Preview of the Pre-Olympic Tournament: Puerto Rico vs. Lithuania

PUERTO RICO
For the fourth international tournament in the last five played, obviously excluding the European Championship, we find ourselves facing Puerto Rico. The novelty is that this time we face them at home, with all the unknowns of playing in a Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot that will presumably be hot. The environmental factor will be one of those on which the boys of coach Nelson Colón will rely to return to the Olympic Games from which they have been missing since 2004, when they were eliminated in the quarterfinals – oh, look at that… – by Italy.
The worst news for Colón was undoubtedly the impossibility of deploying Markus Howard. The Baskonia player obtained permission from FIBA ​​to play with Puerto Rico but in the end he gave up in order to be close to his wife who was giving birth. It is true that he has never played with these teammates, so the amalgamation would have been all to verify, but it is also true that the Puerto Ricans will not have an infernal hoop machine at their disposal.
Compared to the roster deployed in the Philippine World Cup, the confirmed players are 9, demonstrating a desire to start again from a consolidated block of players who know each other well. They all bring experience and solidity: Tremont Waters and the former Napoli player Jordan Howard will lead the game; Stephen Thompson seen in the Stella Azzurra and Roma jerseys; the wing department is quite large, from Isaiah Pineiro to Aleem Ford, from captain Chris Ortiz to Arnaldo Toro, while Ismael Romero and George Conditt IV will share the minutes under the basket.
Then there are the new additions, one above all that promises to be a show. Since the Puerto Ricans are the bearers of flair and imagination and there was already enough of it in the team, why not add buckets of it by calling José Alvarado? No sooner said than done. The New Orleans Pelicans guard returns to wear the Los Gallos jersey after two years – he missed last year’s World Cup due to injury – with the intention of raising the level of basketball madness. Coming off seasons of growth in the NBA, the ’98-born player is clearly the most anticipated player for the home team and the one from whom the fans expect great things, at the level of his nickname “Grand Theft Alvarado” created to highlight his ability as a ball stealer. The last two pieces are Gian Louis Clavell López, also returning to the national team, and Davon Reed, who joins the already rich package of wings.
Even in this edition, Puerto Rico seems capable of everything and the opposite of everything. A grumpy opponent, it will be necessary to infiltrate the folds of their defects to prevent them from entering into the match climate by dragging the public into the stands.

LITHUANIA
We won’t stand here and remember all the times that things went badly or even terribly badly with Lithuania, that’s not the case. Also because that’s the past and it counts for what it is, especially when faced with a present made up of a team that won’t have the talent of other Lithuanias but damn! These guys have been able to play basketball since they were born.
Coming off a World Cup that ended in eighth place but with the Pearl of victory against the United States, coach Kazys Maksvytis’ men are aggressive and have a deep, quality, very physical roster with a deep knowledge of what needs to be done in do-or-die games. The technical and emotional leader can only be Domantas Sabonis: he will never be like his father, but Arvydas’ son is still a sensational player who has shown constant signs of growth in Indiana and Sacramento, becoming one of the best big men in the NBA. He is also looking for his first success with the national team as a protagonist, given that he was a 19-year-old reserve in the 2015 European silver team. Around him is obviously the Zalgiris block, with five players coming off the bitter disappointment of the title lost in their homeland against Azuolas Tubelis’ Rytas: Deividas Sirvydis, Edgaras Ulanovas, Lukas Lekavicius, Tomas Dimsa and Arnas Butkevicius. Then there are people who have been protagonists on the Euroleague courts for years: Marius Grigonis is one of Ataman’s secret weapons at Panathinaikos, Tadas Sedekerskis is the captain of Baskonia, Rokas Jokubaitis is an important element of the Barcelona rotations, Donatas Motiejunas is essential in Monaco. Completing the roster is the tireless captain Mindaugas Kuzminskas, who becomes a lethal player when he wears the Baltic Giants jersey.
In short, there is enough to consider them serious candidates to win the Pre-Olympic in San Juan. Digging digging they are perhaps a little short in the external department, with only two real playmakers (Jokubaitis and Lekavicius) and many, too many wings who will have to adapt. As if they didn’t know how to do it, moreover.

2024-07-02 13:35:05
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