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This is the MAN we need at #3 - C Jonas Valanciunas

Yeah, I'm advocating anyone in the draft at this point. I'm just returning to JV for this 26th look.
Nice post, Lion's Roar. I echo Thriller's request for some footage of the "epic" battle between JV and Kanter.

He just looks so skinny and frail but his weight is decent (although he still needs more time in the gym). His rebounding sounds great, his length is great, his FT% is awesome. He's doing all this in a league much better than NCAA kids. I better start googling.
 
paraphrasing

Dr. Jack Ramsay: Joakim were you surprised you made it in the NBA with the crooked shot that you have?
Noah: No.
Dr. Jack Ramsay: I was.
 
I LOVE Noah. He plays with such fire and tenacity it's infectious - and all on the defensive end. I'd draft him 3rd.

If JV's FT% is near 90% that is just awesome.
 
I am downloading a torrent of the final matchup between JV and Kanter in the 2009 Euro u18 championships. I'll report what I see.

I do know that in this game Kanter had 35 pts and 19 rebounds. (I believe JV had 20 and 8, but double-checking)

In Kanter's final two games in the u18 euro championships, Kanter totalled 67 points and 44 rebounds. Not trying to be a homer, but sheesh it seems some should take these numbers at least somewhat seriously. He did, after all, play AGAINST JV in this matchup.
 
BENTLEY said:
I LOVE Noah. He plays with such fire and tenacity it's infectious - and all on the defensive end. I'd draft him 3rd.

If JV's FT% is near 90% that is just awesome.
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How many FT's did he take though? If its a SSS then his % probably isn't truly what it should be
 
haters will see from today on in two years, what kind of a player kanter will be. i have confidence that kanter will have an all-star type career, while valanciunas might become a solid role player, averaging around 7-8 ppg and 7-8 rpg. best case for him is a 10-10 player. on the other side, kanter very likely could become a 20-10 player.
 
been reading up on JV at realgm.com

24 pages discussing this kid on realgm.
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1090163&sid=8e1e2090a83c34eb40fe7dfc42e8d678

I quoted the first couple posts. This post was started Feb 6th 2011.
If you wanna read more see the link above.

Jonas Valanciunas
This kid is a beast, and he's doing it as a 18 year old against grown men.

Today 02/06/2011, he had 19 pts, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks in 19 minutes. He was 8-8 from the floor and 3-3 from the FT line, making it a perfect shooting day.

The other day he had 19 pts and 18 rebounds, in 21 minutes.

https://www.eurobasket.com/player.asp?Cn ... rID=129294 - euro stats

Recently this was said on SI.COM

One executive believes the 18-year-old Valanciunas, a 6-11, 240-pound center with the Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas, will emerge as the top pick.

"He's the best thing I've seen out of that country since [Zydrunas] Ilgauskas," the executive said. "He has a very good basketball IQ, he's tough, he can score, and over the last two years he has made the kind of jump you're looking for. He can shoot, but he can also be a traditional back-to-the-basket center, the way you like centers to be. He's different from [the Raptors' Andrea] Bargnani in that he's a legitimate post player.''
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Re: Jonas Valanciunas

Postby Darknemo2000 on Sun Feb 06, 2011 7:11 pm
Yes it pretty much sums up from what I have seen of him so far.

He has very good tools given to him by nature - his height is 210 cm which isn't too tall when you think of it, but he has a very long arms (too long for his frame and body) which potentially can make him into a very good defensive player.

I happen to see the game you mentioned - and the only reason Valanciunas grabbed only 4 rebs was that Mike Bonner (Luke Bonner brother) was shooting from the 3pt line most of the game and Jonas had to go up to guard him there so naturally you cannot grab many rebounds on the 3pt line.

He also got 3 Blocks which proves that his defensive potential is high due to his long reach, as many opponents do not estimate correctly just how long arms Valanciunas has because again it is unnatural.

Valanciunas has very quick second jump which combined with his long arms and natural agility makes pretty nasty thing to guard and box out.

Since most of his a career he has been doubled or tripled he is pretty used to that which results into him making high IQ decisions in game and not getting lost when pressured. He knows when the double team is coming and knows how he should act - sometimes he goes between the double team to dunk and sometimes just passes out.

Valanciunas is every solid FT shooter. He is shooting 87% FT this shooter and that is mostly that after each training he takes additional 200 FT just for himself and it feels - he is more solid on the charity line than most guards.

He has the right attitude. He isn't arrogant but more of a gym rat who prefers doing his job rather than arguing with opponents. In fact I have never seen him appealing referee either even when they make a total crap calls.

Many say that he cannot hit Jumper which limits his range but it isnt exactly true - I have seen most of shots he took outside the box, its just that he preferred banging inside rather than settling for the middle ranged jump shots. He only takes jump shots when the time is winding down or when he reads the game that he wont have a better option during the remainder time either (his decision making is quick due to his high BB IQ).

Now since I talked about many positives he still has things to work on.

First and the bad thing is - his body isnt ready for NBA just yet. Simple as that. If you want your rookie to show results on the first year then you should draft Kanter or Nogueria who have more of the body suited for NBA battles.

Valanciunas on the other hand looks like has higher ceilings but he is more raw but at the same time - with in my opinion more potential. Heck I have seen Valanciunas jumpshot two months ago and today and I have to say he improved a lot - looks more confident with it now, though still doesn't feel his shot fluently enough to tell if it goes in or not, but his body movement is certainly better - which I didnt expect to happen in a pretty short time.

Another bad thing about Valanciunas is his eagerness to defend. While it sounds fine and indeed its better to be overly eager than not defending but because of his youth he wants to make crowd go wild with impressive blocks which result him into falling for the fakes.

He also lacks strength so when playing with his back he needs to use his brains more. Which is fine as he has high IQ but sometimes can give him troubles because he is still raws and his post moves arsenal is still limited and easier to predict.

He needs to stand on his feet more firmly and not always chase after small guards - yes he is fast but because of that some ugly switches on defense can happen. He tries to help his teammates on D too much. but this is fixable really.

Sometimes his screens are pretty weak.

But all and all Valanciunas seems to be a really good big prospect who is more raw than Kanter or other bigs but at the same time - with better tools and bigger potential to surpass all of the bigs in this draft class. But Jonas most likely wont take part in this year draft so he is more a player about the draft next year than this one. And I think its good cause he needs to build his body more. He can play of course even the way he is right now.

He is not a ***** like Bargnani so he wont be 'sissy euro' as he would go inside and try to get rebounds and score on inside play but at the same time his body is still very light and he wont be as effective right now as rookies with more power in their frame.
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underKANTER said:
haters will see from today on in two years, what kind of a player kanter will be. i have confidence that kanter will have an all-star type career, while valanciunas might become a solid role player, averaging around 7-8 ppg and 7-8 rpg. best case for him is a 10-10 player. on the other side, kanter very likely could become a 20-10 player.
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Boozer is a 20-10 guy while Noah is a 10-10 guy. Everyone on this board knows who we would rather have.
 
I think the following DX assessment is definitely recommended reading.

https://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jonas-Valanciunas-5622/

let me post a few excerpts.

All Valanciunas has done since is continue to improve steadily every time we've seen him. There he was in the U-18 European Championships in Metz in the summer of 2009, going up against arch-rival Enes Kanter in a pair of epic matchups that frequently get mentioned by NBA scouts as pivotal moments in their evaluations. 19.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, on 72% FG and 79% FT were the final tallies in France.

This year, he is competing in the highest level of European basketball in the Euroleague as well, and ranks as one of the top players in the competition on a per-40 minute basis in points (21.8), rebounds (13.6), blocks (1.8), field goal percentage (74.4%), free throw percentage (87.5%), and fouls (9.1). That's quite an accomplishment for a skinny 18-year-old.

The natural question to ask would be—“Where will it end?” The answer to which seems quite obvious: shaking David Stern's hand at the NBA Draft.

How Valanciunas managed to make such large strides over the last two and a half years is a more interesting question to ponder.

The answer to that one is a bit more complex, which is why boarded a plane to Lithuania (and Croatia) to watch him play and speak with him face to face.

Standing 6-6 ½ when he arrived in Vilnius in February of 2007, Valanciunas has grown at least four inches since (I'm now 210 centimeters [almost 6-11] without shoes,” he informed us) and has slowly grown into his excellent frame. He's retained all of the quickness he had earlier on in his career and still sports a mammoth 7-6 wingspan, (again according to him.)

“I have very long arms,” Valanciunas says modestly, with a smile. “It helps a lot.”
​


All the physical tools in the world wouldn't mean anything if he didn't have the will to use them, though. Fortunately for Valanciunas, he's an incredibly intense competitor, a boundlessly energetic player who never stops working for a moment and whose presence is constantly felt on the court.

He runs the floor extremely well, is quick off his feet and has no qualms whatsoever about throwing his body around in the paint. Not one to just stand around and wait for opportunities to come to him, Valanciunas wants to be productive all the time, which is a big reason he's been able to earn playing time in such a demanding environment this season, despite his obvious immaturity.

“I don't have very good skills right now, many good moves, so I have to fight,” he tells us.​
 
I stopped reading after "Ilgauskus."

I think Kanter is a guaranteed double-digit rebounder and double-digit scorer. I think he's about 80% certain to have a career as good as Rony Seikaly's and likely will be a more consistent scorer. If we can't get an electric impact player like Williams (or maybe Knight if Knight is really in that category), I think you have to go with Kanter. The only question would be medical risks.

I think Valanciunas, of all the Euros, is the most comparable to Pau Gasol. He's long and is good at what he does, but I don't think he's quick, skilled or strong enough to bowl over players like Bynum or Tyson Chandler. He's got a ways to go. I think he's a top 8 pick in this draft, but I don't think he's the pick at #3. I think NBA players will blow by him.
 
Just curious if anyone's fears over Kanter's 'medical issues' have been at all alleviated (or mitigated) by his impressive agility drills, good vertical, and record-setting treadmill numbers? I am not implying it should, but curious if it helps at all?
 
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