Remember last week when the YouTube video of Jonas Valanciunas went viral as the youngster from Lithuania went high off the glass and put down a monster dunk.
There's a pretty good chance the 7-foot Valanciunas wishes he could turn back the clock and avoid the hangover from the beat down in London on Sunday at the hands of Argentina.
Painful in so many ways.
Instead of stepping up on the national stage, the team became what the Toronto Raptors rookie essentially became during key stretches of the game: a trained observer from the bench, forced to watch Argentina put the hammer down in large fashion.
The result was a 23-point loss, Lithuania's third biggest loss in Olympic history that dates back to a 127-76 loss to the Dream Team in 1992. The most recent pounding -- Australia in 2008, 106-75.
This loss, however, doesn't bode well for Valanciunas who will have all eyes on him now that he is making the official jump the NBA this season.
While Linas Kleiza scored a team-high 20 points and Paulius Jankunas contributed with 14 points for Lithuania, Valanciunas' final line was less than impressive in the preliminary round: 6 points and 5 rebounds in 14 minutes.
He showed flashes of offense in the pick-and-roll, but when it came to defense, he looked a step slow adjusting to Argentina's ball movement. With his size and ability, he can't afford to shrink right now.
Lithuania next faces Nigeria on Tuesday, a team destined to surprise a number of teams in London just as they did in Venezuela to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.
Maybe then Valanciunas can provide some hope to Lithuania and even the fans of Toronto who are waiting to see what they can expect from the former 5th overall pick in 2011.
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Original Story:
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July 31, 2012
