19 points and maybe 10-12 boards. Had one more nice spin move and finish in the post. Looked really impressive. Very coordinated and quick. What stood out was his control of the ball, showed really good hands when catching and dealing with double D. Last year's Jonas would have had about 4-5 turnovers in this game. He had none in this one, as he was absolutely aware of his position and the position of his opponents, dealt with them very calmy, quickly and decisively.

Him handling double teams well is what I'm loving most because he's going to get double teamed in the NBA this upcoming season. So this is really good practice for that.

[white men can't jump]

Him handling double teams well is what I'm loving most because he's going to get double teamed in the NBA this upcoming season. So this is really good practice for that.

Yeah, it's good he's getting this chance for reps. It can take a lot of time to learn to deal with doubles effectively. So hopefully this gives him a head start, and then maybe he's able to figure it out pretty well even at some point this year.

[GLF]

One question. Does JV look like he has more than 1 good post move or is this quick spin move thing his only move? Because I remember when DD developed that spin move in his second year that's all he used to do and then teams started catching on and started stripping him constantly. I hope this doesn't end up being the same thing for JV.

[GLF]

Yeah, it's good he's getting this chance for reps. It can take a lot of time to learn to deal with doubles effectively. So hopefully this gives him a head start, and then maybe he's able to figure it out pretty well even at some point this year.

Agreed.

[DanH]

One question. Does JV look like he has more than 1 good post move or is this quick spin move thing his only move? Because I remember when DD developed that spin move in his second year that's all he used to do and then teams started catching on and started stripping him constantly. I hope this doesn't end up being the same thing for JV.

You may recall that his primary post move is actually a rip-drive into a fading hook shot in the middle of the lane. His spin move is a counter to that (guys really lean on his left side to prevent the driving hook, so the spin to his right is very effective).

[DanH]

Also, faking the spin can gain you a lot of ground backing down, since the defender will hedge away to prevent the open baseline cut (usually his spin results in a short jumper/push shot, but sometimes if he beats his defender to the punch he'll slide right in for the dunk). To stop the dunk and force the push shot (which is still a good shot for him), the defender has to bite on any spin fakes, pulling pressure off his left hip and preparing to block the baseline. So a few spin fakes could gain him a couple feet of proximity to the basket, as he comes off the fake and backs down hard into the middle of the lane, making his hook shot that much more effective.

[GLF]

Also, faking the spin can gain you a lot of ground backing down, since the defender will hedge away to prevent the open baseline cut (usually his spin results in a short jumper/push shot, but sometimes if he beats his defender to the punch he'll slide right in for the dunk). To stop the dunk and force the push shot (which is still a good shot for him), the defender has to bite on any spin fakes, pulling pressure off his left hip and preparing to block the baseline. So a few spin fakes could gain him a couple feet of proximity to the basket, as he comes off the fake and backs down hard into the middle of the lane, making his hook shot that much more effective.

Very true. Never thought about that. Did he use the spin fake in this game at all?

[RandomGuy]

Was in the game today, basically stood by him... He's huge and I'm quite tall (6.3). He haven't improved his muscles (aesthetically wise) but he has more muscle mass and stood his ground against Jawai, who as someone metioned up here did looked like Shaq.

[DanH]

Very true. Never thought about that. Did he use the spin fake in this game at all?

Hard to tell watching - so much of backing down in the post and faking moves is done without much movement - all about where you apply pressure. If he leaned right while he backed down, it could have helped him make gains.

All I can say is, he seemed to back everyone who was on him down FAST, even Jawai, who is huge. Either he's gotten a lot stronger/heavier, has improved with post move fakes to gain ground, or some combination of the two.

[GLF]

Hard to tell watching - so much of backing down in the post and faking moves is done without much movement - all about where you apply pressure. If he leaned right while he backed down, it could have helped him make gains.

All I can say is, he seemed to back everyone who was on him down FAST, even Jawai, who is huge. Either he's gotten a lot stronger/heavier, has improved with post move fakes to gain ground, or some combination of the two.

Oh okay. That's great to hear. Being able to back down Jawai definitely shows improvement because as you said that guy is huge.