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Jonas Valanciunas: On The Right Track

By Joshua Howe

Oct 28, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Indiana Pacers guard Monta Ellis (11) drives to the basket as Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) tries to defend during the fourth quarter in a game at the Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Raptors won 106-99. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 28, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Indiana Pacers guard Monta Ellis (11) drives to the basket as Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) tries to defend during the fourth quarter in a game at the Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Raptors won 106-99. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
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There were numerous things to enjoy about the Toronto Raptors’ 106-99 win over the Indiana Pacers to kick off their season, but the most exciting had to be the performance of Jonas Valanciunas. The big man who recently signed a bigger extension is getting off on the right foot.

Val dropped 21 points, 15 rebounds and a block against Indy, crushing their small-ball lineups like a wrecking ball-wielding, Lithuanian version of the Hulk. He shot a sexy 8-for-11 (72.7 percent) from the field and 5-for-6 (83.3 percent) from the free-throw line.

Just as eye-popping was the fact that Dwane Casey decided to play his center those elusive fourth-quarter minutes that have evaded him for the first three seasons of his NBA career. He did a good job, not bending to the pressure and doing his all to snatch rebounds wherever he could. He even made some tension-slathered free throws with ease.

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Those late minutes weren’t perfect, and it was fairly obvious that Jonas hasn’t played a ton of fourth quarters before. His defense in particular wasn’t spot on, and will need to improve for the future when there are games that matter more on the line.

Still, this is a great building block for the 22-year-old to spring himself into a breakout season. He ended up tallying 32 total minutes and was a plus-8 (tied for highest in the game with Kyle Lowry).

It’s pretty clear that if JV can keep up this kind of production then he has a legitimate chance at being an All-Star, something that wouldn’t even have been remotely considered last season. But Valanciunas has all of the tools to be a consistent 15-10, double-double machine.

He showed it in that victory with his tenacious effort on the boards; and when you clean the glass, you’re more likely to produce opportunities for yourself via offensive rebounds or teammates purposefully looking for you.

Hopefully, if Jonas keeps up the positive work, then the somewhat tenuous relationship between him and Casey will improve. Casey has seemed reluctant to give Valanciunas minutes in the past, and while his reasoning was justified to an extent, rarely giving him chances was an error.

Casey trusts the guys he trusts, meaning that the players who he knows he can rely on will get vastly more minutes than others. He’s almost Thibadeaunian in that way. Casey, like Thibs, loves defensive-minded guys. In that first game, for example, he played DeMarre Carroll (who is an excellent defender) 41 minutes.

Before the season began, many were wondering what it would hold for Valanciunas, especially after that contract extension. Would he flop or plateau with the money in hand? Or would he rise to the occasion and tangibly start to become one of the answers to the Raptors’ future?

Thankfully, he’s started the season on the path to the latter. There is no guarantee that Val will keep this up, but if he can, it’ll be the coming out party everyone in Toronto has been desperately waiting for.

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