Quarter-finals: Russia vs Lithuania

[Straight forward2]

But why does Kurtinaitis arouse antipathy in some quarters? Please be objective. I just don't know.

First of all, he said some harsh words about Žalgiris - it might be Žalgiris' fans Also he coached Rytas two seasons recently and did well.. Maybe they have other reasons, but they have to argument...In my account Kurtinaitis is already proven and the coach with a future. Not some Obradovič yet, but really improving every year and has some nice results.

I was refering to LKL finals.

And Kemzura didn't have a single title before he was hired. Not to mention being anywhere near to such things as Eurocup trophy.

 

[Darknemo20002]

I take it you mean Gecevičius played very well in a game that eliminated Žalgiris' from a Euroleague competition?

But why does Kurtinaitis arouse antipathy in some quarters? Please be objective. I just don't know.

He alsways makes comments agaisnt Zalgiris. When Zalgiris was close to being bancrupt he said that they should nail down the windows of the sports hall and call it an end. He also never misses chance to make cheap shots at Zalgirius like "Everyone expects us to win in every game. If we loose one game its a tragedy. Zalgiris for exmple can go 0-6 and everyone are still happy."

Comments like these are uncalled for. But other than him bashing Zal;giris from time to time he is a very good coach. He was assistant coach to Butautas in poland but he was only an asstant coach so I dont think he should be the one to blame for the head-coaches decisions.

 

[Warped2]

I think it is safe to say that Russia is now the biggest threat to the USA for the gold. I know Spain is still in the competition but they seem a bit off so far in this tournament (I am posting this during Q3 of France and Spain and am not impressed).

 

[Hepcat2]

most probably because he's an opinionated dude with strong leadership skills - complete opposite to soft and clueless Kemzura.... He also knows that basketball teams have centers too, not only undersized PF's, pretending to be them. In other words, he can trully coach a team, while Kemzura just makes excuses and pretends to know how to do it...

I said objective. None of those things are negative qualities. What are his negatives?

there is no way he would tolerate Jasikevicius and Kleiza's effort which they displayed today in the most crucial game of the last 4 years.

Actually Kemzūra didn't. He replaced Kleiza. Kalnietis though didn't start playing well until sometime in the second half so there was not much that could be done abut Jasikevičius.

 

[LTbotd2]

Are you all 100% sure Kurtis would say yes to the job? What about Kazlauskas(i think he's still the best lithuanian coach), Pačėsas? Could they be serious contenders?

 

[Hepcat2]

First of all, he said some harsh words about Žalgiris - it might be Žalgiris' fans Also he coached Rytas two seasons recently and did well..

Oh fuck. So it's some Vilnius versus Kaunas thing again?

He alsways makes comments agaisnt Zalgiris. When Zalgiris was close to being bancrupt he said that they should nail down the windows of the sports hall and call it an end. He also never misses chance to make cheap shots at Zalgirius like "Everyone expects us to win in every game. If we loose one game its a tragedy. Zalgiris for exmple can go 0-6 and everyone are still happy."

Comments like these are uncalled for.

Yes. Alienating half the population of a country is never a good thing, particularly if you have any political ambitions.

 

[madmax2]

I said objective. None of those things are negative qualities. What are his negatives?

that's the whole point...your sarcasm detector is obviously malfunctioning here

 

[macleopard132]

I agree - Kurtinaitis should be our next coach if we want to have a good chance at winning a medal next year. I loved him in Rytas! He's strict, knows how to develop youngsters and get the best performance out of them. He'll make everyone work - even stars such as Donatas and Kleiza. No efforts, no playing time. That's his attitude. Under him, even Valanciunas and Gecevicius looked great. And let's not forget how Rytas beat Khimki in 2009 with such stars on the team as Delfino, Garbajosa, McCartney, Fridzon, Lampe and Mozgov. And Rytas was the weaker team. Yet Kurtinaitis managed to use his players efficiently so that his team would win the final.

After leaving Rytas, he went to Latvia and coached the team well over there - was it first or second in it's domestic championship in group stage? After that, he went to Khimki. He coached the team to a VTB Championship title in 2011. The next year, he won the Eurocup Championship title and is moving on to Euroleague next season. And, again, here's an interview with one of the players of the team that whooped our @sses today: http://www.vtb-league.com/en/news/vitaliy-fridzon-s-prihodom-kurtinaytisa-my-stali-bystree.htm.

 

[auris12]

First of all,i am really glad we did not go down without a fight.
Secondly,i am going to say that Kemzura is a good coach,and a young one too.
For me this looks simple - he needs to concentrate on his carrier away from NT team.He needs to get more experience,he needs to get smarter,and who knows,in 3 or 5 or even 10 years time he might be back.For good.
I am asking you not to dismiss him so lightly.
Third place in WC gave us a false hope.
In a way,it wasn't his fault that 2011 euro was in Lithuania and he was made to go with older players as opposite from 2010 ,where we had young and promising team.
Ok,so we got to Olympics,and suddenly we are oldest team,apart from Argentina.I do not think it was his vision to begin with.
thirdly,i do not understand people who started to hate jasikevicius.
it was catch 22 from the very beginning for him this year.
If he had declined playing for NT team,imagine reaction of the press - traitor etc..
So he played - his shot vs Puerto rico was crucial to get us to London- how about that?Do you,Lietuvis,remember this?
And the pressure and expectations put on him were unfair.

 

[auris12]

Kurtinaitis is an obvious choice .
And please,i beg you,not Pacesas- he is a fraud ).Coaching Polish team and achieving like ,really nothing in Europe.
Kazlauskas is my second choice,but he is wise and probably doesn't need this hustle and attention.
There is no third choice for me,no way.
Now
Jasikevicius,Kaukenas,Broliai and Javtokas,plus probably Songaila will and should against/or willingly retire.
Jasaitis is on borderline for me.
So i say,we give one fat finger for 2013 euro,we get personal invite for WC 2014 and we go from there.
And my final thought for today -
Songaila was our best player in this tournament.
How about that.
Kudos to him and well done.
I hope he can get another contract in NBA,he totally deserves it.

 

[Hepcat2]

thirdly,i do not understand people who started to hate jasikevicius.
it was catch 22 from the very beginning for him this year.
If he had declined playing for NT team,imagine reaction of the press - traitor etc..
So he played - his shot vs Puerto rico was crucial to get us to London- how about that?Do you,Lietuvis,remember this?

I agree 100%. While he played poorly today, Jasikevičius deserves nothing but respect for the job he's done with Team Lietuva over the years. He ranks right up there with Sabonis as one of the top two Lithuanian basketball players of all time in my book.

Jasikevicius,Kaukenas,Broliai and Javtokas,plus probably Songaila will and should against/or willingly retire.

I'm not so sure about either Kaukėnas or Javtokas retiring though. Kaukėnas was Lietuva's best player today. And without Javtokas the team defence was clearly inadequate this year. The younger centers can learn a lot from Javtokas.

Songaila was our best player in this tournament.

I agree! Songaila played really well when called upon to do so. If only a couple more fellows had played as well as Songaila did today. It would have been a different game.

 

[Terrorizer2]

Well, I'm fine with the result but not with the way we played this game. Too much stupid turnovers, too much nervousness and suddenly our defense was constanrtly shifting from beastly form where Liths don't know what to do to complete lacklustre performance, f.e., leaving open players on the 3pt line and watching if they can nail the uncontested three. And don't forget that today there was a player playing for Lithuania in the red uniform - Alexei Shved. How much I hate this bastard! I'm extremely happy that this shit of a player would go to NBA where he really belongs - basketball IQ of neanderthal man or lower, king of turnovers and a player with NBAish star mentality who makes one contested shot after another when they aren't falling at all, 0/4 from the ft line is jast an icing on the cake. Shved (no matter his jump shot ability and decent dribbling) is a shitty player overall but this summer in NT he is simple hideous. He really needs to be beaten badly for this kind of performances. I really wish not to see this glamour bastard ever playing in Russian NT jerseys.
Surprisingly enough the best for Lithuania were the good old Songaila and Kaukenas with Kleiza (and Saras - which is a not big surprise for me) playing awfully - I made some critical comments towards them both, especially towards the first, but now I see that this summer their individual talent, experience and understanding of the game were enough to be very helpful for the Lithuanian NT despite their obvious physical limitations. Mantas was contesting shittiness of Sharas level of play in the first half but compensate for it with great performance later hitting some crucial three-pointers and making his partners playing faster, harder and more reasonably. Overall, Lithuania played one of their better games here despite the fact that our team is definitely stronger and better organised play-wise and the fact that it all was close and the game result was decided almost down to the wire is another proof that Lithuania is a solid team.
Kleiza is right in his comments after the game - among teams in the Olympiad Lithuania is 6th to 8th (alongside Brazil and Asutralia) so their result is pretty logical and I think that Lithuanian fans must not curse Kemzura or tear one's hair, they have some great overperformances in the past, now it's time for the performance adequate to their strength. And giving a tough fight to the two best teams here (with unconvincing Spain and old Argentina I think we are the second team strength-wise on this Tournament) is a good sign considering Team Lietuva's potential and having in mind that Valanciunas must play better having some experience gained and Motiejunas with Gecevicius can definitely upgrade this team's level of play.

 

[Hepcat2]

And don't forget that today there was a player playing for Lithuania in the red uniform - Alexei Shved. How much I hate this bastard! I'm extremely happy that this shit of a player would go to NBA where he really belongs - basketball IQ of neanderthal man or lower, king of turnovers and a player with NBAish star mentality who makes one contested shot after another when they aren't falling at all, 0/4 from the ft line is jast an icing on the cake. Shved (no matter his jump shot ability and decent dribbling) is a shitty player overall but this summer in NT he is simple hideous. He really needs to be beaten badly for this kind of performances. I really wish not to see this glamour bastard ever playing in Russian NT jerseys.

Yes, I really enjoyed seeing Shved play today. How he got out of David Blatt's doghouse and onto the court though is another story.

Russia's best players, Kirilenko and Mozgov, were the ones who made the difference today.

 

[Darknemo20002]

Yes. Alienating half the population of a country is never a good thing, particularly if you have any political ambitions.

Thats what Kurtis is.

He never beats around the bush. Is straight to the point and honest guy and thats not the best trait for anyone trying go somewhere higher.

He is also very strict. I remember how Rytas once have beaten Sakalai by 47 points and all players were not allowed to leave the court and were forced to do 50 pushups each right after the game (with the camera's still being on). The reason was that Kurtinaitis told them to win by 50 and they failed by 3 points. If he were to become next oach he might as well be the most strict coach in our national team history (though I think the best coach is still Kazlauskas).

 

[Terrorizer2]

Yes, I really enjoyed seeing Shved play today. How he got out of David Blatt's doghouse and onto the court though is another story.

I think that he can get some national medal in Lithuania for his attempts to put you into the 6th successive Olympic semis Luckily, he wasn't completely successful.

Russia's best players, Kirilenko and Mozgov, were the ones who made the difference today.

Maybe, but Fridzon (a great player, btw) and Khryapa weren't that bad either and even Monya hit some important triple shots. So it was more of a team collective effort than some individual heroics. And I'm happy with that.

 

[Hepcat2]

So it was more of a team collective effort than some individual heroics. And I'm happy with that.

I would have preferred to see some more individual heroics from Shved myself.

 

[Hepcat2]

He is also very strict. I remember how Rytas once have beaten Sakalai by 47 points and all players were not allowed to leave the court and were forced to do 50 pushups each right after the game (with the camera's still being on). The reason was that Kurtinaitis told them to win by 50 and they failed by 3 points. If he were to become next oach he might as well be the most strict coach in our national team history (though I think the best coach is still Kazlauskas).

What?! Sakalai is the team I like in Vilnius!

Coaches like that are not a long-term proposition though. They're capable of turning underperforming teams around in the short-term, but after two or three years they burn the players out and kill their spirit. I'm not sure what would happen at the national team level though since the team is only together for a short period. But I'm afraid he might discourage players from coming out for the team.

 

[auris12]

I'm not so sure about either Kaukėnas or Javtokas retiring though. Kaukėnas was Lietuva's best player today. And without Javtokas the team defence was clearly inadequate this year. The younger centers can learn a lot from Javtokas.

Well,Javtokas has been struggling with injuries for the last 2-3 seasons.
I do not think he is capable to play for NT just for this very same reason.Being 32 doesn't help his case either.
Or,he should not be considered for Nt for the reasons mentioned above.
Same goes with Kaukenas
The guy will be 37 any time soon now.
Draw the line. that's all.

 

[Richey6662]

Good luck watching those "neanderthals" with star mentality terrorizing poor mother Russia in finals Hope Putler don't beat Blatt and whole Russian team with his stick too badly after they lose final by 30 points.

I'm extremely happy that this shit of a player would go to NBA where he really belongs - basketball IQ of neanderthal man or lower, king of turnovers and a player with NBAish star mentality who makes one contested shot after another when they aren't falling at all, 0/4 from the ft line is jast an icing on the cake. Shved (no matter his jump shot ability and decent dribbling) is a shitty player overall but this summer in NT he is simple hideous. He really needs to be beaten badly for this kind of performances.

 

[macleopard132]

Thats what Kurtis is.

He never beats around the bush. Is straight to the point and honest guy and thats not the best trait for anyone trying go somewhere higher.

He is also very strict. I remember how Rytas once have beaten Sakalai by 47 points and all players were not allowed to leave the court and were forced to do 50 pushups each right after the game (with the camera's still being on). The reason was that Kurtinaitis told them to win by 50 and they failed by 3 points. If he were to become next oach he might as well be the most strict coach in our national team history (though I think the best coach is still Kazlauskas).

Why by 50? Would it have given them advantage or something? Or did they do something bad to arouse the wrath of Kurtis?

Jasikevicius,Kaukenas,Broliai and Javtokas,plus probably Songaila will and should against/or willingly retire.

I'd keep Songaila for emergencies. But if there will be a younger, better F/C than him, I'd pick that player instead.

Songaila consistently did a good job in this tournament. Kaukenas, Jasikevicius were too inconsistent and too slow. Javtokas, if in shape, would be needed for physical defense. The rest of the players (except for Jasaitis) would need to be under 30 to play.

This year: 4 players over 30, 8 players under 30.
Next year: 2 players over 30, 10 players under 30.