The Other Guys: Meet Lithuania's unlikely heroes who outplayed USA

MANILA (Philippines) - The beauty of major events like the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 lies within proud journeymen professionals coming together to show their best against household names.

You've already heard the comparisons. A nation of less than 3 million beating the country that has long been the forerunner in hoops. One current NBA player in Jonas Valanciunas against 12 NBA players, who, at the least, are stars for their position or their specific role.

Well, once you step on a FIBA court, all of that is out the window. Whether you are moving from one European country to another every summer or playing on a guaranteed multi-million dollar contract, for those 40 minutes you only have your team to rely on, the name of your country on the jersey and your skillset.

Sure, it's not as one-sided as it might seem. Deividas Sirvydis, Donatas Motiejunas, Ignas Brazdeikis and Mindaugas Kuzminskas have stepped on NBA courts. Rokas Jokubaitis was drafted and has proven himself among the best guards in Europe.

However, this an homage to all the other Lithuania players who confirmed that they belong on the court against the very best and made it possible to close out the Second Round with a beautiful victory against USA.

 

Seems like everyone following the World Cup has already learned the name Vaidas Kariniauskas over the last 24 hours. Romania might have received the most shoutouts as that's where the lefty guard spent his last season, yet he had already played in five different countries away from his homeland before his 28th birthday.

A living example of the contacts you can make during a professional career, the Lithuanian casually mentioned Spencer Reaves in the press conference following the victory as his inspiration for some trash talk. His brother Austin was the one who ended up on the wrong end of two beautiful and-ones in the post.

With a team-high 15 points next to his name, dare we call him Vaidas Curry-niauskas?

Tomas Dimsa probably hadn't reached out to his former teammate LaMelo Ball, however, the Charlotte Hornets star turned to social media once Dimsa transformed into a three-point shooting flame thrower. Dimsa's 3-of-4 shooting from deep was the best mark on Lithuania's splendid 14-of-25 performance from three-point range.

To answer LaMelo's question, yes, that's the same former teammate of yours wearing #33, with whom you played for Vytautas Prienai in 2017-18, a team that finished last in Lithuania that year. It proved to be a steppingstone for the guard who has since returned to BC Zalgiris, Lithuania's main heavyweight.

If we're talking three-pointers, we can't forget Eimantas Bendzius, the son of former marksman Gintautas Bendzius. The apple definitely doesn't fall from the tree as Bendzius kept Lithuania in front when their advantage appeared to be in most danger.

The forward made Lithuania's first and only precise shot from long range in the third quarter when USA had got as close as 62-56. He also lost Anthony Edwards with a sudden cut to make it 88-78 midway through the fourth quarter.

We might already be used to the Klaipeda native on Lithuania's roster. After all, he made his major event debut in FIBA EuroBasket 2017. However, the then 27-year-old was only invited to the training camp by head coach Dainius Adomaitis a few days before it started due to uncertainty about the availability of bigger names. Bendzius has stuck around ever since.

Tadas Sedekerskis can also partially call Klaipeda his home. He was brought up in the beautiful resort town Nida, a place with 3,000 inhabitants that lays on a sand-dune spit. Thus, at first, organized basketball for the youngster meant traveling to the larger Klaipeda by ferry.

Facing him on the court is no holiday activity, though. He'll gladly guard different positions and do the dirty work like grab a game-high 11 rebounds. American wings learned about the difficulties of boxing him out, as well as sent him to the free throw line twice in the last three minutes of the game when the tall forward grabbed two crucial defensive rebounds in traffic.

For the 25-year-old who was loaned out to five different teams by Baskonia in his youth, making sure that he gets his way is nothing new. Just a way of working through different situations to end up as a winner.

A tight victory cannot be possible without making your free throws late, just like this story doesn't end without Margiris Normantas. 

The guard was a part of the starting group that set things off, with Normantas adding 3 crisp first quarter assists. And it was him closing the game out with two clutch free throws. USA turned to pressure defense, only for Normantas to make it 107-100 from the charity line. 

You're wondering about his story? Just a few years ago Normantas was on the outside of the rotation for the Lithuanian giant BC Rytas. Battles with injuries forced him to move around Lithuania, also playing for Nevezis Kedainiai with Gabrielius Maldunas, Lithuania's 12th man who had then spent the previous summer as a banker. 

He's since made his way back to Vilnius. You can now call him Margiris Normantas, the captain of BC Rytas.

FIBA