What to watch in LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball's Lithuania debut
Channel: 24h Breaking News
Date: 2018-01-09

Ball Brothers Q&A: Beginning Life in Lithuania

While the Big Baller Brand Lithuanian Tour has already had its fair share of reality TV moments, the news that Vytautas will now play Zalgiris' second team on Tuesday -- rather than Minsk (0-6 in the Baltic League) -- is a short-term win for most parties involved.

Zalgiris 2 operates as the youth development team for the prestigious Lithuanian power. It's composed of players ranging from 16 to 21 years old and includes some of the top youth prospects in a country filled with ardent basketball fans. Zalgiris 2 is expected to play only its under-18 prospects against the Ball brothers and Vytautas on Tuesday. While the long-term future of LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball remains uncertain, this at least allows them to match up with the top Lithuanian players in or around their age group.

For 16-year-old LaMelo Ball, the better long-term prospect of the two, competing against Lithuania's elite under-18 talent is an excellent barometer. Rather than going toe-to-toe with middling Baltic League local players, the Ball brothers will square off with prospects who are at a similar stage of development. Evaluating youth players among their peers is often the best way to gauge where they stand, and finding more ways to schedule games with Zalgiris 2 and other top under-18 club teams would make their overseas experience more beneficial.

For international scouts and talent evaluators -- some of whom still view this as a gimmick and were resistant to take a break from their hectic schedules to scout LaMelo and LiAngelo at the Baltic League level before this news -- there is a little more incentive to attend the game or break down the film given the increase in future draftable young talent.

We have a strong grasp on the type of talent that LaMelo and LiAngelo will face in their Lithuania debut, as we've scouted a handful of Zalgiris 2's top prospects live at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Kaunas, Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, multiple European championships and even their practice facility. Here are three basketball-related developments to watch during Tuesday's highly anticipated Big Baller Brand Challenge opener in Lithuania.

1. LaMelo Ball vs. Rokas Jokubaitis
Two of the game's top prospects, LaMelo Ball and 17-year-old, 6-foot-4 lefty point guard Rokas Jokubaitis, will likely go head-to-head for stretches on Tuesday. Jokubaitis, who was born in 2000, is considered the top young point guard in Lithuania and would project as a high-major player if he were developing in the United States. He has impressed both on the club and national-team level and is held in high regard by Sarunas Jasikevicius (a Lithuanian legend and former NBA player who is Zalgiris' head coach).

Jokubaitis broke out as a 15-year-old at the FIBA under-16 European Championships in Radom, Poland, posting a 32.3 player efficiency rating (PER) in seven games. This past summer Jokubaitis shined at the under-19 World Championships, averaging more than 19 points and 10 assists (second in the entire tournament) per 40 minutes as a 16-year-old on a 5-2 Lithuania team. Jokubaitis was also selected to participate in the NBA's 2017 Basketball Without Borders Europe camp held in Israel and stood out as one of the top point guards in attendance.

While most teenagers would be astonished by a packed press conference in a foreign country being held on their behalf, LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball are not most teenagers. The brothers looked cool and relaxed as they took their seats in the Harmony Park hotel ballroom in Lithuania on Friday. LaMelo even reclined in his chair, leaning back as a horde of more than 50 reporters crowded around. Both brothers hardly flinched as the camera flashes and surreal questions came firing one after another.

For two teenagers who have a camera crew shadowing them every day, and more social media followers than most NBA stars, it was just business as usual. And if you ask the Ball brothers, that's exactly how they're approaching the start of their pro careers in Lithuania. They're sacrificing the fair weather and diversity of SoCal for the freezing winters and simplicity of Prienai, a countryside population of around 10,000. Their focus is all basketball. In fact, LaMelo, who's a die-hard gamer, even left his PlayStation 4 at home.

LiAngelo Ball: "Oh, it was exciting. I knew I was coming to play, so that was just exciting for me. The only thing different is the language and the food—that's it—and the weather probably."

JZ: What's been nice with how the country has welcomed you?