Lithuanian U19 Prospects
Mantas Partikas writes for Future Stars on the Lithuanian U19 (1992) prospects.
Class ’92 was one of the strongest and most successful Lithuanian youth basketball squads ever. A list of their accomplishments includes, winning the U15 European Youth Olympic Festival , U16 FIBA European Championship ,U18 FIBA European Championship and U19 FIBA World Championship. Their record speaks for itself and doesn’t require further analysis.
Ocean of ink was used to describe the captain and best player of this team Jonas Valanciunas but surely even a player of his immense talent wouldn’t be able to dominate a youth scene to this extent on his own. Here we will focus on 4 other mouth watering young players who in the very near future can establish themselves on the European senior circuit: Dovydas Redikas, Vytenis Cizauskas, Edgaras Ulanovas and Deividas Pukis. These players have been analysed and presented below in no particular ranking or order.
Dovydas Redikas
Profile
18 years old - 192cm – PG/SG
Current Club Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius. LKL (Lithuanian Basketball League)
History
2009-2010 KK Akademija (NKL)
2010-2011 Perlas Vilnius (LKL)
2011-2012 Lietuvos rytas Vilnius (LKL)
Wing player Dovydas Redikas had some memorable moments over the last few years, showing a fairly advanced ability to create offense off the dribble thanks to his strong ball-handling skills and impressive athleticism. Really good in 1on1 situations, when he uses his physical ability to successfully drive to the basket or create shot open shots for his teammates. He has good scoring instincts, showing decent perimeter shooting ability, but questions over consistency of his shooting remains still unanswered . He needs to improve his shot consistency and also his emotional approach to the game. He is a very emotional player and sometimes the team really suffers from it .Hopefully the experience of playing in Eurocup with Lietuvos Rytas could give him enough experience to deal with his emotions in an effective way allowing him to blossom on the senior scene.
Video
1
2 (U18 Championship team highlights - Player number 8)
3 (U19 World Championship team highlights - Player number 8)
Vytenis Cizauskas
Profile
19 years old - 189cm – PG
Current Club Baltai Kaunas. LKL (Lithuanian Basketball League)
History
2007-2008: Kauno Žalgiris-Sabonio mokykla (NKL)
2008-2009: Kauno Žalgiris-Sabonio mokykla (NKL)
Kauno Triobet (BBL), in the end of February became member of Zalgiris Kaunas (LKL)
2009-2010 Kauno Aisčiai (LKL)
2010-2011 Kauno Žalgirio-Sabonio mokykla (NKL)
2011-2012: Kauno Baltai(LKL)
Athletic Point Guard who has amazing passing skills, and high basketball IQ. Very good in pick and roll situations and also a prolific 1x 1 player. Cizauskas is a ferocious defender and for his size a surprisingly effective rebounder, who last summer in the U-19 World Championship averaged almost 6 RPG. This typical floor general was impressive last summer, orchestrating his team and helping himself to 13ppg, and 5,6apg. He definitely needs to improve his shooting skills if he wants to make a move to a higher level. Last summer he shot only 23% from behind the 3 point line. If he solves this problem, comparisons to Sarunas Jasikevicius will not be completely out of place
Video
1 (U18 Championship team highlights – Player number 13)
2 (U19 World Championship team highlights – Player number 13)
3 (Player number 13)
Deividas Pukis
Profile
19 Years old – 195cm – SF/SG
Current Club Sakalai Vilnius (LKL)
History
2009-2011 Christian Life Center Academy, HS (USA)
2011-2012 Vilnius Sakalai (LKL)
He has a really nice looking shot, with a high and quick release. Can hit threes from most difficult positions and almost all his points come from the three point line. Pukis became a surprise for the Lithuanian team in the 2010 U18 Championship with 15.8ppg (60.0% 2fg”s, 46.7% 3fg”s, 4.2rpg). He helped his team to win the gold medal and with his team mate Jonas Valanciunas was voted for the All Star team of the tournament. This summer injury slowed his progress and he averaged only 5ppg in the U-19 World Championship. Pukis enjoys healthy minutes at LKL and in the first game of the regular season against Lithuanian champions Zalgiris Kaunas he top scored for his team with 18 points. What separates Pukis
from the highest level is his defence and ability to play 1 on 1.
Video
1 (U18 Championship team highlights - Player number 5)
2 (U19 World Championship team highlights - Player number 5)
Edgaras Ulanovas
Profile
19 years old – 197cm – SF/SG
Current club Baltai Kaunas (LKL)
History
2009-2010 KKM-Aisčiai-ARTRANSA Kaunas (NKL)
2010-2011 Kauno "Žalgirio - Sabonio mokykla" Kaunas (NKL)
2011-2012 Baltai Kaunas (LKL)
Left handed wing player with good scorer skills. Very versatile scorer who can score from long and mid range but can also finish strong playing 1on1. Has nice dribbling skills and can create shots off the dribble. He has long arms which helps him at rebounding and blocking. Ulanovas proved that he is good enough to play at the highest level this summer at the World Championship, when he scored 29 points against the USA team. He has to improve his defensive skills, especially his individual defense. There is also quite a big concern about his athleticism which presently prevents him from being really effective on the senior level.
Video
1 (U18 Championship team highlights- Player number 7)
2 (U19 World Championship team highlights - Player number 7)