For basketball fans deprived of hoops to consume, EuroBasket week is finally here, and the Denver Nuggets will have two players in action, Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania). All of the attention has been on Jokic and Serbia, as they have looked dominant throughout the pre-tournament exhibitions, but Valanciunas has also been putting in some solid work for his country.
The 7-footer, who is slated to be Jokic’s backup at center when the NBA season kicks of for the Nuggets in October, played a limited amount of minutes against Iceland in a friendly ahead of the main tournament, scheduled to kick off on Aug. 27. In just 17 minutes of action, he totaled 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks while knocking down both of his 3-point attempts.
These highlights should be a great sign for Nuggets fans. The left shoulder hook shot was working for him throughout the whole game, he had an emphatic slam on an isolation from the top of the key and he was making his presence felt on the glass.
Lithuania won four of its five EuroBasket preparation games, with the one loss coming against Turkey by just three points. In those five games, Valanciunas has averaged 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 60% from the field. On the defensive end of the floor, he’s averaged a block per game as well.
Valanciunas and Lithuania open the tournament on Wednesday against Great Britain, with the opening tip set for 4:30 a.m. MDT (1:30 p.m. local). Fans can watch the tournament on Courtside 1891.
