Lithuania has a great basketball tradition, is hungry for a medal and could cause the German team a lot of problems.
Basketball has always been the number one sport in Lithuania – the Balts were already European champions in 1937 and 1939. In modern times, another European Championship title was added in 2003. Seen in this light, Lithuania does not have that many titles to its name, but it has usually been one of the top teams – and that is also the case this time around.
For seven years, Lithuania has been hungry for a medal, which they hope to achieve again in 2022. Kazys Maksvytis took over the stumbling team after they missed out on Olympic qualification, turned the team around and forged a unit that can – and wants to – achieve great things.
Not only a force under the basket
Big man Jonas Valanciunas (New Orleans Pelicans) is the star of the team, but Maksvytis has managed to make Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings) – also a proven big man – work together with Valanciunas. Undoubtedly, the strongest weapon of the Balts will be their play under the basket – and that could also be a problem for the German team, which probably had the biggest problems under the basket in the preparation.
However, to reduce Lithuania only to its centres would be a big mistake. Because the guards are not to be sneezed at either, although questions also arise here: Can the highly talented 21-year-old Rokas Jokubaitis (FC Barcelona) adequately replace the long-time great Mantas Kalnietis? The qualities of Mindaugas Kuzminskas are well known, the small forward also distinguished himself as the third scorer in the preparation – and is likely to have his sights set on the European Championship, especially as he is currently looking for a new club.
