By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lithuanian wing Arnoldas Kulboka withdrew his name from the Draft in 2017 but after spending a busy and quite competitive season with Orlandina Basket in Italy, he now feels more than ready for the potential NBA challenge.
“Last year, I didn’t have as much experience as I do now,” Kulboka said in an interview with Hoopshype.”I didn’t play in the first league. But this year, I had a lot of playing time in the first league in Italy.”
Kulboka, 20, averaged 10.3 points, 5 rebounds and 1.1 assists over 27.8 minutes per game in the Basketball Champions League, plus 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per game in the Italian Serie A League.
“I feel more mature. I gained a lot of muscle, I’m bigger. I think I gained like 12 or 13 pounds during the season. I feel stronger. The playing time against growing men was the biggest thing for me. I improved a lot on defense. That was one of the biggest weaknesses that I had. I’m still working on it, too. I improved my body and I’m working on everything. I’m a much better defender than I’ve ever been.”
When asked about players that influenced his style, Kulboka chose to pick two players that also spent some seasons in Europe before heading to the NBA: Australian swingman Joe Ingles and Croatian shooting guard Bojan Bogdanovic.
“I really like the games of both Joe Ingles and Bojan Bogdanovic. They are both similar to me. They played in Europe and I like them a lot.”