Valanciunas puts new bulk to early test

Raptors’ big man matches up against tough guy Pekovic

The day after he had got into an altercation last year with his future teammate Tyler hansbrough, Jonas Valanciunas was not feeling particularly fond of the professional agitator.

hansbrough had thrown Valanciunas, then a Toronto raptors rookie, down to the ground from behind during a game in February. Valanciunas was just four games removed from a six-week absence caused by a hand injury. The play was widely considered dirty, and Valanciunas did not dispute that notion.

The conversation shifted: Who, in the NbA, could manhandle Valanciunas? Who is the strongest man in the NbA?

“Pekovic,” Valanciunas shot back quickly.

That would be Nikola Pekovic, the Montenegrin who plays the post for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 6-foot-11 beast, rewarded with a fiveyear, uS$60-million deal this offseason, is essentially shorthand for toughness incarnate in this league. And it was for the likes of him — and brook Lopez, Marc Gasol, roy hibbert and others — that Valanciunas put on some weight in the off-season. That muscle, which caused Valanciunas’s Lithuanian coach to complain that his centre had lost some of his agility, is necessary if a young man is going to withstand 82 games in the post in this league.

“he’s a strong boy,” raptors centre Aaron Gray said. “he’s solid, man.”

“All he eats is bison meat,” interrupted Amir Johnson, Gray’s lockerroom neighbour.

“you just have got to try to match their physicality,” Gray continued, referring to the strongest big men in the league. “If they’re the ones always hitting you first, hitting you at the spot that they want to get to, it’s going to be a long night for you. but if you can push them out a step farther and make it a little bit more difficult, anticipate when the shot is going to go up so you can get into his body first, that’s good. If he’s leaning on your body all night, you’re going to get pretty tired pretty quickly.”

So, that made the raptors’ home pre-season debut, a 101-89 loss to the Timberwolves, a worthy measuring stick of where Valanciunas is currently — except for the fact that pre-season naturally obscures what is important. For the raptors centre, the results were decidedly mixed. With two minutes remaining in first half, Pekovic dipped his shoulder into Valanciunas away from the basket, pushing him back and eventually causing a too-easy foul. but just 45 seconds later, Valanciunas competently boxed the Minnesota centre out, grabbed a defensive rebound and started a fast break that finished with a deMar derozan layup.

“[Pekovic] got the best of [Valanciunas] there for the first couple of possessions,” raptors coach dwane casey said. “he got ducked in on a couple of times. but I thought he held his own.”

It got better early in the second half, when Valanciunas established deep position on Pekovic, caught the ball and found a cutting Kyle Lowry for a layup.

“I don’t think there’s anybody more physical than Pekovic,” Gray added. “he’s the most physical guy we’ll see this year.”

Valanciunas wound up with nine points and five rebounds in 27 minute, although he appeared winded at time. It was reason enough to think Valanciunas had a productive summer, but that cannot be concluded until February or March. This season, the raptors’ 19th, will be different than those that came before it.

The man inside the mascot uniform tore his Achilles’ tendon during a community visit in halifax on Saturday. The man behind the plush, a day one raptors employee, is out for the year, although he will appear in vignettes throughout the season.

A raptors spokesperson said they have a plan in place to replace the mascot. There was no immediate word if it would involve an inflatable version of the team’s new global ambassador, drake.