Perhaps the most disappointing player in these Olympics has been Jonas Valanciunas. The Toronto Raptors center is without a doubt the most talented player for Lithuania. With no NBA talent around him, Valanciunas was expected to dominate in the Olymmpics in helping his team have a successful tournament.
Unfortunately, Valanciunas was unable to do that. Lithuania was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Olympics, losing to Australia in a 90-64 drubbing.
Valanciunas was thoroughly underwhelming in the team’s six games. The center averaged only 6.7 points, seven rebounds, and one block per game. In the team’s elimination game, JVal scored a measly five points and grabbed and grabbed eight rebounds. He was a -22 in 24 minutes of playing time.
Valanciunas’ struggles may not mean much. It is difficult for a big man to be dominant without great spacing and ball-handling around him to ease pressure off of him. This is not to mention that the big man suffered from several injuries in the last NBA season and could still be rusty from missing some time.
However, Lithuania’s head coach, Jonas Kazlauskas, has a different theory (h/t Blake Murphy of Raptors Republic):
Kazlauskas on Valanciunas: 'I believe Lithuania will be his team in future and he'll be fine. But he has to dedicate himself to bball more'
— Donatas Urbonas (@Urbodo) August 18, 2016
This does not make Valnciunas look very good. Struggles happen for every player but if one’s head coach is claiming that it stems from a lack of dedication, then there may be a problem.
Of course, this could be a lot of heresy. Valanciunas has had considerable success in the NBA and it’s difficult to do that without enough dedication. This could simply be a case of the coach finding a scapegoat for a disappointing Olympics exit.
Nevertheless, this is a story to keep an eye on, especially in how Jonas Valanciunas responds.
