[Round 1 - Day 5 - Group D] Estonia - Lithuania

[Modis2]

It's more of a concept. We didn't play youngsters just to play them, but to have them ready for fighting for gold in future. In general the way I see it, it's better to have a period of dominance followed even if decline follows, then to be just good all the time. We will never be terrible, but I don't like being good either. 1 gold is better than 5 silvers, better than 10 bronzes. 1 silver is better than 5 bronzes and so on. I would rather win it one year and then be 8th for next 5-6, then be 4-6th all the time, with a medal here or there. It's just a different concept of thinking.

Well like you said It's just a different concept of thinking. By the way Lithuania has 10 medals overall from EC WC and Olympics. Serbia has 9 . We beat you .But you have a great opportunity to get your 10th this year.

 

[CoachZ2]

Well like you said It's just a different concept of thinking. By the way Lithuania has 10 medals overall from EC WC and Olympics. Serbia has 9 . We beat you .But you have a great opportunity to get your 10th this year.

Lol how many Gold?

Enough said...

 

[Hepcat2]

...Lavrinovic bros are 35!!!!, Jasaitis is 33!!!! ... Javtokas 35.... Those are all veterans ... past prime....

None of those fellows will be back next year. And keep in mind that Coach Kazlauskas picked four first timers for the team this year, and two of them were only 21 and 19 years of age! The team doesn't consist of strictly veterans. It's a mixture.

Lol how many Gold?

Enough said...

Almost, but not quite. How many games did your team win in the last three Olympics? You know, that really big Tournament?

 

[usagre2]

Lol how many Gold?

Enough said...

If you want to use only gold as criteria, Spain, France, Lithuania, Greece and even Russia have all won at least one and you have none in the last 12 years. A medal is a medal the only country in the world with a gold or bust mentality is the United States.

 

[CoachZ2]

If you want to use only gold as criteria, Spain, France, Lithuania, Greece and even Russia have all won at least one and you have none in the last 12 years. A medal is a medal the only country in the world with a gold or bust mentality is the United States.

Team USA has huge gap vs anybody, and they were only beaten by anybody else when they sent a weak team. NBA level of play is on the rise, and the gap is increased. So now even second team of USA will blow out everybody, 10 years ago not so much. I have no problem admitting when someone is better, the point is that you should always strive to be best.

It's like saying, Arsenal's constant top 3-4 finishes are a remarkable achievement, even though they haven't climbed a mountain forever. Teams that were shit for years like Liverpool won the Champions League and everyone remembers that and values it way more than Arsenal being 2nd or 3rd 10 years in a row. It's the same attitude.

 

[Hepcat2]

All our coaches is saying national team is for the best players,its not youth competion.Best should play,not watching how old they are.WE ALWAYS FOLLOWED THIS RULE and it brought us where we are in top 5 by ranking and results for more than 20 years.

Lithuanians are used to winning in basketball,fans cant wait so long ) So we are taking what is best every year,not looking to pasports of age number.

I agree with that philosophy. The national team is not there for development purposes. It's for the best!

And there is no better ad for Lithuania as a country than reaching the Olympic semifinals in men's basketball. Everybody in Asia and the Western Hemisphere with even the most passing interest in sports watches in amazement and asks "Who are these guys? How can they be so good?"

 

[LTbotd2]

Team USA has huge gap vs anybody, and they were only beaten by anybody else when they sent a weak team. NBA level of play is on the rise, and the gap is increased. So now even second team of USA will blow out everybody, 10 years ago not so much. I have no problem admitting when someone is better, the point is that you should always strive to be best.

It's like saying, Arsenal's constant top 3-4 finishes are a remarkable achievement, even though they haven't climbed a mountain forever. Teams that were shit for years like Liverpool won the Champions League and everyone remembers that and values it way more than Arsenal being 2nd or 3rd 10 years in a row. It's the same attitude.

Striving to be the best is one thing and being realistic is another. Thing is our youth talent pool isn't just deep and there isn't nearly enough quality to do a complete reboot every time our NT is average and have no realistic chance for top spot (don't really think there's any country in Europe that could do that, and we can't compete with majority of them in terms of sheer numbers). We can't dig up JV or DMO from nowhere years after year. I believe a forced and failed reboot could take years to fix and our basketball fans just are not used of being shit for longer periods. Lithuanian NT always changed naturally and probably will continue in that way for the nearest future. Ofc there are things that could be changed for better in youth development, integrating them into mens basketball and NT, optimizing chances of success, but that's another topic.

 

[Modis2]

Team USA has huge gap vs anybody, and they were only beaten by anybody else when they sent a weak team. NBA level of play is on the rise, and the gap is increased. So now even second team of USA will blow out everybody, 10 years ago not so much. I have no problem admitting when someone is better, the point is that you should always strive to be best.

It's like saying, Arsenal's constant top 3-4 finishes are a remarkable achievement, even though they haven't climbed a mountain forever. Teams that were shit for years like Liverpool won the Champions League and everyone remembers that and values it way more than Arsenal being 2nd or 3rd 10 years in a row. It's the
same attitude.

But I don't agree when you said 1 Gold is better then 5 Silvers. Lets say you win Gold but you are completely shit for 10 years with no medals and low rankings. The other team won Silver 3 times. While the Gold medalist 10 years ago is struggling now out of the group stage . You need to remind people of how this gold was achieved even if you get Bronze to look at you as a strong team. Like for example nobody cares much that Lithuania won Gold in 1939. They care of how we achieved Bronze in 2010 and Silver in 2013. A medal is a medal.

 

[Hepcat2]

To me one gold is better than two silvers, and one silver is better than three bronzes.

 

[Darknemo20002]

Both Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Renaldas Seibutis had a +/- of plus seven today though. Together with Mantas Kalnietis they were tied for the second best mark on the team after Mačiulis' total.

+/- Crap again? This stat is one of the worst stats around there because it doesnt take into account with what 4 players you were playing with and what 5 players you were playing against.

Kuzminskas had the -18 against Ukraine, what he suddenly learned how to play better? No he is doing same stuff that he always did, just that sometimes his opponents miss while some their teammates make. Own Kuzminskas individual contribution to +/- swings remains real low.

+/- is an awful stat. It is a good stat when we compare the playing 5's, but its a rather useless stat if we compare each player individually. It has way too many side factors in play to make this stat actually worth something.

 

[Ashtrusis_dantis2]

WOW I was expecting to find almost the same river of sh.. Hm... that is flowing in some Lithuanian portals after this game, but what i find - almost calm and inteligent discussion. My opinion about our users in this forum became much better. Mačiulis gave excelent interview yesterday about what's wrong in our game. Sometime it happens - everything seems ok, players in good condition, but game just not going, maybye this nervousness of our younger players got into our game. Let's remember - we have 4 players who are totally new in our NT + some other players, who earlier were role players in our team now have to play much bigger roles and seems can't sustain the preasure. I can't explain in other way our game, that fear of some players and wrong decisions in simple situations. We all need to calm our players somehow, not all are like Mačiulis who piss on the preasure.
And Estonians... They hit some unbelievable shots yesterday... I have some grey hairs after that game...