SAN CRISTOBAL DE LA LAGUNA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Lithuania is not a nation used to losing, something swingman Marius Grigonis is well aware of as the Baltic nation look to put a disastrous Rio campaign behind them.

Lithuania's implosion at the Rio de Janeiro Games wasn't what anyone in the team, the country's basketball federation or the fans could have imagined, but implode they did.

The Baltic side left Brazil on the back of three defeats - 109-59 against Spain, 90-81 to Croatia and 90-64 to Australia in the Quarter-Finals - to cast a pall over the national side and leave the players, including 22-year-old Marius Grigonis, to do some soul searching.

"I wanted to do better but I just didn't have that much experience," Grigonis said to FIBA.com.

"But still, for me to play for Lithuania was the best experience, especially to play at an Olympics. It was a crazy summer. I'm looking forward to other Olympics and to doing better."

Grigonis is experiencing only positive vibes these days as a big part of one of the best stories in European basketball this season. Grigonis plays for Iberostar Tenerife, an outfit that's in first place in Spain's Liga Endesa.

The Canary Islanders have one more victory than Valencia and two more than Real Madrid, Baskonia, Barcelona and Herbalife Gran Canaria.

Iberostar Tenerife are also having a terrific Basketball Champions League campaign. They play at ASVEL in France on Tuesday night in the first leg of the Quarter-Final tie.

"This experience is incredible," Grigonis said. "Nobody thought before the season that we would do so well. We are trying to enjoy every minute of it. It's fantastic."

Txus Vidorreta, the Spain national team assistant coach who is at the helm of Iberostar Tenerife, plays Grigonis about 20 minutes per game in both competitions.

A product of the Sabonis School in Lithuania, Grigonis first played with the Zalgiris Kaunas second team but left in the summer of 2013 to compete in Spain's LEB Oro for Peñas Huesca.

He suited up for Manresa for the following two years before heading south to the Canary Islands and Tenerife.

Grigonis could have played college basketball in America but elected to remain in Europe.

"I was in the second team in Zalgiris and I had some options to go overseas," he said. "But I thought the best thing for me was to play in the second team and try to go to the first team. It didn't go as well as I planned, but I have no regrets."

The move to Iberostar Tenerife could hardly have gone better. 

"The last two years, we (Manresa) were fighting for survival," he said. "Every season would go to the end and we wouldn't know if we were going to go down (to the second division) or not. This year, we keep winning so I think somebody is paying me back for those many losses."

Iberostar Tenerife have confounded the experts. How long can they maintain this first-place form?

"This question was asked two months ago, three months ago," he said. "'How long, how long?' I don't know how long. If we keep playing like this, our defense is close to excellent. If we keep doing that, I think we can go until the end."

"I think Lithuania will keep being competitive and at the top. Everyone loves basketball in Lithuania and all the kids play basketball so I think we'll be fine. We have a lot of young guys, now." - Grigonis

Lithuania will benefit from Iberostar Tenerife's terrific season because Grigonis is learning how to win.

"Now that we're winning, it helps me as a player, for sure, to know what it takes to win so many games," he said. "To be a big part of it is amazing."

Even more amazing would be to accomplish great things with Lithuania, where the sport is treated like religion. Don't expect last year's Olympic campaign to be the start of a downturn for the program.

"I think Lithuania will keep being competitive and at the top," Grigonis said. "Everyone loves basketball in Lithuania and all the kids play basketball so I think we'll be fine. We have a lot of young guys, now." 

Grigonis says there is a true warrior mentality in Lithuania, one seen in the play of Jonas Maciulis, that will help the team bounce back. Maciulis is well known for diving after loose balls, crashing the boards and scoring points in a myriad of ways.

"A lot of Lithuanians play like that," Grigonis said. "You need to be always hard. You need to play hard to do a lot of things. The other players, I think, in my opinion, maybe they have more quality but Lithuanians have more heart. This is our face." 

Grigonis has been in touch with new coach Dainius Adomaitis but won't know about his status with the national team until after the season. He would like to be with his teammates when they compete at the FIBA EuroBasket in Group B against Israel, Ukraine, Georgia, Italy and Germany. Those games will be played in Tel Aviv.

Then there is the matter of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 qualifying campaign, which tips off later this year.

Over a four-year cycle from 2017 through 2021, national teams will play regular home and away games to qualify for the World Cup and the FIBA Continental Cups 2021. He likes the idea of having regular home games.

Grigonis played in the 2012 U18 European Championship in Lithuania

"I played the U18 (European Championship) in Lithuania and it was amazing," he said. "Especially in Lithuania, they love basketball. If you play there, you're the biggest star at that moment. It's really a pleasure to play for these fans."

As for his future, Grigonis just "wants to be the best basketball player he can be throughout his career."

"I'm not obsessed with NBA basketball," he said. "I really love European basketball and first of all, I need to prove my name here so that everybody would want me to play for their team and then, if it happens (a move to the NBA), it happens. I'm not thinking about NBA."

FIBA