Lithuania is gearing up for a high-stakes EuroBasket 2025 Quarterfinal clash against Greece, with the team emphasizing unity and collective effort as their guiding principle.
Jonas Valanciunas, the Denver Nuggets center and Lithuania’s leading big man, spoke to the media in Riga ahead of the matchup, underlining the importance of preparation, team identity, and the challenge presented by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
After a full day of preparation, Valanciunas highlighted Lithuania’s strategy while acknowledging the difficulty of facing one of the best players in the world.
“We spent two days – actually one full day – preparing for the Greek national team. They’re a good team with weapons, especially as a shooting team. They have Giannis, who’s very strong individually, so we have to do a good job. We prepared, we have a game plan, and tomorrow we’ll show it,” he said.
When asked about their plan to contain Giannis, Valanciunas remained tight-lipped.
“I’m not going to tell you. That’s the game plan,” he said. “Every team has its own style of play, and we have ours too. We’re going to go out there and use our strengths.”
Valanciunas also emphasized the threat posed by Greece’s experience and long-range shooting.
“They’re a good three-point shooting team, and they’re knocking down the threes. They also have a lot of experience and players who know how to play these kinds of games, so we have to avoid mistakes, eliminate easy points, and do a good job on defense and offense,” he explained.
Addressing Lithuania’s point guard situation following the injury to Rokas Jokubaitis, Valanciunas stressed the importance of team effort.
“What else can we do? We have 11 guys, and we miss him big time. We need the same performance or even more from everyone tomorrow. Our strength is the team, the team play. We all know our roles, and we just have to go out there, support each other, and play hard basketball for 40 minutes. That’s our identity.”
On the topic of extended rosters in international competitions, Valanciunas offered his perspective as a player.
“It’s not my power to decide; I’m still a player. I’m looking forward to the games and doing what I can to help. You feel a loss when a guy goes down, not just emotionally but also in terms of the roster, and that might make a difference,” he said, underscoring the challenge of adapting to unforeseen circumstances in tournament play.
With their Quarterfinal showdown against Greece looming, Lithuania is focused on executing its game plan, playing as a cohesive unit, and leveraging their strengths to compete against one of the tournament favorites.
Jonas Valančiūnas doesn’t want to reveal the plan for stopping Giannis Antetokounmpo before the #EuroBasket quarterfinals clash with Greece
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) September 8, 2025
“Our strength is the team. That’s our identity.”https://t.co/GzKwxkLNVj
