page_title: Lithuania men's national basketball team
section_title: 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup
hierarchical_section_title: Lithuania men's national basketball team / History / 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup
caption_attribution_description: English: Lithuanian basketball player Renaldas Seibutis
context_page_description: The Lithuania men's national basketball team represents Lithuania in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Lithuania. Despite Lithuania's small size, with a population of less than 3 million, the country's devotion to basketball has made them a traditional force of the sport in Europe.
  The Lithuanian national team won the last EuroBasket tournaments prior to World War II, in 1937 and 1939. The 1939 team was led by Frank Lubin, who helped popularize basketball in the country and was called the "grandfather of Lithuanian basketball". Following the country's annexation by the Soviet Union during the war, Lithuanian players frequently formed the core of the Soviet national team. The most prevalent example was the 1988 Olympic basketball gold medal-winning team, which got most of its scoring from four Lithuanians: Valdemaras Chomičius, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Arvydas Sabonis.
  After the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990, the national team was resurrected.
context_section_description: After becoming European vice-champions in 2013, Lithuanians automatically qualified into the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. On May 13, head coach Jonas Kazlauskas announced both the extended main roster for the national team and the reserve roster. On July 1, he announced the condensed candidate roster. Captain Robertas Javtokas and team leader Linas Kleiza decided not to participate in the 2014 World Cup due to injuries. On July 7, first Lithuania national team training camp was organized in Palanga. On August 18, Lithuania won a preparation game against Slovenia with result 80–76, achieving the national team's 500th victory and the 100th under coach Jonas Kazlauskas. The next nine preparation games were all wins, raising expectations for the Lithuanian performance.
  On August 26, just a few hours before the last preparation game against Croatia, a final team roster was announced without Artūras Gudaitis and Adas Juškevičius. However, everything turned upside down rapidly in the game itself, when in only three minutes captain and Mantas Kalnietis dislocated his clavicle, forcing him to miss the World Cup. Juškevičius was chosen as his replacement, and Šarūnas Vasiliauskas also won a roster spot. Paulius Jankūnas became the new team captain.
  The tournament begun with a tough victory over FIBA Americas champions Mexico, 87–74. While the Mexicans won the first quarter 27–22, the Lithuanians then achieved their domination, marked by scoring 20 points against only 2 in the third quarter. One day later, another difficult match was held against African champions Angola, that the Lithuanians won 75–62, led by the young Donatas Motiejūnas and Jonas Valančiūnas, who scored a combined 23 points and defended the team with 18 rebounds. Tough games continued for Lithuania. The third game against Australia had the Lithuanians 19 points behind at halftime, winning the third quarter 28–15, and leading at some points of the concluding period, but still lost 75–82. Head coach Jonas Kazlauskas described the game as having the team's worst first half that season. The team recovered by sweeping South Korea 79–49, guaranteeing a spot at the knockout rounds and managing to become the first team in FIBA World Cup history to not have any free throw attempts. Lithuania took first spot in the group by closing with a tremendous victory against Slovenia, 67–64, with the Slovenians only scoring two points in the fourth quarter.
  During the eighth-finals, Jonas Valančiūnas led Lithuania to a difficult victory against New Zealand, 76–71. In the quarter-finals, Renaldas Seibutis helped Lithuania beat Turkey 73–61 and advanced into the semi-finals, once again meeting the United States. Before the game, USA national team head coach Mike Krzyzewski noted that the Lithuanians "love the game, they play with the passion, they play together, always as a team. They play with the great heart and it will be a tough game for us."
  Lithuania fought point-for-point through two quarters; however, after half-time Team USA scored 10–0 and after winning the third quarter 33–14, leaving no chances for the Lithuanian team to come back. They ultimately lost the game 68–96. It was one of the worst performances for Lithuania against Team USA, following the 51-point defeat in the 1992 Olympics versus the "Dream Team". After the match, coach Jonas Kazlauskas criticized the refereeing: "It just shows what respect every team has. When I asked the referee about the (technical) foul call, he said that he warned the bench not to jump, when Team USA bench was jumping and discussing with the referees just in the same way. Overall, the judging was hardly understandable until Team USA had 20 points lead. Later there was no point in discussing with the referees anymore". Longtime Lithuanian national team games broadcast commentator Robertas Petrauskas ironically described the judging live by saying: "When we discuss the judging against Team USA with the journalists from other countries, we all agree that if the referees would call the turnover every time USA player steps before b
caption: Renaldas Seibutis often played as point guard during the crucial game moments.
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