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Photo: BNS
BNS photo
Head of the Lithuanian men’s basketball team. Coach Darius Maskoliūnas has selected fourteen players with whom he will enter the decisive battles in the final stage of the European Men’s Basketball Championship squad on February 20-22 at the Vilnius Avia Solutions Group stadium.
According to the main sponsor of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation “Betsafe”, the Lithuanians will face decisive battles with the Czech and Danish national teams with previously proven players, although the NBA and some European basketball players will not be able to rejoin.
“The last window did not go as we wanted and planned, I told the players in the locker room even after the game with the Belgians. Of course, in the last window we wanted to let our veterans rest and close the team with younger basketball players, but We did not do our job to the maximum and it is up to everyone to do it now, ”said Maskoliūnas about the current situation of the Lithuanian team before the last window.
Final composition of the Lithuanian men’s basketball team:
Kalnietis blankets (Krasnodar “Lokomotiv”)
Šarūnas Vasiliauskas (“Petkim Spor” of Izmir)
Vaidas Kariniauskas (Juventus de Utena)
Mindaugas Girdžiūnas (Vilnius “Morning”)
Arnas Velička (Lions of Braunschweig)
Arnas Butkevičius (Vilnius “Morning”)
Tomas Dimša (Las Palmo „Gran Canaria”)
Jonas Mačiulis (Athens AEK)
Mindaugas Kuzminskas (“Lokomotiv” of Krasnodar)
Eimantas Bendžius (“Banco di Sardegna” by Sanco)
Gytis Masiulis (Panevėžys “Rain Cable”)
Laurynas Birutis (Santiago de Compostela “CAB Workshop”)
Marekas Blaževičius (Kaunas “Žalgiris”)
Regimantas Miniotas (Bilbao RETAbet Basket)
Since the last FIBA window, the national team has changed the most on the player’s circuit. The final composition does not include the names of Rokas Jokubaitis, Augustas Marčiulionis and Paulius Valinskas, who played in the Vilnius bubble at the end of November.
Deividas Gailius was replaced by Arnas Butkevičius at the lightweight forward position, we will not see Martynas Echodas, who recently returned after injury, and Gytis Masiulis was invited to replace him.
X Factor – Vaidas Kariniauskas
Šarūnas Vasiliauskas and Vaidas Kariniauskas, who have not been in the team coached by Maskoliūnas but have already worn the Lithuanian national team jersey before, should be included in the final line-up before the decisive selection window of the European Championship. The coach named the latter player as a big boost for the team: Olympics. I know well what he is capable of and what he can contribute to the team. His level at Utena exceeds all expectations and I know he can bring us many tangible benefits ”.
The Betsafe-LKL statistics confirm the great season and the versatility of the player: Kariniauskas registers an average of 17.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists and 19.6 utility points. During the last three LKL competitions, the player kept in double-doubles and amassed an average of 27.3 utility points, scored 19 points each and had 8.7 assists.
Game highlights and motivation
When asked if significant changes in the game could be expected in the decisive window of the European Championship selection, the coach highlighted not tactical decisions, but psychological preparation: “This phrase is already boring, but it is a reality, we only have as much time as we have. We are going to match what we have, but the most important thing to me is that everyone understands the importance of this window. When you are invited to a national team, you don’t even have to talk about motivation, but as we can see in the last window, that time is probably over. This time we have a situation, I don’t want, I just want to, so I hope to have maximum concentration.
In group C of the selection tournament, Maskoliūnas students share 2-3 places with the Danish national team, and the host Czech Republic and the top two teams in the group will enter the European Championship. February 20 The Lithuanians will face the Czech Republic, who won in the first match with a score of 97:89 and on February 22. with the Danish team losing by 76:80.
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