Lithuania aim to prove doubters wrong with latest squad announcement

VILNIUS (Lithuania) - A quality national team program is at its most dangerous when it's underestimated.

At the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, France fell into this category. A Les Bleus team deemed to be understrength not only upset star-studded hosts Spain in the Quarter-Finals in Madrid, but reached the podium.

Four years before that in 2010, a Lithuania team coming off a disappointing FIBA EuroBasket performance in Poland went undefeated until the Semi-Finals, where the team fell to eventual champions USA, yet bounced back by defeating Serbia to clinch third place.

This year, just 43 days from the start of their FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign in Manila, Lithuania may be undervalued. Coming of a EuroBasket when they survived a group of death in Cologne but then fell in the Round of 16, albeit in overtime to eventual champions Spain, Lithuania are not being hyped as a team that will reach the podium yet the extended squad it just announced can be dangerous.

 

"There was a lot of talk about quite a few players not playing this year. But I think we managed to put together a solid roster that can aim for the highest goals," Lithuania coach Kazys Maksvytis said.

"We will have less talent, but we can reach our objectives with discipline and desire.

"We'll start the training camp with 14 players - (Jonas) Valanciunas will join later, as per NBA rules. We'll also have three to four players join from the reserve squad. (Ignis) Brazdeikis will be late by a week, and we still don't know about (Azuolas) Tubelis - and whether he can join as an NBA player on July 28."

After being drawn in Group D with Egypt, Mexico and Montenegro, it could understandably be viewed that the Baltic team has every chance of winning all three First Round games.

Should Lithuania progress, they will meet the teams that emerge from a Group C that has USA, Greece, New Zealand and Jordan, in the Second Round.

With Valanciunas, one of the top centers in international basketball, Brazdeikis, Rokas Jokubaitis and Mindaugas Kuzminskas core players that are returning, Lithuania has cause for optimism.

Jokubaitis led the team in assists (4.0 apg) in Germany while Brazdeikis was very good in his first EuroBasket , averaging 10.7 points per game. Kuzminskas also has a penchant for making big plays in big games for Lithuania. In the game against Spain, he was in line to be the hero after pouring in 18 points but Spain ultimately won, 102-94, after overtime.

Many of the players in the squad have gained important experience in international basketball by playing in the European Qualifiers for the World Cup, or for EuroBasket 2022.

There are also players in Lithuania's new reserve team that is being coached by Darius Songaila that have been included in the extended squad.

Lithuania have announced a 10-game warmup schedule for the World Cup, so there will be ample opportunity to evaluate players as Maksvytis puts his team together.

They will take on Jordan (twice), Ukraine, Georgia, Finland (twice), France (twice), Puerto Rico and Latvia.

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