Martynas Gecevicius

One of the few draft-eligible prospects actually contributing in a major way in the Euroleague this season is 21-year old Lithuanian shooting guard Martynas Gecevicius, competing for 3-1 Lietuvos Rytas in a very tough group. Gecevicius is averaging nearly 16 points per game in a whopping 34 minutes. On the season, he’s shooting 36/71 (51%) from beyond the arc in 13 games in the three competitions (Euroleague, Lithuanian league, Baltic league) he plays in. He sports a lightning quick release and is near-automatic with his feet set.

Gecevicius is interestingly operating as his team’s primary backup point guard this season and is finding some success there thanks to his excellent feel for the game. He lacks great physical attributes, though, being somewhat one-dimensional as he relies very heavily on his 3-point stroke. Skinny, and not particularly big or athletic, he likely lacks the physical attributes (especially on the defensive end) to be considered a very interesting NBA prospect in this, his draft-eligible year. Regardless, he looks poised to develop into a terrific player for high-level Europe.

We finish with the disappointing Martynas Gecevicius, who often failed to emerge as the scoring reference that his team needed in many situations. Still, we have to note that the absence of a reliable back-up point guard put a lot of creative pressure on his shoulders, when he's not anything close to a playmaker and actually exposed some struggles with his ball-handling, particularly in one-on-one situations. Also, the fact that Janavicius had such a bad shooting tournament also helped defenses to focus on him.

…Martynas Gecevicius, who delivered a near perfect game in the Lithuanian LKL Finals against Lietuvos Rytas’ archrival Zalgiris. Played at Vilnius, it was the fourth game of the seven-games series. With Zalgiris leading 2-1, it was an extremely important game to keep Rytas healthily in the competition. After five minutes into the game, Rytas was trailing 2-9, and that’s precisely when Martynas Gecevicius came off the bench to ignite his scoring show. In 23 minutes of playing game, Gecevicius scored 22 points, staying perfect both from the floor and the free-throw line. He just netted everything, and rounded out his performance with 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Although not too serious of an NBA prospect, Gecevicius is a well-known youngster, a very promising shooter for the international scene. Actually we featured him when he earned all-tournament team honors in last summer’s U-18 European Championships, helping Lithuania to conquer the silver medal. He looked like a rather mature player there, ready to fill a role in a veteran team. He started this season in Sakalai, which is a mid-level team by Lithuanian standards, but a weak squad considering the whole European scenario, providing solid production from the perimeter. Lietuvos Rytas recruited him mid-way the season, and he has been given spare playing time, even in these Finals.

Why is this Lithuanian performer not intriguing NBA material at this point? It all comes down to Gecevicius showing a poor physical-athletic combination given that he is an undersized shooting guard at 6-4 who doesn’t enjoy much athleticism, even if he’s relatively strong for his age and displays a nice wingspan.

Instead, Martynas is a smart player who’s forced to survive by relying on his excellent skill set. To put it in a few words, he has the manners of a potential world-class shooter. His jumper is a beauty to watch, from the preparations (either cutting without the ball or driving away his defenders, usually relying on picks), footwork, balance, elevation, mechanics and quickness in the release. Gecevicius scored 3 three-pointers in this game, looking extremely fluid off-the-dribble. One of them came from NBA-range, as he was left in a mismatch with a bigger defender who was waiting for him on the three-point line.

We could also see Gecevicius driving towards the basket, always taking advantage of a favorable situation to start moving. Although decently quick, he’s not that explosive to beat his match-ups on a regular basis in pure one-on-one settings. Still, he’s a nice ball-handler, and he delivered a couple of slaloms to end up dishing the ball, once because he had forced a defensive rotation so a teammate was alone near the basket, but on other occasion he just didn’t feel able to finish against opposition given his size and lack of athleticism. Anyway, he’s a very nice passer who recognizes opportunities for his teammates. Martynas was also very productive in transition, running the court very well, with and without the ball, to catch defenses off-guard.

Where Gecevicius struggled the most was on defense, as he exposed his average lateral quickness that was occasionally exploited by his rivals.

He might never be able to step into a NBA court, although you can never say never (he’s probably less quick than both, but there you have/had Arvydas Macijauskas and J.J.Redick). Anyway, in a few years, you might as well hear his name as he bombs to pieces some NBA-based US squad in summer competition.

If Janavicius was the best playmaker, there’s no doubt that his backcourt teammate Martynas Gecevicius was the best pure shooter. He’s a short guy, even for European standards, who doesn’t share the potential of the other four nominees, but it’s hard not to love every bit of his game considering the skills and basketball knowledge he brings to the table.

An old school shooter, his mechanics are perfect, starting with his footwork, continuing with the way he elevates, always balanced, and finishing with a quick and smooth release of the ball. He’s excellent coming off screens, moving without the ball, but he’s equally effective shooting off the dribble, showing nice ball-handling skills, or even passing the ball, with a good read of the situations and spaces he creates as a shooting menace. Did I mention that he’s Lithuanian?