This was probably the most intense summer in the history of Lithuanian basketball.
The whirlwind of events spun at a crazy speed:
A talented and inspiring lineup for the July “window,” which ended with a painful Italian mishap in Bologna, followed by huge noise in the basketball community, Rimas Kurtinaitis’s resignation, unsuccessful searches for a new national team general led by the heads of “Lithuanian basketball,” Rimas Kurtinaitis’s return, an unprecedented number of players refusing to represent the team, finally – a loss to Turkey, but a vitally important victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina and preserved hope to catch the departing World Championship train.
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R. Kurtinaitis has now switched off the external noise, spending time in Rokeliai village, Kaunas district.
“I am disconnected, I don’t communicate with anyone and don’t read anything, in the evening I watch some movie, and go to sleep. I need energy, it’s good that I live in the forest, so I walk 10 kilometers on foot to have some activity. That’s how life goes,” said the 66-year-old strategist to 15min. “As someone told me, now I am the most important person in the country, the key figure, because the president has stepped into the background (laughs).
I don’t want to be the most important. I want to do my job. That’s all I want – both for myself and from the spectators. Maybe we didn’t meet some of their expectations, but we all want that victory. But this is not that situation… I remember when a player returned from the 1994 World Championship in Colombia, he was shot on the street (Colombian Andres Escobar scored an own goal and was shot after returning). I think we won’t go to that level. Will we? (laughs). Maybe I won’t be able to go out on the street? I think we are a civilized society, only now that position has been taken over not by street people, but by some groups. I’m not interested in that.”
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Commenting to LRT radio the morning after the victory in Vilnius, the president of the “Lithuanian basketball” association Mindaugas Balčiūnas said that the decision about the future of the national team will be made by R. Kurtinaitis himself.
Does the coach promise to continue working with the team?
“I read that it is my decision. They want me to continue the work,” said the Lithuanian basketball legend who has been leading the team since October 2024 to 15min.
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