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“I am very happy that the boys showed their faces,” said D. Maskoliūnas when the Lithuanian team broke Belgium 84:71 in an important match in Vilnius. “This time they showed a different energy and dedication.”
D.Maskoliūnas and the entire Lithuanian team started the game with Belgium with great concentration, not forgetting the two painful lessons already lived in the group competition.
The defeat at the beginning of the year in Belgium and the sensational victory of the Danes on Friday forced the Lithuanian team to play with great concentration and to be especially careful with the Belgian triples.
And the Lithuanians themselves quickly found the leader in the attack: Eimantas Bendžius knocked down three points and spit them to score 19 points.
The Lithuanians sought and always found Laurynas Birutis and Mindaugas Kuzminskas under the baskets, and the experience of veterans Jonas Mačiulis and Mantas Kalnietis allowed them to control the course of the match.
The Lithuanians who avoided the big pits had a 22-point lead at the end of the match. Although he managed to disperse a part of it in the last two minutes, the second victory achieved in Group C reassured D.Maskoliūnas somewhat after Black Friday.
– Coaches, how much did you fix your spirits with this victory? – D. Maskoliūnas was asked during a virtual press conference.
– Clearly corrected. What we saw on Friday, no one wanted to see in Lithuania. Today, the men played with a lot of energy against a capable team that had put us in place in the spring in a way that hurts so far.
Now men have shown that they have self-esteem. It’s not that the opponents didn’t stand a chance, but our men controlled the game.
I don’t know why this happens to us, but when we get nervous we get up and run back in anger.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Martynas Echodas
– Did you highlight the amount of points during the match?
– We did not emphasize this, because it does not matter. At the end of the game, we saw the situation and talked about it during a minute of rest. We kept playing and hoped it would happen. Unfortunately, but it failed.
– How do you assess the leadership of Arnas Velička?
– Okay, you’ve done your job. Arnas did not play for a long time because the championship was stopped in France. Upon arriving in Vilnius, Velička did not train with us and participated in only one training session.
I welcome you. You can hang out, but I’m not going to do that. He helped us a lot, I am grateful to him for that.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Darius Maskoliūnas
– You had reproaches for him during the year of the match.
– According to. Maybe with time and make decisions faster but everything is fine.
– How do you assess the work of the team’s debutants during the preparation?
– Everyone works great in the national team. There are no problems in the training process. Maybe there is a summer of relaxation when we were not preparing for the competition and the bubble was so prepared that it did not have the slightest claim on the players.
The competition sometimes raises questions.
– How important was J.Mačiulis today, his advice from the bench?
– John is always important. He behaves naturally. At one point, I even silenced him when the judges gave a warning to the court. This is John.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Jonas Mačiulis
– How did Regimantas Miniotas take advantage of its opportunity?
– I think it has been used very well. I am very happy with it.
Miniotas absorbs everything in a short time quite quickly and understands the situation. Yes, there is still confusion, because it was used in two positions, the fourth and the fifth, but I am very happy because it helped us a lot. I am very happy that he is going to the strongest league in Europe and I wish him good luck in Spain.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Regimantas Miniotas
– You used an extra high five. What was the idea of that and how did it work?
– I think those five worked well. Before this match, Belgium were the best long-distance team, so we needed to close the long shot and be able to switch when the situation arose. They also scored a lot of points at the second down, and we needed tall people to bounce the balls.
– Are we going to change something before the third window of the group competition?
– What does that preparation mean? We exercised on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. And there are six new people on the team. I can’t guess, maybe I can’t pass everything so quickly, but I’m thankful that people are trying. They play in clubs where they have 50 combinations, and here you have to learn very quickly.
Of course, you wouldn’t want to lose to the Danes. I would like to feel better energy again. Ber, can I change so quickly, not to mention that we have no right to lose to the Danes?
I did not manage to prepare the players in a short time to play against the Danes. Today you have seen for yourself that we play with different energy and the game is different.
– Will you stay in Lithuania now? (On Friday, Barcelona, where D. Maskoliūnas works as an assistant, will play in Kaunas with Žalgiris)?
– We will continue playing with Valencia on Tuesday, so we will fly tomorrow.
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