Things started to improve in 1934, when the Physical Culture Palace was opened in Kaunas, featuring a spacious hall with 200 seats and cork floor built for tennis that was suitable for indoor basketball. In 1935, Lithuania decided to promote a World Lithuanian Congress in temporary capital Kaunas, inviting ethnic Lithuanians from many countries to unite the Lithuanian culture. The following year, a delegation of Lithuanian American athletes from Chicago arrived in Kaunas as participants of World Lithuanian Congress. Two of the players, Juozas "Joseph" Zukas and Konstantinas "Konnie" Savickus, stayed to teach basketball secrets to Lithuanians and be a part of the national team. Savickus in particular became a player-coach, and while the national team had just been trounced by inaugural European champions Latvia 123–10, one year later, with Savickus leading the team and exploiting stalling techniques, Lithuania trailed only 14–7 at halftime before losing 31–10.