Rule No. 1: don’t mess with Lithuania.
In a recent interview, Hall of Fame Lithuanian guard Sarunas Marciulionis, who played for seven seasons in the NBA from 1989 to 1997, ripped Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry for not passing the ball enough to teammate Jonas Valanciunas, one of Marciulionis’ countrymen.
“They ask from him too much,” Marciulionis said of Valanciunas, per Lithuanian basketball reporter Donatas Urbonas. “[He] has great hands and he runs the floor. What more do they want from this white guy? I don’t understand their requirements. If you want more, give him more playing time, give him the ball, and he’ll do everything.
“Also, they don’t understand what it means to pass the ball in Toronto,” continued Marciulionis. “Their point guard … He probably doesn’t even know how to spell p-a-s-s. How many ‘s’ this word has.”
In truth, Valanciunas’ stagnation in Year 5 of his NBA career is probably more an indictment of coach Dwane Casey’s gameplan and DeMar DeRozan’s high usage rate than Lowry’s passing (or lack thereof). Lowry has actually finished top-12 in the NBA in assists per game in each of the last four seasons and his 7.0 dimes a contest in 2016-17 were the second-highest total of his career.
Lowry is an unrestricted free agent this summer and really appears to be entertaining the possibility of leaving Toronto. As such, he may not be around much longer for Marciulionis to scapegoat.
