“That would be capitulation!” The worst result in the history of Lithuanian basketball players does not promise change

“BasketNews” reports that before the “EuroBasket 2022” tournament, the goal of the Lithuanian national team was to reach the semi-finals and fight for medals, but the team suffered a loss in the round of 16, losing to the Spanish national team.

So far, the worst result for the Lithuanian national team in the European Championship was 12th place in 2001, when in the round of 16 they had to admit the superiority of Latvian basketball players with 76:94, and Ainar Bagatski became the top scorer of the match (25 points).

The general secretary of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, Mindaugas Balčiūns, who took up this position a year ago, does not promise drastic changes. He stated that the head coach of the national team, Kazis Maksvitis, will keep his position.

“It is necessary to understand that the national team played the first tournament under the leadership of this coach. I have seen how he works, what level of coach he is, and how the entire national team perceives him,” stated Balčiun.

“We discussed after the round of 16, and we said that he shouldn’t even consider leaving the team. We trust him, our national team is relatively new. And practice shows that the team achieves its best results in three years,” said the general secretary of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation.

The Lithuanian Basketball Federation has agreed with Maksvitis on cooperation until the end of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Balčiūns admits that only a major split within the team could lead to a change of coach before the Olympics.

“The players get along with the coach, who was able to create a united team. Despite the results, we showed good basketball, but we only lost to Top 5 teams. And we were in the lead in most of the games,” said Balciun.

The general secretary of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation also noted that the team lacked luck – if they hit decisive shots in two games, the final result would have been different.

Balčiūns expressed a clear belief that the Lithuanian national team will definitely not be led by a foreign coach in the foreseeable future.