„The association has been in constant communication with representatives of the University of Arizona team for several weeks now. They are informed about the preparation status of the Lithuanian national teams and know the lineups planned for the matches in Jonava and Alytus. All relevant organizational issues are directly coordinated between the two organizations. Therefore, the claims that the University of Arizona team was deceived do not correspond to reality,“ the statement reads, whose author is not named.
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This is an appeal to the text by basketball.net journalist Jonas Lekšas. It states that according to FIBA rules, national teams can only play two friendly matches before the August window, so in the Saturday confrontation with the Arizona Wildcats, Rimas Kurtinaitis plans to rely on the reserve team base.
„At this stage of preparation, the main goal of the Lithuanian men’s national team is the FIBA World Cup qualifying matches taking place on August 28 and 31. The head coach and coaching staff decide which players will play in which matches and to what extent. These decisions are made by assessing the players’ physical condition, workloads, and preparation plan, aiming for the best sporting result during the FIBA window.
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It is also incorrect information presented by the media that FIBA rules allow the main national team to play no more than two friendly matches. The association directly coordinated this issue with FIBA and received confirmation that players can participate in a third friendly match without losing FIBA’s protection for the rest of the national team’s window period. The two-match rule in this case is not an imperative ban on playing a third match.
Communication with representatives of the University of Arizona is direct regarding the planned lineups, so no one is misled or deceived. We regret that before publishing contradictory claims about these circumstances, responsible association persons were not contacted – in such a case, all factual information would have been provided without distortion,“ the statement’s author criticizes.
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