RUS - Clutch Kulagin

MOSCOW (Russian PBL) - Those who watched the FIBA U19 World Championship this summer in Latvia were told they were looking through a window at the stars of tomorrow.

Tomorrow has come very quickly.

Jonas Valanciunas, the Lithuanian center that was voted MVP of the event, made the senior team and created a lot of headlines with tenacious play for the senior team at the EuroBasket.

The 19-year-old, a lottery pick in this year's NBA Draft by Toronto, averaged 8.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 swats in 15.7 minutes per game and is now with Lithuanian giants Lietuvos Rytas.

He should be in fine fettle next summer when Lithuania attempt to book a place at the London Games via the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Another member of the All Tournament team in Riga was Dmitry Kulagin of Russia.

While Valanciunas is a 2.1m skyscraper, Kulagin, who turned 19 on July 1, is a 1.95m shooting guard.

His biggest game for Russia at the U19s came in a 79-74 upset of the United States in the Quarter-Finals when he made five of six shots from the arc en route to 21 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds.

He wasn't too bad against Valanciunas and Lithuania in the U19 Semi-Final, either, pouring in 27 points, but Russia lost 85-68.

Kulagin also had 24 points to lead Russia past Argentina, 77-72, in the U19 bronze medal game.

On Tuesday, Kulagin had maybe his finest game as a professional for Triumph Lyubertsy, a Russian team in Moscow that is committed to developing the country's brightest young talents.

Kulagin is getting a chance to play a lot under Triumph coach Valdemaras Chomicius, one of Lithuania's former national team heroes.

In their EuroChallenge Regular Season opener against Okapi Aalstar, Kulagin made big play after big play and finished with 20 points.

Triumph had gone in front by 19 points but the Belgian team battled back and when Nate Fox drilled a three-pointer in the fourth quarter, Aalstar trailed 69-68.

Kulagin, as cool as a cucumber, answered with a three-ball of his own to calm his team's nerves and they ended up winning 83-78.

"I want to mention the game of Kulagin," said Okapi Aalstar coach Brad Dean, a man who also serves as the national team coach of Sweden.

"He made his shots in the key moments, when his team needed to make the run."

It's also worth noting that Kulagin had three of his team's six steals.

If he continues to play well, especially on defense, don't be surprised next summer if Russia coach David Blatt has Kulagin in his preliminary squad ahead of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

FIBA