Velicka set to lead Lithuania forward in Slovakia
KAUNAS (FIBA U18 European Championship 2017) – Bronze medalists at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016, the dynamic and well-oiled Lithuania are back and ready to challenge for the medals this summer.
KAUNAS (FIBA U18 European Championship 2017) – Bronze medalists at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016, the dynamic and well-oiled Lithuania are back and ready to challenge for the medals at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 this summer.
Headlined by Arnas Velicka and Ignas Sargiunas, the country's preliminary 17-player squad features all the key pieces that have brought the side success in past years.
| Lithuania preliminary 17-player squad for FIBA U18 European Championship | ||||
| Martynas Arlauskas | Tomas Balciunas | Julius Daugela | Dovydas Giedraitis | Rokas Jokubaitis |
| Ernestas Jonkus | Elvis Juozaitis | Lukas Kisunas | Vitalijus Kozys | Danielius Lavrinovicius |
| Paulius Poska | Ignas Sargiunas | Lukas Uleckas | Tadas Vaiciunas | Grantas Vasiliauskas |
| Arnas Velicka | Erikas Venskus | |||
The high-powered backcourt pairing will make a powerful one-two punch that will be complemented by other steady contributors in Grantas Vasiliauskas, Lukas Uleckas, Vitalijus Kozys and Tomas Balciunas, also with important roles.
"As far as I know, all of the players are healthy and should be at the training camp from the start, except for Vasiliauskas, who is getting ready for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017," said the head coach of the national team, Gediminas Petrauskas.
Arnas Velicka earned a spot on the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016 All-Tournament team
Velicka, who earned All-Star Five honors at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2016 and the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016, and Sargiunas, were also invited to play for both youth national teams this summer. However, both of them opted out due to precautionary medical concerns.
The Petrauskas-coached team will gather for training camp on June 24 in Klaipeda, where they will spend a week before transferring to Kaunas for the second part of the training camp.
"We will not host any friendly games at home during the preparation cycle and will instead go to two tournaments in France and Estonia later. The first tournament in France will feature really tough teams in France and Spain, while the Baltic Cup in Estonia will give us a chance to get into game rhythm and iron out our mistakes before heading out to Slovakia," explained Petrauskas in presenting the team's summer plans.
A busy summer ahead for Grantas Vasiliauskas
Having won silver at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2015 in Kaunas two years ago before meddling at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016, Lithuania will enter the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017, set to take place in Slovak Republic from July 31 to August 6, as one of the main favorites.
The Baltic side will face Finland, Greece and Slovenia in Group C that will be located in the Slovakian capital Bratislava from the start of the tournament.
FIBA