New Poll: Everything Valanciunas - 2nd Team All-Rooke Selection.

[irgigi]

I thought it might be interesting to people, where we can see Valanciunas next.. and:

Next action of Valanciunas is starting Sep 29.

And i can say, it will be three very important games, coz his team needs to make it's way to Euroleague by winning all three of them.
They didn't make their way to Euroleague directly, coz they have lost in LT finals to Zalgiris (current Lawson, Weems team).

You can see here competition format and participators. The main thing i don't like, there is no series, but one game play-offs. So they must advance by beating three different teams one after another. One shitty play and you can lose everything.
And i definitely want them make it to Euroleague, so we can see JV playing at top level instead at some B league.

Valanciunas, btw, had not much rest this summer.. U19, Eurobasket.. now qualification and season starting right after.

[WJF]

Thanks for the heads up, keep us posted on how things turn out.

[Matt52]

Lack of rest at 19 is not a concern to me. A week or so is plenty.

It is when they hit 24/25 rest becomes extremely important. That is just my opinion and experience.

[BC Boy]

Lack of rest at 19 is not a concern to me. A week or so is plenty.

It is when they hit 24/25 rest becomes extremely important. That is just my opinion and experience.

So teens need days off, 20's need weeks, 30's need months and 40's need years... sounds about right.

[footarez]

So teens need days off, 20's need weeks, 30's need months and 40's need years... sounds about right.

No. What Matt52 meant(i suppose) is that almost all 19 year old recover very fast compared to athletes after they reach 24/25. That doesn't mean all 20's need weeks and the rest you wrote. Have you ever seen Valanciunas look tired in any game so far? I haven't. Have you seen Sarunas tired - I have in almost every game especially in the 4th.

[Soft Euro]

In that case (comparing Jasikevicius with Valanciunas) you are talking about a different form of recovery, the quickness of short term recovery during high intensity excersises. This is proven to be quicker in younger athletes (and even quicker in preadolescent boys than in adolescents). When we talk about Valanciunas having a very busy schedule where he needs to deliver peak performances all the time, it is a different type of recovery-time which is lacking.

Over-competition and/or overtraining can lead to serious physical problems, but I have never heard of this in relation to non-endurance sports.

Staleness can occur in all sports because of such schedules, in that case the problems are only partly due to the physical aspects of overcompetition/-training but more because of stress factors.

[Tim W.]

Lack of rest at 19 is not a concern to me. A week or so is plenty.

It is when they hit 24/25 rest becomes extremely important. That is just my opinion and experience.

And it's not as if the guy has been playing heavy minutes all this time. Only in the U19 tournament did his minutes go above 20.

[Tim W.]

So teens need days off, 20's need weeks, 30's need months and 40's need years... sounds about right.

Seems to be the case with me.

[Matt52]

And it's not as if the guy has been playing heavy minutes all this time. Only in the U19 tournament did his minutes go above 20.

That is a good point. I'd not thought of the limited minutes he has played at EuroBasket. Even more reason not to worry about fatigue at 19 years.

[Puffer]

If Valanciunas is expected to put on weight, he needs sufficient recovery time.

To become the kind of center he needs to be to play in the NBA he needs to do significant weight training. Significant weight training requires recovery time for muscle growth to occur. It is the largest muscle groups that he needs to work, legs, back and chest. These will allow him to carve out space for himself down low in the post and hold his position. They also require 2-3 days of rest between work outs for maximum growth, in someone his age, who is already a relatively highly developed athlete. Natural growth is going to allow him to put on some weight, but a steady diet of basketball all year and all summer is not going to help in this regard, particularly if he is putting in heavy minutes.

I mention all this to add it as a factor for consideration in the talk of minutes he should play and also to temper expectations for his growth. He is obviously going to play for his current club, and play for his national team for the next year. And he is also going to be working on his game in regular practices, and hopefully also working on individual skills. Spending 30 - 40 minutes a day in the gym working on his shot will not hurt his growth, but any heavy duty speed drills, extended playing time, anything more than moderate conditioning work and too frequent sessions in the weight room will not allow him to gain 30 pounds of muscle which we would all like to seem develop over the next two years.

All talk of "He needs to put on 20 or 30 pounds of muscle over the summer" is bullshit. It is not possible to get that kind of muscle development, even with steroids. Or we would all give up one summer of our lives and look like body builders.

Of course, I assume he and his coaches know this. On the other hand, he now has a limited usefulness for his current team, and they may be more interested in what they can get out of him now, to the detriment of his longer term development or preparation for his career with the Raptors. And, come to think of it, most 19 year olds wouldn't have the detailed physical training knowledge necessary to maximize their growth, since much of it is the result of doing nothing but being a gym rat and listening when your coaches tell you to do things a certain way. Not to take anything away from Jonas, since I know nothing about him.

[Matt52]

If Valanciunas is expected to put on weight, he needs sufficient recovery time.

To become the kind of center he needs to be to play in the NBA he needs to do significant weight training. Significant weight training requires recovery time for muscle growth to occur. It is the largest muscle groups that he needs to work, legs, back and chest. These will allow him to carve out space for himself down low in the post and hold his position. They also require 2-3 days of rest between work outs for maximum growth, in someone his age, who is already a relatively highly developed athlete. Natural growth is going to allow him to put on some weight, but a steady diet of basketball all year and all summer is not going to help in this regard, particularly if he is putting in heavy minutes.

I mention all this to add it as a factor for consideration in the talk of minutes he should play and also to temper expectations for his growth. He is obviously going to play for his current club, and play for his national team for the next year. And he is also going to be working on his game in regular practices, and hopefully also working on individual skills. Spending 30 - 40 minutes a day in the gym working on his shot will not hurt his growth, but any heavy duty speed drills, extended playing time, anything more than moderate conditioning work and too frequent sessions in the weight room will not allow him to gain 30 pounds of muscle which we would all like to seem develop over the next two years.

All talk of "He needs to put on 20 or 30 pounds of muscle over the summer" is bullshit. It is not possible to get that kind of muscle development, even with steroids. Or we would all give up one summer of our lives and look like body builders.

Of course, I assume he and his coaches know this. On the other hand, he now has a limited usefulness for his current team, and they may be more interested in what they can get out of him now, to the detriment of his longer term development or preparation for his career with the Raptors. And, come to think of it, most 19 year olds wouldn't have the detailed physical training knowledge necessary to maximize their growth, since much of it is the result of doing nothing but being a gym rat and listening when your coaches tell you to do things a certain way. Not to take anything away from Jonas, since I know nothing about him.

I agree with the premise but not too sure on the details.

For example working on major muscle groups is great to add bulk/size but a lack of focus on core muscle group and the stabilizers (or secondary muscle groups) could lead to serious injuries. I think adding too much bulk/size would take away from his basketball strengths.

Strength is certainly needed but that does not necessarily mean he needs bulk or size. Positioning and awareness is as vital to defense as size. A guy like Marcus Camby (6'11", 235) is a good defensive player without incredible bulk. A lot of the weight he supposedly needs will come in time with natural maturation.

The 'beating' he could receive at the NBA level might be another reason to have another C to limit his minutes to 25-30 in his first season or two.

The comment on expectations is a very important point.

[stretch]

Noah seems to handle himself very well defending the post at 232 lbs. Some bulk up and they can sacrifice quickness. We want JV to be like a young Bill Walton not like an Eric Montross.

[Tim W.]

The idea that Valanciunas needs to add 20 or 30 lbs is nonsense. It's not weight he needs to add. It's strength. I'm guessing he's currently between 240 and 250 lbs, which is fine. Extra weight might not only slow him down, it might very will cause him to struggle with knee and foot injuries. Right now one of his strengths are his quickness and mobility. Don't try and turn him into something else.

[BC Boy]

Seems to be the case with me.

Yeah, me too. Although I haven't experienced the 40's yet.

[BC Boy]

No. What Matt52 meant(i suppose) is that almost all 19 year old recover very fast compared to athletes after they reach 24/25. That doesn't mean all 20's need weeks and the rest you wrote. Have you ever seen Valanciunas look tired in any game so far? I haven't. Have you seen Sarunas tired - I have in almost every game especially in the 4th.

Yeah, I shouldnt have worded it the way I did as it was not meant to be a shot at Matt's comment; but rather, it was merely an attempt at humor that hit too close to home when I started to reflect on my sporting life.

[Matt52]

Yeah, I shouldnt have worded it the way I did as it was not meant to be a shot at Matt's comment; but rather, it was merely an attempt at humor that hit too close to home when I started to reflect on my sporting life.

FWIW I didn't interpret it as a shot. I chuckled at the comment as I am also in the 30-something club.

[Tim W.]

Yeah, me too. Although I haven't experienced the 40's yet.

FWIW I didn't interpret it as a shot. I chuckled at the comment as I am also in the 30-something club.

Usually the best humour does hit pretty close to him. And the 40-something club isn't much to talk about. I'd probably avoid it if you can.

[Matt52]

Jonas has played his first two exhibition games with L. Rytas.

Game one: 70-61 (JV - 7points, 11 rebounds)

Game two: 77-73 (JV - 10 points, 7 rebounds)

Not great video included in the link.

Did not have at the link or find a box score with minute totals. He did start the first game, no mention of the second.


http://www.ballineurope.com/european...harleroi-7061/

[Chr1s1anL]

Always good to see Big V play. I hope he gets more offensive touches this season, so he can built more confidence.

[irgigi]

Damn you Matt, i thought i will leave this away. Club teams just letting the players who was on NT get some rest. Those preparation games means just nothing except of a team trying to prepare for Thursday game (1st euroleague qualification game).
JV playing that game with Belgians means nothing more than him trying to fit into the team.
There is no proper link of this game, because Belgian team like to keep it secret, before Euroleague qualification starting.
That link you posted above, i suppose was from belgium media.
there is the one from Lithuania media:
http://www.lrytas.lt/videonews/?id=13168048751315596335