LTU - Early upset a welcome wake-up call for Lithuania

JESENICE (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Lithuania arrived in Slovenia with confidence flying high after losing just one friendly game. But success in the preparation period did not translate into immediate success at EuroBasket 2013, as the Baltic side was handed an early upset, losing 63-56 to a young and energetic Serbian team in their Group B opener.

Coach Jonas Kazlauskas insisted afterwards that there is no reason for panic in the Lithuanian camp. Still, the defeat did show that there is much to be fixed and corrected for the team to live up to the lofty expectations of not only qualifying to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup but reaching the medal round in Slovenia.

"Teams have lost opening games in the past and have gone on to do well - it's no tragedy," said Kazlauskas, who is back in charge of the national team this summer after a 12-year break.

"I think one of the reasons for the loss was nervousness. No matter how you put it, we couldn't cope with the pressures of the opening game and some players visibly had butterflies in the stomach. I think they will show what they really can in the future."

Talking from experience, the coach admitted that his team being labeled as one of the favourites of the tournament added extra pressure, especially for the young players like Jonas Valanciunas, Donatas Motiejunas or Mindaugas Kuzminskas.

"I was afraid of the hype. Hearing only praise all the time can have a negative effect," Kazlauskas explained.

"Like other players, I can only presume that emotions had an effect on how they looked on the court. I think they will have plenty of good games down the road.

"In general, we were forcing the issue way too much, not only the youngsters. The few times we managed to get into a rhythm, we squandered the little momentum we had by making the wrong decisions - on both ends of the court."

Lithuania will play the second game against The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia (MKD) on Thursday and coach Kazlauskas made it clear that it won't be any easier.

"All games in this group will be hard. It's always difficult to play against teams from the former Yugoslav basketball school," he warned.

"We won't have any brothers here, everyone is against the two Baltic teams and we have to show them that we can be tough as well."

For full and in-depth coverage of EuroBasket 2013, go to the official website http://www.eurobasket2013.org.

FIBA