Lithuania battles dangerous Serbia while USA faces Italy
Games Today
(MOA Arena)
4:45 p.m. — Lithuania vs Serbia
8:40 p.m. — Italy vs USA
LITHUANIA came into the FIBA World Cup as a complete underdog after its ninth-place finish in the 2019 edition in China — its worst in the tournament since the former Soviet Union republic became an independent nation.
But after its galactic 110-104 upset victory over heavy tournament favorite United States at the Mall of Asia Arena Sunday night, the Lithuanians will enter the final phase as one of the favorites, if not the biggest favorite, to strike gold.
“I think so,” said Lithuania coach Kazys Maksvytis when asked if he felt underestimated entering the tournament and if they had changed people’s mind after this giant-sized triumph over the only team here comprising 12 players all coming from the NBA.
Although the game had no repercussions since both had already secured a quarterfinal spot even before their duel started, it felt like the Lithuanians had won the gold.
“It was a big win for our country, for us players and coaches to play against the best in the world,” said an emotional Vaidas Kariniauskas, who led the way with 15 points including two of his team’s staggering 14 booming triples including a perfect nine-of-nine to start the game in the first half.
“I’m happy for my country and our families and we don’t need to celebrate much because we have a game in 48 hours against Serbia. We’re happy, but we can’t be too happy,” he added.
Truly, the real gold awaits Lithuania, unbeaten in five games, in the Last Eigth where it will clash with an equally tall and fearsome Serbia, which booked a spot after annihilating the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl Anthony Towns and Dominican Republic, 112-79, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum the same night.
The proud Americans, for their part, suffered their first defeat after four wins in a row and will tackle the Italians at 8:40 p.m. also at the MOA Arena.
The other matches in the quarters would pit Germany against Latvia at 4:45 p.m. and Canada versus Luka Doncic and Slovenia at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow also at the Pasay City venue.
If there was silver lining in the harrowing defeat the Americans suffered, it didn’t affect them in claiming an outright berth to next year’s Paris Olympics along with the Canadians as the Americas’ first two representatives.
US coach Steve Kerr, however, said they still felt the sting of the defeat.
“It doesn’t ease the pain of the loss by us tonight (Sunday) but for USA basketball, it’s a good thing because we’re not going through any qualifier anymore,” said Mr. Kerr. “To be honest, I’m not worried about the Olympics, we’re worried about this, we want to win the World Cup and that’s our focus.” — Joey Villar
