http://blogs.chron.com/aggies/2007/06/kavaliauskas_to_the_rockets.html As an Ag I would be very excited to see him with the Rockets. He can finish close and rebound.
decent rebounding, shooter, nice game around the basket....as an aggie, why do you think he did not get drafted? I'm pretty interested in this guy based of the few scout reports i've read
He just never was the focal point of the team. AK isn't flashy but he can finish and rebound. perhaps some also think he is an undesized center at 6'10". I really think he could help though.
As an Aggie... I can tell you this. AK will NEVER make it in the NBA. Never. Contrary to what you read above. He has some positives but these are his crippling negatives. He cannot rebound worth a damn. Everytime we played an athletic team he got owned. He is also shorter than listed. Fades quick against bigger posts, rarely steps up against talented opposition. He will put 20+ against Lamar only to get owned by bigger NBA quality bigs. Mario Bogan easily dominated Kavilauskas. He is too slow to beat his man off the dribble meaning his solid jumper will likely be negated. Considering his shortcomings one would think he must possess exceptional court vision and quick passing skills. Sigh. Unfortunately thats not the case. Underrated man to man defender, I am not worried about him getting beat by Boozer. But big guys will have their way down low with this softy who possesses minimal vertical.
His development over the past 2 seasons has been nothing short of meteoric though. AK is an extremely hard worker and is as motivated to succeed as anyone in college basketball. He has family issues back home and needs to make it professionally to be able to take care of them... He's also got a little bit of a mean streak in him... I wouldn't rule this guy out at all.
Every team is preparing for summer league. He is just filling the role of center, since there isn't much there.
Whoop!!! I don't know if he'll stick though. His vertical is maybe 1 ft. A small part of why we lost to Memphis in the first round is our 2 bigs were always going for layups instead of dunking it. Jones and AK were getting their stuff thrown several times that night by the Memphis bigs. He reminds me of the PF we almost got from Denver for Lucas; can't recall his name at this time...too much wine He is a good player and has really bulked up from his first year at A&M, so I do think he can improve physically and mentally for the game, but I don't know if his defense is worthy for a league that doesn't play defense. With all that said, he is talented and I hope he has improved enough that he can stick.
Highlights. P.S. He can jump higher than 1 foot. <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c2Ha1M7dfIE"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c2Ha1M7dfIE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> Apparently, It's only a highlight.
Ziggy, I won't argue AK is not a big rebounder because he wasn't an outstanding rebounder. You are totally wrong about being owned by Mario Boggan. If your an aggie or just an OSU fan, might want to check who won both games during regular season. Yeah, they lost a Big 12 game to OSU as they all (Aggies) played horrible. I hope AK makes it but it will be hard for any player that comes in as a free agent with no contract long term. Its a now or maybe never type thing. AK 6'10/250 (realistically 6'9/245). He has the same frame as Verajao/Umberto, wide body, broad shoulders and can run the court good (not great but good). He has a few post moves that worked in college (will have to improve at the next level), can hit from 15ft out (don't believe go back to that Big monday game vs. UT when Acie has hitting desperation shots, so was AK from college 3pt land) and has improved his footwork from year 1 to year 2 at A&M. One thing people didn't see if you didn't watch A&M basketball is that in my opinion he was more of a need than Joseph Jones (JJ). JJ was always in foul trouble (enter KU game) and AK was the one that played... He's a role player people, not a top 10 pick. As to why he didn't get drafted, why draft a kid in the 2nd round that you MAY have a chance to sign for summer league? Instead of drafting a Euro kid and lock the Euro guy up for 3 years (if the Euro kid doesn't make it in 3 years then you lose nothing big for a 2nd rd. pick plus didn't have to pay him). Look at San Antonio, all these NBA teams including Houston allowed Tiago Splitter to go by because he won't be here this year and SA takes him to only have to wait at least a year to get him there. Then SA will have another big to play next to Duncan. San Antonio was just handed a top 10 calibur player that they will get in a year or two. Back to AK, I feel he has a good chance to make a team because he's a team player that is no worse or better than many bigs in this league. Its not like the league now is full of dominant physical bigs. You guys act like guys like Verajao, Umberto, Dampier, and any "big" role player is playing above the rim. I do think he does fit the system Adelman wants to run. Using bigs that can shoot, screen and pass to get our guards open as he did in Sacramento with Webber, Divac and Songalia. Once again, he's a wide body=solid post screen, good shooter=open lanes and a role player=team player. He will never be a big rebounder and that might be his down fall... Just my opinion but I know Boggan didn't dominate AK. He was shut down at Reed Arena and were embarrased at home by A&M. So unless your talking about the game they beat A&M in the Big 12 tourney, there is no such thing as dominated. Unless you want to say because one season Hakeem to a desperation last second shot and Robinson blocked it to mean Hakeem was dominated by David Robinson. Yeah.......uh...NO...
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4934088.html The Rockets added former Texas A&M center Antanas Kavaliauskas to the summer league team that already included former Texas Tech forward Andre Emmitt and last season's rookies Steve Novak and John Lucas IV.
isnt thta the same thing Tsakalidis brings..so why do we need him?....eventhoug i'm an Aggie, I don't see any point of bringing him in here.. Anyways.....Gig Em Ags
Haryasz was white too. I have seen AK a lot in college and the reason he didn't get drafted is because he basically only had his senior year to show his skills, yes skills(absolutely not a stiff like I thought he would be). He played very well the end of his junior year but had no pub at all. Even his senior year he was behind Law and Joseph Jones as far as the spotlight. I think he is a bit overlooked because of this. If he had one more year of college I think he would have been drafted. Either way he is a talent and a legit 6'10.5" if he doesn not stick with the Rockets which may be possible someone over seas will sign him in a second. Here is his draft profile so you can get an unbiased non-aggies view. http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=1260 measurements: Antanas Kavaliauskas 6' 9" w/o shoes 6' 10.5" w/ shoes 237 6' 10.5" wingspan 8' 10.5" standing reach, 7.7% body fat, 25.5 no step vert 30 max vert. 19 reps of 185lbs. 11.19 lane agility 3.42 3/4 court spring 33 ranked athlete in draft His lane agility was better than Taurean Green, Rodney Stuckey, Conley, Durant by far, Oden, Crittenton, Noah, Brewer, and Horford and several others. Bench Press ties him for 9th strongest in draft only Horford and Landry could bench more of the bigs in the draft. Sprint measured out better than Durant, Horford, and Hawes. http://www.draftexpress.com/measurements.php?year=2007&sort2=&draft=&sort=1 The main reason I thought he wouldn't make it to the league was because of athleticism but he has proven he is a decent athlete who has above average quickness and strength for a young PF combine that with his decent dribbling ability and nice jumpshot he will be a solid professional player in this league or iin Europe. Let's hope we can store him somewhere until he is fully developed could be a decent 3rd string PF/C someday with the potential to be a backup.
Wow if you are an Aggie that must mean you didn't see him play or maybe you haven't seen big Jake play. AK is skilled, big Jake is not. He is just size and is a stiff unlike AK who moves very well for a big man. His shot and ability to pump fake a jumpshot and dribble it by a stiff C like big Jake would be a huge assett in the league. AK also gives you the ability to play PF where as Jake can only play C. I'm not sure if the Rockets need another mediocre PF/C on the team so I agree with you to an extent about him possibly being redundant but he in no way resembles Jake Tsake. I can see us maybe signing AK if someone goes crazy and offers Chuck a large contract that we are not prepared to sign. Other than that it is a long shot unless he wows in summer league which could very well be possible.
