Lithuania add two 2000-born point guards to roster after two foot injuries
VILNIUS (FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017) - Lithuania head coach Rimantas Grigas made two late changes to his final 12-man roster for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 by adding two 2000-born point
VILNIUS (FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017) - Lithuania head coach Rimantas Grigas made two late changes to his final 12-man roster for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 by adding two 2000-born point guards after two players were ruled out with injuries.
Grigas had to make the moves to his roster because of injuries as Matas Jogela broke his foot and Einaras Tubutis is out with a foot injury.
Finally back home! #aftersurgery #u19 #nevarau #modilumas pic.twitter.com/5iweWQp8Gs
— Matas Jogela (@jogela8) June 21, 2017
"Our final 12-player roster is perhaps slightly different than we had planned," Grigas said. "But that is an inevitable part of sports. We are happy with what we have."
Grigas replaced Jogela and Tubutis with two 2000-born players in point guards Rokas Jokubaitis and Dovydas Giedraitis - who helped Lithuania to second place at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2016.
Grigas' 12-man team of course will be headlined by the leaders of the team that reached the final of the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016, including Arnoldas Kulboka, Gytis Masiulis and Tadas Sedekerskis.
| Lithuania's roster for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 | |||
| Rokas Gadiliauskas | Dovydas Giedraitis | Rokas Jokubaitis | Arnoldas Kulboka |
| Donatas Kupsas | Gytis Masiulis | Tadas Pazera | Tadas Sedekerskis |
| Dziugas Slavinskas | Eimantas Stankevicius | Grantas Vasiliauskas | Mantvydas Zukauskas |
"Our spirits are high," said Grigas, who saw his preparations limited as many of his players needed to take care of school work. "Like always, you'd want a little more time for preparation, but the tournament starts early and this year was important for the guys, as they were graduating. The guys had to leave camp, go back home and take exams, which obviously had an effect on our plans. In spite of that, we're optimistic, the players are working in preparing for the tournament."
Lithuania will face Egypt, Germany and Puerto Rico in Group B of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017.
Jokubaitis and Giedraitis along with 1999-born forward Grantas Vasiliauskas are the only bottom level players for Lithuania, who traditionally don’t mix generations too much.
Vasiliauskas and Arnas Velicka were the two bottom level 1999-born players on the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 team. The Barcelona point guard Velicka will instead play this summer at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017 in Slovak Republic.
FIBA