No margin for error: Lithuania focused on avoiding first EuroBasket absence in 28 years

VILNIUS (Lithuania) - The coach of Lithuania, Darius Maskoliunas, doesn't mince his words as he looks ahead to the third and final window of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers, with his national team facing the Czech Republic on Saturday and Denmark on Monday.

"We don't have any margin for error and the guys are locked in from day one," he said.

Lithuania (2-2), who have a FIBA World Ranking of No. 8, are in a precarious situation as they attempt to take one of the three qualifying spots for the EuroBasket from Group C.

They are third behind the leaders, World No. 37 Belgium (3-1), and No. 56 Denmark (2-2).

Maskoliunas is hoping to lead Lithuania in the coming days into FIBA EuroBasket 2022 

"We just need to do our job, which we didn't do in the last window in November," Maskoliunas said. "Everyone understands everything that needs to be done."

Lithuania have gone 1-1 in each window. They started their EuroBasket Qualifiers campaign with a 86-65 loss at Belgium, while in the second window they suffered an 80-76 defeat to Denmark.

The Baltic country wants to finish the Qualifiers strong with two wins, but they know they absolutely must win against Denmark on Monday in order to advance.

"THE VETERANS OF THE NATIONAL TEAM ARE ACCUSTOMED TO THIS KIND OF PRESSURE. YOU JUST KNOW YOU MUST WIN, ESPECIALLY IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS."- Jonas Maciulis

Jonas Maciulis, who's been a Lithuania star since FIBA EuroBasket 2007, has an important role to play as one of the veterans.

"When you play for the national team, you always feel a special sense of responsibility and the importance of the games," he said. "With the national team, there's often no tomorrow when you lose.

"In every tournament you play, you know that every single defeat can cost you dearly. The veterans of the national team are accustomed to this kind of pressure. You just know you must win, especially in a situation like this."

Point guard and team captain Mantas Kalnietis is another Lithuania veteran that's going into battle this window.

"We came here to finish the job we didn't finish in the previous windows," he said. "We need to get a feel for each other as much as possible in the next few days and win the game, of course."

Lithuania, since claiming independence, have only missed booking a spot for the FIBA EuroBasket on one occasion, in 1993.

That happened when Lithuania, playing in a three-team group in the Qualifiers in Wroclaw, defeated hosts Poland but lost to Belarus and was eliminated. While Arvydas Sabonis did not play in these games, it was a big surprise as Lithuania had most of the players from their bronze medal-winning squad at the Barcelona Olympics.

Denmark are attempting to end a long drought by qualifying for the FIBA EuroBasket for the first time since 1955.

FIBA