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After the failure in the friendly match with Estonia, the head coach of the Lithuanian national team Darius Maskoliūnas noted the poor fight for balls and defense.
In Tallinn, Lithuania lost 85:92 to the Estonian team, which won the bout 48-42 and made up to 28 assists. Lithuanians successfully helped each other 19 times.
This friendly tournament is organized to commemorate the centennial of Estonian basketball.
“The only positive thing is that we had a beautiful holiday for the Estonians on the occasion of the anniversary. We really didn’t want that, but we got a good match, with an extension, with a lot of emotions, – Maskoliūnas told reporters after the match in Tallinn. – And when it comes to the game itself, it’s much more negative than positive.First, we were taller in all positions, losing the fight for the balls and giving opponents 23 second chances.
At times, it seemed that Estonians were much more willing, trying, climbing over their heads and having 2-3 attacks in a single attack. We cannot remove the ball that appears to have been in our hands. He punished us severely. As I mentioned to the players, I don’t survive at all due to the bugs thrown because we don’t feel the rhythm of the game. Those people who have to shoot have shot a lot of free throws, we’ve really gotten enough shots.
We attacked and already scored points, although our main players attacked with a very poor percentage. There are no problems with that. We just didn’t defend ourselves and let them control, run the game. With a team playing at home, starting at the last minute with a level score is a lottery. We even had a chance to win that lottery, we had our last attack at the end of the last quarter, but there will be no whistle from the visiting team. And in the extension, Kriisa formed triples, showed that perhaps it was worth staying in Kaunas. He tried, he tried, he played a good game. “
Kerras Kriisa, who belonged to Kaunas “Žalgiris” for the past two seasons, scored 26 points (8/12 trit.) And made 7 assists.
– You saw the crisis during “Žalgiris” training. Were you surprised today?
– He was training for that and he was, we knew what he was like, what an emotional leader he was. When he got to the men’s teams, he never bothered, and here he feels like a full-fledged leader, hitting good shots. We didn’t stop him with any defense. He gave us a concert.
– How do you evaluate the game of the team’s debutants, Tadas Sedekerskis and Marek Blaževičius?
– As for Marek, everything is fine. He is young, he played his first match for the Lithuanian national team. At the moment it seemed pretty bad, he made some tactical mistakes, but I don’t see any problems: he tries hard, works well in training and improves. I think there will be a strong pillar in the Lithuanian national team in the future. It is more difficult for Sedekersky because we push him through various positions. He does not feel his real place and is more complicated because of that, but I have no great claims for him.
– Although you lost, what was the excitement of finally participating in the match again?
– It is fun. The actual match has a completely different emotion, plus we had the opportunity to play while observing the spectators. It’s really fun to have that opportunity after so long.
– At the end of the game were you not satisfied with the referees?
– That’s where the playful emotion came from. It seemed different to me, but I really don’t blame them. Everything is fine.
– Didn’t the fact that Estonians were more motivated remember the first match in the FIBA window with Belgium?
– Compare matches with Belgians and Estonians, and here are completely different tournaments, then we play in the playoffs. Here is a friendly tournament. The fact that they played at home wanted to perform well. They have been training since May, getting to know each other perfectly. You see them move in the square and they understand each other. I would not compare to Belgians at all.
– Does the team really lack a leader?
– We wanted to use more Eimantas Bendiais today, because we knew he would not be there tomorrow. Those leaders played their minutes but lost good shots, so their leadership ended. You’ve seen for yourself what the percentages were, but I don’t blame anything. Launched by those who had to resign. We don’t hit him. The problem was that we did not defend or defeat the balls.
– Does the fact that you lost today change anything for tomorrow’s game with Latvia?
– We will continue experimenting, we will leave the five different ones. We will try all kinds of situations.
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