A historic Danish landmark from Vilnius – it can change our entire basketball culture

Vaerlos – only 13 thousand. a populated city near the capital Copenhagen, famous not only for the fact that the planet’s future first tennis racket Caroline Wozniacki visited her to train for her as a child.

But now it’s worth noting Vaerlos’s representative basketball team, the Blue Hawks.

Compete in the highest league in Denmark. Home games are played in a gym with only a small retractable tribune for spectators.

Previously, it’s possible the Blue Hawks were only interested in the fact that men are trained here by one woman: Susie Heede-Andersen.

But on Friday, Vaerlos was made famous in Lithuania by Mathias Christensen.

The 25-year-old, 203cm tall striker rose from the bench and added 13 points to the sensational Danish victory over the Lithuanians 80:76.

“Do you think this guy plays for the Danish team, who trains four times a week and only in the afternoons, he doesn’t have any morning exercises?” Noted Danish team strategist Erez Bittman after the game.

Before that, Mr. Christensen, in the same words as Mr. Bittman, had not received any attention. Even in Denmark itself, two years ago, the forward almost threw basketball.

“He made his debut for the national team tonight and his game was heroic. No more asking a basketball player competing in an international tournament for the first time in his life. I think the example of Mathias sends a message to everyone: if you have a dream, if you believe in yourself, don’t give up, “said a Danish Israel coach.

His entire team sent a powerful 5G signal from Vilnius to the Jutland peninsula.

Bakken Bears of Aarhus, Svendborg’s Rabbits, Herlev’s Wolfpack, Horsens IC, Naestved’s Team Fog and the Blue Hawks mentioned above are the so-called Danish clubs where a part of the Lithuanian team competes.

The bread of other legionaries was eaten in the teams of the second and third divisions of Spain: Lucentum of Alicante, Real Canoa NC of Madrid, CB Myrtia of Murcia, a World Heritage Site of Cáceres.

Mind you, aside from Zeliona Gora’s club defender Stelmet (Poland), who made his VTB United League debut this season, Gabrielius Lundberg, who scored 28 points for Darius Maskoliūnas’ basketball team.

Bittman works for the fourth year at position 59 in the FIBA ​​ranking, so he did not dare to answer Delphi He asked if Friday’s victory was the most resounding in his basketball history.

Mr. Lundberg did not hesitate.

“In my opinion, this is by far the greatest victory of all time. Lithuania is a first-rate national team. I am very proud of my teammates and of our achievement,” said the player.

After two failures, the Danes achieved their first victory in the national team for the final stage of the European Championship.

In 1951-1955, they participated in the last three times. But at that time, there were simply no more countries playing basketball on the Old Continent.

From then until the reform of the FIBA ​​competition calendar, the Danish team had almost no opportunity to meet elite rivals.

E. Bittman hopes that the win against Lithuania will inspire the Danes to love the orange ball.

“For us who have spent so many years in Division B or the European Small States Championship, this is an incredible achievement.” These matches can have a great impact on the entire Danish basketball culture, because we have shown that too we can play with these kinds of opponents, “said the 52-year-old specialist.

The Danes are certainly not dominated by “such opponents”. And not a tactic, as the coach himself admits.

However, it was nice to see how at least some players who had jumped off the reserve bench remained on their feet in the first half after a lucky 3-pointer until they received the warning look from the referee.

In the third quarter, when the guests took the initiative, a good half of the team’s reserve was no longer in place.

“Over the past three years, we have built a special team spirit. Playing in Division B, we won three times after overtime, four; we returned to the fight with a difference of two digits. Inspire faith. Additionally, eight or nine basketball players have been playing together for four years, which also helps create a bonding atmosphere. She was a huge factor today. Like the fact that we are not at this level yet and we don’t really understand which teams to compete with here.

Of course, if 11 thousand people had gathered in this arena, they probably would have promised the Lithuanian team. This is exactly what happened in the Lithuanian match with the Czechs that I saw. But when we managed to keep the rivals out of sight in the first part of the game, when we caught up and took the lead in the third part, I believed we could win because all the pressure fell on the shoulders of the favorites.

The most important guarantor of that faith was the gentleman on my left (G. Lundberg – Delphi), who always scored as soon as we needed his points. But the other guys also worked wonderfully on defense: we stopped the Lithuanians in their own strength, in the second half of the match we allowed them to score just 30 points. And all of this was accomplished primarily through one-on-one self defense; We used almost no tactical tricks, “said E. Bittman.

In Group C of the European Championship team, his students equaled Lithuanians and Czechs: three teams have one win and two failures on their scores.

On Sunday, Denmark will try their luck with the Czech Republic, and the Lithuanians will close the “bubble” in Vilnius with the Belgian leaders of Group C (3/0), who crushed the Czechs on Friday 90:62.

The Lithuanian team will seek revenge for their failure in Mons last February at 65:86.

The last “window” of the qualifying rounds to the European Championship, in which the holders of two tickets for the final stage in 2022 will be announced, is awaiting next February. The Lithuanian Basketball Federation will once again look to host Group C teams in Vilnius.