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  • Which was the strongest squad of Lithuanian national team?

    Originally posted by Sashikas

    Allright, it's about time to bring some energy to the forum by a fresh thread. Here's a question: Which version of Lithuanian national team was the strongest? What roster could reach the most, if there would be no "IF only...".

    1. The Olympic team of Barcelona '92.
    It was the first tournament in which Lithuania participated after the regaining the independence. Firstly, the team had to pass the qualification for the Olympics. It place in Spain a month before the Olympics. All the opponents were crashed by an average 18,7 point margin. The sweetest win was vs. the team Joint team of former Soviet Union repiblics by 37 points
    In the Olympic tournament though, it was the same team, which defeated Lithuania in the group tournament (80-92), even after lithuanians were ahead by 12 points at the halftime. That loss forced to face the one and only Dream Team in the semifinal, so there was the only goal - bronze medals.
    In the bronze medal match Lithuania got their revenge against the russians - 82-78.

    Valdemaras Chomičius - Castors Braine (Belgium)
    Arvydas Sabonis - Forum Valladolid (Spain)
    Šarūnas Marčiulionis - Golden State Warriors (USA)
    Gintaras Krapikas - Tus Iserlohn (Germany)
    Artūras Karnišovas - Seton Hall University (USA)
    Romanas Brazdauskis - ??? (Australia)
    Alvydas Pazdrazdis - Statyba Vilnius
    Sergėjus Jovaiša - ???
    Rimas Kurtinaitis - Brandt Haagen (Germany)
    Gintaras Einikis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Arūnas Visockas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Darius Dimavičius - ??? (Slovakia)

    2. The roster for EC'95 in Athens
    After a dissappointing three year break without a major tournament (Lithuania did not qualify for EC'93 in Germany, so did not have a chance to participate in WC'94 in Canada), Lithuania bounced back in Athens. The main goal was to qualify for the Olympics, but the team managed to reach far more.. almost everything. They even won the crowd. But they couldn't beat the Yugoslavs, which were even more hungry for victories, as they it was their first tournament after five-year global disqualification. It was too hard to stop Sasha Djordjevič in the final game, and the refereeing was questionable. But the latter fact does not clog to consider this game as one of the greatest in the European basketball history.

    Valdemaras Chomičius - Castors Braine (Belgium)
    Arūnas Visockas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Saulius Štombergas - Atletas Kaunas
    Mindaugas Timinskas - Iona College (USA)
    Darius Lukminas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Gintaras Krapikas - Tus Iserlohn (Germany)
    Rimas Kurtinaitis - Real Madrid (Spain)
    Arvydas Sabonis - Real Madrid (Spain)
    Artūras Karnišovas - Pitch Cholet (France)
    Šarūnas Marčiulionis - Seattle Supersonics (USA)
    Gintaras Einikis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Gvidonas Markevičius - ??? (Poland)

    3. The Olympic team in Atlanta '96
    The preparation period for this tournament was not smooth. There was a generation change in the team, and several young players were invited to the roster, but just before the games were expelled - Virginijus Praskevicius, Kestutis Sestokas. So Lithuanians registered only 11 players for the games. Not everything went as expected in the group stage - a two overtime thriller versus Croatia, a loss to Argentina, a blowout vs. USA. Anyhow, the team managed to reach the semifinal, and there the oldpals - Yugoslavians were already waiting. It looked like a perfect time and place for a revenge but it did not come true. Final record - 5-3 and the third place.

    Rytis Vaišvila - Atletas Kaunas
    Mindaugas Žukauskas - Šiauliai
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Neptūnas Klaipėda
    Tomas Pačėsas - Atletas Kaunas
    Saulius Štombergas - Atletas Kaunas
    Darius Lukminas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Rimas Kurtinaitis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Arvydas Sabonis - Portland Trail Blazers (USA)
    Artūras Karnišovas - Barcelona (Spain)
    Šarūnas Marčiulionis - Sacramento Kings (USA)
    Gintaras Einikis - Avtodor Saratov (Russia)

    4. EC'99 roster
    After the Olympics in Atlanta most of the key players have announced the retirement from the National team and the young players came up to their places. EC'97 and WC'98 were the tournaments, where those young players gained some international competition experience, the young players won the Euroleague that year with Žalgiris and they were expected to blossom in France. Moreover Arvydas Sabonis agreed to join the team after three year break, so Lithuania was considered as the main favorite. But that hype of the media got lower after the blowout loss to Czech Republic in the opening game. As the tournament went on, the team got the right ignition, and began to swoop all the opponents. But unexpectedly they were stopped in the quater final by spaniards.

    Šarūnas Jasikevičius - Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
    Mindaugas Žukauskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Tomas Masiulis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Saulius Štombergas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Kęstutis Marčiulionis - Delaware University (USA)
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Dainius Adomaitis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Arvydas Sabonis - Portland Trail Blazers (USA)
    Artūras Karnišovas - Teamsystem Bologna (Italy)
    Darius Maskoliūnas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Gintaras Einikis - Avtodor Saratov (Russia)
    Virginijus Praškevičius - Besiktas Istambul (Turkey)

    5. The olympic team in Sydney '2000
    The team, that surprised everybody, the team that proved that the rest of the world is not that far from NBA professionals, as it seemed. Nobody expected a lot from them, but they showed, what a TEAM can do. Firstly, they defeated the bitter opponents - Yugoslavians in the quaterfinals, and then they narrowly lost to the dream(ing) team in the semifinal.

    Šarūnas Jasikevičius - Union Olimpija (Slovenia)
    Mindaugas Timinskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Saulius Štombergas - Kinder Bologna (Italy)
    Ramūnas Šiškauskas - Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
    Andrius Giedraitis - Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
    Dainius Adomaitis - WTK Wliclawek (Poland)
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Tomas Masiulis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Darius Maskoliūnas - SSA Sopot (Poland)
    Gintaras Einikis - CSKA Moscow (Russia)
    Darius Songaila - Wake Forest University (USA)

    6. The roster for EC' 2003 in Sweden
    Again, the national team was forced to have a break - they suffered a fiasco in 2001 in Turkey, so they skipped the WC'2002 in Indianapolis. The players have brought the biggest victory in 64 years. A perfect record 6-0 and 5 players have averaged 10+ points per game.

    Giedrius Gustas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Mindaugas Žukauskas - Montepaschi Siena (Italy)
    Arvydas Macijauskas - Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
    Saulius Štombergas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Ramūnas Šiškauskas - Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
    Darius Songaila - CSKA Moscow (Russia)
    Donatas Slanina - CSF Sevilla (Spain)
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Unics Kazan (Russia)
    Kšyštof Lavrinovič - Ural Great Perm (Russia)
    Šarūnas Jasikevičius - Barcelona (Spain)
    Dainius Šalenga - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Virginijus Praškevičius - Ulker Istambul (Turkey)

    7. Olympic roster in Athens '2004
    Almost the same golden roster went to the Olympics with only two changes, but after the perfect start, the end was bitter - the team lost in the semifinal and the third place final.

    Vidas Ginevičius - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Mindaugas Žukauskas - Montepaschi Siena (Italy)
    Arvydas Macijauskas - TAU Ceramica Vitoria (Spain)
    Saulius Štombergas - Unics Kazan (Russia)
    Ramūnas Šiškauskas - Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
    Darius Songaila - Sacramento Kings (USA)
    Donatas Slanina - CSF Sevilla (Spain)
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Unics Kazan (Russia)
    Kšyštof Lavrinovič - Ural Great Perm (Russia)
    Šarūnas Jasikevičius - Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
    Dainius Šalenga - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Robertas Javtokas - Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius

  • #2
    Originally posted by YYY
    Originally posted by Sashikas

    Allright, it's about time to bring some energy to the forum by a fresh thread. Here's a question: Which version of Lithuanian national team was the strongest? What roster could reach the most, if there would be no "IF only...".

    1. The Olympic team of Barcelona '92.
    It was the first tournament in which Lithuania participated after the regaining the independence. Firstly, the team had to pass the qualification for the Olympics. It place in Spain a month before the Olympics. All the opponents were crashed by an average 18,7 point margin. The sweetest win was vs. the team Joint team of former Soviet Union repiblics by 37 points
    In the Olympic tournament though, it was the same team, which defeated Lithuania in the group tournament (80-92), even after lithuanians were ahead by 12 points at the halftime. That loss forced to face the one and only Dream Team in the semifinal, so there was the only goal - bronze medals.
    In the bronze medal match Lithuania got their revenge against the russians - 82-78.

    Valdemaras Chomičius - Castors Braine (Belgium)
    Arvydas Sabonis - Forum Valladolid (Spain)
    Šarūnas Marčiulionis - Golden State Warriors (USA)
    Gintaras Krapikas - Tus Iserlohn (Germany)
    Artūras Karnišovas - Seton Hall University (USA)
    Romanas Brazdauskis - ??? (Australia)
    Alvydas Pazdrazdis - Statyba Vilnius
    Sergėjus Jovaiša - ???
    Rimas Kurtinaitis - Brandt Haagen (Germany)
    Gintaras Einikis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Arūnas Visockas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Darius Dimavičius - ??? (Slovakia)

    2. The roster for EC'95 in Athens
    After a dissappointing three year break without a major tournament (Lithuania did not qualify for EC'93 in Germany, so did not have a chance to participate in WC'94 in Canada), Lithuania bounced back in Athens. The main goal was to qualify for the Olympics, but the team managed to reach far more.. almost everything. They even won the crowd. But they couldn't beat the Yugoslavs, which were even more hungry for victories, as they it was their first tournament after five-year global disqualification. It was too hard to stop Sasha Djordjevič in the final game, and the refereeing was questionable. But the latter fact does not clog to consider this game as one of the greatest in the European basketball history.

    Valdemaras Chomičius - Castors Braine (Belgium)
    Arūnas Visockas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Saulius Štombergas - Atletas Kaunas
    Mindaugas Timinskas - Iona College (USA)
    Darius Lukminas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Gintaras Krapikas - Tus Iserlohn (Germany)
    Rimas Kurtinaitis - Real Madrid (Spain)
    Arvydas Sabonis - Real Madrid (Spain)
    Artūras Karnišovas - Pitch Cholet (France)
    Šarūnas Marčiulionis - Seattle Supersonics (USA)
    Gintaras Einikis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Gvidonas Markevičius - ??? (Poland)

    3. The Olympic team in Atlanta '96
    The preparation period for this tournament was not smooth. There was a generation change in the team, and several young players were invited to the roster, but just before the games were expelled - Virginijus Praskevicius, Kestutis Sestokas. So Lithuanians registered only 11 players for the games. Not everything went as expected in the group stage - a two overtime thriller versus Croatia, a loss to Argentina, a blowout vs. USA. Anyhow, the team managed to reach the semifinal, and there the oldpals - Yugoslavians were already waiting. It looked like a perfect time and place for a revenge but it did not come true. Final record - 5-3 and the third place.

    Rytis Vaišvila - Atletas Kaunas
    Mindaugas Žukauskas - Šiauliai
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Neptūnas Klaipėda
    Tomas Pačėsas - Atletas Kaunas
    Saulius Štombergas - Atletas Kaunas
    Darius Lukminas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Rimas Kurtinaitis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Arvydas Sabonis - Portland Trail Blazers (USA)
    Artūras Karnišovas - Barcelona (Spain)
    Šarūnas Marčiulionis - Sacramento Kings (USA)
    Gintaras Einikis - Avtodor Saratov (Russia)

    4. EC'99 roster
    After the Olympics in Atlanta most of the key players have announced the retirement from the National team and the young players came up to their places. EC'97 and WC'98 were the tournaments, where those young players gained some international competition experience, the young players won the Euroleague that year with Žalgiris and they were expected to blossom in France. Moreover Arvydas Sabonis agreed to join the team after three year break, so Lithuania was considered as the main favorite. But that hype of the media got lower after the blowout loss to Czech Republic in the opening game. As the tournament went on, the team got the right ignition, and began to swoop all the opponents. But unexpectedly they were stopped in the quater final by spaniards.

    Šarūnas Jasikevičius - Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
    Mindaugas Žukauskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Tomas Masiulis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Saulius Štombergas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Kęstutis Marčiulionis - Delaware University (USA)
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Dainius Adomaitis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Arvydas Sabonis - Portland Trail Blazers (USA)
    Artūras Karnišovas - Teamsystem Bologna (Italy)
    Darius Maskoliūnas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Gintaras Einikis - Avtodor Saratov (Russia)
    Virginijus Praškevičius - Besiktas Istambul (Turkey)

    5. The olympic team in Sydney '2000
    The team, that surprised everybody, the team that proved that the rest of the world is not that far from NBA professionals, as it seemed. Nobody expected a lot from them, but they showed, what a TEAM can do. Firstly, they defeated the bitter opponents - Yugoslavians in the quaterfinals, and then they narrowly lost to the dream(ing) team in the semifinal.

    Šarūnas Jasikevičius - Union Olimpija (Slovenia)
    Mindaugas Timinskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Saulius Štombergas - Kinder Bologna (Italy)
    Ramūnas Šiškauskas - Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
    Andrius Giedraitis - Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
    Dainius Adomaitis - WTK Wliclawek (Poland)
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Tomas Masiulis - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Darius Maskoliūnas - SSA Sopot (Poland)
    Gintaras Einikis - CSKA Moscow (Russia)
    Darius Songaila - Wake Forest University (USA)

    6. The roster for EC' 2003 in Sweden
    Again, the national team was forced to have a break - they suffered a fiasco in 2001 in Turkey, so they skipped the WC'2002 in Indianapolis. The players have brought the biggest victory in 64 years. A perfect record 6-0 and 5 players have averaged 10+ points per game.

    Giedrius Gustas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Mindaugas Žukauskas - Montepaschi Siena (Italy)
    Arvydas Macijauskas - Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
    Saulius Štombergas - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Ramūnas Šiškauskas - Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
    Darius Songaila - CSKA Moscow (Russia)
    Donatas Slanina - CSF Sevilla (Spain)
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Unics Kazan (Russia)
    Kšyštof Lavrinovič - Ural Great Perm (Russia)
    Šarūnas Jasikevičius - Barcelona (Spain)
    Dainius Šalenga - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Virginijus Praškevičius - Ulker Istambul (Turkey)

    7. Olympic roster in Athens '2004
    Almost the same golden roster went to the Olympics with only two changes, but after the perfect start, the end was bitter - the team lost in the semifinal and the third place final.

    Vidas Ginevičius - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Mindaugas Žukauskas - Montepaschi Siena (Italy)
    Arvydas Macijauskas - TAU Ceramica Vitoria (Spain)
    Saulius Štombergas - Unics Kazan (Russia)
    Ramūnas Šiškauskas - Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
    Darius Songaila - Sacramento Kings (USA)
    Donatas Slanina - CSF Sevilla (Spain)
    Eurelijus Žukauskas - Unics Kazan (Russia)
    Kšyštof Lavrinovič - Ural Great Perm (Russia)
    Šarūnas Jasikevičius - Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
    Dainius Šalenga - Žalgiris Kaunas
    Robertas Javtokas - Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius

    I thought it was Rimas Kurtinaitis who was playing in Australia.
    He played for the Townsville Suns.
    Cheers
    "No hay poder en el mundo que pueda cambiar el destino"
    -El Padrino

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Saskibaloia
      I thought it was Rimas Kurtinaitis who was playing in Australia.
      He played for the Townsville Suns.
      Cheers
      Actually Romanas Brazdauskas played in Adelaide but he did not play for any NBL team. I actually played with him in our social team!! I remember him smashing a backboard at Urbrae High School during a training session when he dunked on a guy that stole the ball off him!!!

      He played in the country league mainly, CBL or SEABL something like that...

      He scored the first 2 points against Australia in that Olympics...

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Lietuvis
        Actually Romanas Brazdauskas played in Adelaide but he did not play for any NBL team. I actually played with him in our social team!! I remember him smashing a backboard at Urbrae High School during a training session when he dunked on a guy that stole the ball off him!!!

        He played in the country league mainly, CBL or SEABL something like that...

        He scored the first 2 points against Australia in that Olympics...
        Most likely the SEABL: South East Australian Basketball League which is a conference of the ABA- Australian Basketball Association (our minor league). SEABL is the strongest conference hence, that's why I think he'd probably played for a club in that conference.
        It's weird he's playing in our semi pro league and he's representing Lithuania. He'd probably racked up 45ppg or something.
        "No hay poder en el mundo que pueda cambiar el destino"
        -El Padrino

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Saskibaloia
          Most likely the SEABL: South East Australian Basketball League which is a conference of the ABA- Australian Basketball Association (our minor league). SEABL is the strongest conference hence, that's why I think he'd probably played for a club in that conference.
          It's weird he's playing in our semi pro league and he's representing Lithuania. He'd probably racked up 45ppg or something.
          Maybe not really
          After the fall of USSR many players selected to play in minor teams or leagues because in the USSR they had poor salary and even minor leagues could give them more so they agreed to first club that wanted to sign them just because they didn't knew how worth they really are (didn't speak about Marciulonis or Sabonis, offcourse because they were well known in basketball world). Maybe that would be also correct that he went to Australia cause he wanted to see the land, meet people, learn about culture because it was very hard to get out to see the world from USSR considering that sportsmen didn't earn much in socialism.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by YYY View Post
            Originally posted by Sashikas
            4. EC'99 roster
            After the Olympics in Atlanta most of the key players have announced the retirement from the National team and the young players came up to their places. EC'97 and WC'98 were the tournaments, where those young players gained some international competition experience, the young players won the Euroleague that year with Žalgiris and they were expected to blossom in France. Moreover Arvydas Sabonis agreed to join the team after three year break, so Lithuania was considered as the main favorite. But that hype of the media got lower after the blowout loss to Czech Republic in the opening game. As the tournament went on, the team got the right ignition, and began to swoop all the opponents. But unexpectedly they were stopped in the quater final by spaniards.

            Šarūnas Jasikevičius - Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
            Mindaugas Žukauskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
            Tomas Masiulis - Žalgiris Kaunas
            Saulius Štombergas - Žalgiris Kaunas
            Kęstutis Marčiulionis - Delaware University (USA)
            Eurelijus Žukauskas - Žalgiris Kaunas
            Dainius Adomaitis - Žalgiris Kaunas
            Arvydas Sabonis - Portland Trail Blazers (USA)
            Artūras Karnišovas - Teamsystem Bologna (Italy)
            Darius Maskoliūnas - Žalgiris Kaunas
            Gintaras Einikis - Avtodor Saratov (Russia)
            Virginijus Praškevičius - Besiktas Istambul (Turkey)

            This roster looks crazy looking back now:

            Sabonis, peaking Karnišovas and Einikis, already strong Štombergas, Adomaitis, the rise of Jasikevičius, solid bench, not a single scrub in the roster (well maybe except Kestutis Marčiulionis ). The loss against Spain is probably second biggest loss in Lith NT history after the loss against Italy in Athens.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2uN9Zkrg0E Some perfect basketball there.
            LTU NT will snatch Eurobasket 2029 title with this roster:

            Jokubaitis, Marciulionis, Laurencikas
            Indrusaitis, Brazdeikis, Rubstavicius
            Buzelis, Lelevicius
            Murauskas, Sirvydis
            Tubelis, Krivas

            Comment


            • #7
              1999 Eurobasket had a strong lineup. But I will say that Eurobasket isn't a true measure of strength of national teams - a more prestigious tournament like the Olympics is. In my opinion, 2004 Olympics roster was the strongest we ever had. We had Jasikevicius in his prime, a solid Stombergas and Siskauskas, Macijauskas in his prime, powerful Zukauskas, athletic Songaila, rising Javtokas (a player discussed a lot in those days even after the accident) and Ksystof, plus solid backups such as Slanina (an excellent three point shooter), Salenga (I love watching his dunks back then) and Ginevicius, who's a better choice than Gustas used in Eurobasket 2003. This roster was an improvement to the Eurobasket 2003 roster. What more could we have wanted? If we would've played some solid man-to-man defense on Italians and held Basile down, I think we would've won. And then in the finals, we would've faced Argentina, a team that was not impossible to beat. But that loss against Italy was a BIG BIG blunder.

              Comment


              • #8
                i think its debate between 1999 and 2004 teams for our strongest national team ever.Funny or not both times we didnt win a medal,but in those 2 tournaments we were looking like best team in those tournaments... Usually when we have big hype we fail under presure and when nobodys expects we deliver 2000-2003-2010.I think its have something do with our character,historically (not only in basketball) we have character to fight very hard when nobodys believes in us under all odds and when we want to prove something.But sometimes we are lacking winners mentality,but overall our character is suitable for team game like basketball.

                However my vote would go to 2004 team,in my eyes that team best games represented what lithuanian basketball is all about.

                Comment


                • #9
                  The 2004 team... I remember watching the game with Greece and thinking how ridiculously good our team was.



                  And then we beat USA and everyone started having a feeling that this time we can take gold this time. People were celebrating on the streets.



                  It's unfortunate how it all ended...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Straight forward View Post
                    This roster looks crazy looking back now:

                    Sabonis, peaking Karnišovas and Einikis, already strong Štombergas, Adomaitis, the rise of Jasikevičius, solid bench, not a single scrub in the roster (well maybe except Kestutis Marčiulionis ). The loss against Spain is probably second biggest loss in Lith NT history after the loss against Italy in Athens.

                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2uN9Zkrg0E Some perfect basketball there.
                    I'm pretty sure Karnisovas and Einikis peaks were in the middle 90's, not at the end of them...the only huge star on that team was Sabonis and the rest were just role players at that point. No wonder we lost to Spain back then - without Sabas that team was very limited

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Gytaz, I think most Lithuanian (and foreigners) fans would agree 2004 team was the best.

                      Originally posted by madmax View Post
                      I'm pretty sure Karnisovas and Einikis peaks were in the middle 90's, not at the end of them...the only huge star on that team was Sabonis and the rest were just role players at that point. No wonder we lost to Spain back then - without Sabas that team was very limited
                      Sabas actually was not in best shape. Role players? Einikis was a leader of BC Avtodor Saratov, Karnišovas retired being at the peak (basically) and he was one of the best small farwards in Europe back than. Štombergas was obviously one of Žalgiris leaders.

                      If Sabas was the only star in that team, 1999 was the last time we had a star in NT Obviously that team could win it all.
                      LTU NT will snatch Eurobasket 2029 title with this roster:

                      Jokubaitis, Marciulionis, Laurencikas
                      Indrusaitis, Brazdeikis, Rubstavicius
                      Buzelis, Lelevicius
                      Murauskas, Sirvydis
                      Tubelis, Krivas

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Straight forward View Post
                        Sabas actually was not in best shape. Role players? Einikis was a leader of BC Avtodor Saratov, Karnišovas retired being at the peak (basically) and he was one of the best small farwards in Europe back than. Štombergas was obviously one of Žalgiris leaders.

                        If Sabas was the only star in that team, 1999 was the last time we had a star in NT Obviously that team could win it all.
                        when I say "stars", I obviously mean game changing players on international level...Einikis? When did he ever play for any respectable western team apart from russian ones, where his lack of commitment to the professional approach wouldn't be so exposed? I can understand Karnisovas argument, but Stombergas never was a big star (unless you consider 3rd best player of 1999 Zalgiris team a huge star that is). The matter of the fact is that we lost to czechs in the first game of that EC and team never looked like it was fully functioning or firing on all cylinders...

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by madmax View Post
                          The matter of the fact is that we lost to czechs in the first game of that EC and team never looked like it was fully functioning or firing on all cylinders...
                          Sure that game against czechs were just fluke and the nervous begining of championship.Later when team won against germany second game, we just destroyed very strong group from that point winning games mostly in the first half.Including 1999m champs italy hadnt any chances against us in group game,if this doesnt count as firing on all cylinders so what does? we werent just winning games,we were winning by 15-20points againts elite teams.When we lost by 2 points 1/4,later we just destroyed 5-8 place games too...Im almost sure that in that tournament we had best +- score than in any other championship lietuva had.

                          Lietuva-Czechs 62-78

                          Lietuva-Germany 84-74
                          Lietuva-Greece 82-64
                          Lietuva-Turkey 74-48
                          Lietuva-Croatia 91-75
                          Lietuva-Italy 74-62

                          Lietuva-Spain 72-74

                          Lietuva-Turkey 80-56
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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Gytaz View Post
                            The 2004 team... I remember watching the game with Greece and thinking how ridiculously good our team was.



                            And then we beat USA and everyone started having a feeling that this time we can take gold this time. People were celebrating on the streets.



                            It's unfortunate how it all ended...
                            I agree. The 2004 team was simply awesome. And the 2003 team was the second best.

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