Kemzura cuts Lukauskis and Eitutavicius, names final squad

With less than a week left until the start of World Championships in Turkey, Kestutis Kemzura decided to name the final squad for Lithuanian national team. The two who didn’t make the final cut are shooting guard Mindaugas Lukauskis and point guard Arvydas Eitutavicius.

Both players struggled during most of the preparation games. Although Eitutavicius was given more chances to prove he deserves to be in Turkey, he failed to impress and will not make an official debut in the national team.

Unlike previous coaches, Kemzura made a decision not to take two pure point guards just for the sake of it and will rely on his shooting guards’ playmaking abilities instead.

Lithuania played nine friendly games so far, losing twice to Spain and once against USA. Here are the results:

Lithuania 91-59 Finland
Lithuania 93-84 Czech Republic
Lithuania 86-84 Slovenia
Lithuania 76-97 Spain
Lithuania 80-77 Turkey
Lithuania 78-67 Germany
Lithuania 93-82 Croatia
Lithuania 75-94 Spain
Lithuania 91-77 USA

The marathon of friendly games will be concluded on Tuesday when Lithuania takes on Zalgiris. Originally it was supposed to be a game against Iran but due to laziness of the Asian team the game was cancelled just recently.

The final squad for Lithuania: