European Prospects

This week, the Lithuanian forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas announced that he will enter his name into the 2010 NBA Draft as an early entry candidate. I got a hand on a recent playoff game in the Lithuanian League LKL and put together a short reel about his major plays of that game against Techasas. This is far from being a real Video analysis of his skills but it gives a good indication.

Find the box-score of the game here.

Find below a report I had written on Kuzminskas at the beginning of the Eurocup season.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas is one of the major surprises of the beginning of the Eurocup season. Kuzminskas who signed a long term deal with Zalgiris this summer but was loaned back to Siauliai is doing a great job as starter for the Lithuanian team. Being present both as a scorer and rebounder, Kuzminskas is doing an all-around job in his second Eurocup season. The 2m05 tall and 1989 born player is currently hitting his three point shots with great accuracy. His shooting mechanics look excellent with a quick release. He understand the game pretty well and he can use his size to post up smaller defenders when playing SF. He is also very effective when driving to the basket as he attracts the help defense and knows how to dish the ball to his open team mates. Fundamentally, he is at a very high level and athletically, he is above average for European standards. On the downside, he looks to be kind of a soft player when it comes to contact, especially in the lower body. He loses his balance in the air easily when going for the layup against defense and struggles to convert his attempts then. However, he is one of the most promising players in the Eurocup this season and I won’t be surprised to see him playing Euroleague with Zalgiris in 2010.

Here are also my notes on him from the Reebok Eurocamp 2009.

The only Lithuanian player in the camp was Mindaugas Kuzminskas from Siauliai. The athletic wing player showed some interesting aspects, good fakes and a nice range, when he is open. He is working well in the offensive rebound despite not being that big or tall. His jumping abilities help him in that area though and his correct speed and ball handling are reason why his drive is one of his best options at the moment.