Canada coach Nurse well-versed in Lithuanian centre Valanciunas
DONGGUAN, CHINA — There are few coaches — or maybe no coaches — on the planet who know Jonas Valanciunas’s basketball game better than Nick Nurse.
When Nurse was hired as an assistant with the Toronto Raptors six years ago, his first assignment was to work with the 27-year-old Lithuanian. And whether they were in Toronto, Lithuania, Los Angeles or Las Vegas, the two were virtually tied at the hip until the big man was traded this past February to Memphis.
Now, as the star centre for Lithuania, Valanciunas stands in the way of Canada’s chances at reaching the second round of the FIBA World Cup. The two teams will meet Tuesday night in a must-win game for Canada.
The 23rd-ranked Canadians lost to Australia in their opener on Sunday, while No. 7 Lithuania thrashed Senegal 101-47. Valanciunas had 13 points and 11 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.
The seven-foot centre, who was young and unpolished when the 52-year-old Nurse arrived in Toronto, blossomed into a Raptors fan favourite, and one of the best frontcourt players in this World Cup.
Seeing the centre traded in February to Memphis for Marc Gasol couldn’t have been easy for Nurse.
“I don’t think there was a guy that I spent as much time with, built a strong long relationship with,” the coach said. “Obviously, everybody that knows Jonas knows he’s a great guy, really good to be around, he’s a super pleasant personality. It was fun for me.”
Their first off-season spent together in Lithuania, they purposefully didn’t do any work around the basket. Valanciunas had been strictly a post-up player, and Nurse challenged him to be more.
“I wanted to get him out on the floor and handle the ball, reverse the ball, and (dribble hand- offs), and run into screens and even shoot some from the perimeter,” the coach said after Monday’s practice at Dongguan Basketball Center. “I just remember it was fun to kind of watch that part of his game open up a little bit, and I know it was fun for him to expand his game a little bit.”
The Lithuanian and Canadian squads paint strikingly different pictures in China. A Canadian side that could have been stocked with NBA players arrived with just two in Cory Joseph and Khem Birch, after one star after another withdrew their names before camp opened.
“Yes!” Valanciunas joked — with a fist pump — about the NBA stars missing from Canada’s team.
And while Lithuania has just two NBAers in Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis, Valanciunas has reported for national team duty every summer since he was 15. Sit out? He wouldn’t dream of it. Lithuanian players bleed green. There’s a deeprooted pride in playing for country that seemingly has yet to take hold in Canada.
“Basketball in Lithuania is a second religion,” Valanciunas said. “Everybody since Day 1 is trying to play basketball or follow basketball or stuff like that. It’s a big thing in Lithuania. So you’re kind of under some pressure, but it’s a good pressure.”
A huge and rowdy Lithuanian crowd, with fuzzy green wigs and painted faces, packed the arena for Sunday night’s game. A flag the size of a swimming pool was passed around.