The Arizona team came to Lithuania with a clear goal – to play a match with the reserve team in Jonava, and in Alytus to challenge the country’s main national team.
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In central Lithuania, the “Wildcats” somewhat faltered and suffered a defeat 85:99.
“They started the game very well, they are very experienced. For us, these are good lessons, I have great respect for the FIBA organization and know a lot about the history of Lithuanian basketball.
We knew that tough games awaited us. It didn’t matter whether it was the main team or the reserve national team. I knew it would be difficult,” said NCAA team coach Tommy Lloyd after the game.
But not only the defeat should trouble the “Wildcats” team leader. The match awaiting in Dzūkija on Saturday was supposed to be against the country’s main team.
As reported by “krepšinis.net” journalist Jonas Lekšas, according to FIBA rules, national teams can only play two friendly matches before the August window, so in Saturday’s encounter Rimas Kurtinaitis plans to rely on the reserve team core.
“After these games, we are not worthy to play with the main team. This is a special opportunity and one must deserve it,” commented T. Lloyd politically correctly. “They are preparing for FIBA games, which are important, and their situation is complicated. They have to do what is most important. Whatever they do, I will respect Lithuania’s decision. If we play against the same team on Saturday, it will be a great challenge for us.”
We are not worthy to play with the main team
So the question remains, which team will we see at 7:30 PM Lithuanian time in Alytus and against whom “Wildcats” big man Motiejus Krivas will have to battle.
In this game, he scored 10 points (3/4 two-pointers, 4/4 free throws) and made 2 assists in 11 minutes.
“Motiejus had a good summer, he is recovering from a minor injury. I think he is approaching 100% of himself,” T. Lloyd said about the Šiauliai native’s readiness. “We are preparing for a long season and Motiejus will be an important part of it and makes a big difference. He only started training a week ago. We’ll see how Motiejus feels tomorrow, but I’m not sure if he will play normal minutes.”
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