The national team will gather for a preparation camp for the qualifiers on the upcoming Monday, August 10th, in Birštonas.
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On August 28th, Rimas Kurtinaitis’ squad will meet undefeated Turkey in Istanbul, and three days later will host the Bosnia and Herzegovina basketball players in Vilnius.
After the first stage, the national team, which complicated its situation significantly, holds fourth place in Group J with three wins and three losses, so to catch the fading World Cup train, it will likely need to win five of the remaining six games.
The Lithuanian Basketball Association announced 14 names on Friday afternoon.
- Kristupas Žemaitis (Klaipėda “Neptūnas”)
- Augustas Marčiulionis (Vilnius “Rytas”)
- Matas Jogėla (Vilnius “Rytas”)
- Paulius Valinskas (Utena “Juventus”)
- Laurynas Beliauskas (without club)
- Karolis Lukošiūnas (“Šiauliai”)
- Gytis Radzevičius (Vilnius “Rytas”)
- Justas Furmanavičius (Utena “Juventus”)
- Osvaldas Olisevičius (without club)
- Regimantas Miniotas (Pesaro “Victoria Libertas”)
- Mindaugas Kačinas (Sopot “Trefl”)
- Ąžuolas Tubelis (Kaunas “Žalgiris”)
- Donatas Motiejūnas (without club)
- Marekas Blaževičius (Kaunas “Žalgiris”)
The list includes only two EuroLeague players, Ąžuolas Tubelis and Marekas Blaževičius, representing Kaunas “Žalgiris”.
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In the upcoming window, none of the three NBA players Kasparas Jakučionis, Matas Buzelis, and Domantas Sabonis will be seen.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is the return of 35-year-old veteran Donatas Motiejūnas to the national team after two years, whose national team career seemed over after the scandal that ended the 2024 Olympic qualifiers in Puerto Rico.
From the July “window,” eight players are no longer in the team: Jonas Valančiūnas, Matas Buzelis, Kasparas Jakučionis, Ignas Sargiūnas, Margiris Normantas, Ignas Brazdeikis, Arnas Velička, and Donatas Tarolis.
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