2023 Lithuanian NT

[LuDux]

I have strange unexplainable feeling that Tavares won't score against us at all

[Shawshank]

If Sabonis won't come, and we have just JV, then we have to do what Real did to cover Tavares? To play zone? This way Tavares stayed fresh for the offense. Off course, Tavares is buch bigger and he changes much more shots than JV inside, but probably Maksvytis has to try this if Valanciunas is again our main center.

My impression was Madrid played zone not because of Tavares.

More because they have 3 very old veterans Rodriguez,Llull,Fernandez that dont have foot speed like they used to play 1 vs 1 defence and save energy in such way too.



Similiar LTU NT 1995 with older leaders , huge center inside .But zone requires players being with high basketball iq


Not sure about Jokubaitis,Brazdeikis,Sedekerskis in zone defence. Maskoliunas would say they dont have defensive *niucho* what can happen in next 3 seconds

But life in zone defence for Valanciunas,Kuzminskas,Lekavicius would be easier


Looking at our NT 2023 roster players strenghts and weakneses difficult to suggest good defensive scheme for coach.



Looking at 2010-2015 Kazlauskas lineups he could put Kalnietis,Seibutis,Maciulis,Jankunas,Javtokas this is very easy to see it will be good defensive team

Looking at 2000 Kazlauskas team Jasikevicius,Siskauskas,Stombergas,Songaila,Zukaus kas again good defensive team


Best 2023 defensive lineups is Dimsa at PG and Valanciunas on the bench,but thats lineups Nt coach doesnt want to go and thats why its problematic roster overall with lots of holes

[Straight forward]

Dimsa, Normantas, Butkevicius, Sedekerskis, Sabonis would be solid defensive line-up, but I'm not sure this can survive a longer stretch at O end.

BTW, Normantas is not shinning in LKL playoffs. Only 6eff points per game. Is he really poised to make NT even under major absences? That's not the numbers you would like to see from serious NT candidate.

[Shawshank]

We can built defensively lineup in theory but those lineups is one sided and half of our best players doesnt belong to them and this shitty situations of roster that doesnt fit together



M.Grigonis today 20pts and very solid overall game in greece semifinals .Interesting will see how Marius will look against europe best team in greece finals


But from moments i saw he is by far lithuania 3rd best player and arguably most important NT player right now. He doesnt force anything,plays like smart winning player on his own speed



At 28-30 thats when greatest lithuania basketball guards performances in fiba tournaments taken part

Marciulionis in 1992 at 28
Jasikevicius in 2003-2004 at 27-28
SIskauskas in 2007 at 29
Kalnietis in 2013 at 27 or 2016 at 30

What Grgonis showed at 28 in 2022 that what i was waiting with him for last 5 years when he will reach that maturity level when everything clicks at same time



Loosing our best guard because of health problems at his peak age 29 would be tragedy for NT.

NT can win with just one Domas or Jonas,but unlikely it can without best and most ready to win guard at this moment in time

[LuDux]

Kulboka wants frankness from... Kemzura?

[Straight forward]

OMG, Kulboka is such a drama queen. He already had 2 chances, one in FIBA windows, other in main NT camp and basically both times he didn't show things. He was horrible with his minutes in last stint with main NT. What he wants, that they would give a lock spot? He's playing in secondary league for trashy club and knowing his super massive minutes the numbers are not over the top, inconsistency still there, poor ending of the season. Meh...

Waiting for Sedekerskis, Buzelis, Murauskas at 4.

[Straight forward]

Again, not convincing preparation. Only two games against elite opponents - France. Maybe it's difficult to get in these days, maybe our status is different these days, maybe because of logistics IDK. But we should get to tournaments where teams like USA, Spain, Serbia, Australia clash against each other and we don't. IMO, one of the reason why we failed in 2022 is that we had soft opponents in exhibition. Federation should make more emphasis on that.

[Straight forward]

Holly shit!!! No Grigonis, no Lekavicius, no Ulanovas, no R. Giedraitis. Confirmed by Maksvytis.

[Straight forward]

Now the key is to have Brazdeikis, Butkevicius, Sedekerskis Sabonis. Add Jokubaitis and we have starting line-up.

A little conflict between Iggy and Maksvytis in last game is not a good sign. A hint that Spain's season may end lately also indication that Sedekerskis may not come.

Well, wild summer in front of us.

[Svajunas]

Very disappointed with Ulanovas.
Basicly he shouldn't be in any of our NT lineup predictions anymore, because he simply chooses not to participate without reason.

Giedraitis and Grigonis has some health issues, so that is understandable. Not sure about Lukas, but we have Rokas, unleash him for 30+minutes.

[Shawshank]

Grigonis,Ulanovas,Giedraitis,Lekavicius is out

Sabonis situation is unclear


and couple more players still unsure according to coach

like Brazdeikis and his recent 5min in semifinal like yesterday and coach openly says harsh things towards him attitude


From top 5 guards in 2022 very likely only Jokubaitis will return 4 new guards will be choosen


imagine lineup Jokubaitis,Dimsa,Margiris,D.Giedraitis,Velicka god help NT


yeah its looks shameful when we hear that 36 old Spain guards are preparing to play

[Toruko]

The weak backcourt got even weaker but it also provides a chance of winning new players for the NT but the WC should be over.

[LuDux]

Kulboka wants frankness from... Kemzura?

Turns out he gave this interview before talking to anyone in federation, now his confusion makes sense

[Dreamcatcher]

The weak backcourt got even weaker but it also provides a chance of winning new players for the NT but the WC should be over.

Now it's weak of course. But how Grigonis (in good shape) Jokubaitis, Brazdeikis, Ulanovas (playing well for Lithuanian team, not Turkish one), Butkevicius (very good defender), Kuzminskas (had many good games in NT) backourt would be weak?

[LuDux]

I don't think PG lineup will be worse, Jokubaitis will be older, his backup will be worse than Lekavicius on offense but should be better on defense.

No new stars at C and PF, but potentially stronger bench with Sedekerskis Bendzius and possibly someone from reserve replacing/joining Zukauskas. Kuzminskas might even move to more natural SF position which could more or less compensate loss of Grigonis