Lithuania continues the cycle of friendly matches ahead of the upcoming World Championship qualifiers. R. Kurtinaitis’ trainees lost the first game 108:110 in overtime to the Estonians.
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Now they absorbed the Arizona basketball players’ blow – 74:88 (15:23, 25:20, 15:26, 19:19).
- Rest was given to the main national team players Ąžuolas Tubelis, Marekas Blaževičius, Gytis Radzevičius, Dominykas Stenionis, Matas Jogėla, and Osvaldas Olisevičius.
- Reserve national team members Modestas Kancleris, Ignas Urbonas, Matas Repšys, and Nojus Radžius were included in the roster.
The first quarter was not an easy walk for the Lithuanian team against the students. With the reserve team setting a good tone against the University of Arizona, Rimas Kurtinaitis’ trainees did not have everything go smoothly.
In the first 2 minutes, there were 3 turnovers and two missed close-range shots. By the end of the quarter, this stat line turned into 2 successful two-pointers out of 8. The mistakes were childish, such as Karolis Lukošiūnas’ pass that flew into the hoop.
The fairly large crowd at Alytus Arena watched the second quarter as the national team clawed back from an 8-point deficit (15:23).
Although shortly after Ivan Kharchenkov hit a three-pointer and Lithuania was down by 11 points (15:26), R. Kurtinaitis’ trainees somewhat recovered. With just under 7 minutes left in the quarter, the teams were tied (26:26).
With improved accuracy (43% two-pointers, 38% three-pointers after two quarters), Lithuania and Arizona were now competing point for point. After the first half, the Lithuanians were down by 3 points (40:43).
After a timeout, the guests from the USA regained a double-digit lead. In the first 3 minutes of the quarter, Karolis Lukošiūnas made only one free throw out of three, which were the only points for the country during that time. Meanwhile, Arizona responded with ten points (43:53).
With just over a minute left, Motiejus Krivas silenced the Lithuanian fans by hitting a three-pointer, and later Derek Dixon’s shot increased the home team’s deficit (55:69), causing the spectators to hold their heads.
They were unable to erase it until the end of the game, and the loss was bitter. The arena once again did not hear victory fanfares, and a gloomy mood prevailed.
“The second team was supposed to play in this game. We needed to check several players who played less in the previous games. Specifically, our point guards.
Today the goal was to win, but we also needed to try new players. We did not manage to win, but in the preparation phase, we are doing everything that is logical and planned. Without the result, we achieved what we wanted,” said Lithuanian coach Rimas Kurtinaitis to journalists after the game.
– You mentioned that the second team was supposed to play in this game, but from the start, it was communicated that the main team would play.
– We wanted to make a kind of “mix.” We wanted to give three players, then thought it might not fit well. In the previous game, we played with 12 players; we need to check the point guards we have. Today was a good opportunity for Kristupas Žemaitis and Augustas Mačiulionis. Tomorrow we will play, the day after tomorrow we have a day off, everything is arranged by the physical training coaches.
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– The Turks played friendly matches against the Czech Republic, and before that, they fought against Croatia. Is it a disadvantage in the preparation cycle that Lithuania played with a varied lineup and against universities?
– Maybe it is. We played against the Estonians, who are a good team. We fought against the Americans who came. It’s not a problem with the teams. We need to gain game rhythm, and we are doing that. We see that they run, push, they highlighted our problems. We emphasized mistakes and rebounds. Today we failed to control that. Essentially, what I wanted to get, to check the players, we got that.
– Ivan Kharchenkov is a player similar to Turkey’s leader Cedi Osman. What went wrong defensively against him?
– Currently, we have problems with one-on-one defense and rebounds. We managed to implement some things, others not. What we wanted to get in the game plan, we got.
– The Lithuanian team has recently lacked a true defensive center. On the opponents’ side was Motiejus Krivas. How do you evaluate him?
– I followed him at university, and I liked him very much, very promising. He defends the basket well. We saw Motiejus’ strength under the basket, how he rebounds. He is needed for the future and is needed in the national team for the future. I don’t know what the problem was that we couldn’t have him in the national team.
– It seems we have normalized the feeling of losing. There were isolated chants of “shame” in the arena; what do you think about that?
– I did not hear the chants. It’s better to win, but I mentioned that this is a preparation process, and we fail to win. We lose not by much, but we lose. We have a week to fix problems and understand what we need.
– What is the biggest concern about the roster right now?
– We need to improve rebound statistics and one-on-one defense.
– Second loss in a row. What is the mood in the locker room right now?
– We understand that friendly matches are for preparation.
– What will tomorrow’s rotation be in the game against Michigan?
– Tomorrow will be the last game, and we will play with the full roster.
– After the victory against the British, you mentioned that we need to regain the winner’s mentality. How do games like this contribute to regaining it?
– During the preparation period, everything happens. What I said, I do not change. We had developed and regained it at the European Championship. We aimed for that in these games. We are professionals; we want to win games. This is the Lithuanian national team; we have to draw conclusions, and we will.
– What did you see from today’s roster?
– I wanted to give Augustas and Kristupas some playing time. They played; I wanted them to be together, and they were. As you can see, we do not have a tall defensive center like the Americans.
The next friendly match Lithuania will play on August 23 at 7:30 PM in Vilnius against the University of Michigan.
