OLYM – Lithuania pride

LONDON (Olympics) - Lithuania coach Kestutis Kemzura wore a proud, satisfied look after his team’s 72-53 victory over Nigeria on Tuesday at the Olympics.

The Africans were the same side that upset Lithuania in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in early July, so Kemzura had plenty of cause for concern.

His charges played with a sense of urgency after their opening game demolition to Argentina.

"We knew the opponent and we knew how dangerous Nigeria's team is,” Kemzura said.

“They are talented and athletic. It's not an accident that they are here at the Olympics.

“They beat us in Venezuela in the Pre-Olympic tournament, where they played really well.

“After we lost our opener in a not so good game for us against Argentina, this game was crucial for us.”

Kemzura admitted that Argentina had been so comprehensive in their win that Lithuania’s players had been shaken up.

“We knew we had to get back mentally, we knew it would not be an easy game but we started concentrating and had a good game plan,” he said.

“We did a great job defensively, we took away part of their game, stopping them on one-on-one and even they took 21 offensive rebounds but we knew how they attack the glass with three or four players so one of the keys was to have all our five players attack the glass at the defensive end.

“We did a good job on this. A few times we fell asleep but we didn't let them dominate."

Lithuania out-rebounded Nigeria, 42-41, and also held them to 16 of 66 (24%) shooting from the floor.

"Defense was key for us,” Kemzura said.

“We kept playing defense. We forced our opponents to take bad shots and tried to rebound.

“All our players were fighting and giving their best, not only in terms of points but in effort and on defense.

“Today we played as a team.”

There was also the introduction of Antanas Kavaliauskas, the player who joined the team after an injury knocked captain Robertas Javtokas out following the OQT.

Kavaliauskas, a 2.08m center, hadn’t played against Argentina but had six points and four rebounds in 12 minutes.

“Antanas gave us good minutes, same as other players,” Kemzura said.

“Everybody gave something for the team.

“The stats show that we played as a team, with 19 assists. Our point guard (Sarunas) Jasikevicius with nine assists and Kalnietis with seven assists, it shows that we shared the ball.

"We had an extra motivation because we understand that our group is very tough. Losing this game would have meant that we would have really complicated our situation to move to the next stage. It was a good lesson for us.”

It remains to be seen how Lithuania will hold up.

The players joined the national team not long after the end of their club seasons and they have already travelled to Venezuela for the OQT and played four games there.

"It was a long summer,” Kemzura said.

“Some players came straight after the end of the season. Sooner or later that will catch up with you but I think in Venezuela we showed good enough basketball to qualify and be here.

“We have to set our minds and heads right.

“We have to be mentally tough and to find the power when things are not going well, to be together, to find the strength like we showed today.

“I'm very proud of my players today.

“When the game was on the edge, we showed our character.

“It's a good quality.

“We'll try not to lose this quality and to build on this win in the next games."

FIBA