Ignas Brazdeikis: what difficulties will he face in the EuroLeague? / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: BNS | BasketNews iliustracija/A.Zaikauskas Credit BNS | BasketNews iliustracija/A.Zaikauskas

Zalgiris Kaunas officially introduced Ignas Brazdeikis, who should be the main shooting guard of the team.

Ignas Brazdeikis

Team:Orlando MagicLithuaniaPosition:SFAge:23Height:201 cmWeight:98 kgBirth place:Kaunas, LithuaniaProfileNewsStatistics

Iggy, who has been chasing his NBA dream for a long time, finally agreed to the Lithuanian club's offer. His upcoming debut in the EuroLeague is one of the biggest intrigues in Kaunas in the last few years.

The 2.00-meter-tall Lithuanian, who grew up in Canada, introduced himself to the audience of Lithuania only this summer, and the first acquaintance with Brazdeikis made an impression on many. However, it was only a friendly match and a qualifying competition, representing Lithuania's national team made of backup players.

BasketNews takes a look at the challenges Brazdeikis will have to overcome in his first season in Europe to live up to the fans' expectations for his year at Zalgiris.

Role

It only took a few matches for the Lithuanian national team to make sure that Brazdeikis has the potential to play in Europe. Still, there are doubts about him being an elite player in his first club season in the EuroLeague. But this is primarily due to the roster puzzle of Zalgiris.

At the beginning of the summer, the Kaunas team had already acquired Arnas Butkevicius next to Edgaras Ulanovas, and thus, it seemed, closed the position at the small forward. The position that Brazdeikis played his entire career.

In FIBA ​​basketball, Brazdeikis showed that he does not shy away from playing with the ball and tearing the opponent's defense with drives, which convinced coach Kazys Maksvytis that the 23-year-old could be successful in the shooting guard position. But the shooting guard position is not equal to the shooting guard position.

3-pointers this season

35%8,4Points made:8,4Accuracy:35,3%Place in standings:13Record max:13Record min:4Most made 3FGs:Artūras MilaknisTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

In one team, you may be required to attack the opponent's defense with drives and run to the fast breaks, and here Brazdeikis, who has a wonderful first step, would be perfect for the shooting guard position, but the initial philosophy of Zalgiris was different.

According to BasketNews, after Zalgiris signed Keenan Evans, the club's management wanted another creator in the shooting guard position, which is understandable - Evans and Lukas Lekavicius are primarily scorers.

Mantas Kalnietis is a real creator at the point guard position, but his main task in the EuroLeague will be to give rest to the mentioned guards and Tomas Dimsa, who will be Brazdeikis' backup, is also a more of a scoring-type player.

Credit BNS

Therefore, Brazdeikis, who is making his European debut and also played as a power forward in the NCAA, will have to do more than just score points. The 2.00-meter player is certainly dangerous in pick&rolls, but even in the U.S., where his usual basketball is played, the quality of Iggy's passes and overall creativity were appealed.

However, it is not only creativity that Zalgiris will expect from the main shooting guard. Having Arturas Milaknis on their team for a number of years, the Kaunas team did not think twice about having an elite sniper on the team during the off-season. This year, everything is changing.

Now only Karolis Lukosiunas on the Zalgiris roster is a player whose shooting from the distance is the number one skill in his game's repertoire, but his minutes in the EuroLeague will definitely be very limited. This means that Zalgiris no longer has a real shooter in the EuroLeague rotation.

Brazdeikis had flashes of attacking from long range during his career on the other side of the Atlantic but did not earn a reputation as a reliable shooter, let alone a sniper.

Brazdeikis, who has a good shot after the dribble, had 38.7% in 3-point shooting in the G League this season, but last year it was just 25.7%. However, a closer 3-point line in Europe should increase Brazdeikis' 3-point percentage, provided Zalgiris doesn't lack the creativity we've already talked about, and Brazdeikis can often attack from static positions.

Not his position, the role of a leader, and aspects of the game, in which Brazdeikis did not shine in the U.S. If there will be no more additions on the perimeter, aren't too many responsibilities placed on Zalgiris newcomer?

European basketball

Until this summer, Brazdeikis played in FIBA basketball only in the U16 and U17 national teams, when he represented Canada, and there is still one question mark here.

Yes, Iggy will spend a couple of months with the Lithuanian national team before the start in Zalgiris, where he will get to know the European basketball court even more, but sometimes the whole season is not enough for the Americans to adapt to the EuroLeague.

Brazdeikis imagined himself only in the NBA until the last minute of his decision, so it is naive to expect that he was closely following EuroLeague before. And we are not even talking about knowing the game systems of individual coaches but about rivals who have been dictating fashion in the EuroLeague for several years.

Brazdeikis, who has a fighter character, will not lack the motivation to prove his worth in European basketball. However, on the highest European basketball stage, he will not meet Bulgarians or Czechs who have been practicing for only a couple of weeks, but the elite of the EuroLeague, with a deep analysis of his game.

Credit BNS

The best European coaches will find the weaknesses of Brazdeikis that we discussed above. The question is how the Zalgiris player will adapt every week in situations he has not often been in until this point in his career.

One of the first things to do is read the help on defense. Brazdeikis, who likes to play deep in contact, did not face the help on the perimeter or the always camped centers in the painted area.

Also, Brazdeikis, who is used to quick offense in the G League, will have to stop himself in the EuroLeague because the opponents will punish him for every hasty decision.

These are the challenges faced by all first-time players coming directly from across the Atlantic to Europe. Brazdeikis has years of learning ahead of him, but it is positive that he got to know FIBA basketball at an early age and now still has months ahead of him in the Lithuanian national team.

Defense

Above we talked only about the challenges ahead of Brazdeikis on offense, where he is, in any case, a huge talent on a European scale, and there are only questions about how he will adapt. Another thing is defense.

The former NBA player was neither considered a good athlete nor strong in individual defense, and he was also scolded for having short arms.

If athleticism is enough for Brazdeikis in Europe, especially in the shooting guard position, then the problem of short arms and individual defense will not disappear.

The 23-year-old athlete does not have fast feet, and keeping pace with elite guards in the EuroLeague will be difficult. However, Zalgiris should be able to avoid a big problem here - Brazdeikis will play next to Ulanovas and Butkevicius, who can safely cover faster basketball players on the perimeter.

This means that Iggy should usually cover the small forwards in the Euroleague. With his toughness, he can hide the limitations of the individual defense, or at least it will not be as obvious as in the NBA.

True, the question of motivation should be added - often, players of American culture, who have a particularly large role on offense, like to save themselves on defense. There were already such situations in the qualifiers window.

However, the biggest challenge for Brazdeikis should be the team defense. In just four games with the Lithuanian national team jersey, the mistakes of the basketball player who grew up in Canada were visible to the naked eye in the rotations, which are explainable - Brazdeikis simply had not seen such defense systems in his career.

Brazdeikis, who is valued for his high basketball IQ, should eventually understand European defense systems, but the main question is how long will it take?

Patience may be needed not only for Zalgiris coaches and club fans but also for Brazdeikis himself.

Although Iggy's potential makes us think he is possibly a future EuroLeague star, the difficulties ahead in the first year with Zalgiris must also be assessed against the expectations raised.

Like what we are doing? Support us by becoming BN+ member.