Kulboka, Sedekerskis and Masiulis in the spotlight as Lithuania name squad
KAUNAS (FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017) - After finishing second at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 last year in Turkey, Lithuania are once again aiming for the stars at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 in Egypt with a very similar cast of players.
"The core of the team will remain almost identical to last year's FIBA U18 European Championship team, so we're expecting another successful performance."Rimantas Grigas
Headlining the 17-player list of players invited to the training camp is the stand-out trio of Brose Baskets swingman Arnoldas Kulboka, Baskonia forward Tadas Sedekerskis and Zalgiris Kaunas big man Gytis Masiulis. They will be at the heart of another medal challenge for the Baltic side.
| Lithuania 17-player preliminary squad for FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup | ||||
| Rokas Gadiliauskas | Karolis Giedraitis | Rapolas Ivanauskas | Matas Jogela | Tadas Kararinas |
| Arnoldas Kulboka | Donatas Kupsas | Justinas Marcinkevicius | Gytis Masiulis | Tadas Pazera |
| Aistis Pilauskas | Tadas Sedekerskis | Dziugas Slavinksas | Eimantas Stankevicius | Einaras Tubutis |
| Grantas Vasiliauskas | Mantvydas Zukauskas | |||
"The core of the team will remain almost identical to last year's FIBA U18 European Championship team, so we're expecting another successful performance," said coach Rimantas Grigas after announcing his preliminary squad.
.@kulboka98 of @BroseBamberg talks about facing @DBB_Basketball at #FIBAU19 and expectations for @musukrepsinis https://t.co/sEdo2lqIMH
— David Hein (@heinnews) March 24, 2017
There will also likely be additional reinforcements to the team that finished second in Samsun, with coach Grigas hopeful about the prospects of Rokas Gadiliauskas, Aistis Pilauskas, Tadas Pazera, Eimantas Stankevicius and Rapolas Ivanauskas joining the national team this time around.
On the other hand, coach Grigas will have to do away without one of last year's surprise leaders Arnas Velicka and other 1999-born players who looked solid against older opponents at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 last year.
All-around forward Grantas Vasiliauskas is the only exception on the list.
"A decision was made that players ought to represent their age group, so 17-year-olds Arnas Velicka and Ignas Sargiunas will play for the U18 team instead," the specialist revealed.
The Baltic side will play four friendly games before the start of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup, taking on Spain, Canada and France in an international tournament in France on June 24-26 and, later, Team USA in Egypt.
"The number of friendly games could be greater, but we're planning to have additional tests against the Lithuanian U20 national team squad during our training camp in Kaunas," Grigas spoke of his team's preparation plans.
The players will gather for the first training camp in Druskininkai already on May 29.
Tadas Sedekerskis was named to the All-Tournament Team at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 in Samsun
Lithuania have been drawn in Group B alongside the likes of Germany, Puerto Rico as well as the hosts of the tournament Egypt.
The FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup will take place in Cairo, Egypt on July 1-9 and will feature the 12 best teams from across the globe, who qualified through continental championships in 2016.
FIBA
