Team Profile: Lithuania's generation next looks to bring home a medal

 
VILNIUS (Lithuania) - Lithuania has never experienced a longer medal drought in its short independent history. It’s been seven years since they took home the silver medal at FIBA EuroBasket 2015.

Only four players remain on the team which has struggled mightily to find the right dynamics with their new stars. Now, with the addition of some fresh faces, rising stars and a new coach, they are ready to give it another go.

Kazys Maksvytis has been handed the reins of Lithuania and the task of leading them back to the podium of a major tournament

Last year, Lithuania’s unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the Olympics cost the job of Darius Maskoliunas. It was the first-time ever the Baltic nation missed the event and the head coaching job search began. 45-year old tactician Kazys Maksvytis has been the most sought-after local name for a while now and the agreement was reached.

As usual, it’s to be expected for this basketball-crazy nation’s team to be under immense pressure. But Maksvytis knows a thing or two about how to handle it – he led Lithuania’s ‘golden’ generation - born in 1992 - to win all four FIBA youth tournaments in which they participated in from 2008 to 2012.

The brightest talent on those teams was none other than the current star of the national team, Jonas Valanciunas. He and Maksvytis hope to finally understand how the New Orleans Pelicans center and Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis could co-exist efficiently. Both are paint-heavy traditional big men and fitting them together has been an arduous task. Lithuania wishes that Maksvytis' ideas will achieve a much-awaited breakthrough as the fate of their performance greatly depends on it.

To support the big-man duo, Lithuania are forming a strong supporting cast. An exciting fresh face is coming in. Ignas Brazdeikis, who spent the 2021-22 season between the Orlando Magic and the NBA G League, has already made a shiny debut in national colors in the latest FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers window. The forward showcased outstanding 1-on-1 scoring and creating skills, something Lithuania haven’t possessed in this position for a long time.

Even though Maksvytis’ go-to offensive options will be inside the paint, there is no denying that modern basketball is dominated by perimeter players. Besides Brazdeikis, Lithuania will rely on Marius Grigonis and Lukas Lekavicius to get into the most dangerous area of the court -- the paint. Gritty and fast, both guards know perfectly well how to finish there as well with their floaters having been scorching the European nets for quite some time now.

The youngest member of the team, 21-year-old rising star Rokas Jokubaitis is facing a gigantic task. Replacing legendary point guard and captain Mantas Kalnietis is not a walk in the park. Neither is calling the shots for a group featuring NBA players and balancing between scoring himself. But the young prospect seems ready to take over the reins after a demanding season under coach Sarunas Jasikevicius at FC Barcelona.

The other big question is whether Lithuania will have enough shooters around its main core. Rokas Giedraitis, Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Eigirdas Zukauskas should provide some three-point prowess, each in a different position. With the absences of Edgaras Ulanovas, Eimantas Bendzius and Tadas Sedekerskis, their shooting percentages from deep will play a fairly significant role.

Lithuania appears to have it all. But lately it has not been working. Can Kazys Maksvytis finally solve the jigsaw puzzle and bring home a medal?

 IN THE LAST 10 FIBA EVENTS

YEAR	EVENT	LOCATION	ACHIEVEMENT
2021	Olympics	Tokyo (JPN)	Did not qualify
2019	FIBA Basketball World Cup	Beijing (CHN)	9th
2017	FIBA EuroBasket	Istanbul (TUR)	9th
2016	Olympics	Rio de Janeiro (BRA)	7th
2015	FIBA EuroBasket	Lille (FRA)	Silver
2014	FIBA Basketball World Cup	Madrid (ESP)	4th
2013	FIBA EuroBasket	Ljubljana (SLO)	Silver
2012	Olympics	London (GBR)	8th
2011	FIBA EuroBasket	Kaunas (LTU)	5th
2010	FIBA Basketball World Cup	Istanbul (TUR)	Bronze

   

HOW DID  QUALIFY: FIBA EUROBASKET 2022 QUALIFIERS - 2nd IN GROUP C (4W - 2L)

DATE	GAME	RESULT
21/02/2020	Belgium v Lithuania	86-65
24/02/2020	Lithuania v Czech Republic	97-89
27/11/2020	Denmark v Lithuania	80-76
29/11/2020	Lithuania v Belgium	84-71
20/02/2021	Czech Republic v Lithuania	74-94
22/02/2021	Denmark v Lithuania	76-77

 

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