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If Lithuania ranks eighth in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) ranking, Denmark ranks 56th.
But on Monday, this gap narrowed to a single point.
The most important thing for the Lithuanians is that he took the ticket to the final stage of the European Championship, but the Danes will also be able to remember that they still remained superior in calculating the total result of the two matches.
The Vilnius hosts “bubble” won the last match of group C 77:76.
The duel was so tense that controversy inevitably ensued.
“It just came to our notice then. I’d better not say anything else. But that’s why the small federations never get up,” said Adam Darboe, who scored 20 points and was blocked by Mantas Kalnietis.
“We played hard, they played hard, it was a good game. The Lithuanians were lucky several times: there were decisions of the judges that, in my opinion, should have been different. But if you want to defeat such a great basketball country as Lithuania, you have to do it yourself, you can’t trust anyone else, “said Kevin Larsen, the most productive Danish player with 21 points.
Team helmsman Erez Bittman made claims to the secretarial table for a long time immediately after the final siren sounded.
However, at the press conference, he already seemed calm and did not elaborate on his complaints.
It is true that the 52-year-old Israeli specialist did not forget to mention that due to the pandemic, both games had to be played with Lithuanians in Vilnius.
“It is difficult to choose the right words. Our situation was extremely difficult: in three months in a row we had to overcome Lithuania. And do it again in Vilnius. No one could have thought of that. I don’t want to complain about the system, but for a small country like us that was still playing in the Small States Championship a few years ago, the task was hellish from the start. I can only dream of what would happen if these matches were played in Copenhagen, watching 8 or 9 thousand of our fans.
We are very disappointed, on the other hand, we have to be proud of ourselves. After all, before the start of the qualifying competition, we were all considered the weakest team out of 32 participants. More than 90 percent. people would have said that Lithuania would win this match easily, ”said E. Bittman.
The technician admired the cannon fodder, even without the cannons of leader Gabrielius Lundberg, distinguishing the tall ones, the aforementioned K. Larsen and Jonas Zohore, who collected double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds).
They both play in the Spanish second division. K. Larsen’s co-club at Lugo’s Breogan is Mindaugas Kačinas.
“They play in the second league and, with all due respect, they were much better today than the elite ACB league player (Laurynas Birutis – Delphi) or that great guy who will be invited to the NBA Rookie Exchange (Marek Blaževičius – Delphi). We have shown that the club you play for does not matter in the national team. We missed a free throw, a rebound, a referee’s whistle before the tackle. It’s a great honor and a great disappointment, “said Bittman.
He calculated that Denmark had played 18 matches in the European Championship qualifiers, more than any other national team.
In the preliminary qualifying stage, the Danes started three and a half years ago competing with Armenia and Albania, then overcame the Swedish and Belarusian barriers.
“Before coming to work in Denmark, people used to say that when a team travels to play a game, the players first think about what to buy in duty-free shops. Now we have shown Europe what we can do. Even here, In this arena, although there were no fans, after the match, the service personnel came to pay tribute to the fight.
I really hope that our game will attract more Danish children to basketball training, that there are more serious clubs, that the Ministry of Sports will support basketball more strongly because the potential is great. We can become a factor in European basketball, ”expected E. Bittman.
Statistics from the Danish-Lithuanian national team meeting
We remind you that the Lithuanians lost the first game between the Danes 76:80 last November.
Together with Lithuania, the winner of Group C, Belgium (4/2), and the Czech Republic, which will participate in the European Championship (2/4), entered the final stage. The Czechs won the match between these teams on Monday with a score of 91:86.
The Old Continent Championships will take place from September 1 to 18, 2022 in the Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy and Germany.
After the restoration of independence, the Lithuanian team only missed the 1993 European Championship and then fought 12 times in a row in the final stage. In the last tournament, which took place in 2017, the team led by Dainius Adomaitis took ninth place.
Denmark has not participated in the continental championships since 1955.
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