Duhon~enwiki (talk | contribs) Undid revision 535774971 by RoTi37 (talk) |
m Undid revision 535777273 by Duhon (talk) |
||
Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
| image = Jonas Valanciunas by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg |
| image = Jonas Valanciunas by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg |
||
| caption = Valančiūnas with [[Lithuania]]n U-19 [[Lithuania national basketball team|team]] in [[2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship|Latvia]] |
| caption = Valančiūnas with [[Lithuania]]n U-19 [[Lithuania national basketball team|team]] in [[2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship|Latvia]] |
||
| height_ft = |
| height_ft = 7 |
||
| height_in = |
| height_in = 0 |
||
| weight_lbs = |
| weight_lbs = 257 |
||
| league = [[NBA]] |
| league = [[NBA]] |
||
| team = Toronto Raptors |
| team = Toronto Raptors |
Revision as of 00:22, 31 January 2013
File:Jonas Valanciunas by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 17 – Toronto Raptors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position | Center | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
League | NBA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Utena, Lithuania | May 6, 1992||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Lithuanian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listed weight | 257 lb (117 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NBA draft | 2011: 1st round, 5th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Selected by the Toronto Raptors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing career | 2008–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2008–2010 | Vilnius Perlas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2010–2012 | Vilnius Lietuvos Rytas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012–present | Toronto Raptors | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stats at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
|
Jonas Valančiūnas (born May 6, 1992) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a member of the Lithuanian national basketball team. Valančiūnas was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Professional career
Europe
Valančiūnas started playing professionally for Perlas in 2008 and played there until December 2009. During the 2008–09 season the team played in the Lithuanian National Basketball League (NKL), Lithuania's second strongest league, but moved up to the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) the following season.
In the summer of 2009, Valančiūnas participated in the European Under-18 All-Star Game during EuroBasket 2009 in Poland. He dominated the game as he scored 18 points, grabbed 19 rebounds, blocked three shots and helped the "Blue Team" beat the "White Team" 77:75.[1] Valančiūnas was later named the MVP of the All-Star game.
Valančiūnas played in the first half of the 2009–10 season with Perlas, but on January 17, 2010, he signed a contract with Lithuanian powerhouse Lietuvos Rytas. While playing for Lietuvos Rytas, Valančiūnas participated in two LKL All-Star Games, the 2010 and 2011 All-Star Games. During the 2011 All-Star Game Valančiūnas scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, helping the "Lithuanians" win the game. He was named as the 2011 LKL All-Star Game MVP. Outside of the entertainment events, Valančiūnas has led Lietuvos Rytas to the LKL Finals twice, in 2010 and 2011. The team won the 2010 series against Žalgiris 4–3, but lost to the same team the following year 1–4. In 2010, Lietuvos Rytas also won the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) Cup.
On December 27, 2011 Jonas Valančiūnas was named Lithuania Basketball Player of the Year.[2]
On February 13, 2012 Jonas Valančiūnas was named FIBA European Young Player of the Year.[3] He also became that month's MVP in the VTB United League.[4]
On March 3, 2012, Valančiūnas participated in the LKL All-Star game. He led his team to victory, scoring 25 points including one three-pointer, grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists. He won the MVP award once again.[5]
In April, Valančiūnas won the Eurocup Rising Star award and was named in the All-Eurocup squad. He averaged 10.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 1.6 bpg while shooting 63.4% from the field, leading Lietuvos Rytas to third place.
On December 11, 2012, Valančiūnas was chosen as the best basketball player in Lithuania for 2012.[6]
NBA
Valančiūnas was considered as a top prospect at the 2011 NBA Draft, held on June 23, 2011, and was drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Raptors, but had to wait one year until 2012–2013 NBA season to join the Raptors because of his $2.5 million contract buyout with Lietuvos Rytas.[7] The Raptors could only pay $500,000 for his buyout because of NBA rules, but Valančiūnas promised that he would pay the rest of the buyout price so he could play in the NBA.
Euroleague statistics
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating |
Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010–11 | Lietuvos rytas | 15 | 8 | 15.4 | .708 | .000 | .885 | 5.8 | .2 | .2 | .7 | 7.7 | 9.7 |
Career | 15 | 8 | 15.4 | .708 | .000 | .885 | 5.8 | .2 | .2 | .7 | 7.7 | 9.7 |
International career
Valančiūnas made his debut for the junior national team of Lithuania in the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Italy. He dominated throughout the tournament, averaging 14.3 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 23.5 minutes of action. His team went on to win the gold medal and he was chosen as the MVP.[8]
Two years later, Valančiūnas led Lithuania to another gold medal. Lithuania dominated in the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship held in Lithuania. Valančiūnas averaged 19.4 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks, and was voted as the MVP.[9]
Valančiūnas was also a member of the Lithuanian Under-19 basketball team, which competed in the 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Latvia. He led his team to capture the gold medal, averaging 23.0 points, 13.9 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 31 minutes of game action. He was later named the tournament MVP. Valančiūnas scored 36 points in the gold medal game against Serbia, which was the highest points scored in a game by any player in the tournament.[10] To this date he is the only player to achieve an MVP and Gold Medal in all of his FIBA U-tournaments.
Valančiūnas was on the senior men's Lithuanian national basketball team roster for EuroBasket 2011, which took place in Lithuania. Valančiūnas debuted with Lithuania's senior men's national basketball team on 6 August 2011. In his debut match against Czech Republic, he scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.[11] After a strong performance in friendly pre-EuroBasket'11 matches, Valančiūnas was leading the Lithuanian national team with 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.[12] Although Valančiūnas failed to be any kind of a leader in the first 4 games of EuroBasket 2011 (among them missing the game against Turkey), he then became one of the key players, averaging 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 15.7 minutes of game action.[13] He also helped Lithuania to claim the 5th spot, which guaranteed qualification for the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
References
- ^ Valančiūnas named European Under-18 All-Star Game MVP (English)
- ^ Jonas Valančiūnas named Lithuania Player Of The Year (Lithuanian)
- ^ Jonas Valančiūnas named FIBA European Young Player of the Year
- ^ Valančiūnas became the VTB United League player of the month
- ^ Valančiūnas named LKL All-Star Game MVP once again (Lithuanian)
- ^ 23 thousands of fans decided: Valančiūnas is the best Lithuania basketball player in 2012
- ^ Jonas Valanciunas will land in NBA in 2012 (English)
- ^ Valančiūnas named Europe U-16 Championship MVP (Lithuanian)
- ^ Valančiūnas named Europe U-18 Championship MVP (Lithuanian)
- ^ Valančiūnas named World U-19 Championship MVP (English and Latvian)
- ^ Jonas Valančiūnas powerfully debuted in Lithuania national men's basketball team
- ^ Valančiūnas – rezultatyviausias rinktinės žaidėjas pasiruošimo cikle, BasketNews.lt (Lithuanian)
- ^ Jonas Valanciunas profile, Eurobasket 2011.