MANILA, Philippines, September 5 ------ Lithuania came into the FIBA World Cup as a complete underdog after its ninth-place finish in the 2019 edition in China its worst in the tournament since the former Soviet Republic became an independent nation. But after its galactic 110-104 upset victory over heavy favorite United States at the Mall of Asia Arena, the Lithuanians will enter the final phase as one of the favorites, if not the biggest favorite, to strike gold. “I think so,” said Lithuania coach Kazys Maksvytis when asked if he felt underestimated entering the tournament and if they had changed people’s mind after this giant-sized triumph over the only team here with all 12 players coming from the NBA.
Although the game had no repercussions since both had already secured a quarterfinal spot even before their duel started, it felt like the Lithuanians had won the gold. “It was a big win for our country, for us players and coaches to play against the best in the world,” said an emotional Vaidas Kariniauskas, who led the way with 15 points including two of his team’s staggering 14 booming triples including a perfect 9-of-9 to start the game in the first half. “I’m happy for my country and our families and we don’t need to celebrate much because we have a game in 48 hours against Serbia. We’re happy, but we can’t be too happy,” he added.
Truly, the real gold awaits Lithuania, unbeaten in five games, in the Last 8 where it will clash with an equally tall and fearsome Serbia, which booked a spot after annihilating the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns and Dominican Republic, 112-79, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum the same night. The proud Americans suffered their first defeat after four wins in a row and will tackle the Italians at 8:40 p.m. at the MOA Arena.
The other matches in the quarters would pit Germany against Latvia at 4:45 p.m. and Canada versus Luka Doncic and Slovenia at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow also at the Pasay City venue. If there was silver lining in the harrowing defeat the Americans suffered, it didn’t affect them in claiming an outright berth to next year’s Paris Olympics along with the Canadians as the Americas’ first two representatives. “We’re fortunate that this loss doesn’t really hurt our goal which is to win the gold medal,” said Team USA coach Steve Kerr, who talked about the possibility of facing Lithuania later on. He was asked what he would do differently if the rematch happens. “Yes, we might play them again so I won’t give that away. I’m going to keep that to myself,” he said in closing the post-game press conference.
Source: philstar.com
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