Herbert: Valanciunas a big problem for Pacers

TORONTO — Jonas Valanciunas has dominated the Indiana Pacers in the paint, but he’s not about to boast about it. After his 23-point, 15-rebound, two-block performance in the Toronto Raptors’ 98-87 Game 2 victory on Monday, Valanciunas said it wasn’t time to get too excited.

“I’m just doing my stuff,” Valanciunas said. “I’m going out there and battling. Nobody is going to take that away from me. I’m going to go and [show] my heart and battle for single ball, for every possession.”

On Tuesday, Valanciunas said he just wants to do his job and to win. Despite four years of experience in Toronto, he has not improved much when it comes to self-promotion. Fortunately, Raptors veteran Luis Scola had a lot more to say.

“He has no ceiling,” Scola said. “He could be All-Star, he could be All-NBA, he could be All-NBA. He could be whatever he wants to be. He just needs to work at it. He just needs to find how far he wants to get and aim for it and work whatever’s necessary to get there. If he does that, there’s no ceiling for him.”

Valanciunas, who turns 24 in May, joined the Raptors in 2012 advertised as a prototypical center for today’s NBA: mobile, good finisher, solid screen setter, rim protector, excellent free throw shooter. Immediately, he was in the starting lineup, and he had a double-double in his first game. After his rookie season, he took home MVP at Las Vegas summer league by bullying everybody who tried to stop him. It was apparent back then that his offense was ahead of his defense and he’d be a massive weapon on the block.

Every season since, Valanciunas seemed primed for a breakout, but he has never quite had his star turn. This year, he averaged career highs of 12.8 points and 9.1 rebounds while shooting 56.5 percent, …

continue reading in source www.cbssports.com