Jonas Valanciunas shows his value as Lithuania’s anchor at EuroBasket

Jonas Valanciunas took care of business early as Lithuania swept Montenegro aside at EuroBasket 2025. The fate of Lithuania in this tournament rests on the shoulders of the Denver Nuggets man. Emmet Ryan on how JV delivered while also keeping something in reserve.

Lithuania had a plan. Get the absolute most out of Jonas Valanciunas as early as possible so they could sit him. The Denver Nuggets man delivered and, in the process, helped to brush away the drama of the summer. At EuroBasket 2025, we’re seeing a fun version of Valanciunas.

The obvious and effective

Lithuania spamming Jonas Valanciunas at EuroBasket 2025 was never going to surprise anyone. It was when JV took a planned elbow three that you knew it was going to hit another level against Montenegro.

With no Domantas Sabonis or Matas Buzelis for Lithuania in Tampere, the plan was always to lean on the Denver Nuggets big man. That approach was exacerbated in the game with Montenegro. It mad sense, the Balkan side was going to lean on Nikola Vucevic so getting JV to take charge was optimal.

This was particularly relevant given the context of this game. Montenegro was essentially the trap opponent. This was the one side Lithuania had to worry about in terms of breaking up the big three of this group in Tampere. Beat them and the maths becomes a lot clearer through the remaining three games.

The other context

EuroBasket, in the old days, was nasty on the bodies of players. They’d play 5 games in 6 days and lump it. The extended format now means there’s only one case of back to back games. For Jonas Valanciunas and Lithuania at EuroBasket 2025, their back to backs were this game with Montenegro and tomorrow’s battle with Germany.

The Germans are the second favourites to win the whole tournament, only behind Serbia. They also had their game on Friday earlier than the Baltic side. That meant that maximising rest was critical. Lithuania’s approach to this game was one of trying to kill it by the half in order to drop the energy needed in the remaining 20 minutes.

There’s going to be a lot asked of Jonas Valanciunas on Saturday morning. The Denver Nuggets man is used to carrying the load for his national team but these circumstances are unique. The second half of a back-to-back against a team expected to go the distance is not for the faint hearted.

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Oh, that other context

The summer of Jonas Valanciunas was not exactly normal. While still very much a contracted player of the Sacramento Kings, Panathinaikos talked about signing him. Then, he got traded to the Denver Nuggets, who clearly wanted to use him. Yet all the talk was of Valanciunas having made a deal with Panathinaikos.

Players being traded and waived, and getting a head start on their contract in Europe while awaiting formalities, isn’t a new phenomenon. The difference here was that Valanciunas was never getting waived. The Nuggets really want to use him.

That made him being the lone Lithuanian NBA player to make it to EuroBasket 2025 all the more interesting. Getting a change from the noise before going back to work in the US is good for him. He’s visibly been in a good mood throughout the opening days of the tournament. Attitude wise, he’s already got what he needed from national team duty.

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After a tumultuous summer, Jonas Valanciunas looked comfortable playing in front of Lithuanian fans at EuroBasket 2025.

Job done

Thanks in no small part to 19 points and 5 boards from Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania got what they wanted out of the first half. They held a huge lead and the game was effectively over. The Denver Nuggets man didn’t even step on the floor in the second half.

The plan was simple, do what makes the most sense to advance further at EuroBasket 2025. In this case, that was giving JV time to recover and be ready to go all out against Germany. That game however will come with its own wrinkle. Should Lithuania fall into a big hole, don’t be surprised if they ease off on the usage of Valanciunas in the second half.

Realistically, this team is gunning for a top 2 spot in the group. If they win the group, they will probably get Portugal. Get second and it looks like a Latvia side that doesn’t look at its best. The alternatives are Serbia, the tournament favourites, and a very strong Turkey. To ensure they avoid either, beating Finland on Monday is crucial. That will mean a whole lot of JV. There’s no point sacrificing him on Saturday if the Germany game becomes a lost cause.

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