Lithuania coach: Valanciunas must 'dedicate himself to basketball more'

Lithuania was blasted out of Rio 2016 by Australia in Wednesday's quarterfinal, and while a better performance from one man likely wouldn't have made the difference in a 26-point defeat, head coach Jonas Kazlauskas couldn't help but feel disappointed with the effort of cornerstone Jonas Valanciunas.

"I wish him to understand, that if you live only by talent, this fairy tale can end one day," Kazlauskas said of the 24-year-old center, according to 24Sek's Donatas Urbonas.

After a strong season with the Toronto Raptors that featured a breakout playoff performance (before an ankle sprain shelved him), Valanciunas had a pretty miserable showing in Rio, averaging just 6.7 points on 39 percent shooting, with nearly as many turnovers (13) as made field goals (16). In five of six games, Lithuania was outscored with him on the floor, and the quarterfinals saw him score just five points while posting a minus-22 in 24 minutes.

Kazlauskas felt the deficiency was one of commitment, not skill.

"I believe Lithuania will be his team in future and he'll be fine," the coach said. "But he has to dedicate himself to basketball more."

Valanciunas, for his part, didn't shirk blame, and suggested that his issues were mostly mental.

"I was pretty bad," he told NBA.com's John Schuhmann after the tournament-ending loss. "I got to do something with my head."

The most vexing part is that Valanciunas has proven he's more than capable of excelling in international competition. In the 2014 FIBA World Cup, he averaged 14.4 points and 8.4 rebounds on nearly 70 percent shooting, and went for 25 and nine in the bronze-medal game. At EuroBasket 2015 (where Lithuania won silver), he averaged 16 points and 8.4 rebounds, and was named to the All-Tournament team.

Alas, this was a baffling, aberrant performance, and one the Raptors will have to hope doesn't carry over into the 2016-17 NBA season.