Although ALK president Mindaugas Balčiūnas publicly communicates that the question of his future in the Lithuanian national team will be decided by the head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis himself, intensive behind-the-scenes searches for a new leader continue.
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According to 15min, after the failure in Bologna, ALK Secretary General Dominykas Domarkas, who visited Nemunas Island, had proposed the idea for the Kaunas “Žalgiris” coaching staff to take over the work in the national team as well.
The “Žalgiris”, which dominated in Lithuania and performed excellently in the EuroLeague, is coached by Tomas Masiulis, assisted by Mantas Šernius, Renaldas Seibutis, Andrius Ulčickas, Žygimantas Janavičius.
The head of the Kaunas club quickly rejected such an option, sources from 15min report, citing an intense EuroLeague season as the reason.
Sitting on two of the hottest basketball seats in the country is already a known practice. During the 2022–2023 period, Kazys Maksvytis coached both “Žalgiris” and the Lithuanian national team.
Last EuroLeague season, there were three such coaches.
They are Ergin Ataman (Athens “Panathinaikos” and the Turkish national team), Vassilis Spanoulis (“Monaco” and the Greek national team), and Aleksandar Sekulić (“Dubai” and the Slovenian national team).
According to 15min, ALK leaders received negative responses from Dainius Adomaitis and Darius Songaila regarding the possibility of taking over the national team, but they have not given up on D. Songaila and are preparing a new proposal.
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The leaders of “Lithuanian Basketball” should present decisions this week that “will answer many questions and convince the country’s basketball community.”
“After thoroughly evaluating everything, we will present the decisions to the Executive Committee of the ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ association, and by July 24, the decisions will be presented to the general public. Currently, both continuity and change options are being considered, with the main criteria being not only the positions but also the willingness and belief in the national team’s victories,” ALK president Mindaugas Balčiūnas promised last Monday.
The fire in the national team and the “Lithuanian Basketball” headquarters “Basketball House” broke out two weeks ago when R. Kurtinaitis’s men suffered a painful blow from Italy in Bologna and seriously complicated their chances of reaching the world championships.
The last time the Lithuanian national team missed the world championship was in 2002.
According to 15min, the national team camp before the first window of the second qualification stage should start on August 10.
On August 28, the Lithuanians will face Turkey away, and on August 31, they will seek victory at home against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
