Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

3X3 in Lithuania

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Lithuania’s Adomas Sidarevičius hits a buzzer beater for the win!
    The Moon Is A SCAM(http://www.revisionism.nl/Moon/The-Mad-Revisionist.htm)!

    Comment


    • Originally posted by LuDux View Post
      Lithuania’s Adomas Sidarevičius hits a buzzer beater for the win!
      After a good start to the Tournament, the Lithuanian U23 Men finished in first place overall after three days with Ukraine in second and Romania in third:

      Europe 2 U23 3x3 Standings

      But!!! I have to say that in the final analysis the results the team of Gabrielius Čelka, Ernestas Sederevičius, Adomas Sidarevičius and Eimantas Žilius achieved have to be considered a disappointment. After winning the Stop 1, they barely got by Estonia 19-18 in the first game of Stop 2 and were then blown out by Ukraine 21-10 in the Final. Sidarevičius said they were "tired" after the first day but they were playing right at home in Klaipėda so it should have been the other teams who were even more tired after their journey. Then in Stop 3 they blew a 17-9 lead in the Final and lost 21-20 to Romania.

      Adomas Sidarevičius was excellent and Eimantas Žilius was also really good. Gabrielius Čelka, the MVP of the U18 3x3 Europe Cup in 2019 in which Lithuania won the Gold, was not as good but then again at the age of only 19 he was the youngest member of the team.

      The U23 Lithuanian Women won all nine of their games though over the three days. Dainius Novickas was the Coach of both squads.



      Stops 4-6 will be held August 20-22nd in Bucharest.

      Last edited by Hepcat; 08-31-2021, 04:31 PM.

      Comment


      • The third and Final Stop of the Hoptrans 3x3 Tournament took place in Klaipėda on July 31 - August 1st:

        Teams - Hoptrans Stop 3

        I thought that the Final of the Hoptrans Tournament would witness the return of Žygimantas Skučas to the 3x3 game but he merely cheered for his Utena teammates from the stands. Ignas Vaitkus who'd broken his foot in late May during a practice for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament also watched from the stands.

        The Amsterdam team which included Dimeo van der Horst from the Dutch Olympic team was supplemented by Deividas Kumelis from Lithuanian Team AUCH.

        The Russia North consisted of previous candidates for the Russian Olympic team.

        Game Scores - Hoptrans Stop 3

        Šakiai Gulbelė 21 Russia North 16 (QF)
        Kėdainiai 21 Lausanne 11 (QF)
        Utena 21 Tauras 12 (QF)
        Amsterdam 21 Marijampolė Sūduva 16 (QF)

        Šakiai 21 Kėdainiai 18 (SF)
        Utena 21 Amsterdam 9 (SF)


        A large part of the reason for Amsterdam's relatively poor showing in the SF was that the Amsterdam team was undermanned. Dimeo van der Horst didn't play in the game but merely cheered his teammates from the stands due to a minor injury.

        Šakiai 22 Utena 14 (F)



        Last edited by Hepcat; 09-30-2021, 02:01 AM.

        Comment


        • Both Šakiai Gulbelė and Utena competed in the Hamburg 3x3 Challenger which was held August 7-8th. The Challenger featured a strong lineup of teams:

          Teams - Hamburg Challenger

          Paulius Beliavičius was back on the Gulbelė roster in place of Marijus Užupis. Beliavičius brings added quickness to the team but Užupis is taller and is more accurate from beyond the arc. Ignas Labutis who played for Jonavos Cbet in the NKL and has until very recently been part of the VDU 3x3 squad was on the Utena team in place of Deividas Rasys.

          The Skopje team included 226 cm. Marko Dujkovic who gave Utena all kinds of trouble in group play.

          Game Scores - Hamburg Challenger

          Utena 21 Nantes 20 (QF)
          Graz 17 Antwerp 12 (QF)
          Pirot 20 Šakiai 17 (QF)
          Liman 21 Lausanne 10 (QF)

          Utena 21 Graz 18 (SF)
          Liman 21 Pirot 14 (SF)

          Utena 18 Liman 16 (F)




          So a very good victory for Utena in the Final since the Liman team included Aleksandar Ratkov and Mihailo Vasic who had been part of the excellent Serbian team at the Olympics. I'm hesitant to say that adding Ignas Labutis was a key to Utena's success because there's a very large random element when it comes to 3x3 results.

          Meanwhile Šakiai which had beaten Utena the three times the teams faced each other in the Hoptrans Tournament only finished seventh this time.

          Last edited by Hepcat; 08-09-2021, 04:33 PM.

          Comment


          • Both the Lithuanian Men and the Lithuanian Women are in first place in the standings after the first three Stops of the FIBA 3x3 U21 Nations League which were held in Voiron and Isère, France on August 6-8th:

            U21 Nations League Standings

            Each team had two firsts and a third in the Stops in which six teams of each sex participated.



            The Lithuanian Men's team was comprised of Henrikas Alekna, Benas Aleliūnas, Gytis Nemeikša and Dominykas Stenionis. Interesting that neither Gabrielius Čelka nor Adomas Sidarevičius who are both of eligible age to participate were on the team, probably because they're already part of the U23 team.

            Given the success that the Lithuanian U23 and U21 3x3 teams have had in the last few weeks and with the very competitive Kėdainiai, Klaipėda Neptūnas, Marijampolė Suduva and Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas teams all being so young, the prospects for Lithuanian 3x3 basketball over the next five to ten years look really good.

            Last edited by Hepcat; 08-14-2021, 06:23 PM.

            Comment


            • So the 3x3 team that I rank the fourth best in Lithuania currently, Marijampolės Sūduva, emerged triumphant in the Alexela 3x3 Talinn Open over a relatively unimpressive field on August 7th:

              Game Scores - Alexela 3x3 Talinn Open

              In so doing Marijampolės Sūduva booked itself a ticket to the Prague Masters on September 18-19th.

              Last edited by Hepcat; 09-30-2021, 02:00 AM.

              Comment


              • Both Šakių Gulbelė and Raudondvario Tauras competed in the Ghetto Basket Riga Challenger which was held on August 24-25th with a strong field of teams:

                Teams - Ghetto Basket Riga

                Marijus Užupis was back on the Gulbelė team in place of Paulius Beliavičius.

                And in a bit of a surprise Aurimas Urbonas of Juventus was on the Tauras team instead of Modestas Kumpys. Tauras perhaps looked even better with Urbonas in the opening round robin and almost prevailed over Olympic champion Riga but went down in the end 21-20:

                Game Scores - Ghetto Basket Riga

                Tauras couldn't mount any challenge to Antwerp's lock down defence in the quarterfinals. Despite his quickness and playmaking skills, Paulius Semaška's attempts from beyond the arc continue to make me cringe.

                Antwerp 16 Raudondvaris 9 (QF)
                Amsterdam 12 Dusseldorf 10 OT (QF)
                Šakiai 19 Princeton 17 (QF)
                Riga 20 Ub 18 OT (QF)

                Antwerp 14 Amsterdam 12 (SF)
                Riga 21 Šakiai 15 (SF)

                Antwerp 20 Riga 18 (F)


                Šakiai's shooting from beyond the arc disappeared against Riga. It was the athletic Antwerp team that took the title though.

                Last edited by Hepcat; 09-30-2021, 01:58 AM.

                Comment


                • Originally posted by Hepcat View Post
                  After a good start to the Tournament, the Lithuanian U23 Men finished in first place overall after (the three Stops in Klaipėda)....

                  But!!! I have to say that in the final analysis the results the team of Gabrielius Čelka, Ernestas Sederevičius, Adomas Sidarevičius and Eimantas Žilius achieved have to be considered a disappointment. After winning the Stop 1, they barely got by Estonia 19-18 in the first game of Stop 2 and were then blown out by Ukraine 21-10 in the Final. Sidarevičius said they were "tired" after the first day but they were playing right at home in Klaipėda so it should have been the other teams who were even more tired after their journey. Then in Stop 3 they blew a 17-9 lead in the Final and lost 21-20 to Romania.

                  Stops 4-6 will be held August 20-22nd in Bucharest.
                  So the Lithuanian team that took the court in Bucharest for Stop 4 was somewhat different with Laurynas Danielius, Herkus Kumpys, Ernestas Sederevičius and Eimantas Žilius wearing the Lietuva jerseys. Laurynas Danielius was with Vilkaviškio Perlas in the NKL last season and had been playing for the Kėdainiai 3x3 team in Lithuania earlier this summer. Herkus Kumpys was with Šilutė in the NKL last season and had been playing for the Raudondvario Tauras 3x3 team intermittently earlier this summer. But no problem. They won all their games and the Gold.

                  Gabrielius Čelka of Šakių Vytis replaced Herkus Kumpys for the fifth Stop but Team Lietuva stumbled out of the gate and lost 21-15 to Greece which had lost all its games in Stop 4. They nonetheless recovered from that near disastrous start and won the Gold again. With the same team they won all their games and the Gold in Stop 6.

                  Laurynas Danielius was outstanding for Team Lietuva. Though a bit of a runt at 178 cm. and 75 kg. and at a height disadvantage on defence, he made up for it with quickness. And both his shooting from beyond the arc and playmaking were excellent.

                  The Lithuanian U23 Women won the Gold in Stop 4 and Stop 5 but were denied a golden sweep when they lost 19-15 in the Ukraine in the Final of Stop 6 and "only" took the Silver.

                  Europe 2 Conference Final Standings

                  I like how fully six different players participated in winning the Gold for Lithuania over the six separate Stops.

                  Here's a good write-up summarizing the Europe 2 Conference action from the FIBA site:

                  Europe 2 Competition Summary - FIBA

                  In looking at the leading scorers table keep in mind that since Danielius only played in the last three Stops he compiled his points total over just nine games while Žilius and Sederevičius compiled theirs over eighteen games.

                  Both the Men and the Women now go on to play in the Nations League Final which will be held in Bucharest again on September 17-18th.

                  Last edited by Hepcat; 08-31-2021, 06:34 PM.

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by Hepcat View Post
                    Both the Lithuanian Men and the Lithuanian Women are in first place in the standings after the first three Stops of the FIBA 3x3 U21 Nations League which were held in Voiron and Isère, France on August 6-8th.

                    The Lithuanian Men's team was comprised of Henrikas Alekna, Benas Aleliūnas, Gytis Nemeikša and Dominykas Stenionis. Interesting that neither Gabrielius Čelka nor Adomas Sidarevičius who are both of eligible age to participate were on the team, probably because they're already part of the U23 team.
                    The Lithuanian U21 Men's team that took the court in Bucharest for Stops 4-6 on August 24-26th was somewhat different with Henrikas Alekna, Benas Aleliūnas, Aristidas Končius and Augustinas Mikštas wearing the Lietuva jerseys. While they lost two games out of three to the Czech Republic over the three days, they still emerged with a third, second and first place finish over the three days which was good enough to secure first place overall after the six Stops. Therefore once again six different players participated in winning the Gold for Lithuania over the six separate Stops.

                    The Lithuanian U21 Women didn't do very well though and finished second, fifth and fourth over the three Stops which dropped them from first to second overall behind the Czech Republic for the six Stop Tournament.

                    U21 Conference Final Standings

                    Last edited by Hepcat; 08-31-2021, 11:46 PM.

                    Comment


                    • The Lithuanian team that competed in the U18 FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary from August 24-29th consisted of Emilis Butkus, Augustas Gaivenis, Mintautas Mockus and Titas Sargiūnas. Dainius Novickas was once again the Coach. He seems to be coaching all the Lithuanian teams in international competition whatever the level.

                      They went 3-1 in the preliminary round robin but unfortunately lost the tie breaker for first in their Group to the Dominican Republic to whom they'd suffered a heartbreaking 22-20 loss in OT:



                      As a result they had to face a buzz-saw of an American team in the quarterfinals and lost 21-13.

                      Game Scores - U18 3x3 World Cup 2021

                      Lithuania ended up finishing sixth out of eighteen teams.

                      Last edited by Hepcat; 09-30-2021, 01:57 AM.

                      Comment


                      • The Debrecen Masters were held on August 28-29th and featured many of the very best 3x3 teams on the planet:

                        Teams - Debrecen

                        The Šakiai Gulbelė team was made up of Aurelijus Pukelis, Darius Tarvydas, Šarūnas Vingelis and Marijus Užupis.

                        Utena was scheduled to participate a few weeks ago but pulled out and is now scheduled to compete in Prague on September 18-19th. I can only speculate that Utena wants to field its strongest lineup for these Masters events and Ignas Vaitkus isn't fully recovered from his foot surgery yet but Utena is hoping he'll be ready by mid-September.

                        Game Scores - Debrecen

                        Šakiai's shooting was off from beyond the arc against Amsterdam in the preliminary round and Amsterdam used its team speed to get the victory against Šakiai.

                        Šakiai 21 Liman 15 (QF)
                        Ub 21 Graz 11 (QF)
                        Riga 20 Piran 18 (QF)
                        Amsterdam 18 Antwerp 17 (QF)


                        Excellent victory for Šakiai in the quarterfinal since Liman is the #1 rated team in the world:



                        Ub 21 Šakiai 17 (SF)
                        Riga 14 Amsterdam 12 (SF)


                        Ub of Serbia is the #4 ranked team in the world and ended Šakiai's hopes in the tournament:

                        Ub 21 Riga 19 (F)

                        Ub thus got its first triumph in a Masters tournament.

                        Last edited by Hepcat; 09-29-2021, 02:25 AM.

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Hepcat View Post
                          Interesting that Lithuania is now third in the FIBA 3x3 country rankings for Men:

                          Šakiai Gulbelė has climbed to third among teams:
                          So with the flurry of 3x3 events and the success of Lithuanian teams in the last seven weeks, Lithuania has jumped to second in FIBA's 3x3 Country ranking for Men behind only Serbia:

                          Country Ranking - Men

                          Lithuania has also jumped to second in the Country Ranking for U23 Men just a hair behind Russia:

                          Country Ranking - U23 Men

                          Šakiai Gulbelė continues to be ranked as the third best team while Utena has slipped to seventeenth from fourteenth or so due to a lack of activity which has enabled other teams to overtake Utena in the standings:

                          Team Ranking

                          Raudondvaris Tauras has leaped way up to #22 though!

                          Aurelijus Pukelis has jumped to fifth in the ranking of individual players:

                          Individual Ranking

                          The next major event in which Lithuania's Country ranking and the ranking of any of the teams or players can be improved is the Montréal Masters on September 4-5th in which Raudondvaris Tauras will compete:

                          Teams - Montréal

                          But I don't understand why Šakiai Gulbelė didn't elect to return to Montréal this year to defend the championship Šakiai won in 2019.

                          Last edited by Hepcat; 09-02-2021, 07:10 PM.

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by Hepcat View Post

                            Europe 2 Conference Final Standings

                            Both the Men and the Women now go on to play in the Nations League Final which will be held in Bucharest again on September 17-18th.
                            Originally posted by Hepcat View Post
                            The Lithuanian U21 Men's team that took the court in Bucharest for Stops 4-6 on August 24-26th was somewhat different with Henrikas Alekna, Benas Aleliūnas, Aristidas Končius and Augustinas Mikštas wearing the Lietuva jerseys. While they lost two games out of three to the Czech Republic over the three days, they still emerged with a third, second and first place finish over the three days which was good enough to secure first place overall after the six Stops.

                            U21 Conference Final Standings
                            Two Lithuanian Men's teams will therefore be participating in the FIBA U23 Nations League Final that will take place in Bucharest on September 17-18th:

                            Men

                            Host: Romania
                            Conference winners: Egypt, Russia, Lithuania, France, Lithuania U21
                            Best-ranked, non-conference winners: Poland, Israel

                            The U21 Lithuanian Men's team will as a separate team take on the older fellows!

                            Women

                            Host: Romania
                            Conference winners: Egypt, Poland, Lithuania, France, Czech Republic U21
                            Best-ranked, non-conference winners: Mongolia, Netherlands

                            Comment


                            • The Montréal Masters were held on September 4-5th and featured a number of teams that we haven't seen in the top level competitions that have been taking place in Europe. These included the Manila Chooks, Omaha 3Ball, Old Montréal and Winnipeg:

                              Teams - Montréal

                              Winnipeg was the best of these and was the only one to make the quarterfinals:

                              Game Scores - Montréal

                              Raudondvaris Tauras had Aurimas Urbonas of Juventus playing in place of Modestas Kumpys and I actually thought Tauras looked somewhat better with Urbonas. Nonetheless the team lost its opening game 21-16 to Riga:



                              And then lost to Winnipeg 21-17 and did not make the playoffs:

                              Amsterdam 21 Riga 20 (QF)
                              Antwerp 22 Lausanne 13 (QF)
                              Ub 20 Edmonton 16 (QF)
                              Princeton 21 Winnipeg 19 OT (QF)

                              Amsterdam 21 Antwerp 12 (SF)
                              Ub 20 Princeton 19 (SF)

                              Ub 21 Amsterdam 15 (F)


                              Ub thus won its second Master Tournament in a row.

                              Last edited by Hepcat; 09-29-2021, 02:24 AM.

                              Comment


                              • The 2021 FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup was held in Paris September 10-12th. Olympic champion Latvia had sent a team that wasn't their strongest to the Qualifying Tournament in Constanta, Romania on June 26-27th and failed to qualify:

                                Teams - 3x3 Europe Cup

                                Lithuania's team consisted of Aurelijus Pukelis, Darius Tarvydas and Šarūnas Vingelis of Šakiai Gulbelė plus Ignas Razutis of Utena. Gulbelė's Marijus Užupis hasn't yet regained his pre-knee injury form and I don't think Modestas Kumpys brings as much to the national team as can certain other players. And Razutis despite being height challenged is very quick, is an excellent playmaker and is a good shooter from beyond the arc.

                                Game Scores - 3x3 Europe Cup

                                Serbia 20 France 17 (QF)
                                Russia 19 Estonia 16 (QF)
                                Poland 21 Netherlands 14 (QF)
                                Lithuania 21 Ukraine 9 (QF)


                                Lithuania came out gunning in the playoffs and shot out the lights from beyond the arc against Ukraine:



                                Serbia 18 Russia 13 (SF)
                                Lithuania 19 Poland 10 (SF)


                                Lithuania then did the same against Poland in the semifinal although their two point shooting deserted them in the last few minutes and they failed to finish the Poles off before the ten minute mark.

                                Serbia 20 Lithuania 14 (F)

                                It was 8-8 in the Final after 5:30 of play but then Serbia made three very quick two pointers and pulled away in the game. Lithuania's shooting from beyond the arc simply disappeared in the Final and they made not a single long distance bucket in the game. So a good Tournament with a disappointing finish for Lithuania.

                                Pukelis had the second highest point total in the Tournament with 33.

                                Oh, and it was I who schooled the American(?) announcer in the pronunciation of Vingelis and Pukelis with a couple of emails. He'd previously been pronouncing Vingelis with an "sh" at the end and Pukelis with an "a" like in father and driving me up the wall.

                                Last edited by Hepcat; 09-29-2021, 02:23 AM.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X

                                Debug Information