Kemzura releases extended Team Lithuania roster: No to Lavrinovic brothers, yes to Kleiza

April 2, 2012

Kleiza gets the call

National head coach Kestutis Kemzura has released his list of 18 candidates who could be suiting up for Team Lithuania in the 2012 Olympic qualifiers and beyond. On paper at least, the selection looks pretty good – particularly compared to the Eurobasket 2011 version of the team which included a single true no. 3 after a few early injuries took their toll. The squad includes four players from Lietuvos Rytas and five currently with Zalgiris Kaunas; among the lot, too, are five others from 2011-12 Euroleague teams and one (yes, Linas is back) from the NBA.

Notable exclusions include Darius Songalia plus Kšyštof and Darjus Lavrinovič; Songalia’s spot on the preliminary roster was filled with Mindaugas Katelynas of Lietuvos Rytas, while CSKA Moscow head coach Jonas Kazlauskas reportedly wanted Darjus to stay home and rest up this summer anyway.

On board is the young sensation Canada wants to see in Jonas Valanciunas; returning after absences in the 2011 FIBA tourney are Linas Kleiza and Jonas Maciulis; and, though he’s been remarkably tight-lipped about yet another return to the national team, good ol’ Sarunas Jasikevicius is penciled in as well.

Below runs the prospective 18; how do you like Lietuva’s chances?

Guards
Šarūnas Jasikevičius (Panathinaikos)
Mantas Kalnietis (Žalgiris Kaunas)
Renaldas Seibutis (Lietuvos Rytas)
Martynas Gecevičius (Olympiacos)
Rimantas Kaukėnas (Montepaschi Siena)
Martynas Pocius (Real Madrid)
Tomas Delininkaitis (Žalgiris)
Deividas Dulkys (Florida State University)

Forwards
Linas Kleiza (Toronto Raptors)
Jonas Mačiulis (Baltai Kaunas)
Mindaugas Kuzminskas (Žalgiris)
Artūras Jomantas (Lietuvos Rytas)
Simas Jasaitis (Turk Telekom)
Donatas Motiejūnas (Asseco Prokom)
Mindaugas Katelynas (Lietuvos Rytas)
Paulius Jankūnas (Žalgiris)

Centers
Jonas Valančiūnas (Lietuvos Rytas)
Robertas Javtokas (Žalgiris)

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This post was published on April 2, 2012
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Comments: 11
  1. Jonukas
    11 years ago

    This list was posted on april fools’ day. The article itself has a tag in url “balandzio-1-oji” which means april’s first.

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  2. G
    11 years ago

    it doesn’t sound like a joke. Though it would be sad not to have Darjus, as then there would be no competition for the center position. I’m not sure the roster is much better than 2011, just a bit better because of Kleiza. But we better win something this time :), as from 2013 there will be a bunch of retirements (Saras, Kaukenas, Javtokas) with youngsters not yet goot enough (especially big gaps at C and PG positions…)

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  3. Apollo
    11 years ago

    If that roster is real, it is a bit too weak in the front court to win a medal.

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  4. G
    11 years ago

    Well, aside from Lavrinovic and Songaila (who is not that good anymore) there is nobody else for the frontcourt… But we’ll see whether too weak or not too weak. We definitely can’t beat USA or Spain (with Pau and Navarro), France and Russia might be hard too, but doable.

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  5. LTU
    11 years ago

    I think it’s a pretty logical roster. It doesn’t sound like a joke at all. But I think our frontcourt isn’t that weak. We have the talented Motiejunas, who can outrun other PFs and can contribute offensively (except from behind the arc). Being 7’0”, he’ll be hard to defend by other PFs. Then we have Kleiza, who’s also pretty fluid offensively. He can create his own shots and play some solid defense. There’s also Valanciunas, probably our best big man – best rebounder, best blocker and best at running pick-n-roll. The only problem is his relatively weak frame, but I think Javtokas makes up for that. Javtokas is also a pretty good rebounder and can play physical defense. Then, there’s Katelynas, a prototypical European PF with an ability to rebound, jump and block. He could be a valuable backup.

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  6. RT
    11 years ago

    Javtokas is almost washed up.

    Valanciunas is too weak physically and struggles to guard any big center that is good in the low post.

    Motiejunas is way too soft, despite his size and talent. He is a “big man” in the mold of David Andersen.

    Jankunas is fine, but he’s just a good role player, and not more than that.

    Pocius is a great defender and athlete, but he’s very limited on offense. Kalnietis is a great player, but he really struggles against an interior zone defense, because he can’t shoot at all.

    If that is their roster, then Kaukenas, Kleiza, and Maciulis better be fully recovered from their injuries and in top form. Because otherwise that team will have similar results as the 2011 team.

    USA, Spain, Greece, France, and maybe even Brazil and Russia would probably be too strong for that team.

    One good thing for Lithuania though is that Jasikevicius has been playing a lot better lately. He still can only play effectively for 15-20 minutes, and he is still awful on defense, but his offensive game (other than 3 point shooting) has come back.

    The last couple years he really lost his pick and roll game, which I assume was probably due to being in poor physical condition. But lately he has his pick and roll game back. He is struggling with his outside shot though. But if he maintains how he is playing now, he can help them a bit more than last summer.

    I don’t see a medal for that roster, but they at least would be in contention for it.

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  7. G
    11 years ago

    Well, if not counting that loss against Macedonia, the 2011 results were pretty good… 🙂
    Kleiza and Maciulis are ready, Kaukenas is doubtful, but would probably recover.

    I somehow think Greece is a convenient opponent for Lithuania (can’t remember when we last lost to Greece), while Russia is an inconvenient one (due to lots of big physical and mobile players). France, Brazil, Argentina not sure…

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  8. IT WAS A JOKE
    11 years ago

    It was really a JOKE 🙂 Kemziura still didn’t revealed that list, although, he should do that on April.
    Those, Who knows Lithuanian language, understood, that its a joke, because of some sentences in the article 🙂

    For example it was written, that brothers (Lavrinovic) will not play, because they like jokes too much while team will have serious summer 😀 (Besides that other “reason” that Kazlauskas said no).

    Or for example, Kemzura choosed Katelynas instead of Songaila, because he wanted Rytas fans to be sad, because last year there were 4 Zalgiris payers and only 1 from Rytas 😀

    Another joke is that, FIBA allows to play in NT tournament only those players, that have professional contracts, while Maciulis plays without contract in Baltai, so he couldn;t play 😀

    And the last sentence, that kemzura still didn’t decided what 3rd pg to take incandidates lit and he’s choosing from Mazutis and Gustas.. 😀 Yeah right.. 😀

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  9. IT WAS A JOKE
    11 years ago

    Kemzura choosed Katelynas instead of Songaila, because he wanted Rytas fans NOT to be sad*

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  10. LTU
    11 years ago

    Well, the roster seems pretty realistic, don’t you think? There’s no impossible players (like blacks or very low level players) on the list.

    RC, I agree with some points. Motiejunas is bad at defense, Valanciunas is taken advantage of, Pocius is almost an absolute zero offensively and Gecevicius is struggling too. But look at the bright side. Now that DeJuan Collins is gone, Trifunovic will look for Kalnietis to fill in the PG position. Kalnietis will have more opportunities to show what he can do, like that game against Rytas – 24 pts, 5 assists. He’s super fast and athletic, and his uptempo playing style will help the LT team. Jasikevicius is recovering steadily, Maciulis too, Jasaitis is starting to get his 3PT shooting touch back, Jankunas is starting to assert himself (in VTB league at least). Many players are improving, so that’s a good sign.

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  11. IT WAS A JOKE
    11 years ago

    realistic or not realistic, who cares? 😀 Its a joke 🙂 Although real list of candidates should be rather similar 🙂 Kemzura should annonce those players an April as I remember.

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