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Photo: BNS
Photo BNS
On Sunday night, the Lithuanian team enters the desperate final of the Olympic qualifying tournament, where they will face Slovenia for the only ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.
The course of the match
0: 2, 1 min: The ball in dispute is won by the Slovenians, who like to score points.
2: 2, 1 min: Valančiūnas fixes an inaccurate throw from Kalnieitis.
2: 4, 2 min: Two more Dragičius points.
5: 4, 2 min; Dimša three points.
Jonas Miklovas, BasketNews journalist at the Žalgiris ArenaTomas Dimša, who only played episodically in the first three matches, starts today and is tasked with stopping Lukas Dončičas. Not only that, he hits a triple on his first pitch.
5: 7, 2 min: Blažičius answers at the same time.
7: 7, 2 min: Laying of Valančiūnas.
9: 7, 2 min: Sabonis also shakes the bow by putting it on.
11: 7, 3 min: Half Valančiūnas hook.
11: 9, 3 min: Blažičius hits fines.
11:11, 4 min: The flap studs the distant colon.
Jonas Miklovas, BasketNews journalist at the Žalgiris ArenaDomantas Sabonis receives two quick fouls, both attacking, and sits on the bench after 4 minutes of play. A great loss for Lithuania.
11:14, 5 min: Tobey triple.
Edvinas Jablonskis, BasketNews.lt journalist at the Žalgiris ArenaSlovenian striker Vlatko Čančar, injured in the game with Venezuela, will take the field. The basketball player begins the duel on the starting five.
Lithuanians will receive the maximum support in this match: the basketball federation announced that the 11 thousand were sold in the duel. Tickets.
The winning team will advance to Group C of the Tokyo Olympics, where they will face Argentina, Spain and Japan.
The Lithuanians continue to march undefeated. In the first two group matches, Venezuela (76:65) and South Korea (96:57) were defeated, and in the semi-finals we got along well with Poland (88:69).
The absolute leader of the national team is Jonas Valančiūnas, who accumulates 16.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 23.7 utility points in an average of 20 minutes.
Luka Dončičius, the brightest star in Slovenia and in the Kaunas national team tournament, did not skimp on the Lithuanians in praise.
“The Lithuanians have an incredible team,” Dončičius said after the victory over Venezuela. – And it’s a team with a long spare bench. Two NBA players, Valančiūnas and Sabonis, play for the Lithuanian national team. If we find them in our way, it will be very difficult to stop them. “
The captain of the Lithuanian team Mantas Kalnietis did not want to rule out the future competitor either.
“We have seen that they are demonstrating a hurricane attack, playing very relaxed and their style is still suitable for them,” Kalnietis said after the victory over the Poles. “We have great respect for Slovenia, but we are not afraid of them, we will go to fight for that ticket.”
Indeed, the Slovenians, like the Lithuanians, have not failed and so far are showing impressive sporting form.
Slovenia, who celebrated their victories with an average advantage of 38 points, defeated Angola 118: 68 in the first match, 112: 77 Poland in the second match and Venezuela 98:70 in the third.
Dončičius has 18 points, 10.7 assists, 7 rebounds and 25.7 utility points during the stretch of these three games.
Lithuanian national team leader Coach Darius Maskoliūnas after the game with Poland said it would be difficult to expect a miraculous caution from Dončičius.
“I am not a magician and we are not all magicians,” said the strategist. – The strongest defenders in the NBA have been trying to stop Dončičiai for three years. As you can see, not everyone is doing well. I have no miraculous powers and we fully understand the caliber of Luka Dončičius. “
“We will try to limit it, but not only points are obtained, but also effective transfers, provoked fouls.” Our job is to make you feel as uncomfortable as possible. I know our players are ambitious and each one of them has to believe that Luke can be stopped. But Luka is doing everything and we will try to limit it, “added Maskoliūnas.
However, Ben Matkevičius urged not to forget about other Slovenian basketball players.
“Everyone says ‘Luka, Luka’, but we cannot forget about the other players because they have a lot of experience,” said the specialist. – I think the main challenge here will be to catch Luke, but not to forget the others.
Dončičius is successfully assisted by naturalized forward Mike Tobey, who scored 15.7 points, 8.7 grabs and 21.3 utility points.
“It will definitely be a challenge,” Tobey told the BasketNews website about the confrontation with JV and Sabonis. – They are both really good and brilliant NBA basketball players. I hope to meet you. “
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