Everything Valanciunas

[BadDinosaur]

After a couple of minutes in the 3rd the game turned in to a blowout. JV and other starters got an early breather mid 3rd quarter. I'm not sure the starters will play in the 4th. JV has 18pts and 11rbs. It's 72-47 for Lithuania.

[BadDinosaur]

JV did play another 90 seconds in the 4th. He finished with 22pts and 14rbs. Lithuania won by 32 against Ukraine. JV with a game high +30 in +/-.

[Demographic Shift]

If JV can quickly and consistently make his decision when the ball gets down to him on the block.. to either take his jumper... make his move to the basket ......or pass it out and screen or repost...he is going to make a big difference on the floor this year.

Looks like he is leaner which can't hurt.. but... if he "gets it" now on what to do with the ball and quickly ...this brings a real plus to his game.... many have been waiting on this for the last 2-3 years... maybe this is the year....please lord.. let this be the year.

[SkywalkerAC]

JV looking fit and decisive.

[JamesNaismith]

Smooth start into the game for @musukrepsinis ���� as @Jvalanciunas hammers it down! #EuroBasket2017

�� https://t.co/1xf8mQU7WH pic.twitter.com/cK5v0xtDDw

— FIBA (@FIBA) September 5, 2017

Needs more pumpfake.

[JamesNaismith]

As for TT/JV swap, crazy because ever since that draft there has been a bit of debate amongst Rap fans about who was better and most would agree that it was Val but we simply don't use his strengths and Tristan's strengths would fit better here.

Personally I would do it, it's fairly pointless to hold onto Val if we just refuse to use his offensive skills on a consistent basis. It's been YEARS so I don't see why Casey will suddenly change that. May as well have a more useful defender who can do all the same stuff we ask JV to do rebound, catch lobs, set picks etc

Come to think of it the only thing a bit scary that would get me to reconsider it is the thought that a willing passer like LeBron may use Val to further humiliate us in a series and wouldn't it just be a cherry on the top for JV in Casey's dumb face.

[Chr1s1anL]

As for TT/JV swap, crazy because ever since that draft there has been a bit of debate amongst Rap fans about who was better and most would agree that it was Val but we simply don't use his strengths and Tristan's strengths would fit better here.

Personally I would do it, it's fairly pointless to hold onto Val if we just refuse to use his offensive skills on a consistent basis. It's been YEARS so I don't see why Casey will suddenly change that. May as well have a more useful defender who can do all the same stuff we ask JV to do rebound, catch lobs, set picks etc

Come to think of it the only thing a bit scary that would get me to reconsider it is the thought that a willing passer like LeBron may use Val to further humiliate us in a series and wouldn't it just be a cherry on the top for JV in Casey's dumb face.

Cavs would never do it. IT/Love/JV would be defensive suicide. LBJ makes everyone better that's just the type of player he is. Unfortanuatelt Raptors don't have anyone with that vision/passing ability.

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[Shaolin Fantastic]

As for TT/JV swap, crazy because ever since that draft there has been a bit of debate amongst Rap fans about who was better and most would agree that it was Val but we simply don't use his strengths and Tristan's strengths would fit better here.

Personally I would do it, it's fairly pointless to hold onto Val if we just refuse to use his offensive skills on a consistent basis. It's been YEARS so I don't see why Casey will suddenly change that. May as well have a more useful defender who can do all the same stuff we ask JV to do rebound, catch lobs, set picks etc

Come to think of it the only thing a bit scary that would get me to reconsider it is the thought that a willing passer like LeBron may use Val to further humiliate us in a series and wouldn't it just be a cherry on the top for JV in Casey's dumb face.

Bring JV off the bench and let him destroy opposing bench units. Please can we fucking do this.

[DanH]

Bring JV off the bench and let him destroy opposing bench units. Please can we fucking do this.

Playing with DeMar off the bench would make no difference for JV, we've seen it done.

I agree, he should get minutes with the Lowry bench.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Playing with DeMar off the bench would make no difference for JV, we've seen it done.

I agree, he should get minutes with the Lowry bench.

Not enough.

[DanH]

Not enough.

Not enough what? He's played in bench units with DeMar before, and has gotten the same usage he gets with the starters. If you want him to be featured more, playing him with DeMar is not the answer. Better for him to provide rebounding and size against starters and get some featured minutes with the Lowry bench, than to risk Poeltl getting in foul trouble early or running Ibaka against big centres, while getting JV no more offensive opportunities.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Playing with DeMar off the bench would make no difference for JV, we've seen it done.

I agree, he should get minutes with the Lowry bench.

One thing I like about guys like Duncan, KP, Lowe, etc is that they don't have favourite teams or players for the most part so they don't try to skew data to fit narratives as much (they still do just not as much as other people). You don't want JV to come off the bench so you try to find as much data as possible to support that even though there isn't much. I guess you're just a big fan of his and that's understandable. Doesn't mean it's right.

I'm looking for how to help the team. Monroe was a big boost offensively for Milwaukee in that role and JV is a better player than him. And Milwaukee started an inexperienced youngster (Maker) in his stead to facilitate that move. OKC did the same a while back with Kanter/Adams. It's the best move for the team.

[DanH]

One thing I like about guys like Duncan, KP, Lowe, etc is that they don't have favourite teams or players for the most part so they don't try to skew data to fit narratives as much (they still do just not as much as other people). You don't want JV to come off the bench so you try to find as much data as possible to support that even though there isn't much. I guess you're just a big fan of his and that's understandable. Doesn't mean it's right.

I'm looking for how to help the team. Monroe was a big boost offensively for Milwaukee in that role and JV is a better player than him. And Milwaukee started an inexperienced youngster (Maker) in his stead to facilitate that move. OKC did the same a while back with Kanter/Adams. It's the best move for the team.

Again, you take an act other teams have done and try to apply it to this team with zero regard for play style or the results when they've done it before.

I'm the one providing actual evidence of what the Raptors have done in the past and what the results have been - you can feel free to just keep attacking me instead of providing any evidence to the contrary. Believe it or not, I am quite capable of looking at evidence before coming to a conclusion, and coming to the conclusion based on that evidence, not some childish dedication to an idea with no reasoning behind it. I hope you can relate, and perhaps can provide some actual evidence that your idea would work, for JV, for the Raptors, within the Raptors' system, and within the specific lineups he would be involved in if they were to take that route. I honestly would appreciate being provided the evidence that it has a solid chance to work - I've looked for it and can't find it.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Again, you take an act other teams have done and try to apply it to this team with zero regard for play style or the results when they've done it before.

I'm the one providing actual evidence of what the Raptors have done in the past and what the results have been - you can feel free to just keep attacking me instead of providing any evidence to the contrary. Believe it or not, I am quite capable of looking at evidence before coming to a conclusion, and coming to the conclusion based on that evidence, not some childish dedication to an idea with no reasoning behind it. I hope you can relate, and perhaps can provide some actual evidence that your idea would work, for JV, for the Raptors, within the Raptors' system, and within the specific lineups he would be involved in if they were to take that route. I honestly would appreciate being provided the evidence that it has a solid chance to work - I've looked for it and can't find it.

I'm actually not just copy pasting what other teams are doing. I'm looking at our situation and a strategy that's been used effectively elsewhere and seeing how we can apply it.

You're providing evidence yes, so have I, but you haven't done it in any sort of conclusive way. You've focused on lineup stats which don't really show anything one way or the other regarding starting JV or bringing him off the bench. In my case we have very little data of Poeltl actually starting, so it's difficult to try to apply those numbers (you attacked viciously when I even dared to bring up the 2-man lineup Ibaka-Poeltl numbers). Other than that we saw JV come off the bench in the playoffs where he was very effective and had 2 of his highest usage and scoring games.

Even in your article you can't draw any concrete conclusions, and the conclusion you try to draw with JV playing with DeMar vs. Kyle off the bench is largely irrelevant. The point is he's coming off the bench in both circumstances and is the 2nd option rather than 4th which allows his main asset (offensive game) to be utilized better. The problem is with every stat you reference you're starting from the frame of "JV has to start" so it's hard to even accept other ideas.

Other people like Kevin Pelton, Zach Lowe, Nate Duncan, all very reliable advanced statistics based writers have suggested the Raptors try this.

[DanH]

Consider this:

JV and Siakam together were an issue last season.

But... Siakam and JV:

With DD: 515 MP, -10 net rating
With DD without Lowry: 67 MP, -7.4 net rating
Without DD: 63 MP, +19.7 net rating

So... plan A is to run JV out for half his minutes with both Siakam and DD as part of the bench unit? Wonderful idea.