2023 Lithuanian NT

[Hepcat]

I will wait for the WC, but I see the same problems with Maksvytis. It keeps repeating and for only 2 seasons he made already too much mistakes:

- Doesn't trust Sedekerskis 2022

The reason given for letting Tadas Sedekerskis go in 2021 was that he was having difficulty mastering the team's defensive schemes. Given that Jonas Mačiulis recently indicated that Sedekerskis still has problems playing team defence this year, I'm guessing that was the case last year as well.

- Didn't invite Sirvydis who was at great shape in 2022 (stood out in SL)

Even if you could dredge up the stats to back up your statement, Summer League is a joke and the "results" can't be taken seriously.

- Cuts Dimsa 2022 who later proved that could help

Huh?! When did Tomas Dimša "prove" in your eyes that he could help? You had nothing but sneers for him until very recently because you thought he was keeping more "deserving" candidates (e.g. Arnas Velička, Dovydas Giedraitis) off the team. That being said, I certainly think Dimša should be on the final roster this year. There are simply no better options this summer.

- Strange issue with Kulboka which is not properly articulated

This is the first year Arnoldas Kulboka has ever demonstrated enough to be invited and he begged off due to injury.

That's what I missing in Maksvytis. He took reserve NT as a joke despite federation's attempt to re-establish that culture.

Well I fully agree on that point anyway. Coach Maksvytis paid little to no attention to the players' performance in the games against Jordan.

[Hepcat]

It will change soon. For the first time we'll have 2 legitimate high level creative PGs. Jokubaitis starter, Marciulionis - back up. Augustas had to be in the main camp.

Augustas Marčiulionis must improve his shooting if he's ever going to be a factor for the national team. Quite simply his shooting has been very poor to this point:

YEAR - LEAGUE	GAMES	MINUTES	3 POINTERS	3 POINT %	FREE THROWS	FREE THROW %
2023 Jordan Friendlies	3	20	1/3	33.3	1/3	33.3
2022-23 NCAA	35	15:30	15/60	25.0	64/88	72.7
2022 U20	7	27	5/26	19.2	13/17	76.5
2021-22 NCAA	34	15:06	11/60	18.3	26/31	83.9
2021 U19	7	19:42	3/11	27.3	21/25	84.0

I don't know what the problem is but he needs to improve his shooting in game situations.

[Hepcat]

If Jokubaitis would make such mental mistake in Barsa Jasikevicius would scream at him big time.

This was total mental mistake or like Jasikevicius would say such little details decide you win or lose close game.Rokas live reaction shows he understood he made a mistake and already had scared eyes now Saras gonna scream at me,oh wait its not Barcelona game

Doesn't matter whether it was a Barcelona game or not. Rokas Jokubaitis probably got a phone call after the game anyway from super fan Šarūnas Jasikevičius asking him where his head was on that play.

[Straight forward]

O, Danagau! podcast says Tubelis probably shows up against France. Would be interesting how his athleticism and physicality translates, obviously he won't be in his top shape, but if he shows flashes of competitiveness I think he should be taken cause Maldunas/Tarolis has been consistently demoralized by opponents and not even elite yet.

[Hepcat]

Well I certainly have to give Coach Maksvytis credit for attempting to implement a defensive scheme to take advantage of Jonas Valančiūnas' strengths instead of exposing his weaknesses:

Bene labiausiai į akis krito tai, kiek skiriasi to paties Kazio Maskvyčio treniruojama rinktinė ir jo vadovaujamas Kauno „Žalgiris“. Ten, kur komandą gali komplektuoti ne tik iš lietuvių, Maksvytis, kartu su visos organizacijos štabu, yra pasirinkęs gerokai kitokio stiliaus žaidėjus.

Labiausiai tai matoma gynyboje, kurioje Eurolygos klubas remiasi visapusiškais, mobiliais, per kelias pozicijas galinčiais dengtis aukštaūgiais. Jie gali arba keistis ir perimetre stabdyti mažiukus arba kilti aukštai ir stepoutuoti.

Su Jonu Valančiūnu ir Donatu Motiejūnu – situacija kiek kitokia. Dėl to visos rinktinės gynyba atrodo kardinaliai kitaip. Daug priklauso ne tik nuo dviejų bokštų, bet ir gynėjų darbo.

Pamatėme įvairių gynybinių schemų per tris draugiškus mačus. Šiame tekste apžvelgsime kurios veikė ir kurios ne, taip pat kitą problemą gynyboje, kurios greičiausiai nepavyks išspręsti iki pat čempionato galo, ir puolimo dinamiškumo akcentą.

Jau pripratome, kad su Valančiūnu gynyboje matome jį giliai baudos aikštelėje, saugantį lanką ir provokuojantį metimus po driblingo iš už baudos aikštelės.

Maksvytis isn't going to try to implement the type of modern defensive schemes based on mobility with bigs capable of stepping out to guard the perimeter which he employs at Žalgiris. The last sentence in English reads:

"We've accepted, that with Valančiūnas on defence we see him deep in the paint defending the basket area and provoking/forcing shots after the dribble from well outside the penalty area."

Maksvytis has accepted reality and is not going to ask Valančiūnas to switch off and chase fleet footed guards around the perimeter.

[Straight forward]

Maksvytis has accepted reality and is not going to ask Valančiūnas to switch off and chase fleet footed guards around the perimeter.

Why are you smiling? This is the biggest problem by far we have! Our turtle centers leave us crippled in modern day BB perspective. We stand no chance in various pick and roll defences. High, low pick and roll...We gonna be cooked. And the worst thing is our offense stinks with JV too. It's robotic, slow, predictable. We reduce our fast brakes, we do not rotate enough, JV is still slow decision maker with the ball. Valanciunas is just not a good fit for current basketball, end of the story. Nor is D-Mo. A bit better fit because of his better passing and quicker decisions offensively though.

LTU has huge problem without Sabonis. With Sabonis at 5 at least the ball moves offensively and we play faster and more mobile offense. Defense still bad, but at least we are different offensively and a bit better defensively. Sabonis + some sort of defensive or semi defensive back ups would be the best news for LTU heading forward.

Good to see Tubelis finally working with the team. Hopefully he'll get a chance, even if I'm not expecting him to be in top shape and that may cost him participation:

[Straight forward]

Seems like qualification to 2025 EB should be smooth and without much drama: Poland, Estonia and Macedonia as opponents. Poland and Estonia are lately on a rise, but if we take it seriously, as we usually do (with exception of Maskoliunas' stretch), it should be a problem.

[Hepcat]

Why are you smiling? This is the biggest problem by far we have! Our turtle centers leave us crippled in modern day BB perspective.

Okay. But the reality of the situation is that Jonas Valančiūnas must invariably be on the team. Given what he brings to the team and the available options, it makes no sense not to play him let alone leave him off the team.

So Coach Maksvytis is at least being realistic and attempting to structure a defence to minimize Valančiūnas' deficiencies (lack of speed) but still take advantage of his strengths down low. Maksvytis is being realistic. He's not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. And that's refreshing because it seems to me that in previous tournaments Valančiūnas was being asked to do things on defence outside his skill set.

[Shawshank]

This 2023 LTU NT is weakest since 2009

No point to go in deep analyses and search who to blame .Problems is everywhere.


Every win in world championship should be applauded and be ready that most likely this team will finish once again somewhere 9-16 place in standings

This is objective level for this team.


Miracles happens,when weak team goes deep,but sport gods must help alot for that to happen

[Straight forward]

Good game. We played against big contender, France looks really well, Batum and De Collo are absolute game changers for them still. Overall, no need to overreact, LTU struggled to make open shots, France shot well. France is the best defensive NT in the world, IMO. Maybe USA can prove it wrong, but I'm not sure.

This LTU team has no luxury to allow Jokubaitis to have a bad game. His shot and scoring aggression was off. He surely will play better even against top teams. In the first half he was basically creating decent look in every possession, but later couldn't keep up with good performance. Overall I think most LTU guys kinda stunned with France physicality and athleticism. We need more opponents like that.

Maksvytis cuts Giedraitis and Tarolis. I will say this - if he won't cut Kariniauskas he will be a fraud. Just as he was when he brought back scrub Cizauskas to the NT. Kariniauskas is complete trash. Jesus, live with that simple fact and leave the guy alone.

Maksvytis did a big harm to LTU BB not even taking Marciulionis to the camp. This is intolerable. In which planet Marciulionis would look more ridiculous that Kariniauskas against France?

[Hepcat]

Well I suppose I should subject myself to this exercise again. (I'll spare the rants though.) Here are the comparative Efficiency stats for the various Lithuania players in the friendly against France in Orl



P.S.: So I lost all my tables inserting the name of a French city with its proper spelling!

[Hepcat]

Maksvytis did a big harm to LTU BB not even taking Marciulionis to the camp. This is intolerable. In which planet Marciulionis would look more ridiculous that Kariniauskas against France?

Why your unrelenting focus on Augustas Marčiulionis though? The PG that stood out above all others in the games against Jordan was Ignas Sargiūnas. And was there a better Lithuanian playmaker in the LKL this year than Žygimantas Janavičius? I would have liked to see both Sargiūnas and Janavičius getting a look at camp. Some objectivity on your part would be nice instead of this exclusive focus on a few select favourites.

[Shawshank]

Lithuania again will be one of bottom shooting 3pointer NTs.


I love when Jokubaitis run the floor fast and is aggresive in first 35minutes NT desperetely need that ,but he is not yet there closing games. Same was in 2022 endings,same story looks like in 2023 too.Rokas still need more time and mature more

Playmaker need brain,composion in closing last 2-3 minutes,not go full speed in such critical moments


Kariniauskas all that critique is getting to him,he isnt that bad how he looks now .But when entire nations fans is attacking you in media,player must be robot not to be affected by that. Coach should send him to end of the bench as 11-12th player when its like that. Very similiar shit happend to Mazutis after that huge emotional attack he got from fans he couldnt even play in lkl anymore.


Overall game and atmosphere in arena was not friendly type. I really enjoyed that fight both teams gave.

NT playing some zone defences this summer.I dont remember they even trying it in 2022.

I have feeling that is hidden preparation for Greece NT that is bad shooting NT too.We can risk with zone versus them,i would understand this idea by coaching staff if thats true.

[Straight forward]

Batum is a huge annoyance.French NT coach thrown Batum, Tarpey, Ntilikina on Jokubaitis. Incredible force of defense. Batum is incredible player. Jokubaitis is close to be a beast, but not exactly there yet.

NT stepped up as expected. Every day I'm starting to think that we might have very interesting next year, Olympic year. Jokubaitis and Brazdeikis will come even stronger, Domas and Grigonis in their prime, we'll have Butkevicius as defensive stopper, maybe Tubelis will be ready to be mobile 5.

I will never trust Maksvytis while he's laying red carpet for complete scrub and didn't even give any competition for the spot (there had to be one - Marciulionis, Velicka, Bickauskis...whoever). 3 games against stronger opponents, 3 shitty performances. It's a disgrace and Maksvytis is fraud with such moves. First, Cizauskas, now red carpet to Kariniauskas. It's pathetic and I will keep repeating this after every bad game, meaning after every game generally.

[Dreamcatcher]

It's pathetic and I will keep repeating this after every bad game, meaning after every game generally.

Call then Maksvytis, why to keep writing here the same thing 100 times.