Travel to the future: what would the Lithuanian team look like in the next Olympics?

As the leaders of the country’s major sports organizations rage at each other over the modest results of the Tokyo Olympics, and the Lithuanian Basketball Federation prepares for the election of Arvydas Sabonis’s successor, basketball players begin preparations. for the new season. .

And through him will begin a long Olympic journey.

The spells will be raffled on August 31 and, in November, 32 European teams will begin to qualify for the 2023 World Cup. It will take place in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, and will be the most direct route to the Paris Olympics during the championships of the planet.

Having played seven Olympic Games in a row, our country’s basketball team stumbled upon Luka Dončičius in Kaunas this year and is now preparing for the change.

The new coach will be chosen after the election of the federation president, and the new strategist, whoever he is, Kazys Maksvytis, Dainius Adomaitis, Rimas Kurtinaitis or Kęstutis Kemzūra, will sooner or later have to shed new blood for the team.

Mantas Kalniečius will turn 38 in three years. The player who has represented the national team since 2006 may already want to watch games from the couch rather than on the pitch.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Eimantas Bendis will turn 34 in 2024, so their Olympic chances are further than they come close.

On the other hand, in this Olympic qualifying tournament for the Lithuanian team, only these three players had crossed the 30-year threshold.

Eriko Ovcharenko / 15min nuotr./ Kalnietis blankets

Several full-time rivals should suffer more from the outgoing Mohicans: Spain left without the Gasoli brothers, Argentina without Luis Scola.

Even with the United States, the teams that made the Olympic podium are getting old.

Nando de Colo is 34 years old, Nicolas Batumas and Thomas Huertel 32, and Australian guides Patty Mills and Joe Ingles are now 33 years old.

Perhaps other teams like Germany, Italy, Canada or Nigeria that have NBA talent will be strengthened.

Greece and Slovenia will continue to have one player each to do it all, and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Dončičius are among the main contenders for the MVP title of the upcoming NBA season.

Countries like Serbia, Croatia will always remain dangerous, and perhaps Latvia has its hours, despite the fact that its most important defenders have already escalated to 40.

In September 2022, the European Championships in four countries (Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and Sakartvele) will be intriguing again, but the ultimate goal of the multi-year stage is the Olympics.

Let’s try to ignite the fantasy and think about what the Lithuanian basketball team would look like in Paris:

Coach

Šarūnas Jasikevičius: Now 45-year-old Šaras is giving his all to club basketball, but it is worth believing that the time will come when he will return to the team to which he has contributed so much as a player. Wishing you success in Barcelona, ​​it is worth remembering that it is not easy for a coach to stay in a club like this for a long time, the price of each trip is high, ask three of Jasikevičius’s predecessors at the Barça club. The chairman of the strategist of the Lithuanian team is no less attractive. No matter who leads the Lithuanian team in the next few years, it is a real opportunity to see Shar at the top of the team in a few years.

Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / Šarūnas Jasikevičius

Players

Rokas Jokubaitis – Will be ranked 23rd in other Olympics. If Rock progresses with the same confidence on the field and also remains firmly on the ground outside of it, he will no longer come to the next Olympic team as a player for the New York Knicks, not Barcelona.

Photo by Scanpix / Rokas Jokubaitis

Lukas Lekavičius will turn 30, but knowing the ethics and stability of his work, the Šilalė defender should remain a high-caliber player in the Euroleague.

On the radar: Augustas Marčiulionis will be 22nd during the next Olympics, Arnas Velička will be 24th. Both have the potential of the lagoon not only to be players of the national team, but also to play important roles in it in a few years.

Offensive defenders