Semifinals: United States - Lithuania

[NorCal2]

Overall that usa team maybe they do not have lebron and durant but they are playing better and are preprared better than in 2012.Most likely even they really thought spain can win against them,so they worked way more than usually in preparation.IN the final there is no chance for other semifinal winner.You just cant hold them for 40minutes.You can hold 10,20 maybe 30minutes but at some point they gonna break through anyway...

About our team we played bad game that for sure,but when you know that even playing our A game we would lose anyway ok its better miss everything today than in saturday.Today i was dissapointed in Motiejunas.He plays with them,he should know how to play againts them,but he was just non factor whatsover.Valanciunas didnt have good game but atleats made those freethrows,but its hard to play in psychology aspects when street fighter in usa uniform literally shows and saying loud "i gonna kill you".Jonas wasnt brave enough after that and cant blame him that cousins is crazy dude you do not now what to wait from such type .
Kuzminskas again when there is no presure he plays like he could play in nba,when presure time comes he just meltsdown like ice in summer...
Overall wise desicion by kazlauskas put seibutis and maciulis on the bench (they played 13 and 17 minutes) after playing in 1/4 both 35+minutes we need them fresh in order to have a chance in bronze medal match.Juskevicius i think after this tournament atleast deserve to be called again next summer to the camp.Vasiliauskas is done like cizauskas was last summer.

Before bronze game things doesnt look good doesnt matter which team gonna lose today in other semifinal,our team gonna be underdog in that match.

Yes. I've mentioned this in a couple of other threads but I don't think the amount that Coach K and his staff have learned over the years and the impact that has had on this team's performance can be understated. Also, this team is young and, for the most part, are yet to establish themselves in the NBA as true stars so this I think makes them extremely motivated which translates to them playing harder than our '08 or '12 teams (especially the '12 team which I thought coasted through parts of many games). They want to add to their legacies and establish themselves as some of the NBA's next up and comers.. They don't play the prettiest basketball by any means and sometimes they look lost but as Fran Fraschilla (I think its him anyways)- "playing hard is a skill too".

 

[turk-jugoslav2]

OK if its not racist lets put it this way.... black people are poor, they play sports in US so they can get diploma. USA has 300 mil people, good sports systems, so its not hard to find 30 players

Ask China whether it's hard or not. You and many others underestimate America's success due to its population. America is the most powerfull country in the world and the most advanced in many areas(military,science,education and so on). It is not hard to beat them as the rest of the world,6 billion, is it right with your logic?

 

[Marko-2]

Ask China whether it's hard or not. You and many others underestimate America's success due to its population. America is the most powerfull country in the world and the most advanced in many areas(military,science,education and so on). It is not hard to beat them as the rest of the world,6 billion, is it right with your logic?

This is actually quite wrong. As most of their smartest people are foreigners with or without USA passport. Having 370 million people DOES help in having better 12 players than countries with 6-60 million(example).

 

[Bad Boys 28822]

As a fan of team USA going back to 1992 there is no team I respect more than Lithuania. They were simply a very, very bad match this year for a team USA that preys upon poor ballhandlers. Good luck in the 3rd place game, and I hope they meet again in 2016.

I would very much like to see LTU develop some guards to go with Valanciunas. Jasikevicius and Macijauskas really used to give us fits back in the day. I thought it was cool to see them both make the NBA.

 

[tiro12]

USA is a bball powerhouse pretty much the way SRB, LTU or GRE is. They know the game well. They have good knowledgeable coaches in every possible league and age. The have tradition and history. Sure it helps that they have 300 million people from which to choose 20 or so for a team but if that was the way China and India would dominate every sport. The moment international bball got an edge on them they turned to their basics, got better coaches for their NT team, dropped the attitude and got results.

 

[Raze Lupin2]

This is actually quite wrong. As most of their smartest people are foreigners with or without USA passport. Having 370 million people DOES help in having better 12 players than countries with 6-60 million(example).

 

[Marko-2]

Just check history of their last names and you will have your answer.

 

[Bad Boys 28822]

Just check history of their last names and you will have your answer.

Uh....what?

USA is a melting pot. How anyone could possibly check a last name and say "that person was born and raised elsewhere" is absurd.

 

[Marko-2]

Uh....what?

USA is a melting pot. How anyone could possibly check a last name and say "that person was born and raised elsewhere" is absurd.

Yeah, my bad.. you practically didn't exist since 200 years ago.... hardly to call a "native"...

 

[Dr. Martin2]

Ask China whether it's hard or not. You and many others underestimate America's success due to its population. America is the most powerfull country in the world and the most advanced in many areas(military,science,education and so on). It is not hard to beat them as the rest of the world,6 billion, is it right with your logic?

That's not the subject, somebody said black people are better bball players. I was trying to say that that's not true, its the US bball system that produces many high level black players. And again why black, because most of them are poor and play sports in order to obtain collage diploma. I have nothing against USA, they have good sports system but I don't think that black people are better then others in bball. That's all

 

[Hepcat2]

So I watched the U.S.-Lietuva game at the massive outdoor screen that had been set up near Baltasis Tiltas in Vilnius. In fact, I was able to get a seat right up front! A few observations:

1. Mindaugas Kuzminskas really showed any interested observer that he can really play when he brings his game. Of course that's what Coach Kazlauskas has been saying all along but his play must certainly have been an unpleasant surprise to Coach K and the rest of the U.S. team.

2. I loved the way Adas Juškevičius fought through his nervousness and drained all ten of his foul shots!

3. The crowd was very well behaved despite the loss and most stayed for the "Trys Milijonai" fight song at the end of the game.

4. Aside from the loss, the other thing that tinged my experience with sadness is that my parents died too long ago to see Lithuania's independence restored. They never got to see their son walking freely through the streets of Vilnius and watching Lithuania(!) facing the United States on a huge TV screen in a World Championship semi-final. So sad.