The FIBA World Cup has become a showcase for unrecognized basketball talent. Jonas Valanciunas is a rising star in the NBA but he displayed just how dominant he can be in the world stage. His MVP numbers are keeping Lithuania's campaign alive as they march into the Top 8.
The Toronto Star is covering their big man's heroics and they hope to see more in the upcoming NBA season:
Augustis Mindaugas, a Delfi news site basketball writer who watched him lead Lithuania to junior titles in 2010 and 2011 stated to the Star: "Expectations are quite big because he has lots of fans in Lithuania. Now everybody's expecting he'll be the main power for Lithuania. He's making the transition from youth to leadership of the national team. Now he's somewhere in the middle."
Check out his heroics against New Zealand in the Round of 16:
"Valanciunas had 22 points, 13 rebounds (five offensive), three blocked shots and a flurry of eight key fourth-quarter points in Lithuania's round-of-16 victory over a scrappy New Zealand Tall Blacks team 76-71 Sunday at the Palau San Jordi Olympic venue in Barcelona."
The dominant big man told the Star:
"I was just playing my game. It's just basketball, trying to play hard. Fight for the ball. Just do what I need to do."
From FIBA.com official stats:
"For the tournament, Valanciunas is shooting 76.7 per cent from the field, and 70 per cent (12 of 17) from the free throw line. He leads the team with 13 points and 7.8 rebounds a game. He's scoring from a variety of angles and hitting mid-range jumpers to open the lane for cutters. Averaging 22 minutes per game, he's also avoiding turnovers and foul trouble."
This is not by accident as "Valanciunas says he's been working hard on free-throw shooting (he's a career 77 per cent in the NBA) - and hook shots - during and after practices. He's also honing his low-post game."
On his post game: "That's my strength. I need to perform in the low post, like a big man, trying to help my team by scoring in the low post."
The improvement did not escape the eyes of Lithuania coach Jonas Kazlauskas who said Valanciunas is "becoming stronger and more experienced. Before he was playing like a young kid. Now he respects every opponent, and he knows the price of those games."
Valanciunas believes the World Cup stint will help him: "I'm going to come back to Toronto ready for the season. It's like preparation for the season, you know, by playing against the best centres in all of Europe and all the world. So, it's giving me a lift."
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