Valanciunas is the next...

[heinz57]

According to khandor:

"For Valanciunas: Strength #1 is his ability to run the floor in transition [both, defensively and offensively];
Strength #2 is his ability to rebound the basketball;
Strength #4 is his ability to finish offensive rebounds and recovered loose balls around the basket;
Strength #5 is his ability to block shots; Strength
#6 is his ability to make his FTs; and, Strength
#7 is his highly competitive Leadership.
In all likelihood he is going to be a very solid NBA player for a 10+ year period of time."

Although I have no idea who khandor is and why he skipped the mysterious 3rd strength, it is always good to hear someone else's opinion.

the mysterious 3rd strength is x-ray vision. if you have courtsides and you want to show off your fancy seats to your girlfriend, Val will be staring at her nipples.

[BC Boy]

I dont know about you guys but i feel that he plays alot like Kevin Garnett. They are both lanky, solid defenders with good help side defense. Offensively, neither can body up his man but they have a nack for catching in the post and finishing at the rim. They can both step out and knock down the open mid-ranged jumper. Jonas seems to have the intangibles that KG has. They love to play with heart and leave it all out on the floor.
I don't really see the comparisons to Vlade and Joakim. Vlade excelled in the offensive side of the ball (could even play a bit of point-forward) but didn't really rebound much. Noah is a good one on one defender but is slow on the weak side. Offensively, Jonas is light years ahead.

Some of the other similarities with Garnett:
- both drafted 5th overall in supposedly "weak drafts"
- both were drafted young (one just turned 19 before draft and one turned 19 soon after)
- both were 6'11

Differences:
- Garnett had "fantastic all around skills" - offensive game was better (post-up moves more advanced, drafted as "one of the best passers in the draft" and more confident shot taker... actually shot 29% from 3 point in rookie season)
- Garnett was 217 lbs when drafted and Valanciunas is 240lbs

IMO - Valanciunas has the potential to put on more weight and become a better "on the ball defender"; however, I don't see him becoming near the offensive player that Garnett was and is.

[mountio]

Haha Indeed.

Gets me everytime.

Checked out the clips. I like the thought .. its not perfect (what is) .. but I can see some similarities. He had some explosiveness but was still average athletically, like JV (sorry Tim .. Noah is a stud athlete, I just dont think JV is there. Im not saying hes a stiff .. just not a stud athlete. I would make the same claim about Chris Kaman, Brendan Haywood, and other NBA centers .. a guy like Noah (or early Chandler) is miles ahead of them athletically)

The Sabonis comparison breaks down when you think about how much time he spent away from the rim, the diversity of his game, his many shots, passing ability, etc (I think of JV as more of a plain jane post player) .. but none the less .. props for the comparison. I like it better than Noah or Bedrins..

[BC Boy]

Checked out the clips. I like the thought .. its not perfect (what is) .. but I can see some similarities. He had some explosiveness but was still average athletically, like JV (sorry Tim .. Noah is a stud athlete, I just dont think JV is there. Im not saying hes a stiff .. just not a stud athlete. I would make the same claim about Chris Kaman, Brendan Haywood, and other NBA centers .. a guy like Noah (or early Chandler) is miles ahead of them athletically)

The Sabonis comparison breaks down when you think about how much time he spent away from the rim, the diversity of his game, his many shots, passing ability, etc (I think of JV as more of a plain jane post player) .. but none the less .. props for the comparison. I like it better than Noah or Bedrins..

I have never viewed Noah as a stud athlete, I have always respected his basketball smarts and passion. After looking into a few sites I think he is somewhere between my opinion and yours:

Draft Express - ranked him 43rd at the draft combine (Horford - 21, Oden - 62, Hawes - 72, Landry - 5, Tolliver - 15, Durant - 78)

Best case - Marcus Camby meets Boris Diaw
Worst case - Anderson Varejao

NBADRAFT.NET - Tyson Chandler (higher basketball IQ) - Athleticism = 8/10

NBADRAFT.NET gives Valanciunas an 8/10 as well for athleticism.

[Tim W.]

Checked out the clips. I like the thought .. its not perfect (what is) .. but I can see some similarities. He had some explosiveness but was still average athletically, like JV (sorry Tim .. Noah is a stud athlete, I just dont think JV is there. Im not saying hes a stiff .. just not a stud athlete. I would make the same claim about Chris Kaman, Brendan Haywood, and other NBA centers .. a guy like Noah (or early Chandler) is miles ahead of them athletically)

The Sabonis comparison breaks down when you think about how much time he spent away from the rim, the diversity of his game, his many shots, passing ability, etc (I think of JV as more of a plain jane post player) .. but none the less .. props for the comparison. I like it better than Noah or Bedrins..

Ya, I've got to agree with BC Boy on Noah. I wouldn't exactly say he's a "stud athlete". Like Valanciunas, he's agile and very coordinated, but he's not someone like Chandler.

[hateslosing]

He's a strange sort of animal. The more I consider the harder it is to think of someone with his skill set. Fantastic touch, good defensive instincts (from what I saw), good free throw shooter, high motor, and most of all, great size. I like the Noah comparison and I think Raps fans should start hoping he becomes the same sort of player as Noah, but with more skill offensively. Can you imagine having a player like Noah who could also score consistently from the low post and on the pick and roll? That's what I'm hoping for. Another comparison could be a bigger, better offensive Anderson Varejao.

[Soft Euro]

Valanciunas said himself in the post draft interview something like being like Chris Bosh, 'not so strong body' or something like that. But on a Lithuanian site I found he said that because his body is not strong enough, but that he wants to be like Dwight Howard. He likes how Howard attacks the basket (the translation said something like 'I like how it sounds going for the basket...). He really wants to be a force around the basket and talks about getting stronger, so he'll be working quite hard on that this year.

[BC Boy]

He's a strange sort of animal. The more I consider the harder it is to think of someone with his skill set. Fantastic touch, good defensive instincts (from what I saw), good free throw shooter, high motor, and most of all, great size. I like the Noah comparison and I think Raps fans should start hoping he becomes the same sort of player as Noah, but with more skill offensively. Can you imagine having a player like Noah who could also score consistently from the low post and on the pick and roll? That's what I'm hoping for. Another comparison could be a bigger, better offensive Anderson Varejao.

I agree, there is no easy answer. After looking more at Noah, I beleive Jonas is considerably inferior at finishing with his left and passing. Noah is also more fluid with the ball (dribble drives). Jonas has a distinct advantage in his use of his elbows and superior size.

[BC Boy]

Sebastian Pruiti compares him to Chandler before the draft:

Using Basketball Prospectus' college basketball translations, we have determined player comparisons for 2011 draftees. Through game tape, our Sebastian Pruiti explores what makes these players so similar as well as what these draftees are going to have to improve on to validate the comparisons.

In the 2011 draft class, there seems to be a influx of skilled bigs playing overseas. Maybe the most interesting of the bigs is Jonas Valanciunas, who looks like he could be the first of the internationals selected. Valanciunas' comparison is to Tyson Chandler, the big man who anchored the Dallas Mavericks' defense during their title run.

Rest of the article link

[hateslosing]

I agree, there is no easy answer. After looking more at Noah, I beleive Jonas is considerably inferior at finishing with his left and passing. Noah is also more fluid with the ball (dribble drives). Jonas has a distinct advantage in his use of his elbows and superior size.

Noah is definately the better passer, but then Val has never really been asked to be a passer. Noah is also a smoother player than Val: like a couple people have already said Val almost plays like dwight howard sometimes. You could see it alot in the U19 tourny where he was just dominating almost everyone with his size and athleticism. I was thinking about it and I think, among todays players, Dwight may actually be the best comparison. Dwight is obviously stronger and a freakish athlete, but Jonas is acually already taller than dwight and will likely continue to grow a bit. If Jonas work on becoming strong the way Dwight has I think he could be that type of player. He'll never be as good as Dwight of course, but then Val has a better touch around the rim and can shoot free throws so he could likely become better offensively. They get their offense the same way, off the pick and roll and cuts mostly. I think that's the comparison I'll go with. I heard a funny nickname the other day: "White Howard".