Mantas Rubstavicius is impressing for the Breakers. Photo / Photosport
Mantas Rubstavicius is impressing for the Breakers. Photo / Photosport
Everything is starting to come together for Mantas Rubstavicius.
The Breakers’ four-game win streak in the Australian NBL has coincided with the Lithuanian forward’s burst on the offensive end, scoring 16, 15, 17 and 21 during those victories – his four best outputs this season.
After Rubstavicius battled groin and calf injuries earlier in the campaign, his recent form is what coach Mody Maor envisaged when he recruited the 21-year-old as part of the league’s Next Stars programme – an alternative pathway for NBA-draft-eligible talent.
“When he was hurt for the first time, I said, ‘You guys don’t know what we’re missing’,” Maor said. “He’s a very important player for us. He plays the game with the appropriate amount of intensity, he’s a great competitor and he’s obviously very good at basketball.
“He’s making his shots, making his reads and he’s also going to continue to improve.”
Currently, Rubstavicius’ season tally stands at 9.6 points per game, 1.3 assists per game and 1.9 rebounds per game, with a field goal rate of 61 per cent.
The Breakers host the Perth Wildcats at Spark Arena on Sunday afternoon, though a showdown between Rubstavicius and Perth’s own talented European Next Star Alex Sarr will have to wait as Sarr has been ruled out due to a hip injury.
The 2.13m French forward is so highly touted that ESPN’s latest draft board this week listed him as the No 1 overall prospect for the 2024 NBA Draft.
Rubstavicius is ranked at 55 – likely a late second-round pick based on current projections. But he isn’t paying much attention.
“One day you’re high in the ratings, other days you’re low, so I’m just working on my game and looking forward to Perth,” he said.
But the 2m forward admits there’s a slight incentive to prove he shouldn’t be overlooked.
“I want to show that I’m better than [Sarr] - that’s my motivation.”
Since the Next Star programme’s inception during the 2018-19 NBL season, eight players have gone on to be drafted to the NBA - including three in the lottery, between picks 1-14 (LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey and former Breaker Ousmane Dieng).
The Breakers have had the most profound success at nurturing players – with three Next Stars players going on to have their names read out on draft night (Dieng, RJ Hampton and Rayan Rupert), while they also saw French guard Hugo Besson drafted after spending the 2021-22 NBL season with the Breakers as an import.
Maor says there isn’t much deviation in his coaching style when it comes to mentoring an up-and-coming talent alongside players like Anthony Lamb and Zylan Cheatham, who have had a taste of the NBA.
Mantas Rubstavicius in action against the Cairns Taipans. Photo / Photosport
“There’s a different layer to teaching. There are basic things that an 18-year-old doesn’t know that a 28-year-old does – other than that I’m myself regardless of who I coach.
“We’ve gotten better at choosing the players that fit here and choosing the players that work for us as Next Stars. Rayan was a good example and impacted winning in his way and Mantas is another one in the way he’s impacting winning.”
For Rubstavicius to be the fourth Breaker to make the transition Stateside, his work on the defensive end will need to lift.
“I feel pretty good in one-on-one defence. Some days for me, it’s hard to defend the more physical guys. I need to grow some muscles and I think I’ll be a great defender,” the Lithuanian said.
Maor backs his Next Star’s analysis.
“He’s taken a step forward on defence, but there’s still a lot of growth there for him. Rebounding numbers haven’t been consistent. There are games where he’s up there with seven or eight and there’s games with one and two – he can do more.”
But the coach is also open to giving him more chances to broaden his offensive skillset.
“Slowly but steadily, we’re going to expand the things that he does on offence,” Maor said. “A lot of the things that we do are within the flow and within the stuff that we run and around the corner, there’ll be target actions for him and opportunities for him to do more.”
