KLAIPEDA (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Every year presents new challenges for all national teams.

One facing Lithuania with their FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign starting in just 23 days is the need to beef up inside.

The Baltic giants have so far lacked a strong presence in the low post this summer.

Ksistof Lavrinovic corralled five rebounds in 17 minutes in this week's 90-81 win over Finland in Helsinki, but in more than 21 minutes, Paulius Jankunas had just one board and Antanas Kavaliauskas only three.

In almost 19 minutes, Donatas Motiejunas claimed a mere three rebounds and missed all three of his shots from the floor, including two from behind the arc.

With Jonas Valanciunas arriving in Lithuania on Thursday night after an extended stay in North America following the end of his second NBA season with the Toronto Raptors, the team will have additional scoring and rebounding.

They also hope to have a rim protector.

As a rookie in the NBA, Valanciunas averaged 8.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game but those numbers jumped to 11.3 and 8.8 in his second year, one that saw the Raptors reach the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

The 22-year-old actually suffered a drop in the blocked shots department.

In his first season, he had 78 swats in 62 regular season games while in 81 appearances in 2013-14, he rejected 71.

"We need a force under the basket, especially when there is no Robert Javtokas," said Lithuania coach Jonas Kazlauskas in reference to the absence of his veteran center.

Javtokas is carrying too many knocks and won’t play at the World Cup.

Valanciunas, who has three summers of senior national team experience under his belt, is indeed a key man for the Lithuanians.

It's uncertain if he will appear in a friendly tournament that Lithuania are hosting this weekend in Klaipeda, with Ukraine, Finland and Australia all taking part.

"Does he play in Klaipeda?" Kazlauskas said, "so far I can not say yet."

Valanciunas improved statistically in his second NBA season.

As for the win over Finland in Helsinki, Kazlauskas say the contest was good for the team's World Cup preparations.

"The game was very useful because the Finns are playing basketball that was quite specific: to aggressively defend three-pointers more than the paint, often with double-teams," he said.

"I had to adapt to it. We allowed all the players to play and did some experimenting."

It was comforting for Kazlauskas to see his players prevail in a hostile environment.

"It's good that we controlled the game and won," he said.

"The Finns, as they showed last summer at the EuroBasket, are not weak.

"For the most part, I was satisfied."

Lithuania will play in Group D at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Gran Canaria against Slovenia, Australia, Angola, Mexico and Korea.

FIBA