3X3 in Lithuania

[Hepcat]

Obviuosly those ltu and lat players have history between each other im dont what kind in previuos tournaments....

Yes, lots of recent history:

I certainly don't mean to leave the impression that Lithuania doesn't have much chance of beating Latvia should the two teams meet in the QF. Granted with a roster of Agnis Čavars (#11 World Rank), Edgars Krumins (#7), Karlis Lasmanis (#6) and Nauris Miezis (#1), Team Latvia is very strong.

But a Team Lithuania consisting of Šakių Gulbelė players Laurynas Beliauskas, Aurelijus Pukelis, Marijus Užupis and Šarūnas Vingelis beat precisely this same Latvian team 22-14 at the 2019 EuroCup in Debrecen on 31 August 2019:

And the Utena team of Gintautas Matulis, Vytautas Šulskis, Darius Tarvydas and Ignas Vaitkus beat the same Riga team 21-18 in the QF of the Debrecen Masters on 30 August 2020:

But more recently Riga bombed the Utena team of Gintautas Matulis, Žygimantas Skučas, Vytautas Šulskis and Ignas Vaitkus 21-13 in the SF of the Doha Masters on 21 November 2020. And then Riga beat a Team LT consisting of Modestas Kumpys, Aurelijus Pukelis, Ernestas Sederevičius and Paulius Semaška 21-16 in the SF of the St. Petersburg tournament on 26 April 2021.

So Team Latvia can be beaten but it's a very tough opponent. Latvia's strength is shooting from beyond the arc. To beat Latvia a team must defend the perimeter well and bring its own long range shooting game.

[Hepcat]

Looking at the total points scored tiebreaker for the three 3-1 teams in Group B:

United States 80
Lithuania 80
Belgium 77

If we look at just total points scored in the three games involving these teams it's the same picture:

United States 37
Lithuania 37
Belgium 36

The United States is very lucky that the tie breaker used in regular FIBA basketball tournaments wasn't applied, that being point differential in the three games involving these teams:

Belgium +3
Lithuania 0
United States -3

But it is what it is now. Tomorrow's QF pairings are:

Poland - Slovenia
Latvia - Lithuania
United States - Netherlands
France - Brazil

[Hepcat]

Im not expert 3x3 but Latvians was best team i saw there 4 angry very aggressive dogs that can shoot.

Had it not been for Ignas Vaitkus breaking his foot last Saturday, Team LT would have the same.

You realize of course that had Lithuania scored just one point more in the game against Belgium (not to mention the one against the United States), Lithuania would have finished in first and it would be the Netherlands that Lithuania would now face in the QF. One measly point!

In any event, normally I'm quite positively predisposed to Latvian sports teams. But not right now.

[Hepcat]

Truthfully both the Polish and Slovenian teams look fat and out of shape compared to the Lithuanian, American and Belgian teams.

[Hepcat]

Ahhhhh, damn.

Latvia 21 Lithuania 19

I was prepared to be disappointed ever since Ignas Vaitkus went down last Saturday and I realized that Lithuania had a dreadful draw. Unfortunately things unfolded exactly as I feared. Very disappointing.

[Shawshank]

It's kinda sad was to watch first 1/4 game and to my eyes both weaker teams compared to second 1/4 between ltu-latvia.

Choosen game plan for first 4 min was clear slow down game at any cost, not allow Latvians get in any rhythm and it worked with discipline defence.

But when game opened and first gassed signs started to show up in players Latvians show they superiority in shooting.

I will support this Latvian team in Olympics games.Really nice group of players.

[Hepcat]

You know I got so heavily into this qualifying effort since February that I'm completely deflated right now. I don't even feel like arguing about the main team today.

[Mindozas]

Sad, but predictable finish for our Olympic dream in 3x3. We looked good vs Latvia, even better than I thought we will, but class prevailed. I'd say not even Vaitkus injury, but this god damn stupid qualifying system (including bad draw) ruined it all. It's getting even more fcked up when some teams will still have a chance to qualify via another tournament, but we won't get there simply for the fact that we had 5x5 team in previous Olympics... Can it be dumber than that when we talk about different Olympic disciplines? FIBA crap

[Hepcat]

Still to be so close in the two games that were lost! I'd been stressing the importance of free throws earlier in this thread and Team LT made only two of five against Latvia. Two more successful free throws could/would have made all the difference. And Aurelijus Pukelis who was absolute money in the bank under the basket at the St. Petersburg tournament actually missed a couple from down low against both the United States and Latvia.

But in the end I think the absence of Ignas Vaitkus made all the difference and with him Team LT would have qualified.

[Hepcat]

So I see that Lithuania was awarded fifth place as the best team to not make the semis:

Final Standings

That and fifty cents will get you five pieces of your choice of bubble gum:







But sadly not a ticket to the Olympics.

[Hepcat]

So FIBA's latest 3x3 team rankings have Šakių Gulbelė moving up two positions to #4 and Utena at #19:

FIBA 3x3 Team Ranking

Aurelijus Pukelis at #10 and Marijus Užupis at #15 are the highest rated individual players:

FIBA 3x3 Player Ranking

The FIBA rankings of course include a large historical element. The players I would select today for Team LT assuming that they're all healthy would be these:

Aurelijus Pukelis (C) - Šakiai
Marijus Užupis - Šakiai
Darius Tarvydas - Jonavos CBet & Šakių Gulbelė
Ignas Vaitkus - Utena

I've placed a (C) beside Pukelis because he's a dedicated low post player in 3x3 hoops. My first alternate for anyone but Pukelis would be:

Šarūnas Vingelis - Šakiai

My alternates for Pukelis would be:

Vytautas Šulskis - Utena
Žygimantas Skučas (C) - Utena

My alternates for the other players if Vingelis is not available would be these players in rough order:

Modestas Kumpys - Gargždai & Kauno Tauras
Gintautas Matulis - Utena
Paulius Beliavičius - Šakiai
Paulius Semaška (G) - Šakių Vytis & Kauno Tauras

So that in effect constitutes my top eleven.

[Hepcat]

Strange but Darius Tarvydas is still listed as one of the members of the Šakių Gulbelė team that played in Stop 5 of the Lithuanian 3x3 Championships a week ago last Sunday:

Stop 5 Teams

I sent the Tournament organizers an email inquiring how this could be when Tarvydas was playing in Graz, Austria the same day but I've gotten no response. Nor has the listing been corrected. Too much of a bother for them I guess....

In any event, the Gulbelė team didn't do very well without Tarvydas and Aurelijus Pukelis:

Trakai GEALAN 22 Gulbelė 17
Gulbelė 21 LT U21 15
Gulbelė 21 Klaipėdos Neptūnas 20 (QF)
AUCH 21 Gulbelė 15 (SF)

Marijus Užupis did win the shootout competition for the second week in a row though. While he may not have regained all his mobility in the months since his knee surgery in early December, his shooting touch seems to have come back just fine.

Interesting as well that the AUCH team - consisting of not exactly household names Deividas Kumelis (Molėtų Ežerūnas-Atletas), Raimondas Ambrulaitis (Molėtų Ežerūnas-Atletas 2011-19), Karolis Bakanauskas and Audrius Karvelis - won the Stop by defeating Telšiai in the final 20-19.

Interesting too that a team from Germany, Düsseldorf LFDY - consisting of Tomas Paliukas, Jacob Mampuya, Kevin Johann Bryant and Shawn Tyrell - journeyed to Kaunas to participate but finished eleventh after losing both its games.

[Hepcat]

So the Winline Moscow Open 3x3 Tournament took place over the June 4th-June 5th weekend. The tournament included what appeared to be a strong lineup of teams including these:

Riga
Jelgava
Novi Sad (Serbia)
Ub (Serbia)
Princeton
Tri Zvezdochki (Russia)
Inanomo (Russia)
Lausanne Sport
Team Estonia
Šakių Gulbelė (Paulius Beliavičius, Aurelijus Pukelis, Darius Tarvydas and Šarūnas Vingelis)
Kauno Tauras (Modestas Kumpys, Paulius Semaška, Šarūnas Beniušis and Žygimantas Šimonis)

Unfortunately most of the strongest clubs - e.g. Riga, Novi Sad, Princeton - were missing some/many of their best players:

Moscow Open Teams

The two Lithuanian teams did quite well:

Tauras 21 Novi Sad 12
Tauras 17 Russia North 14
Riga 20 Tauras 19
Tauras 18 Tri Zvezdochki 17 (QF)
Gulbelė 21 Kauno Tauras 17 (SF)

Gulbelė 21 Inanomo 15
Gulbelė 22 Team Estonia 15
Gulbelė 22 Jelgava 4
Gulbelė 19 Russia East 13 (QF)
Gulbelė 21 Kauno Tauras 17 (SF)
Russia South 18 Gulbelė 16 (F)

So once again close but no cigar with Gulbelė finishing in second and Tauras in third.

Moscow Open Scores

Here's the video of Day 2 of the Tournament:

The semis and final are of course near the very end of the video.

[Hepcat]

Also on the June 4th-June 5th weekend a Marijampolės Sūduva-Mantinga team consisting of Sūduva-Mantinga NKL players Justas Nausėdas and Tautvydas Kliučinykas together with Evaldas Džiaugys of Molėtų Ežerūnas-Atletas and Mintautas Bulanovas of Mažeikių Ereliai played in the Alexela 3x3 Vaike-Maarja Tournament in Estonia. (Džiaugys and Nausėdas had been part of the Prienų CBet team at the Hoptrans 3x3 Tournament last July while Bulanovas had represented Alytaus Dzūkija in that tournament.) That same Marijampolės Sūduva-Mantinga team had finished only ninth out of twelve teams on May 2nd at Stop 1 of the Lithuanian 3x3 Championship while variants of the Sūduva-Mantinga team then finished eleventh, fourth and seventh at subsequent Stops.

Well the Sūduva-Mantinga team won all its games in the Estonian tournament by an average margin of 11.6 points. I'd hesitate though to say that the Sūduva-Mantinga team is finally putting it all together because Estonia's best foursome was competing in the far bigger money Moscow Open Tournament last weekend.

[Hepcat]

So the Winline Moscow Open 3x3 Tournament took place over the June 4th-June 5th weekend.

Russia South 18 Gulbelė 16 (F)

So once again close but no cigar with Gulbelė finishing in second and Tauras in third.

Gulbelė actually looked to be the much more polished team in the final, but they couldn't connect on a single one of their eleven shots from beyond the arc with Tarvydas accounting for seven of the misses. Šarūnas Vingelis hit one that was a fifth of a second after the final buzzer.

Most of Russia South's fourteen attempts from beyond the arc looked horrible. They either weren't properly set to take the shot or just missed by a wide margin. They did however connect on two early in the game. That proved to be the difference.