TheScore (blog) reports:
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Four games into the 2011 FIBA Men’s Under-19 World Championship, there should be little question who the tournament MVP has been so far. That would be the Raptors’ draft pick, Jonas Valanciunas, who is ranked fourth in scoring with 19.3 points per game, second in rebounds with 13 per game, and first in blocks with 3.5 per game. Earlier today, he led Lithuania to a 71-54 win over Serbia with an impressive performance of 18 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and just two fouls in 34 minutes.
I feel it’s important to mention the fouls because he fouled out of two of his four tournament games, including Saturday’s match against Canada when he picked up five fouls in just 14 minutes. Like many young big men who are aggressive defensively and on the boards, foul trouble is something that could be a significant barrier to Valanciunas’ ability to contribute consistently early in his NBA career.
