Lithuania eyeing medals with revamped roster in FIBA U20 European Championship 2017
KAUNAS (FIBA U20 European Championship 2017) - Lithuania named their new-look squad for the FIBA U20 European Championship 2017 in Crete, with the experienced quartet of Martynas Varnas, Martynas Echodas, Laurynas Birutis and Laurynas Beliauskas forming the backbone to a talented Baltic squad, once again aiming for the medals.
Lithuania 17-player preliminary squad for FIBA U20 European Championship
| Laurynas Beliauskas | Arnas Berucka | Laurynas Birutis | Rimantas Daunys | Mykolas Dieninis |
| Martynas Echodas | Gvidas Galinauskas | Rokas Grabliauskas | Vidmantas Kaciuska | Mantas Kudys |
| Lukas Kvedaravicius | Karolis Lukosiūnas | Martynas Maskolaitis | Arunas Mikalauskas | Deividas Rasys |
| Tauras Ulevicius | Martynas Varnas |
The four standouts played significant roles in Lithuania's silver run in the FIBA U20 European Championship 2016 in Helsinki last year, faring well against older players, and will be counted on for even more production this summer.
A stress fracture in his foot ended last year's championship prematurely for the all-around swingman Varnas and he will be will be looking to get back on track after an injury-riddled season in Zalgiris Kaunas.
Martynas Echodas came, saw, dunked! #FIBAU20Europe https://t.co/IlcKxjRq9i
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 20, 2016
However, Echodas, Birutis and Beliauskas all enjoyed strong seasons with their clubs and will be happy to take some of the load from Varnas, who should still be the team's number one threat on offense due to his versatile set of skills.
"There’s plenty of time to work out the general vision and style of play of the team, but first of all we need to get together for training camp and get to know each other."Marius Kiltinavicius
In addition to the aforementioned quartet, only three other players — Arnas Berucka, Mykolas Dieninis and Gvidas Galinauskas — were part of the team in the FIBA U18 European Championship 2015 two years ago, when Lithuania won bronze.
The changes in the cast of the players were accompanied by last-minute adjustments in the coaching department, with 35-year-old playcaller Marius Kiltinavicius filling the hot seat instead of the experienced Ramunas Butautas.
The 1997-born generation of Lithuanian players medaled in the FIBA U18 European Championship 2015, albeit with a slightly different roster
"The offer to coach the national team came somewhat unexpectedly, but I accepted in a heartbeat. It is a really interesting opportunity," said the newly-appointed Kiltinavicius, who guided Suduva Marijampole to back-to-back triumphs in Lithuania's second division NKL.
There's plenty of time to work out the general vision and style of play of the team, but first of all we need to get together for training camp and get to know each other."
Lithuania, who are set to start their training camp on June 10 in Kaunas, have been drawn to Group C of FIBA U20 European Championship 2017 and will take on Israel, Latvia and Ukraine in the Group Phase.
FIBA
