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Aug 1, 2008, 3:35 pm
USA 120:84 Lithuania (31:15, 25:24, 35:27, 29:18)
USA: Dwyane Wade 19, Dwight Howard 17, Michael Redd 16, LeBron James 15, Kobe Bryant 13, Carmelo Anthony 11, Chris Bosh 7, Chris Paul 6, Deron Williams 5, Tayshaun Prince 5, Carlos Boozer 3, Jason Kidd 2.
Lithuania: Rimantas Kaukėnas 17, Ramūnas Šiškauskas 11, Robertas Javtokas 11, Šarūnas Jasikevičius 9, Mindaugas Lukauskis 8, Linas Kleiza 8, Marijonas Petravičius 7, Kšištofas Lavrinovičius 6, Jonas Mačiulis 4, Simas Jasaitis 3.
Pathetic performance by Lithuania. First quarter was terrible. Players were sleepy and looked scared. I was very surprised that such experienced players as Jasikevicius and Siskauskas couldn't calm down and play. Americans wanted to get a comfortable lead from the start and put pressure in defense. Our players, due to the reasons named above, passed slowly and their passes were late so American players made many steals using. Lithuanians were too slow and Americans were left alone on the fast breaks. One pass through the court and easy points.
Second quarter was better. We were not making offensive rebounds which means no second chances to score. While Americans had plenty of opportunities for fast breaks after defensive rebounds. Lithuanian players were not nervous and as you can see from the score of the 2nd quarter it was close.
After half time we started pretty confident and closed the gap to just 9 points. The main reason was quick offense and defense. It worked for a few minutes but then a couple of turnovers and USA is up by about 20.
Although the winner was clear after three quarters but I still expected to see more effort from our players. But they were giving away the ball instead. All this lead to an embarassing result.
I know this is just a friendly game and it means nothing but you must play with dignity every time. I missed that in the 4th quarter.
Our defense has never been our strong part of the game but today we looked hopeless. This was what happened throughout all the game. When American player has the ball two Lithuanians run to guard him which obviously leads to one open player. That's why we gave away many easy baskets and open three pointers.
Speaking about USA they are well prepared but are beatable. But if you let them play their game it's extremely tough to challenge them. I would love to see them play against Spain and Greece in Beijing.
One thing that I am disappointed with about Lithuania is that we stop fighting once the score gets to high. This happens in both cases - when we are ahead and when we are down. Although these are friednly games a team that expects to win medals should have strong mentality and not let their opponents do what USA did today.
USA: Dwyane Wade 19, Dwight Howard 17, Michael Redd 16, LeBron James 15, Kobe Bryant 13, Carmelo Anthony 11, Chris Bosh 7, Chris Paul 6, Deron Williams 5, Tayshaun Prince 5, Carlos Boozer 3, Jason Kidd 2.
Lithuania: Rimantas Kaukėnas 17, Ramūnas Šiškauskas 11, Robertas Javtokas 11, Šarūnas Jasikevičius 9, Mindaugas Lukauskis 8, Linas Kleiza 8, Marijonas Petravičius 7, Kšištofas Lavrinovičius 6, Jonas Mačiulis 4, Simas Jasaitis 3.
Pathetic performance by Lithuania. First quarter was terrible. Players were sleepy and looked scared. I was very surprised that such experienced players as Jasikevicius and Siskauskas couldn't calm down and play. Americans wanted to get a comfortable lead from the start and put pressure in defense. Our players, due to the reasons named above, passed slowly and their passes were late so American players made many steals using. Lithuanians were too slow and Americans were left alone on the fast breaks. One pass through the court and easy points.
Second quarter was better. We were not making offensive rebounds which means no second chances to score. While Americans had plenty of opportunities for fast breaks after defensive rebounds. Lithuanian players were not nervous and as you can see from the score of the 2nd quarter it was close.
After half time we started pretty confident and closed the gap to just 9 points. The main reason was quick offense and defense. It worked for a few minutes but then a couple of turnovers and USA is up by about 20.
Although the winner was clear after three quarters but I still expected to see more effort from our players. But they were giving away the ball instead. All this lead to an embarassing result.
I know this is just a friendly game and it means nothing but you must play with dignity every time. I missed that in the 4th quarter.
Our defense has never been our strong part of the game but today we looked hopeless. This was what happened throughout all the game. When American player has the ball two Lithuanians run to guard him which obviously leads to one open player. That's why we gave away many easy baskets and open three pointers.
Speaking about USA they are well prepared but are beatable. But if you let them play their game it's extremely tough to challenge them. I would love to see them play against Spain and Greece in Beijing.
One thing that I am disappointed with about Lithuania is that we stop fighting once the score gets to high. This happens in both cases - when we are ahead and when we are down. Although these are friednly games a team that expects to win medals should have strong mentality and not let their opponents do what USA did today.