Ksystof Lavrinovic

Lithuania national basketball team

The Lithuania national basketball team represents Lithuania in international basketball matches.

Lithuanian men competed in two of the pre-war Eurobasket competitions for the European championship. They won both the Eurobasket 1937 and Eurobasket 1939 competitions. The 1939 team was led by Pranas Lubinas (Frank Lubin), who helped popularize basketball in the country and was called the "Grandfather of Lithuanian Basketball."

Being part of the Soviet Union, Lithuanian players frequently formed the core of the Soviet national team. This was especially so for the 1988 Olympic Basketball gold medal winning team which got most of its scoring from four Lithuanians: Valdemaras Chomičius, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Arvydas Sabonis.

After the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990, the national team was resurrected. Lithuania won bronze medals in the first three Olympics to feature NBA players—1992, 1996, and 2000, and finished fourth in 2004 and 2008.

The Lithuanian team won the Eurobasket 1937, 1939 and Eurobasket 2003.

Beijing 2008

Winning the third place game at Eurobasket 2007 against Greece allowed Lithuania to qualify for the Olympic basketball tournament at Beijing 2008 without competition at 2008 Pre-Olympics Tournament.

Roster

2008 Olympic tournament roster

Lithuanian basketball team started its preparation for the Olympics at the end of June. After couple of training camps, preolympic friendly matches the national team was selected.

|} | valign="top" | Head coach

Assistant coach(es)

----Legend:

(C) Team captain
Club field describes current pro club

Candidates that didn't make for the final team:

#	Position	Player	Year of birth	Last season's club before the tournament	Notes
	Forward	Darius Songaila	1978	NBA Washington Wizards	Couldn't play because of back injury announced 2008-07-31
	Guard	Tomas Delininkaitis	1982	Mariupol Azovmash	Released from the team after tour in Spain and 2008-07-25 game against Argentina
Reserve Team. Reserve team candidates were disjuncted from the main team after 2008-07-11 game against Belarus
	Guard	Rolandas Alijevas	1985	CSK VVS Samara
	Guard	Mantas Kalnietis	1986	Žalgiris Kaunas
	Forward/Center	Antanas Kavaliauskas	1982	Panionios BC
	Center	Michailas Anisimovas	1984	Lietuvos rytas
	Forward	Donatas Zavackas	1980	Šiauliai
	Forward	Justas Sinica	1985	Sakalai
	Guard	Martynas Pocius	1986	NCAA Duke Blue Devils
	Guard	Steponas Babrauskas	1984	Legea Svafati	Added to the list after Jomantas and Seibutis injuries.
	Guard	Artūras Milaknis	1986	Žalgiris Kaunas	Added to the list after Jomantas and Seibutis injuries.
Other candidates that didn't make to the training camp
	Forward	Paulius Jankūnas	1984	Žalgiris Kaunas	Couldn't play because of health reasons;
	Center	Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	1975	NBA Cleveland Cavaliers	On 2008-06-12 Cavaliers declined to give their permission to Z. Ilgauskas to play for the team.
	Forward	Artūras Jomantas	1985	Lietuvos rytas	Couldn't play because of the rehabilitation after shoulder surgery.
	Guard	Arvydas Macijauskas	1980	Olympiacos	Couldn't play because of the back injury.
	Guard	Renaldas Seibutis	1982	Olympiacos	Couldn't play because of the injury.

Preparation matches

Olympic games

Group Stage

Quarterfinal

Semifinal

Bronze medal game

2006 FIBA World Championship

In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Lithuania finished 7th. This equaled their best ever finish, achieved in 1998, but some saw this as an under-achievement.

They started the tournament with a narrow 2-point loss to Turkey. In their second match they lost to, eventual finalists, Greece in overtime. In that game they made 25 turnovers, which was one of a couple of matches where they made a large number of mistakes. Their third game against Qatar was an easy victory 106:65. This restored some confidence ahead of the must-win match against Australia, as they won it 78:57. Their last group match against Brazil was close in the end, as Brazil lost it by 5 points 79:74. This ensured Lithuania's advance to the eighth-finals to face Italy. They won the match by 3 points 71:68, although Arvydas Macijauskas fouled an Italian player during a 3-point attempt in the dying seconds which gave Italy the chance to level the score, but all 3 free throws were missed. They lost their quarter final match against the eventual champions, Spain by 22 points. Lithuania turned the ball over 28 times during that match. They lost to Turkey in over-time of the 5th-8th place classification round, in which they wasted a 12-point lead in the last 3 minutes of the fourth quarter to take the match into over-time and eventually lost the 5-minute over-time 20:9. The final result was 95:84 to Turkey. They won their last match against Germany 77:62, and thus equaled their best-ever finish of 7th place.

Sireika resigned soon after the championship. On December 28, 2006, Ramūnas Butautas was announced as the new coach of the team.

Eurobasket 2007

Team Lithuania for Eurobasket 2007:

No	Position	Player	Year of birth	Club before Eurobasket 2007
4	Guard	Rimantas Kaukėnas	1977	Montepaschi Siena
5	Point guard	Giedrius Gustas	1980	Dynamo Moscow
6	Forward	Jonas Mačiulis	1985	Žalgiris Kaunas
7	Center	Darjuš Lavrinovič	1979	UNICS Kazan
8	Forward	Ramūnas Šiškauskas	1978	Panathinaikos BC
9	Forward	Darius Songaila	1978	NBA Washington Wizards
10	Forward	Simas Jasaitis	1982	Maccabi
11	Forward	Linas Kleiza	1985	NBA Denver Nuggets
12	Forward	Kšyštof Lavrinovič	1979	UNICS Kazan
13	Point guard	Šarūnas Jasikevičius	1976	NBA Golden State Warriors
14	Forward	Paulius Jankūnas	1984	Žalgiris Kaunas
15	Center	Robertas Javtokas	1980	Panathinaikos BC

The Lithuanian basketball team of 2007 finished the Eurobasket 2007 with an 8-1 record, winning their first ever bronze medal in Eurobasket tournaments. Winning the third place game in the tournament against Greece allowed Lithuania to qualify for the Olympic basketball tournament at Beijing 2008.

Notable players

Pranas Lubinas popularized the sport in Lithuania in the late 1930s
Arvydas Sabonis was one of the best known Lithuanian basketball player that helped Lithuania to win two bronze medals at Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics and was one of the the key players in 1995 European Championships where Lithuania won silver medal. Returned to Lithuania basketball team after couple of years of absence and participated in 1999 European Championships.
Šarūnas Marčiulionis one of the key players in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics and 1995 European Championships.
Rimas Kurtinaitis
Valdemaras Chomičius
Artūras Karnišovas notable for his appearance in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics and 1995 European Championships. Later he participated in 1998 World Championship and 1999 European Championships
Šarūnas Jasikevičius best player at 2003 European Championships where Lithuania became champion of Europe.
Arvydas Macijauskas
Saulius Štombergas
Mindaugas Žukauskas
Eurelijus Žukauskas
Darius Songaila
Linas Kleiza

Notable coaches and assistants

There have been only few coaches on Lithuania basketball team roster since Lithuania's independence in 1990.

Vladas Garastas - coach for Lithuania basketball team for Olympics of 1992 and 1996, for European championship of 1995.
Jonas Kazlauskas - coach for Sydney 2000 Olympics and couple of European championships (1997, 1999, 2001) and for World championship 1998.
Antanas Sireika - coach for Athens 2004 Olympics and for golden European championship of 2003, later for EC 2005 and World championship 2006.
Ramūnas Butautas - current coach of Lithuania basketball team, won bronze medal in EC 2007.

There have been couple of notable assistants for Lithuania basketball team.

Javier Imbroda helped Lithuania earn its first medal shortly after independence at Barcelona 1992 Olympics.
Donnie Nelson an American coach that helped Lithuania for many years in various tournaments. After the near loss of team USA at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Nelson declared that he would never help Lithuania in matches against USA.

Achievements

Olympic Games record

1992 - 3rd place (bronze medal)
1996 - 3rd place (bronze medal)
2000 - 3rd place (bronze medal)
2004 - 4th place
2008 - 4th place

European Championship record

1937 - Champion (gold medal)
1939 - Champion (gold medal)
1946 to 1991 - Could not enter because of Soviet Union occupation
1995 - 2nd place (silver medal)
1997 - 6th place
1999 - 5th place
2001 - 11th place
2003 - Champion (gold medal)
2005 - 5th place
2007 - 3rd place (bronze medal)

World Championship record

1998 - 7th place
2006 - 7th place

Rosters

1937 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 8 teams

Arturas Andrulis, Leonas Baltrunas, Pranas Talzunas, Leopoldas Kepalas, Feliksas Kriauciunas, Pranas Mazeika, Eugenijus Nikolskis, Leonas Petrauskas, Zenonas Puzinauskas, Stasys Sačkus, Juozas Žukas, Česlovas Daukša (Coach: Feliksas Kriaučiūnas)

1939 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 8 teams

Pranas Lubinas, Mykolas Ruzgys, Leonas Baltrūnas, Artūras Andrulis, Jurgis Jurgėla, Pranas Mažeika, Vytautas Norkus, Vytautas Budriūnas, Zenonas Puzinauskas, Feliksas Kriaučiūnas, Vytautas Lesčinskas, Eugenijus Nikolskis, Leonas Petrauskas, Mindaugas Šliūpas (Coach: Pranas Lubinas)

1992 Olympic Games: finished 3rd among 12 teams

Arvydas Sabonis, Šarunas Marčiulionis, Valdemaras Chomičius, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Sergėjus Jovaiša, Artūras Karnišovas, Gintaras Einikis, Arūnas Visockas, Darius Dimavičius, Romanas Brazdauskis, Gintaras Krapikas, Alvydas Pazdrazdis (Coach: Vladas Garastas)

1995 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 14 teams

Arvydas Sabonis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Artūras Karnišovas, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Valdemaras Chomičius, Gintaras Einikis, Arūnas Visockas, Gintaras Krapikas, Saulius Štombergas, Mindaugas Timinskas, Darius Lukminas, Gvidonas Markevičius (Coach: Vladas Garastas)

1996 Olympic Games: finished 3rd among 12 teams

Arvydas Sabonis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Artūras Karnišovas, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Saulius Štombergas, Gintaras Einikis, Darius Lukminas, Rytis Vaišvila, Tomas Pačėsas, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Mindaugas Žukauskas (Coach: Vladas Garastas)

1997 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 16 teams

Artūras Karnišovas, Saulius Štombergas, Gintaras Einikis, Virginijus Praškevičius, Dainius Adomaitis, Darius Maskoliūnas, Kęstutis Šeštokas, Andrius Jurkūnas, Darius Lukminas, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Mindaugas Timinskas, Eurelijus Žukauskas (Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas)

1998 World Championship: finished 7th among 16 teams

Artūras Karnišovas, Saulius Štombergas, Gintaras Einikis, Virginijus Praškevičius, Tomas Masiulis, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Dainius Adomaitis, Darius Maskoliūnas, Darius Lukminas, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Tomas Pačėsas (Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas)

1999 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 16 teams

Arvydas Sabonis, Arturas Karnisovas, Saulius Štombergas, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Gintaras Einikis, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Virginijus Praškevičius, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Tomas Masiulis, Dainius Adomaitis, Darius Maskoliūnas, Kęstutis Marčiulionis (Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas)

2000 Olympic Games: finished 3rd among 12 teams

Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Saulius Štombergas, Mindaugas Timinskas, Gintaras Einikis, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Darius Songaila, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Tomas Masiulis, Dainius Adomaitis, Darius Maskoliūnas, Andrius Giedraitis, Kestutis Marciulionis (Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas)

2001 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 16 teams

Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Saulius Štombergas, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Darius Songaila, Gintaras Einikis, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Mindaugas Timinskas, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Rimantas Kaukėnas, Robertas Javtokas, Donatas Slanina, Andrius Jurkūnas (Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas)

2002 World Championship: did not participate

2003 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 16 teams

Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Arvydas Macijauskas, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Saulius Štombergas, Darius Songaila, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Donatas Slanina, Kšyštof Lavrinovič, Virginijus Praškevičius, Dainius Salenga, Giedrius Gustas (Coach: Antanas Sireika)

2004 Olympic Games: finished 4th among 12 teams

Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Arvydas Macijauskas, Saulius Štombergas, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Darius Songaila, Eurelijus Žukauskas, Ksystof Lavrinovic, Dainius Salenga, Robertas Javtokas, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Donatas Slanina, Vidas Ginevičius (Coach: Antanas Sireika)

2005 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 16 teams

Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Robertas Javtokas, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Simas Jasaitis, Ksystof Lavrinovic, Darjuš Lavrinovič, Vidas Ginevicius, Paulius Jankūnas , Simonas Serapinas, Giedrius Gustas, Darius Šilinskis, Mindaugas Lukauskis (Coach: Antanas Sireika)

2006 World Championship: finished 7th among 24 teams

Arvydas Macijauskas, Darius Songaila, Robertas Javtokas, Simas Jasaitis, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Darjuš Lavrinovič, Kšyštof Lavrinovič, Linas Kleiza, Paulius Jankūnas , Giedrius Gustas, Tomas Delininkaitis, Mantas Kalnietis (Coach: Antanas Sireika)

2007 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 16 teams

Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Rimantas Kaukėnas, Simas Jasaitis, Darius Songaila, Ksystof Lavrinovic, Darjus Lavrinovic, Linas Kleiza, Robertas Javtokas, Jonas Mačiulis, Paulius Jankūnas , Giedrius Gustas (Coach: Ramunas Butautas)