LTU - Hosts begin preparations for U17 Worlds

NIDA (2012 FIBA U17 World Championship) – The Lithuanian team started its preparations for the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship with a training camp in the seaside resort of Nida, as the host nation looks to give its always passionate supporters something to cheer about when the tournament takes place in Kaunas in just over a month's time (29 June-8 July).
 
All together, 21 players were invited to the first training camp, but the team’s star player Edvinas Seskus - who last weekend won the Euroleague Junior Tournament with Lietuvos Rytas in Istanbul - was given some extra time to recover.
 
Lithuania’s head coach Paulius Juodis had already hosted a 22-man tryout session at the end of March. Six players from the initial squad were replaced by several new faces, which were unable to make the tryouts due to injuries.
 
“It was really difficult to pick the candidates for the current training camp, as we have quite a few players of a similar level," he explained.

"The competition is especially tough for shooting guards. Our team will be based on guard play, as it seems to be our strongest link and there’s a serious lack of tall and strong players."

The coach was happy with the training camp in Nida, saying that everything has gone according to plan so far and the preparations will soon pick up full steam.
 
“We had some good workouts, the weather was great and the conditions to prepare were even better. We accomplished what we had planned for Nida," said Juodis, who cut four players after this first training camp.

"For this training camp, I had split the players into two groups – those, who had just finished the season, worked on a slightly lower intensity level, and also started working on our plays."
 
The 21-man list was trimmed down to 17 players, who will now meet in Kaunas for the second training camp, where the team will play the first pair of friendly games. After the workouts in Kaunas, the side will continue to prepare for the World Championship in Klaipeda and Vilnius, and is also planning to play a couple of friendly games in France.
 
Lithuania’s 17-player squad for 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship: Lukas Grabauskas, Ernestas Serkevicius, Ricardas Verbickas, Pijus Mykolaitis, Aidas Kavaliauskas, Rytis Pipiras, Lukas Motiejunas, Norbertas Giga, Zygimantas Uselis, Edvinas Seskus, Deividas Kumelis, Karolis Razukas, Gediminas Zalalis, Zydrunas Jurgutis, Haroldas Saprykinas, Paulius Sakinis, Erikas Kubilius.
 
FIBA