Evaluations for Lithuanians: “Behold, Sabas has arrived” and wonderful Butkevičius / News

The Lithuanian team made the spectators gather at the “Žalgiris” stadium a lot, but in the end they got along well with Poland – 88:69.

The Lithuanians who will face Slovenia in tomorrow’s final dominated under the baskets: 38 rebounds against 20.

Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valančiūnas played the most useful ranks of our ranks, accumulating 20 efficiency points each. Domantas scored 17 points, JV – 15.

BasketNews.lt journalist Jonas Lekšas praised the individual performance of the Lithuanians in the battle with Poland.

Domantas Sabonis – 10 points
32 min., 17 p. (7/10 dvit., 3/4 pun.), 8 atm. cam., 2 res. consult., 3 units, 20 us. points.

Photo BNS

The first half was not ideal for Sabonis: a mistake in passing the ball, the defense could not avoid delays, but what the tall man did after the break was astonishing. “Here, Saba has come,” sings “Witches” in his song about Domantas’ father Arvydas, but those words would be a good way to describe the Indiana Pacers star after the break. He was a basketball player who changed the game and in the third quarter his 6 consecutive points stretched the Lithuanians to a decisive stream. The NBA star also perfectly read the situations both in attack and defense, and in the semifinals we saw exactly the type of Sabonis that we want to see in the biggest battles.

Arnas Butkevičius – 9.5 points
25 min., 9 p. (3/4 dvit., 1/2 trit., 0/1 baud.), 2 atm. cam., 3 res. lost, 3 for. cam., 2 blk., 16 uses. points.

FIBA photo

Butkevičius, who started the match for the first time in the starting five, immediately scored a three-point shot, but then lost his free kick from a distance and missed Mateušas Ponitka’s advance, but this was practically the only negative in the attack of the attacker. play. After the break, Arnas became a distinctive player: in his defense, his work with rival perimeter leaders AJ Slaughter and Ponitka was incredible, and in attack, the basketball player said his word. Butkevičius tends to do a lot of black work and this is often not reflected in the stat protocol, but this time even the numbers show it, and the fantastic performance was illustrated with an acrobatic throw with an opponent’s foul.

Jonas Valančiūnas – 9 points
23 min., 15 p. (7/8 dvit., 1/2 pun.), 8 atm. cam., 4 losses, 20 benefits. points.

Photo BNS

As usual, the attack on the JV was again difficult to stop and especially dragged the Lithuanians at the start of the match. Jonas did what he wanted in attack against opponents in various ways, but was attacked on defense. Pikenpopais, as well as the perimeter players took advantage of the presence of height. After the break, Valančiūnas was hit a bit by a ball discharged into the basket, followed later by a response from the referees, as well as an unsportsmanlike foul. Be that as it may, the JV game is still a huge headache for opponents, and even when both rooks manage to fit in on the field, Lithuania becomes a great force.

Kalnietis blankets – 8.5 points
23 min., 14 p. (3/4 dvit., 2/3 trit., 2/2 baud), 4 rez. refer., 1 bl., 18 us. points.

Photo BNS

The captain looked really solid in attack: the ball was taken to the right place, good shot selection and execution, and only 1 error. Manto’s sure advantage came to the side of the defense to push the defense, with Slaughter holding the Poles in the fight and at the same time the defender fouling a distant opponent. Kalnas played his best game this summer from the first to the last minute and this suggests that the outfield general is already close to peak form.

Rokas Jokubaitis – 7 points
17 min., 13 p. (5/6 dvit., 0/1 trit., 3/4 baud), 2 rez. more, 3 pages, 1 page, 13 uses. points.

Photo BNS

Rock just took the field to his strong side and scored points, but then he had a lot of trouble with Slaughter and only one block for a naturalized American cut his wings a bit. After the break, Jokubaitis continued to radiate positive energy and played another good game, and his start was illustrated by the episode in which the player did not take the ball from anyone and caused the opponent to foul in the last second. It’s true, once the defender played too smart and instead of attacking the basket himself, he wanted to let him hit the General, which ended in a mistake.

Eimantas Bendžius – 6 points
21 min., 8 p. (1/1 dvit., 2/6 trit.), 3 atm. cam., 3 res. plus, 9 benefits points.

Photo BNS

The family still has not managed to fully adjust the target: two snipers more than three points did not touch the arc against the Poles. However, Bendius made two long shots and both fell in some pretty big moments, and the basketball player also showed that he can make good passes. At the start of the game, the Lithuanian did not get along with Damian Kulig, but then, like the whole team, he improved the work in his basket a lot. In a one-handed passing situation, half the error could be recorded in General, as the sniper must always wait for the pass before the ball has left the hands of a teammate.

Marius Grigonis – 5 rooms
25 min., 10 p. (0/3 double, 2/4 trit., 4/4 penalty), 5 sec. cam., 2 res. more., 2 pcs., 10 us. points.

FIBA photo

Until the 36th minute, Grigonis was scoreless in the match and only two triples improved the basketball player’s stats at the end of the match. The game did not happen to Marius and many times the ball was in his hands for a long time, and several passes were not of great quality. Direct opponents were also beaten at least a couple of times on defense.

Rokas Giedraitis – 5 points
18 min., 0 tšk. (0/2 dvit.), 5 atk. kam., 1 per. kam., 5 naud. balai.

Photo BNS

In this match, Giedraitis’ play was not emphasized on the perimeter and he had virtually no opportunity to take shots, and the attempt to escape ended in an unsuspecting attack. However, Rokas had his own bouts on defense against Ponitka and worked on defense to make up for the lack of points. The sniper hit 3 of the 12 of the selection and we know that these are not his numbers, so a duel with Slovenia will be very necessary on the part of the attacker to take advantage of the opportunities.

Luke Lekavičius – 3 rooms
13 min., 2 p. (1/3 dvit.), 1 rez. plus., billion, 0 profit points.

Photo BNS

The first time in the national team that Luke did not play well and stepped out of the context of the national team. Lekavičius was the only Lithuanian player with a negative +/- indicator (-1) and there were sections where the attack got stuck just as the defender was holding the ball in his hands. Coach Darius Maskoliūnas did not keep Žalgiris on the floor for long, which was also influenced by his problems in his defense against Lukashas Košarekas.