hitman67

I'll admit that I badly want to see JV in a Raps uniform as soon as possible so I might be a bit biased....

But with that said, I think the Rubio point is a really good example of how staying in Europe might not necessarily be a good thing. It's pretty clear to me that Rubio has regressed or stayed the same since he played in the Olympics a couple years back and his time in Europe has done nothing for him except maybe destroy his confidence. Val is obviously a different person but I fail to see how staying in Europe and playing less minutes in an inferior league with inferior players is going to somehow be beneficial compared to playing in the NBA right away? Yes, I realize he's still not as strong as he needs to be but that's the same with lots of big's that come into the NBA... how is Jonas any different? If anything he has already proven more than most 7 foot prospects his age that he can play against NBA talent at a relatively high level. He won't dominate but I'm confident that he'll help our team and more importantly he'll develop a lot faster. The NBA has different rules, different officiating and completely different talent... if the lockout ends before the beginning of the regular season and the Raps can somehow renegotiate his buyout then they'd be stupid not to.

Nobody

I think a lot of people just afraid he won't be given a fair chance there if he goes to NBA without basics, that needed to play even 5 minutes in every of 82 games, despite being picked high in drafts. Waiting a year is kinda postponing that, maybe slight, but still a chance he will bust. If by "inferior" league you mean Eurocup, I can assure you it will be the most competitive 2nd Cup in Europe till now. Valanciunas will have his hands full there and it's still the worst possible scenario (if Rytas will lose Euroleague qualies). BTW, you ask how is Jonas any different? How many 19 years old white European centres gone to NBA clubs and made a good name for themselves? It's scary, and it's scary for Valanciunas himself, as he said he is not ready for NBA as for right now.

About Rubio. He had perfect opportunity to progress in Barcelona - probably best team in Europe. Right teammates, right style of play (fast), good competition (ACB league and Euroleague). I'm sceptical about NBA team giving him something to progress, that he wasn't given in Barcelona. I would say Rubio stagnation is not Europe fault.

hitman67

I don't think playing for Barcelona was the perfect opportunity for Rubio because he wasn't allowed to play through his mistakes when he was struggling and he spent a lot of time of the bench (especially in key moments). Similarly, I'm concerned that Val won't get enough minutes in Europe and that could be detrimental to his growth. Also, no matter what any league he plays in outside of the NBA will akeays be inferior because the level of talent isn't the same. Also, like I said before the rules are different too and European bigs almost always struggle to adjust to the NBA because of that. Historically it always takes longer for Europeans to get used to the American style of play and nothing Val does in Europe is going to prepare him for that transition.

Nobody

Don't worry about minutes, with second center of Rytas being kinda not good, Valanciunas will play 25 minutes a game if he keeps his foaling ratio low and not play bad in defence. I get other concerns, like the rules and getting used to American style of play, but he still will have to deal with that, sooner or later. You probably think sooner is better and I think, that he needs to go to NBA with some more confidence and skills than he has now and one more year in Rytas wil help him.

ValanciunasFanboy

Barcelona system was horrible for Rubio.

Built around Navarro, lack of open court, lack of athleticism.

Plus hand checking - that's common for Europe as a whole but it's terrible for Rubio.

Nobody

Why you removed (edited) more specific post? It was actually interesting and had a lot of valid points, then I think about it, guys like Lorbek weren't his ideal partners in offence

ValanciunasFanboy

I wanted to make it short, I get carried away sometimes, and I think ppl generally don't read walls of text.

i still probably have it in cache somewhere if someone really cares much about Rubio.

hitman67

don't edit your posts man cause you're an insightful dude. I thought it was a good read

js12

Btw, congrats on 100 K views on this thread.

Someguy again

we all need ball dude lol

js12

Ball.

Akerlyn

Thanks, but i can't update thread normally and stats table because don't have computer now, only mobile phone.

Akerlyn

Ball post game lol

Big Cat

Jonas Valanciunas workout before the game against Macedonia today:

ValanciunasFanboy

Meh. A great start by Slovenia but Marc Gasol is killing them now.

Seeker

Horrible offense by slovenia in second quarter. Or is it good defense by spain..

LKeet6

how regularly have people been finding english commentary streams for the LTU games? tonight is my 1st chance to watch a game (since GB v LTU which was on tv over here.)

Seeker

Not so often.. usually the streams are taken from TV of a countries that are playing. On a rare occasion the stream is taken from Fiba or espn, then it's in english.

LKeet6

ok cool, how are the links for tonight looking?

Big Cat

The links of Lithuania-Macedonia game tonight which will start after about of 30 min. will be put here http://sport24.lt/rungtynes/krepsini...a-lietuva.html