A look at undrafted Mindaugas Kuzminskas – a Lithuanian small forward who is a key piece for Unicaja Malaga in the Spanish ACB and Euroleague. Having missed out on selection in the 2011 draft he’s started to come into his own in the Euroleague.
The Player
The Lithuanian played his first three Euroleague seasons in his home nation for Zalgiris Kaunas before moving to Malaga for the 2013-14 season where he signed a contract that will elapse at the end of this season, and a Lithuanian site has reported his interested in heading to the NBA and playing in the Summer League in 2016. In his second year in Spain, his minutes began to expand and his numbers raised accordingly while his percentages didn’t fluctuate significantly.
While he has helped Malaga to a fantastic 6-1 start to the Euroleague Regular Season, which has secured them a place in the next stage of the competition (the Top 16), both Kuzminskas and the side from the south of Spain have struggled in the ACB where their record stands at 3-4 and although they have a few other great players, they seem to live and die with Kuzminskas’ performances.
Despite not putting up huge assist numbers, Kuzminskas has good court vision and makes an adept passer (you can see him running the pick and roll below) and isn’t afraid of making moves in the paint. Defensively, he also puts in the effort and has averaged 1.1 assists in the Euroleague season thus far.
.@MKuzminskas to Vazquez ! pic.twitter.com/eEjK9IEZsR
— EuropeanBBallVideos (@EuroBBallVideos) November 13, 2015
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The Shot
Kuzminskas has a very consistent two-point jumper and can handle himself in the paint; he has shot 71 percent this season in the Euroleague and 61 percent in the ACB on two-point attempts. He’s also a solid free-throw shooter, shooting 80 percent in the Euroleague and 82 percent in the ACB.
His main battle in the coming months to draw the attention of NBA teams would be his three-point shot. He can shoot them, but doing so on a consistent basis is his struggle. He’s missed all five of his last long-range attempts in his last two Euroleague games, but scored four of eight in the two games prior to that. Over the course of this Euroleague season, he’s made nine of his 26 attempts (34 percent) and in the ACB, things are similar with 31 percent.
The Competition
Despite these percentage woes from deep, he’s had some great games this season against tough competition. In the second game of the season, Malaga beat Euroleague powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv 93-82. A surprising result to most at the time considering it was in Israel, although it was at the beginning of an implosion for the Israeli team who later sacked their coach.
That aside, Kuzminskas played a big role in the game, scoring all six of his two-point attempts and making three of his five three-point shots, both free throws as well as contributing a steal and a block. He followed this a couple of weeks later with a great performance in Moscow where he netted 22 points on 85-percent shooting from two-point range and 60 percent on threes as well as contributing three each of steals and assists.
Another MVP Of The Game @MKuzminskas ! pic.twitter.com/HaUmgCEkOz — EuropeanBBallVideos (@EuroBBallVideos) November 13, 2015
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Most recently, he helped shut down Maccabi again on Thursday night as the side from Tel Aviv visited Malaga, putting up 14 points on 54 percent two-point shooting and made two assists and two steals but missed both attempts from long range.
And here is where the pattern lies: when playing bigger teams, he seems to step his game up and make the shots he’s missing against weaker competition. It’s a pattern that’s followed him in both competitions this season and one he can hopefully shake in the coming weeks.
The Summer
While he’s not quite the “Lativian gangbanger” tearing it up in New York at the moment, he is a shooter-in-progress that can get to the rim, but also a bright and able passer as well as being a defender that plays up to the competition. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a summer signing, although it’d become a no-brainer if his three-point shot develops that consistency he needs.
Elsewhere in the Euroleague
Barcelona set a Euroleague season-high record of 17 three pointers in one game in a blowout win over Polish side Zielona Gora. The overall record stands at 19. Barcelona young guns Tomas Satoransky and Alexander Vezenkov both shot 100 percent from beyond the arc with two and three, respectively. Vezenkov had a stellar overall game, shooting 100 percent on his four free throws and single two-point attempt. As well as contributing two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
A highlight from this week’s games has Bobby Dixon delivering this wicked alley-oop pass from deep to former Washington Wizard Jan Vesely for an impressive dunk.
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