By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — This city is the birthplace and/or childhood home of Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Sarunas Marciulonis and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and by the end of next weekend it will be the metropolis (to use that word loosely) where the latest European champion is crowned. Eight teams have made it to the quarterfinals of EuroBasket, and the do-or-die portion begins Wednesday night with Spain-Slovenia and Macedonia-Lithuania. Thursday’s games are France-Greece and Russia-Serbia, and the semifinals — which will determine which two teams qualify for the 2012 Olympics
Thanks to O’Grime, Jonas Valanciunas has been rapped about
By Chris Sheridan Check out this video by Miami rapper O’Grime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV9c0pBH5dM It is going viral here in Lithuania, and should do the same in Toronto when the lockout ends. So far, 2,500 likes on O’Grime’s facebook page. Guaranteed to stick in your head.
Russia defeats Macedonia at buzzer; Eurobasket quarterfinals are set
By Chris Sheridan VILNIUS, Lithuania — Sergei Monia banked in a 3-point shot off an inbounds pass with 2.5 seconds remaining to give Russia a 63-61 victory over Macedonia on Monday night in the final game of Round 2 at Eurobasket. After two aborted inbounds plays — the Macedonians intentionally fouled on the first one with 2.8 seconds left, and Russia’s Alexei Shved then banged the ball off the player defending the inbounds pass and back out of bounds to avoid a 5-seconds call, Shved found Monia on the right
Eurobasket: Dancer of the Day
This is Ugna, a performer for Leaderdance of Klaipeda, Lithuania. Unfortunately, further biographical information is unavailable.
Eurobasket: Spain’s opponent will be Slovenia
By Chris Sheridan VILNIUS, Lithuania — Spain learned Monday who its opponent will be in the second round of Eurobasket, and it is a team that will try to dictate the pace of the game and keep it slow. That opponent is Slovenia, which advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Finland 67-60 to claim fourth place in Group F. “We know them, we respect them, we know they are full of excellent talented players and experienced players, and we would be stupid if we were
Eurobasket: Old guard and new kid lead Lithuania
By Chris Sheridan VILNIUS, Lithuania — This particular pick-and-roll play was both a thing of beauty and a small but memorable chapter in this country’s long basketball history, a moment that will stick in the country’s collective memory bank for ages to come. Sarunas Jasikevicius had the ball out near the circle and used the 7-foot frame of Jonas Valanciunas to create some space between himself and his defender. As the 19-year-old center rolled to the basket after setting the pick, the 35-year-old point guard lofted a perfect
Eurobasket: France tanks its final first-round game vs. Spain
By Chris Sheridan VILNIUS, Lithuania — The best defense played by France came from its coach, Vincent Collet, when he had to explain his decision to bench Tony Parker and Joakim Noah in a 96-69 loss to Spain on Sunday that dropped Les Blues into second-place in Group E. And Collet was indeed on the defensive after Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo opened his post-game remarks by saying Spain had too much respect for the game — and for the other teams still fighting to stay alive in EuroBasket — to
Eurobasket: Dancer of the Day
This is Vaiva, a dancer with Leaderdance, a performance group from her hometown of Klaipeda, Lithuania. She is 21, and her favorite player is Jonas Valanciunas.