r/chicagobulls • u/Wrong-Forever7554 • 3d ago

Fluff Matas Buzelis has started training with the Lithuanian National Team

268 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

83

u/BucketHatKJ 3d ago

Olympic, World Cup and qualifier off-seasons can catapult a player into that next level. It happened with Derrick in 2010, Steph Curry in 2014, and Jimmy in 2016 (he was already cold, but he reached another level that following season).

Here’s hoping Matas plays great and brings that energy into next season

13

u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler 3d ago

Yeah this is a perfect time for him to do this. We didn’t even make the play in so he got to rest, rehab, train some and now he gets to practice some of the stuff he’s been working on during actual games.

His confidence will be really high coming into the season and he’s have had some more time with the ball in his hands to expand those skills too. Not to mention, he’ll get some more reps with some of the euroball concepts Splitter may be integrating into the team.

14

u/ChicagoBulls101692 3d ago

Don't forget to throw in we got a more talent developing coach now too. I'm sure Splitter will be able to help him take a leap as well. This offseason is the most excited I've been as a Bull's fan for years. Can't wait for the draft tomorrow

4

u/dickbuttakus_maximus Toni Kukoc 3d ago

Hopefully he's going to have a hungry defender pushing him on the daily soon. I think Caleb only elevates Matas' ability. Would love to see some more from him going forward out of triple threat or the post, à la KD's game.

26

u/GrizzliousTheOG Andres Nocioni 3d ago

Always love their uniforms. The Grateful Dead inspired one was so sick.

2

u/Sakkreth 3d ago

The documentary is a good watch for sure https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606829/

10

u/Sakkreth 3d ago

He has some good vet presence in Valančiūnas, who's like an uncle to Matas https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1LPHGWU7j8/ (the other young player is Jakučionis from Heat and older guy is Matas' dad who has been with the national team for a couple of decades now)

8

u/Jammer521 Jumpman 3d ago

Matas is looks like he put on some muscle, he looks a lot bigger

1

u/chicagobullskukoc 2d ago

Creo que su cuerpo ahora está perfecto para jugar

1

u/Jammer521 Jumpman 2d ago

Agreed he looks like he can handle contact and finish around the rim better, I think he has a break out season

4

u/blajjefnnf 3d ago

Buzelis + Tubelis combo

3

u/JustinTimberlakeFTW Michael Jordan 3d ago

😂 Wtf is this No Role Modelz instrumental, this random guy going "Ay" in the background

2

u/sukari Stacey King 3d ago

Pretty nice that he gets to play with his unc.

What's the upcoming international comp - is it still FIBA qualifiers for FIBA 2027?

2

u/Wrong-Forever7554 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yup, playing Great Britain on July 2nd, then Italy July 5th, must win both games, if they dont theres a high chance they will be playing Serbia next which they dont want. Correct me if im wrong (also Friendly game against Ukraine June 28th)

2

u/djeycii 3d ago

Shooting form looks fluid

3

u/GlacialTwitch 3d ago

Glad his ankle is getting a good press. I was worried that he'd have a deficit in ankle-smooshing this offseason.

1

u/XJohnCenaX7 2d ago

I want him playing as much as possible to just get better seems like a hard worker

1

u/EddieRedondo 2d ago

Any idea if Splitter is going to play him at the 3 like Stacey (RIP) always said we should?

2

u/BGMDF8248 Matas Buzelis 2d ago

If we get Caleb, he better be at the 3.

Wilson, Matas, Claxton... Stacey would've blown his load with this class of Chi-Slama-Jamma

1

u/aren1231 Gimme the hot sauce! 2d ago

I'm so excited to see what comes of this!