Dainius Adomaitis paskelbė galutinį Lietuvos rinktinės dvyliktuką. Į Europos čempionatą nevažiuos Adas Juškevičius ir Evaldas Kairys.
Konkurencinę kovą laimėjo Eimantas Bendžius. Jam, Artūrui Gudaičiui ir Edgarui Ulanovui tai bus debiutas nacionalinėje komandoje oficialiose varžybose.
Rinktinės sudėtis: Gynėjai; Mantas Kalnietis, Lukas Lekavičius, Artūras Milaknis, Marius Grigonis, Martynas Gecevičius. Puolėjai; Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Jonas Mačiulis, Edgaras Ulanovas, Eimantas Bendžius, Donatas Motiejūnas. Vidurio puolėjai; Jonas Valančiūnas, Artūras Gudaitis.
Europos vyrų krepšinio čempionatas vyks rugpjūčio 31–rugsėjo 17 dienomis.
Lithuania announces final lineup for EuroBasket 2017
The Lithuanian national men’s basketball team announced the final lineup for EuroBasket 2017 on Tuesday.
Mantas Kalnietis, 30, point guard from EA7 Emporio Armani Milano, Italy, and one of the national team’s veterans, will lead the team as the captain. Kalnietis will share his position with Lukas Lekavicius, 23-year guard from Panathinaikos Athens, Greece.
The 25-year-old Jonas Valanciunas from Toronto Raptors, NBA, is to be the main center forward for the national team. Another center forward at the lineup is Arturas Gudaitis, 24, from Lietuvos Rytas, Vilnius.
Arturas Milaknis, 31, sniper from Zalgiris Kaunas, Martynas Gecevicius, 29, guard, who finished the season at CAI Zaragoza, Spain, and Marius Grigonis, 23, from Alba Berlin, Germany, will play guard or small forward positions.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas, 27, small forward from the New York Knicks, will share his position with Edgaras Ulanovas, 25, a forward from Zalgiris, Kaunas.
The 26-year-old Donatas Motiejunas, who is to play at the Chinese basketball club Shandong Golden Stars, will be one of the main power forwards in Lithuania’s national basketball team.
During the last training phase, Motiejunas will have to leave the national team temporarily for personal reasons, at which point small forward from Real Madirs, Jonas Maciulis, 31, will be beneficial.
Eimantas Bendzius, 27, forward from Monbus Obradoiro, Santiago de Campostela, Spain, is also on the final list of 12 players.
Adomaitis was appointed as the new head coach following the departure of Jonas Kazlauskas. Kazlauskas, the long time head coach of the Lithuanian national team and the former head coach of the Chinese national basketball team, decided to leave the Lithuanian team after his contract expired after the Rio Olympics. Currently, Kazlauskas is the head coach of the Chinese basketball club Guangdong Southern Tigers.
Lithuania won silver at EuroBasket 2015. EuroBasket 2017 will start on Aug. 31.
