Valanciunas: ''We can really do some damage here''

MANILA (Philippines) - Lithuania are off to a flying start at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, winning their first two games without breaking a sweat and Jonas Valanciunas hitting the copy-paste button en route to a pair of 15-point double-doubles.

There's more to come, apparently, because the Baltic giants are strong, confident and motivated.

They face Montenegro on Tuesday in the battle for a perfect record to carry over to the Second Round. It could be crucial, because the other group they are mixing with has the United States as the big favorite to not only advance to the Quarter-Finals, but also to win it all.

"I LOOK AT US LIKE WE CAN REALLY DO SOME DAMAGE." - Jonas Valanciunas

Jonas doesn't care. He also doesn't care that people keep reminding him who is not here with the team, instead of who made the trip to the Philippines.

"It's been a lot of talks, players coming to play, players not coming to play, excuses, stuff happening... I don't know, I don't look at that," the 31-year-old said, who has assumed team captain duties since FIBA EuroBasket 2022.

"I look at us like we can really do some damage. I believe in our group, in our players, coaching staff. Predictions? I never make predictions. Let's wait until the tournament finishes and then we can see which place we had and how it all went."

Years pass, summers pass, things change, but one is out of question. If there's a major event in town, you can put your money on Valanciunas showing up in that colorful Lithuania jersey.

"That means an honor for me. While I can, I'll be a part of it, while the national team needs me, I'll be here. That's not gonna change, that's who I am, I feel proud that I can play for my country, I feel that's what I can give to my country," Valanciunas said.

Lithuania used to be a team with two bigs for the past few events, always packing the painted area and building a wall down there with Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis.

After Sabonis' best season of his NBA career, where he averaged 19.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists, while shooting 61.5 percent from the field, fans were looking forward to seeing the Lithuanian skyscrapers together again. 

Though, many wondered: could they actually be better building around just one of them?

This theory is being put to the test in Manila, because they are now forced to spread the floor, add more shooting, add more pace to their game, something that could benefit Valanciunas himself.

"MORE SHOOTING FROM THE OUTSIDE, MORE STRETCHED OUT... MORE SPACE TO OPERATE."- Valanciunas on the team's new identity

It looks like the new identity is working well over the first two games in the Mall of Asia Arena.

"We miss Sabonis big time. He was our main guy. It's a big loss, but it is what it is. But we still have 12 players who are capable," Jonas remained optimistic.

"Maybe our style changed a little bit, with more shooting from the outside, more stretched out, so... More space to operate. We believe in ourselves, we're still very capable."

The big games coming up for Lithuania will give us all the answers.

A win over Montenegro, plus another over Greece or New Zealand, and they should be back in the Quarter-Finals of a major event; they haven't been there since Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

FIBA