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Pačėsas defends Balčiūnas: Lithuania still has a strong chance of reaching the World Cup

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Lithuania assistant coach Tomas Pačėsas said the national team's results should not be blamed on Lithuanian Basketball Association president Mindaugas Balčiūnas.
  • He said Lithuania retained a strong chance of qualifying for the World Cup after losing heavily to Turkey and then beating Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • Pačėsas also rejected reports that Darius Songaila had been invited to replace head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis, while confirming that the coaching staff had submitted resignation letters after a loss in Italy.

Tomas Pačėsas says Lithuania's basketball crisis should not be pinned on Mindaugas Balčiūnas. The assistant to national team head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis argued that the team's results and the work of the Lithuanian Basketball Association involve many different factors.

Blaming the LBA president for the national team's results and players' refusals to come to the national team is illogical.

· Tomas PačėsasPačėsas defended Mindaugas Balčiūnas and separated the association's work from the team's results.

Pačėsas pointed to last year's fifth-place finish in Europe for the men's team and strong results from Lithuania's youth national teams. He said the country's basketball program had climbed from a low point, while expectations had also become very high. In his view, blaming the association president for national team results or players' decisions not to join the squad was illogical.

Lithuania suffered a heavy defeat to Turkey in the latest qualifying window but recovered with an important victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pačėsas said he was pleased by the response, particularly because Bosnia had prominent leaders who play in the NBA. He said attention should focus on the team's tactical decisions rather than broad criticism.

Nevertheless, I think we still have an excellent chance of qualifying for the World Cup.

· Tomas PačėsasHe assessed Lithuania's prospects after the team's mixed results in the qualifying window.

Recent public debate has included comments from Jonas Valančiūnas, Jonas Mačiulis and Benas Matkevičius. Pačėsas declined to assess Matkevičius' remarks, saying the former national team staff member had his own perspective and might possess information Pačėsas did not have. He added that player availability had changed between qualifying windows and that the issue could be debated endlessly.

I am very happy that after such a defeat the team achieved a very important and impressive victory against Bosnia.

· Tomas PačėsasHe praised the team's response after its loss to Turkey.

Pačėsas also dismissed reports that Darius Songaila could become the team's head coach, calling them gossip and a false rumor. He confirmed that he and Kurtinaitis submitted resignation letters after the defeat in Italy, but said the federation had acted honorably and decided whether to accept them.

The report about inviting D. Songaila is complete gossip, a false rumor that got out, and we are now commenting on it.

· Tomas PačėsasHe rejected reports that Darius Songaila had been invited to become head coach.
About this summary

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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