LITHUANIA BASKETBALL

Lithuania Team

Lithuania national basketball team

The Lithuanian national basketball team is the representative for Lithuania in international men's basketball. Lithuania is historically one of the most prestigious and successful teams in international competition, winning medals in three out of five Olympic tournaments, coming away with three bronze medals.

Lithuanian men competed in two of the pre-war EuroBasket competitions for the European championship. They won both the EuroBasket 1937 and EuroBasket 1939 competitions. The 1939 team was led by Pranas Lubinas (Frank Lubin), who helped popularize basketball in the country and was called the "Grandfather of Lithuanian Basketball."

Being part of the Soviet Union. Lithuanian players frequently formed the core of the Soviet national team. This was especially so for the 1988 Olympic Basketball gold medal winning team which got most of its scoring from four Lithuanians: Valdemaras Chomičius, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, and Arvydas Sabonis.

After the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990, the national team was resurrected. Lithuania won bronze medals in the first three Olympics to feature NBA players—1992, 1996, and 2000, and finished fourth in 2004 and 2008.

The Lithuanian team won the EuroBasket for the third time in 2003. It also won the bronze medal in the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

FIBA World Championship 2006

In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Lithuania finished 7th. This equaled their best ever finish, achieved in 1998, but some saw this as an under-achievement.

They started the tournament with a narrow 2-point loss to Turkey. In their second match they lost to, eventual finalists, Greece in overtime. In that game they made 25 turnovers, which was one of a couple of matches where they made a large number of mistakes. Their third game against Qatar was an easy victory 106:65. This restored some confidence ahead of the must-win match against Australia, as they won it 78:57. Their last group match against Brazil was close in the end, as Brazil lost it by 5 points 79:74. This ensured Lithuania's advance to the eighth-finals to face Italy. They won the match by 3 points 71:68, although Arvydas Macijauskas fouled an Italian player during a 3-point attempt in the dying seconds which gave Italy the chance to level the score, but all 3 free throws were missed. They lost their quarter final match against the eventual champions, Spain by 22 points. Lithuania turned the ball over 28 times during that match. They lost to Turkey in over-time of the 5th-8th place classification round, in which they wasted a 12-point lead in the last 3 minutes of the fourth quarter to take the match into over-time and eventually lost the 5-minute over-time 20:9. The final result was 95:84 to Turkey. They won their last match against Germany 77:62, and thus equaled their best-ever finish of 7th place.

Sireika resigned soon after the championship. On December 28, 2006, Ramūnas Butautas was announced as the new coach of the team

FIBA World Championship 2010

On December 12, 2009, Lithuania was granted a wild card to participate in World Championship in Turkey the following year.

Lithuania started the tournament against New Zealand. After a tough first quarter, Lithuanians took control of the game and kept ahead by a comfortable lead till the final buzzer, which signaled Lithuania's victory 92:79. The second game was against Canada. After reducing the 17 point deficit in the fourth quarter, Lithuanians finally gained a small lead towards the end of the game. Canada had a chance to win the game, but Jermaine Anderson's game winning three rimmed out at the last second and Lithuania celebrated their second victory 70:68. The next match was against the defending champion Spain, and after another comeback from an 18 point deficit, the Lithuanians won the upsetting game 76:73, Linas Kleiza's free-throws sealing the victory.

Victory against Spain ensured Lithuania's qualification to the eighth finals. Lithuania's next match was against France, which held a perfect 3-0 record. France quickly gained momentum in the first half and forced Lithuania to a double-digit deficit. However, in the second half, Lithuania deftly reduced the deficit and cruised past the French defense, outscoring them 45-25 in the second half to win the game 69:55. The French were forced into second place as Lithuanians took Group D's leadership spot. Lithuania won the last game against Lebanon without much difficulty 84:66 and finished with a perfect 5-0 record in the preliminary round.

Notable players

Pranas Lubinas popularized the sport in Lithuania in the late 1930s

Arvydas Sabonis was one of the best known Lithuanian basketball player that helped Lithuania to win two bronze medals at Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics and was one of the key players in 1995 European Championships where Lithuania won silver medal. Returned to Lithuania basketball team after couple of years of absence and participated in 1999 European Championships.

Šarūnas Marčiulionis one of the key players in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics and 1995 European Championships.

Rimas Kurtinaitis Valdemaras Chomičius Artūras Karnišovas notable for his appearance in Barcelona

1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics and 1995 European Championships. Later he participated in 1998 World Championship and 1999 European Championships

Šarūnas Jasikevičius best player at 2003 European Championships where Lithuania became champion of Europe.

Arvydas Macijauskas Saulius Štombergas Mindaugas Žukauskas Eurelijus Žukauskas Darius Songaila Linas Kleiza

EuroBasket 2011 Lithuania

The European Basketball Championship of 2011, universally referred to as EuroBasket 2011, will be the 37th regional championship held by FIBA Europe. The competition will be hosted by Lithuania. This will be the second time Lithuania has hosted Eurobasket, and the first since the restoration of its independence in 1990. Lithuania originally hosted the 1939 European Basketball Championship. It was first decided that 16 teams will participate in Eurobasket 2011, however FIBA Europe decided on September 5, 2010, in a meeting in Istanbul, that there would be 24 teams in the tournament, after the Qualifying Round was concluded.

Lithuania automatically received a place as the hosts, nine other countries that are competing in the 2010 FIBA world championship also received a place, 12 Countries were determined through qualifying matches played on August 2010 (five have initially qualified, and seven were added after the decision to expand the tournament to 24 teams), and two more qualifiers will be decided in an additional qualifying tournament scheduled for August 2011. Eventually, all but one of the 15 countries that participated in the Qualifying Round will qualify for the final tournament.