NBA Comparison: Bostjan Nachbar

Strengths: Great size for his position … Solid wingspan … Fluid athlete with sneaky athleticism and good quickness … Has good physical conditioning and his body looks like can fill out more … Great feel for the game … Good leaping ability when he has room to gather … Above average first step … When he is motivated he plays with energy on both ends of the floor … His shooting mechanics are excellent … Has a quick and high shooting release … He is a great shooter with NBA range on his shot … He can shoot from anywhere on the floor … Very good in Spot up and Catch and Shot situations … Has shown some flashes of ability to shoot off the dribble … Adequate at scoring on the move … His pull up jump shot isn’t there yet, but is improving … Through time has learned to post up smaller opponents and punish mismatches … He can post up from either side of the floor and turn from either shoulder, prefering to turn from the baseline … He can catch fire at any time and score a number of baskets in a row … Excellent free throw shooter … He can attack close outs and create problems for his opponents and penetrate from both sides … Has shown that he can finish at the rim with either hand … Has been used in Pick and Roll situations as the ball handler with encouraging results, since he looks for the rolling big … Moves well without the ball … His ball handling is above average for his size … Can start the break for his team, playing as a secondary playmaker … Fills the lanes while running on the fast break … Very good in the open floor … He can make the occasional EuroStep on the break… Willing passer … Has shown some potential as a point forward… Good defensive rebounder… He tries to be active on the defensive end of the floor… Good at chasing opponents around the screens… His lateral quickness is better than most people think… Has active hands and tries to go for the steal… Good weakside defender, who tries to help his teammates… Fills the passing lanes and can make some steals… Can make the occasional block coming from the weakside… Has good instints on defense and reads plays…

Weaknesses: Not as vestatile as you would expect, at least not yet … He is not quick enough to slide down as a shooting guard and not strong or big enough to play as a power forward at the next level … Lacks elite explosiveness, especially with the ball in his hands and that’s why he needs to be on the move to be effective … His first step probably isn’t explosive enough, at least the moment, to help him blow by athletic opponents … He must add some considerable weight to play at the next level … He is incosistent and looks like he needs to see his first shots going in to feel good … He is a streaky shooter … Not as effective when his shot isn’t falling … He kind of looks anxious when his shot isn’t falling, which leads to bad decisions … His ball handling still needs to work for a wing … His lack of elite explosiveness and average ball handling for a wing make it difficult for him to create his own shot against athletic, quicker opponents … Has a lot of problems against physical opponents … Struggles to finish in traffic and through contact … He doesn’t always establish position when he tries to post up smaller players … Must has add some more moves with his back to the basket and improve his footwork … Must learn how to mix it up on offense and add some floaters and on the move shots … His court vision is average and at times he suffers from tunnel vision … He is a willing passer, but doesn’t always make the right pass … He still needs to improve his decision making when he is used on Pick and Roll situations as the ball handler … Playing style doesn’t help him draw enough fouls … He could me more active on the offensive glass … Has problems defending explosive wings … Stronger opponents can bully him on the block and post him up … He looks a little hesitant at times in help defense and he has to learn to use his instinct more … He is too focused on the ball when he is on the weakside and loses sight of his opponent …

Overall: Arnoldas Kulboka is one of the best shooters of his generation in Europe. This has always been his calling card … His feel for the game is great and looks willing to work on his game … Those things alone though won’t be enough to play at the next level … He has to bulk up his body, be more consistent and be able to learn to do some other things aside from shooting … If he manages to do that he could be a good 3-and-D player in the future.

Notes: He started his basketball career in Zalgiris Kaunas … Has been a member of the Lithuanian youth teams since he was 16 years old … He signed with Brose Bamberg when he was 17 years old … He played for Bamberg’s affiliate, Baunach Young Pikes, for two years (2015-2017), before going on loan to Orlandina basket for the 2017/18 season …

Stefanos Makris 3/9/18